Ocean Park Moose
Kerri had this nice area of state forest picked out, not far from Astoria, for us to check for some boondocking. From satellite view, it really appeared that this place was created with dozens and dozens of individual pullouts that are synonymous with dispersed camping. Unfortunately, the entire area ended up being gated off. This time it was me who had a backup; across the bridge in Washington is the Ocean Park Moose Lodge.
At the lodge, waiting for our arrival, was an RV spot with water and electric for $10 a night. After a day exploring the local ‘almost ghost town‘ and beach, we settled in for the work week where we could take a short walk into town for coffee in the mornings and such. The lodge was very active, with beer and food being served all day starting at 9AM. I took advantage of the speedy Wifi to get caught up on some downloading, and played a few games of poker with the locals.
With permission to abuse the address, we had more than a few Amazon boxes shipped in during the week. Mostly little things of the same size importance, but one big thing came in for Big Blue… a new stove. It’s always been a talking point that Big Blue had an oven in it. My CampChef Stove/Oven combo turned the van into a proper man-cave in previous years. While I rarely actually used the oven (about once every other month), the oven space was great to fill with soft items (bread, chips, etc) to be stored. Unfortunately, a recent visit to a truck scale informed us of the harsh reality that Big Blue is severely overweight, and the 40-or-so-pound oven was something I was willing to sacrifice (among many other things) to trim the fat. So it got replaced with a much lighter two-burner stove, freeing up not only the weight but a ton of space.
It was really nice to be a block’s walk away from a small town. During the week we did go into town for a morning coffee and even the local taco truck. One of these walks included a small 1.3 mile detour to go see Pacific Pines State Park which quite literally included a bathroom, a single picnic table, and a short walk to the beach. The park was about 2 acres in size… cute. I’d say it was a waste of time, but those bathrooms turned out to be well timed after hiking the entire way with a cup of coffee in hand.
Hey, there! A quick question for you, if you don’t mind. We have a Ford E250 conversion van we camp in–aptly (and coincidentally) called “Big Red.” We’ve been trying to figure out the best way to attach an awning. What have you done to attach yours?
From what I can see, it *looks* like you’ve drilled through the fiberglass top, but we’ve read elsewhere that isn’t a good idea. Is that, in fact, what you’ve done? If so, any problems? If not, what has worked for you?
Thanks! And keep living the dream! Someday, we hope to be on the road full-time ourselves.
Hi Mary Ann,
Yes I used a bunch of carriage bolts and bolted thru the fiber and used very large washers on the inside to spread out the load. It has held up well. But the vertical fiberglass is quite thick on my topper. Close to a half inch or so in that area