Just got back

[markopolo]

We've been RV'ing for the last two weeks and just got back today.

To any new members who had to wait for days for your account to be activated - please accept my apology. My access to the internet was limited. My Rogers cell phone stopped being able to send or receive data after about the fourth day. I had to rely on occasional wifi access.

I'll post photos taken on the Oregon Coast and Crater Lake in the Places & Routes section soon.

My Chevy based B+ handled well. Not as good as my previous Chevy Roadtrek Class B but better than I expected. Finding parking in small towns, and at restaurants and outlet malls etc. was not a problem. Small RV's are great!

We really like Oregon. No sales tax!

Why does 12 cans of Kokanee beer (made in Creston, British Columbia) retail for over $20 here in BC but is available in grocery stores like Safeway in Oregon for only $8.99? I suspect it is the taxes here.

I'll probably spend most of tomorrow cleaning the RV - two days coming home on I5 can really make it dirty!

[Whiskyecho]

Originally Posted by markopolo

"..the Oregon Coast and Crater Lake..We really like Oregon. No sales tax!

Why does 12 cans of Kokanee beer (made in Creston, British Columbia) retail for over $20 here in BC but is available in grocery stores like Safeway in Oregon for only $8.99?..

Come on Lotto - win it and I'll live just off Hwy 1 or 101 - I love the Pacific Coast. We drove it last August, from L.A. up to just short of Vancouver Island (Canadian requirements ref. our 2 dogs).

Came back South and East "inland" and made the drive around Crater Lake - beautiful.

Somehow I lost photos of 2 days of our 3 week trip (I did it - when transferring camera pics to my computer !! ). Crater Lake pics were 1 of the days.

I've a friend who lives in Vancouver, Washington - no State income tax. They shop and buy around Portland - as you mentioned, no sales tax.

Do I recall seeing LOTS of liquor stores at the Oregon/Washington border - busy busy busy - because of the "tax" thing (we stopped and stocked-up, by the way).

Welcome back. (I'm headed out, solo, for a couple of weeks in August).

[julievojo]

We also love the Oregon and Washington coasts, what a beautiful area! We try to get back there at least every other year or so. Oregon state parks are some of the best in the country, and if I remember right, they offer half price camping during the month of October.

We stuck closer to home last week. We went up to the north shore of Lake Superior (but forgot our passports so we couldn't cross into Canada). From there we went across to the Ely MN area, on the southern edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, then down to the middle of the state into the lakes area.

We discovered a couple of really beautiful National Forest campgrounds that we had't seen before and enjoyed some very peaceful nights along the edge of beautiful Birch Lake. I'm pretty sure that was a moose we were hearing splashing around in the water and making strange noises in the middle of the night.

One bonus of sticking closer to home is that we only used a tank and a half of gas. (diesel)

We'll have pictures online sometime later today I think.