Office Window - Armitage Park Campground

Office view

The motorhome's dining table with one leaf in serves as my office when we are on the road.  In the past I've used just my laptop, then I brought one monitor, and eventually, I graduated to a setup closer to what I have in my home office.  While it means moving everything to the bedroom for dinner when we want to use the table, the convenience of having two monitors and a full-size keyboard makes the workday easier.

Dead Zone

Despite being near an urban area (Eugene, OR), Armitage Park Campground was a struggle to work online from.  The park has Wi-Fi, but the performance and reliability were a 1 out of 5 stars in my experience, meaning nearly worthless, and remember we were there mid-week.  I don't normally depend on Wi-Fi, so usually, my reliable backup plan is to turn my phone into an Internet Access Point.  On this trip, the location and dense foliage of the park, combined with the Verizon towers being on the other side of Eugene resulted in me seeing two bars or less.  At two bars you essentially have a really slow 4G/LTE Internet connection.  Since the Microsoft Skype conferencing software I rely on is basically streaming audio and video, I couldn't use it on two bars.  Phone calls worked, so I just dialed into all my conferences and forego viewing the slides a presenter might be showing (I'd follow along while looking the slides that had been emailed out before the meeting).  Email worked, it was just slow.  Even with my Weboost mobile phone signal booster, I was only getting two bars of 4G/LTE.  I walked around the park checking the strength of the Verizon signal.  None of the day use areas or the other campsites seemed to be any better than our present site #16.  When I moved to the entrance of the park at Coburg Road, my signal went to three bars and then four bars.  Later in the car, less than a mile from the park, I was getting five bars on Verizon.

Site #16

Those who love their satellite TV also suffer from connection issues when in a campground with a dense canopy of trees.  You see this type of feedback in online reviews of RV parks.  If the campground is lush and forested, reviews will complain about poor satellite service.  If the RV park has few trees, then reviews complain that it is a parking lot.  Being dependent on a good Internet connection can also create this same conundrum.

Surveys have shown that the desire to stay connected is not generational.  Today the Internet is used for everything from entertainment and news, to where to find a good restaurant and what are the operating hours of the establishment I want to visit.  So whether one is retired or still working with the option to work away from one' traditional office, staying connected is something we are becoming accustomed to always having.  On this trip, I thought I'd be fine because the online reviews didn't describe the park as a dead zone.  Unfortunately, a dead zone is what I experienced on this visit.

Traveling with Memories

Laura and I will celebrate thirty-two years of marriage this July, and one of the things I like about way we go RVing is the bits of family history we carry with us.  Here are just a few of those memories in the things we carry in our Safari motorhome:

• 3x5 USA flag Laura's Grandma Evie flew from the porch of her home on Cape Cod
• BSA hatchet from my years in Boy Scouts
• A set of tools augmented with inherited items from my dad and Laura's
• A Colemen stove, given to us as a wedding present by a good friend
• Binoculars inherited from my dad

One of those memories is how it all began for Laura and me.  Our honeymoon involved a combination of Bed & Breakfast stays and camping.  We camped out of the back of my GMC S-15 pickup and used a dome tent borrowed from Laura's mom.

Fairholme Campground, Lake Cresent, WA, 1986 while on honeymoon.

Our honeymoon in 1986 included a stop in Seattle, where we stayed at the Chambered Nautilus Bed and Breakfast at 5005 22nd Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105.  During a visit to the Seattle waterfront, we had a shop on one of the piers create a redwood plaque as a keepsake.  Today that memento travels with us in the motorhome.

The redwood sign, made in Seattle, dates from our honeymoon.

Not surprising to our family and friends, Laura and I tend to favor RV destinations near water.  As lifelong boaters, both power and sail, we love it all.  Our motorhome is actually outfitted with a lot of gear that traveled with us on various boats we have own.  From tools and galley equipment to linens and the kayaks, we travel with a lot of familiar things.

Approaching Beacon Rock State Park in the Columbia River Gorge.

Today the kayaks aren't lashed to the bow, but the car rack has sure made finding our 2012 Honda Fit a lot easier to find in a parking lot😉

Our toy hauler with kayaks on top and bicycles hanging off the back.

In Search of a Stronger Cellular Signal

I took my Nikon with me as I went in search of more than two bars of cellular service.  What follows is a sample of the beauty that is Armitage Park Campground in Eugene, OR.

Group RV site with more than one pedestal

Laundry, shower, and restroom next site #16.

In the group camping area looking back at site #16.

A tent in site #17, followed by Celtic Safari in site #16.

Day use area at the north end of the park near the river.

More of the day use area.

A wide open grassy field in the Day Use area.

Same of the foliage where the staff doesn't maintain grass.

The understory foliage was very lush.

A parking lot for the Day Use area.

Beautiful textures in the park.

An oasis in an urban area.

The Dean Grossman Dog Park within the campground.  Two acres located near the entrance.

While the RV loop sites are in the trees, the center of the loop is a grassy field.

Uncommon pull-through with RV door facing loop road.  The result of the loop being one-way.

I never found that stronger cellular signal in the park, but along the way, I had a great walk and saw a lot of pretty awesome natural beauty.  My conclusion, in the end, is there was just too much foliage between the park and the cell towers.  Plant material is a known absorber of cellular signals.  Here is a good story on the Weboost site about what can block a cell signal:

https://www.weboost.com/blog/the-top-5-surprising-things-you-didnt-know-could-block-your-cell-signal

Live well, Laugh often, Love much

1887 Bridge - Eugene, OR

The Cobury Railroad Bridge

RVing is a part-time activity for Laura and me, made all the more pleasant by our Safari motorhome and my ability to work from the road.  While work is work, work-vacations improve the view out the office window and increase the pleasure after work.  One of my afternoon walks included a visit to a local landmark.  The bridge was fabricated in 1887 and erected over the John Day River.  In 1907 the Southern Pacific Railroad Company acquired and relocated the bridge to its present crossing over the McKenzie River adjacent to the Armitage Park Campground between Eugene and Coburg, Oregon.  Access to the bridge is near the campground's boat ramp.

Today the bridge is for pedestrians and bicycles. 

A step 131 years back in history when there were no automobiles.

The engineering and the art of another time.  1887, the same year the Eiffel Tower was built.

I-5 viewed from the railroad bridge.

The overall appearance of the bridge is rusty, but since the bridge is constructed of wrought iron, the rust has stabilized, and the structure is in sound condition.

No welds, everything is rivets or bolts.

The symmetry of the Victorian age.

The grand structure feels intimate once inside.

While man-made in a natural setting, the railroad bridge seems somehow appropriate.  No longer associated with steam and diesel locomotives spewing smoke, today's traveler is either on foot or two wheels and commonly out to enjoy nature, instead of just travel through it.

Live well, Laugh often, Love much

Armitage Park Campground - Eugene, OR

Armitage Park Campground, site #16

My years in Sea Scouts, both as a youth and later as a leader, associated Memorial Day weekend for me with being away from home and near the water.  In recent history, whether it was aboard our Catalina 30 sailboat or our Bayliner 3870 motor yacht, the holiday weekend meant cruising.  Today, our Catalina Capri 22 sailboat doesn't lend itself to the type of cruising Laura wants to do, so we took to the road this year to rendezvous with my sister Monica at Armitage Park Campground in Eugene, Oregon.

We stayed in site #16, and Monica and Linda stayed in site #14.

Armitage Park Campground is just stunning, both in terms of its beauty and in its high-level of maintenance.  I applaud the Lane County vision that preserved so much natural charm in an urban area.

Monica and Linda's 2005 Beaver motorhome tucked away in site #14.

The spacing between sites is very generous.  The park's staff has also constructed and planted raised planters to promote more foliage, and to discourage guests from walking over all the landscaping.

Traveling with two Golden Retrievers and a cat.

Monica and Linda had been to the campground before, so it was a pretty safe recommendation when they suggested we meet up on Memorial Day for five nights together.  Online reviews, combined with a Google Earth flyover had Laura and I looking forward to the adventure.

Looking across pull-thru site #15

We arrived at the campground on Monday and departed on Saturday.  Within the park, there is a lot to do, from walks and bicycle rides to entertaining one's canine at the sizeable fenced in dog park, to fishing and boating in the river.

Looking toward sites #18 and #19.

The RV pads are level, and both deep and wide.  The pedestals have 20, 30, and 50 amp power, water, and cable TV.  At the north end of the park where we were is located a laundry and showers.

On Foot

The campground is very walkable with paved paths and roads to take the adventurous to all kinds of beautiful spots.  I love walking beneath a canopy of trees, and Armitage doesn't disappoint.  In the photo below, you can see the path at campground level, and the path to the right that runs along the river's edge.

The paved trail near the river.

Lots of mature trees in the campground.

Lush describes the park.  From the big trees and ferns to the moss covered picnic tables and bright colored grass, the place shouts Northwest.

Classic Northwest.

Overlooking the boat ramp from the paved path.

Boat Ramp.

Laura and I really enjoyed getting out and walking around the campground.  While the white-noise of I-5 was off in the distance, what you really noticed was the sound of water and the birds in the trees.

Laura enjoying the lower paved path closer to the water's edge.

The remainder of the trip, I'd be working from the motorhome.  Once again my mobile office would afford me a pretty awesome view out the windows.

Live well, Laugh often, Love much

Last Night - Fidalgo Bay RV Resort

Site #135, West Park, Fidalgo Bay RV Resort

Our two week Tulip Festival trip that turned in three weeks to better align with the progress of the bloom required some creative reservations.  During those three weeks, we were at four sites:

• #44 (1 night, $35/night)
• #13 (14 nights, $64/night)
• #5 (6 nights, $64/night)
• #135 (1 night, $52/night)

We don't tend to put out a lot out when we set up camp, so there doesn't tend to be much to put away when we have to move.  For our last night, we were in site #135, which looks across a large stretch of grass towards the bay, Cap Sante, and Anacortes.

Looking towards Fidalgo Bay.

Fidalgo Bay RV Resort is organized into an East Park, which sits on the shores of Fidalgo Bay, and a West Park that is situated closer to Highway 20 (the white noise is not an issue).  The Tommy Thompson Trail runs between the two parks.

West Park at Fidalgo Bay RV Resort.

 Another feature of West Park is that the resort permits extended stays at reduced rates.  The resort's office and laundry are also in West Park.

This photo shows the closeness that some reviews of the park complain about if one's awning is out and another rig has slide-outs.

Old Town

We headed back into Old Town to stroll the streets, enjoy the architecture, and browse the shops.  Anacortes's Old Town is thriving with retail, restaurants, and services from haircuts to spas.

Stop and enjoy the flowers.

Harkening back to an earlier time, Old Town invites the visitor to window shop.  With wide sidewalks and streetside building overhang providing both shade in the summer and protection from the rain, Old Town is truly all season.

Commercial St. runs through the middle of old town.

Lots of new paint in Old Town for 2018

Laura and I have watched Anacortes hang onto Old Town through the years.  The vision of what it could become always seemed to preserve, even during the Great Recession  On this visit, Old Town was visually probably the best we've ever seen it, both in terms of the cosmetics, and the number of businesses filling the storefronts.

Yes, bookstores still exist in America.

Laura expressing the joy of three weeks in paradise.

For three weeks we had visited the familiar and explored the previously undiscovered.  We'd eaten some great meals out, and share some wonderful meals in.  Our time on land and on the sea had been spectacular.  Tomorrow we'd be heading home, richer for the experience, and grateful for all the joy in our lives.

Live well, Laugh often, Love much