Habs on the Road

We’ve really enjoyed being in Oregon!  The weather has been awesome and it’s been really relaxing.  There are so many great beaches to stop at, and I love the fog covering the evergreen trees up on the hills.

The kids have started school again for the Fall, and Carla is doing a great job teaching them!  I guess roadschooling means we drive a school bus?

We stopped to have a brake system and tow bar / base plate installed on the Jeep (ouch $$$$).  It takes a while to do that, so we are dry camping overnight behind the Camping World building in Wilsonville, OR while they have the Jeep inside.  I’m glad we came here, because they have one of the best brake system installers in the whole area.  Apparently, he’s done this for about 20 years and really knows what he’s doing.

Whenever we have to (or choose to) dry camp / boondock, such as staying in a Walmart parking lot, it makes me really appreciate the fact that our RV is self-contained.  We have everything we need to live for a few days before needing anything. With generator power that can supply 10,000 watts and 83A, and an onboard water supply, we can do laundry, use our computers, use the dishwasher, stove, oven, microwave, DirecTV, etc., and our Wi-Fi extender is able to pick up free Wi-Fi from Walmart, Camping World, etc.  And when you pull the blinds down for every window, it feels the same inside in the RV no matter what it is outside.  You’re in your own little world until you step out the door.

We can go for about 3-4 days before we need to dump the tanks and resupply freshwater.  We could go longer than that if we really tried to conserve water. Also, when you compare the cost of the diesel required to run the generator to the $35-45 fee to stay at a campground, it’s actually quite a bit cheaper to dry camp somewhere.  You also don’t have to worry about checking in, quiet hours, hooking everything up, unhooking everything the next day, etc. 
Here is our cozy little spot behind Camping World (there is a smaller RV behind ours that you can’t see in this picture). 

There are a few downsides to dry camping, such as no trash dumpster, you’re putting hours on your generator, and sometimes you have to think about your surroundings more than you would in a campground. Are there questionable people in the parking lot?  Is anyone going to come by and key your RV or try to steal your bikes?  Is there enough room to put your slides out without interfering with traffic?

Tomorrow, we’re headed to Washington for a month (One week of that will be in Alaska, which we are super excited about!). 

See you next year, Oregon!