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Driving on the Beach, Long Beach, Astoria and Fort Stevens State Park
It always feels good to pack up the van and pull out to the next destination. Especially when I have no idea where that is. There is something magical about just letting myself be guided; going where the wind blows me, so to speak.I didn’t need to go far before I found myself at my next destination, Long Beach, Washington. Long Beach boasts itself as being the Worlds Longest Beach, however it is really a 28 mile long Peninsula. Yes, I drove the length of it.
What I really liked about Long Beach, was, like Westport, it just wasn’t that crowded. Not like the Oregon Coastal towns. Driving onto the beach was legal and so I took my Van right onto the beach with the back facing the ocean. When the winds got heavy, it was cold or the sun intense, I could seek shelter in the van. One couldn’t ask for a better view.
In Long Beach, I spent the majority of my time, not at the beach, but on the beach. We couldn’t camp overnight there, so I found a vacant City Lot where Van Lifers were parked for the night. Other than having a horrible nightmare that my Van was being broken into and I was being violently attacked, the night went well.In telling a friend about the nightmare, she suggested it might be more symbolic about someone in my life who really wants to hurt me and cause me pain. My friend felt my Van represented my home, or personal space and the attacker a significant person in my life who would probably love it if I was no longer on the planet. Yes, this is a real person.
I’ve learned that although some people may not like me and want me to suffer, I would give no energy to the attacks. I recognized that it is never about me, but rather about the person who is projecting their own inner demons upon me. Not my demons! You leave someone like this alone with their demons long enough, their own demons will turn against them in time. Meanwhile I get on with my life and leave them in my rear view mirror.
After my night in Long Beach, I drove on down the road to find a place where I could make my tea, kick back and write in my journal. I found a sweet little County Park on the Columbia River. The Columbia River comes down from Canada, through Washington, the Washington Gorge, Portland, Oregon and joining the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon. It is a very large river.In past trips, I noticed I was often destination oriented and didn’t take the time to stop and smell the roses, or drink the coffee. This time was different. I really wanted to take my time and really explore what the places I visited had to offer.
On my way to Long Beach I found this really cool coffee house on the River in South Bend, Washington. I hung out there, charged my electronics, and wrote a blog post. I tried their curry lentil soup which was Vegan, and they had a vegan treat to go with my decaf Americano. It is not so often I find places where I can order something that fits my diet. It is a rare find, and a great treat to find such a place.
Althou
gh I have crossed the long bridge to Astoria many times, I actually never turned left to go into the City of Astoria and check out it’s historic Downtown. This time I made the left. I’m glad I did. I browsed through a couple shops, talked to few people and enjoyed the quaint old town.The bridge from Washington to Astoria, Oregon is 4.1 miles long. It crosses the Columbia River and goes up very high so the ships going out to Sea can sail under the bridge. The Columbia River separates Washington from Oregon in many places.
My next stop was across another big draw bridge from Astoria to Warrington. Warrington had a Natural Grocers and a Starbucks in one parking lot….SCORE!Warrington is also home to Fort Stevens State Park where I spent a part of my day. At the point, at Fort Stevens, the Columbia river is on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. There is a jetty separating the two and you can walk out quite a ways on the jetty if you want to.
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Sun Valley, Idaho
After driving about six hours, I arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho. It was a place I had never visited before and I was excited to check it out.Sun Valley, Idaho is not a town, in itself. It is a popular Ski Valley along the Wood River comprised of several small towns. The main towns are Bellevue, Hailey, and Ketchum.
Ketchum seemed to be the most popular. It was a bustling tourist community with traffic inching along through the quaint small town.
I was tired and not ready to deal with traffic, so found a National Forest road and drove to a place that looked like it would be nice to camp. Wrong! The mosquitoes had no mercy. They were biting any area of exposed skin several times in one chomp. I knew I had to get out of this place.
I went back into town and headed on down the highway until I came to a nice riverfront picnic area. I stopped for a while and enjoyed the peaceful sounds of nature. There were few others at the park. It was a good place to make lunch and chill.Knowing that I could park my van and camp any place in the National Forest, I wasn’t concerned about finding a place to sleep for the night.
When evening came, I decided to take a road going the opposite direction as last time and ended up in a beautiful green valley with pullouts along side the road. There were some interesting camper rigs pulled off to the side. I found my own little pull-out and nestled in for the evening. There was a very mild rain beginning to come down and the air so fresh and clean.
I grabbed my new instrument, a Strum Stick, which is a three string instrument similar to a guitar, but much smaller. I found myself playing a singing until I had a new tune going through my head. That tune would be the theme song for the next couple days.The next day I went back to the park to make my tea and chill. It was actually still quite cool out so I do mean “chill.” I crawled into my blankets with my hot tea and wrote in my journal, with the sounds of the river serenading me.
After a breakfast of Granola and banana, I drove to Hailey where I saw a Natural Grocers and grabbed a few items. I passed by the Starbucks (without stopping) and headed back to Ketchum to catch the Art Festival. After that I went to a hiking trail I saw earlier. I had my green drink of coconut water, Spirulina and Barley Grass, to both hydrate and give me extra energy for the hike.
It was a beautiful hike along the Wood River. I hiked about three miles in until I came to another parking lot and decided to turn around. There were lots of mountain bikers on this trail, and very few hikers. I could have taken side trails and continued on, but by the time I returned it was a six mile hike and the temperatures were nearing ninety degrees.After this beautiful hike and amazing day in the beautiful Sun Valley, it felt time to move on. I had no agenda. No destination. It was Saturday and I didn’t have to get in position for work until Sunday. I could stop anywhere I wanted. I loved this feeling.
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On The Road Again “Flying Solo Season Two”
I have had several people ask me if I would be blogging about my travels again this summer. The answer is YES! Why not?Some of you who have followed my travels last summer told me you were traveling vicariously through me. How awesome is that? I hadn’t realized my mystical minivan ventures would be so inspiring for others.
This summer won’t be as long of an adventure as I have some commitments back home in Arizona that I need to be there for, but I am outfitting the minivan now and setting out on the 11th of July towards the Northwest.I learned a lot last year from my minivan camping experiences and am making a few adjustments this year. I work from home or in the case of traveling, I work from the van, and so having what I need to manage my clients and Internet is important.
Last year I had my WiFi unit and an expensive Verizon Data account. I will activate this again. However the primary issue I had with working on the road was power. I didn’t want to stay in expensive RV parks with power. Can you see my little minivan camper wedged in between huge Motor-homes and trailers? Mini ME would get lost in the crowd. I preferred being in more places of solitude. I preferred to be parked between two trees.
Business on the road requires I keep my phone, laptop and WiFi unit charged. There was some stress with my batteries being drained before my work day was over and needing to run to the coffee house between clients to recharge.
This year I have acquired an Aeiusny Portable Power Station. It is a small unit that will charge my phone, laptop and WiFi unit multiple times. I can recharge my Power Station via AC wall outlets or 12V car cigarette lighter or to recharge it under the sun with solar panel. I did not buy the solar panel this year. But it is a great idea for the future.
Now I am powered up and ready to go for the long haul.
Last year I had way too much stuff! I learned about minimalism on the road. I only really needed about half of what I brought with me and some of the things I brought were cumbersome and space consuming.
My portable kitchen was one item I could do without. It was great to have and I loved it, but it took up too much space in my van while traveling. Since I had my cook-stove and Igloo 12V fridge in the back of my van, I only really needed a table to prepare food on.
So I found this handy little compact table that I can use both indoors and outdoors. It folds quite small and can be stored under my bed, however I realized it fits inside my van right next to my bed perfectly and a great place to eat, put my tea cup and laptop while working. It has great storage space underneath as well, so no wasted space.The table has leg adjustments so can be short or tall. What an exciting find and will work perfectly for my needs.
Last year I traveled with a roof rack for all the extras. Near the end of my journey the key busted off in the lock and I had a miserable time dealing with it. This year I decided to forgo the roof rack and all the extras. Who needs them.I won’t be taking a canopy but have two simple little tarps that fold up really small (about the size of a large pair of socks.) These can be extended from the back hatch of my van for extra shade and used as a floor mat for outdoors.
Another thing I learned last year, was I only needed half the clothes. I had a large bag of clothing I never used, stuff under my bed at the far back. That space is better used for something else. One bag of clothes and a few hanging items will be enough.
My porta-potty is coming. I can’t say enough for that little pot. It will store perfectly under my new table and great for those middle of the night moments where I really don’t want to put on my shoes and trek to the loo, if there is one. Us girls must have our luxuries.
This year will be both simpler, more minimalistic and a shorter journey. I’m getting excited to be back on the road again.
If you would like to come along for the ride, I invite you to join me. If you haven’t yet signed up for my newsletter you can do so here….
Happy Trails!
Kaleah