Took a Spin to the Oregon Coast

My carpenter friend will have my Dolphin for a couple of weeks while he remodels the interior, so I decided I should take it out for a good drive before he gets started. My kid and I drove to the Oregon Coast yesterday. It was just a quick trip out and back again. The weather was nice when we left, but it started to rain very quickly and the rain picked up throughout the day.

We found a nice rest stop along Hwy 126 that I had never noticed before. (It's kind of funny how I see things differently now that I'm thinking about where to hang out in my RV.) It's a boat ramp on the Siuslaw River that has restrooms and picnic tables in a lovely, very green setting. You can park there for 30 minutes without a permit, which apparently boaters need to launch their boats there.


We stopped in Old Town Florence for a few minutes and did a little shopping. I bought myself a very nice walking stick--like a cane, but with a knob. I've needed one of those for a long time and just the right one appeared. It is made of twisted oak with an olive wood knob. I also got a sticker to put on the door of my RV letting emergency personnel know that I have a cat inside. (Well, she's not in there yet, but she will be, when it's our home.) We decided we'd better head back to Eugene quickly, because the rain was so hard, the river was rising. At Cushman, the water was the highest and closest to the road that I've ever seen it.

I found out a few things about my rig by making this little road trip. First off, when I bought it, the seller told me that it needed shocks, and indeed it does. All of my previous driving had been either on the freeway or on level city streets. On Highway 126, which has lots of potholes and other unruliness, the ride was a little rough and the Dolphin didn't handle that great. Part of this is because I'm not used to the motorhome yet--so when it catches a little wind or it's on an uneven surface, I get anxious. The shocks should help, and I'll definitely get them replaced before I head south.

Another thing I learned, from driving the Dolphin in the dark for the first time, is that my dash lights don't work, so I'll get those checked, along with one of my taillights that is out.

Finally, I learned that I am going to be one of those drivers that used to drive the younger me nuts when I'd get stuck behind them. Hey, it's a motorhome. It doesn't go fast up big hills.

So here's what I learned about myself on my mini-trip: I can hardly wait to get going! Yesterday's little trip made it all more real, and getting on the road is what I really want to do. So today I went out and bought a few things I'm going to need on the road (the tube for the dump station, a cup holder for my rig that's too old to have one built in, etc.). And as soon as I push the "Publish Post" button, I'm going to email my landlord and give my notice on my rental house. This should make it even more real.