Boardman Oregon Park

[Mel]

We stayed last night at Boardman Marina and RV Park. It is on the Columbia River between Pendleton and Portland Oregon. It is a vary nice city park right on the river. It is a great place to stay.

[grooving grandpa]

Thanks for the heads up on Boardman. Leaving for La Pine,Or. Sat and then up to the Columbia River and over to Astoria. Will definitely stay one or two nights at Boardman. Thanks again. This forum is so great.

Lou, Marilyn and sweet Mollie

[madeforeachother]

My wife and I stayed there on our 2nd trip out west and loved it there so much we extended our stay to about a week. We went fishing right on the jetty and caught small mouth bass with worms casting to the marina side.They were delicious. The sunsets are beautiful and the grounds are maintained to a tee. The only drawback was when the lawn sprinkler system went on,it left a bad stain on the truck and trailer and I had to work pretty hard to get it removed. I solved the problem by covering the sprinkler heads with pails, pvc pipe, etc. and the park personel was ok with it. The water comes from the Columbia river and is full of lime. Pendleton was not close but was a nice drive to stock up on supplies at Walmart and there's a Keystone Couger Assembly Plant there also when we were there last. We went there again in 2006 on our way west and stopped again after coming out of Canada. There's a Lodge just east of the park and within walking distance that has a nice Sunday Brunch. When we left Boardman Park we stopped in Astoria, so if Grooving Grandpa has any questions as to what to see just ask. It's really a cool town and my wife kept her eyes shut the whole distance of that very high bridge crossing the Columbia River into Washington.

[grooving grandpa]

Madeforeachother, You had to mention about the height of the bridge at Astoria. Now D.W. is telling me there I better take her on a good shopping spree in Astoria if I want her to cross that bridge. Anything else you want to tell her that might help. We are also taking the rig on the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. Don't tell me D.W. will get sea sick. Never been to Astoria, so any sightseeing info will be great.

Thanks Lou

[BirdingRVer]

quote:Originally posted by grooving grandpa

Never been to Astoria, so any sightseeing info will be great.

Thanks Lou

Lou,

We were in Astoria June of last year. I think the Columbia River Martime Museum http://www.crmm.org/is a must see. We also found Lewis and Clark Fort Clatsop http://www.nps.gov/lewi/planyourvisit/fortclatsop.htm and Fort Stevens http://www.visitftstevens.com/very interesting.

Grant

[madeforeachother]

Grooving Grandpa- Sorry about the info on the bridge but at least your prepared for the crossing. The entrance ramp to the bridge is quite an incline and I had to drop my truck into 1st gear to climb it but once your at the top the crossing is really quick. Let your wife buy out the town if it will calm her down. We stopped at a seafood restaurant on the Columbia River called "The Ship Inn" and the food was great. While there, the waiter handed us a local map of tourist attractions and points of interest for Astoria and I'm glad he did because Astoria just looked like a typical nice town. We used that map and and had a great day of sightseeing. The first place we went to was the house Hollywood used for the movie "The Goonies". We took pictures of it and sent them to our kids who just loved that movie when it came out and they got a kick out them. Also, the movie "Kindergarten Cop" was made in Astoria and the Elementry School is right by the Goonies House. Don't miss the Astoria Column, a 12 story round column situated at one of the highest elevations in Astoria ( the bridge is the highest)that is painted on it's entire circumference with murals to commemorate the history of the U.S.A. You can climb to the top observation deck to see the 360 degree fantastic views of Oregon, Washington, and Mount St. Helens to the northeast. We then drove to the Pacific Ocean to scope out the 1904 shipwrecked remains of a large vessel. While in that area we went to a decommissioned Battery that was acually fired on by the Japanese during WW-2. That's about it for Astoria that we saw but it was a very pleasant day of site-seeing. Grant looks like he has some good info on Astoria. If your going to stop at Boardman and head west to the Portland area, the prevailing winds along the Columbia river can kick up at anytime. I couldn't get over 40mph and had the truck in overdrive off. We never have taken any ferry rides, must be expensive. I checked out the ferry rates from Vancouver to Alaska and had a heart attack on the price but I'm glad we drove to Alaska ,we had a ball getting there. Have a safe and great trip!

[grooving grandpa]

Thanks for all the sight seeing tips. We plan on camping at Fort Steven's State Park. Yes, the ferry is expensive, by the foot. T.V. plus 32' Monty. About $147 one way. "All Fun" RV part in Victory looks nice. Will stay long enough to make the ferry crossing worthwhile. My RV Buddy and I put a Banks Exhaust Brake on my 99 Dodge Diesel 5 speed standard shift a couple of months ago. I am really impressed. Wish I had done this years ago. Sometimes, I need to shift down to 4th gear, but have not used my brakes on any downgrade yet. Now I even sound like a real trucker, just not as loud. I purchased directly from Banks. They have a great tech support which we needed assistance from because of a bad connector connection. Grant, we are going to try and make the Goshen Rally this year in Sept. Will be our first. Have you been there yet? Have you had any trouble with the new rig?

[footloose]

We, too, have stayed at the Boardman Marina and RV Park. We always try to get a water site to back into. It is really a nice park. Beware of mowing days. Pull your steps up. The mower hit our steps on our previous SOB. Ever since, when mowers might come near our steps, we pull the steps up just to be safe. Enjoy your trip.
Dick and Sharon

[grampachet]

We have been across the Astoria bridge a number of times and we never even thought of the height as an issue, but sure is pretty. On up the WA coast a ways is the washaway beach. That is an interesting area as the ocean is actually washing away homes and you can see pipes etc. sticking up in the sandy beach. Sad for the people loosing their homes.
I always like to go on up the coast to Hoquiam and over through PeEll to Chehalis.
I took one of the last ferries across the Columbia at Astoria just before the bridge was open, now that was an experience. The wind was blowing really hard and as we came in sideways to the terminal I was sure we were in trouble but after bouncing around the pilings we finally made it safely. I was in the Navy then and headed back to San Diego in my 57 Hillman station wagon. I was just a kid who was having a good time and didn't know any better.

[sfretts]

Boy that brought back the memories. We have had property in Chinook, just north of the Astoria bridge in WA for 40 plus years. We too used to ride that ferry across the Columbia especially when it was storming out. We for some stupid reason would try to catch the ferry as they would shut down service due to rough weather. I also remember the winter storms that took its toll on workers and vehicles.

As for things to do in the area, just south of Astoria/Warrenton is Seaside and the outlet mall for the shopper in you. I have it on good authority that there are several benches outside the many stores for us not so much shoppers! We enjoy that area and there is now a BIG Costco and Home Depot just outside Astoria. Lots to see and do. Enjoy

[BirdingRVer]

quote:Originally posted by grooving grandpa

Grant, we are going to try and make the Goshen Rally this year in Sept. Will be our first. Have you been there yet? Have you had any trouble with the new rig?

Lou,

We have never been to Goshen and don't expect to go through there until some time in October.

Things are good with the new rig. The only problem I have is I can only get the remote to turn the outside lights on and off. I saw it run the rear stabilizers during the PDI but, I must be doing something wrong. We have been too busy for me to find the instruction manual. We will be in Florida another week and then start heading north. Our plan is to be in New England for September and then start back to San Jose in October.

Grant

[Sunshine]

grooving grandpa - we are located in La Pine. If you are staying here and want to meet fellow MOC members, give us a p.m.