Florence Keller County Park & Campground Again

At Florence Keller County Park & Campground, Crescent City, CA, USA

It was very mixed emotions that we left Huntley Park east of Gold Beach today.  Had a very good and long talk with Sean, the Camp Manager, last night.  Told him how thankful we were to  be able to get an extra week there (I think he extended to us because I fed him lots of info on the fire from three weeks ago…it pays to be a librarian who knows how to find information)…they have a strict 2 week policy, and we are so thankful that we were able to stay the extra week.  Sean and Patty, his wife, are great people…they have done a lot to make Huntley a better park than it was before they arrived over six years ago.  Of course, if the Port of Gold Beach would support them with more money it would be better…nothing Sean told me, just a fact I picked up myself.  After all, they have three sites with electricity…the Manager site, the camp assistant host site, and one for the public…if they can do three sites, they can do more…but the port does not want to invest the $$$$$.   So during the winter, the park sits nearly empty…what a shame.  Put in 12 electric sites, and that would bring in up to $300 per week.  But without electricity, no one wants to boondock in weather which is around 60 degrees high, 40 degrees low..so for the most part it sits empty.  What a shame!!!!

We started getting ready to leave around 10 am…pulling out by 11.  Did not need to dump our tanks until we got to Brookings since we dumped the other day when someone nearly let the propane go to empty.    Thank goodness the Union 76 station in Gold Beach sells Propane, and since we were in town, we dumped our tanks.  While in Brookings, we filled the motorhome with gas at $3.05 per gallon, then we went across the street and disconnected the car, took it back to Fred Myer to get some gas ($3.15 per gallon,. only had a 10 cent discount left on our loyalty card)., and do some shopping, then went back to the motorhome, put stuff away, and took the motorhome over to the Valvoline Instant Oil Change across the other side of Fred Myer to get the oil changed in the motorhome ($55).   We then joined the car to the motorhome and headed to Crescent City, specifically Florence Keller County Park & Campground.  This is our fourth time in the park, twice last year and twice this year.  We did not get site B, our favorite, but we did get site 4 which allows us to park without disconnecting our car.

Arriving around 3, I sat outside for awhile, Marcia took a nap, and we had our dinner (Steak and Salad…yum).  The park is more busy today than the last times we were here.  Nice park for $15 per night, and we are only going to be here for one night.  I already miss the solitude of Huntley Park, despite the family that arrive with a tent trailer at 10:15 last night, parked behind us, tried for an hour to put up the tent trailer, and eventually headed off to a motel room in Gold Beach.  They arrive back as we were pulling out…not sure if they ever got that tent trailer up, or if they gave up and drove off with it.  They are lucky we are not early to bed type of folks…  Tomorrow will be a Casino Parking Lot….

Moved on to Huntley Park Today

At Huntley Park, Gold Beach, OR

Yesterday (Monday) I traveled to Brookings to publish yesterday's post (when there are pictures, it is hard to post without a faster connection...let alone saving usage on our Aircard), do laundry, and do one last quick shopping trip at Fred Meyer.  I found the public library to be the best place to post from in Brookings...it is open from 10-6, you can see the password as you walk in the door, and you can be in and out real quick.  Did some movie downloads at McDonalds...that took a long time, and the Fred Meyer Internet, which is also used by the famous coffee store located there, is just too slow to even download a movie.

The laundromat is actually in Harbor.  Harbor and Brookings are separated by the Chetco River, and most people passing through don't even realize that they are not in Brookings when they are in Harbor.  It is a large laundromat, and I had no problem finding washers or dryer.  The only thing, the washers are what they call "High Efficiency", and they take over 40 minutes per load, but you use way less detergent.  All came clean, and the people in there were real friendly...found out that one lady at the laundromat was also staying in Loeb State Park as we pulled out of Loeb today.

Huntley is very empty compared to last year...we are about 6 weeks earlier than last year.  Lots of fishermen use the park, and I expect as we closer to the weekend there will be more local people coming up for the 4th of July.  Last year it was $77 per week...this year it is $95 per week.  The daily fee is up to $15 per day, up from $13 last year.  WHY?  Probably because it is operated by the Port, and the Port is up to its neck in debt due to ex-staff lawsuits.  There have been turnovers (recalls) in the Port Authority board...I think in time things will be better.

It was a nice cool day here today, maybe reached 70.  Since we are right along the Rogue River, the temps here will be just a bit milder than we had Loeb.  Will get some pictures and do another posting soon.  But I will include this one picture below I got with my cell phone on my way back from dong laundry yesterday.

Staying put at Alfred A Loeb through the Weekend

Alfred A Loeb State Park, near Brookings, Oregon

I headed the ten miles to just north of Brookings to empty our waste tanks today, while Marcia sat at the picnic table in our site so that no one would steal our precious camping site while I was gone.  Stopped by Fred Meyer to get a few things, so I was gone, in total, just over an hour and a half.  Sent her this picture to let her know that I had made it to the rest area north of Brookings to "DUMP THE TANKS".  Texted her just a little later to let her know I was in Fred Meyer…which got her brain activated as I had a few texts back with items to pick up while I was there.  Oh well, gave me a good excuse later as to why it took me so long at the grocery store. 

Saw this guy and his “extended” family down in Crescent City California a few days ago when we were at Castle Rock.  They pulled in yesterday…two vehicles and trailers from Idaho…his “family” pulled in next to us.  I talked to the camp hosts because in Crescent City they were openly smoking dope at the pullout, which even in the Marijuana legal states is an illegal act.  The hosts told me that they have had run ins with these folks a number of times this summer…they had been warned about their behavior twice previous, and they would be kicked out at the slightest problem.  Well, this morning a Oregon State Vehicle pulled up in the site next to us and a Human Services lady had a talk with the young lady (probably about 15 years old) and the mother.  Since I left and Marcia was out at the table, she heard a bit of what was going on…especially after the State worker left.  They essentially are on the lamb from the kids father, and the mother was heard saying, “We are getting out of Oregon right away and not coming back!”  As I was coming back up the hill to the campground from highway 101, I saw them headed the other way.  Called Marcia and got the scoop.  All I can say is, it is nice having the two older ladies in their motorhome next to us now.  The “father”, however, stayed in the park alone…and the camp hosts were not too sad about the the others leaving at all.  I had not been home for 5 minutes before these ladies snagged the site, then left some of their camping chairs with a note and did not come back until early this evening.

On the other side of us is this 5th wheel which pulled in yesterday (Wednesday) and is leaving tomorrow (Friday).  They are from Colorado, and they go out for a few months each year.  Friday they are hoping to get into Florence Keller County Park & Campground in Crescent City.  I told them about the large pull through we had…I hope they get it.  Not sure how large their 5th wheel is, maybe 26-28’, but you can see that even with their truck they still have a good 10’ left in their site.  Many sites can handle a 45’, but it would be a problem parking a tow car along with it unless you are willing to park it off site.

This site across from us has a family or two from the Medford area.  There are two ladies, most likely sisters, and about six kids ranging from teenagers to about 4 years old.  They have been here since Tuesday, and are leaving on Sunday.  Like us, they are just trying to get away from the heat…but unlike us, they are headed right back into it again.  As for us…we will be here until Monday, then we are staying at a RV Park 30 miles north of Brookings for a full week.  They have free Wifi, and laundry, and TV.  The big selling point however is free Wifi…we are 12 days into our month and nearly 1/2 gone with our data.  At $15 per gig for every gig over, it is worth the money to get a weekly rate at an RV park…which should run us about $180 for the week.

There are MANY blackberry plants in the park, and our site (#9) has many at the rear of the site.  I think the people who come in behind us will be very happy that we are on this low carb diet, which, at this point, does not include fruit until we loose more weight.  Eventually berries become a good food product on the low carb diet…but that is the next stage which, unfortunately, is still a long ways away. 

Another thing we have around our site are three leaf clovers…lots of them.  Tried to find a four leaf, but to no avail.  Also a number of ferns too.

Not sure what this plant/tree is, but they have a number of them in these wire cages around the park.  It looks a bit like Poison Oak, but there are no warnings…if it is, I will let you know before we leave because I will surely get it.  Not as bad as my brother Bob who would get it just looking at when he was younger…not sure if that is still the case or not.

Finally, a word about the first line of the blog.  Had a follower by the name of Bob who, while reading the blog on Crescent City, wondered if it was New Orleans I was talking about, or Northern California.  He suggested that I add the location of where we are at the top of the blog to make it easier…so I am going to try and do just that.  I always include the location in Blogger, and they put it at the end of the blog.  Tried to change that to the top, but it won’t do it…so I am just going to manually add it at the top in each blog…when I remember.  Always appreciate constructive suggestions to make the read a bit easier…thanks again Bob.

Alfred A. Loeb State Park, near Brookings Oregon

   

The Alfred A Loeb State Park website says it best:

Your first impression of Loeb may well be the fresh scent of the myrtlewood forest ... a crisp, eucalyptus-like fragrance.  The park is nestled in a grove of these lovely trees, many of which are well over 200 years old.  The pristine Chetco River runs clean and clear along the southeast edge of the park.  (http://oregonstateparks.org)

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The sites are not too close, the park has water and electric at the 48 sites, with many sites well over 40’ in length, all back in.  There are some tent campters here, but they pay the same as RVs…$22 per day.  There are also three small cabins, $40 per day, and each cabin faces the river.  The three pictures above show the area to our left if facing the motorhome (picture upper left), to the right where you can see our motorhome on the far left in this picture (picture upper right) and another which shows our two neighbors to our left, then us and barely in the picture our neighbor to our right (bottom picture)  The campground road is straight for about the first five sites on each side, then there is a loop…the upper left picture is where the loop starts…the bottom picture is taken from where the road loops back to itself. 

    

Picture above left is the three cabin as viewed from the road to their own parking area.  Picture right is one of the cabins facing the river.

I was surprised to find a few vehicles down at the river.  When we entered the State Park we then immediately turned into the campground…so somewhere in the day use area is a road giving access to the river.  I know that just a few miles upstream is the Miller Bar Campground, and this National Forest Campground $10, $5 with senior pass, allows camping right on the river stream.  Personally, I would have to think twice about driving my motorhome along these rocks…but after walking it, it is very solid…just think about how it has been under water during parts of the winter though…

This is the Chetco River, a 56 mile long river that descends rapidly from about 3,200 feet level down into the Pacific Ocean.  The Chetco River is mostly undeveloped, protected by the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest and the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. The upper 45 miles of the river is designated Wild and Scenic.  The name “Chetco” is from the The Chetco Indians once lived along the banks of the river.  The last full-blooded Chetco died in 1940, but around 1,500 descendants of the tribe remain...although they once were one of the largest tribes on the Pacific Coast of Oregon.  And yes, people swim in the river, which runs very easy in this area.  We saw many people walking along the road in swimming clothes with towels, and later they walked back, many time very wet. 

The park is about 8 miles from Brookings and Highway 101.  The weather is just a bit warmer this far from the Pacific, but by no means is it hot.  In fact, it is just a little more comfortable, and I expect the night time temperatures will not be as cold either.  Not sure how long we will stay here…paid for one night just to see how we like it…my guess we will be here at least through Wednesday night…perhaps through the whole weekend.  Unfortunately there is no dump station, but there is a free one just north of Brookings less than 10 miles away. 

All the above was written on Monday night…it is now Tuesday afternoon.  I paid for two more nights here, and on Thursday we might very well extend through the weekend.  It was a very quiet night.  Of course, our holding tanks cannot handle through the weekend, but we have devised a plan in which I drive to Brookings, and Marcia and one or two of the dogs will stay in the campground holding our spot.  After seeing the “vultures” come in this morning grabbing just abandoned sites very quickly, it is the only way to ensure we will have a site when the motorhome gets back from Brookings.