crossing

The Oregon Coast: Seaside

We’re almost all caught up here! Hooray! We’ve only just left Seaside, so one more post update and we’ll be reporting our adventures in real time again.

We left Astoria on Sunday the 21st with Lisa and Rhema and drove down to Seaside to have lunch before they headed back to Portland. After lunch at Seaside Brewing, Andy and I checked into the RV park where we’d be staying. We were treated to another day of unseasonably beautiful weather on the coast that lasted almost an entire week!

We were so pleased with our spot—the bright indoor pool, hot tub and sauna, and the bike-able proximity to town—that we decided to stay a while longer. Not to mention the fact that one of the main reasons we went back to Seaside instead of going north to Long Beach, WA, is that we’d had our hopes set high to catch some crabs, and we could get our in-state shellfish licenses if we stuck around!

We rented crab pots and rode our bikes up to the 12th Street bridge to drop them in.

If this isn’t evidence that Andy’s the cutest, then I don’t know what is. He duct taped a box onto his bike rack and wrote the tide tables on it, marked the minimum size for keeper crabs, and illustrated a reminder of the difference between the males and females. You can’t keep the ladies!

Halfway through our stay, Andy ordered some crab traps online so we could leave them in longer. With the rings, you’re supposed to check them every 20 minutes or so, but with the traps, if a crab comes in, he’s there to stay! Andy strapped them onto the crab box with bungee cords and we tried again.

This guy.

Throughout our stay, the locals were eager to share their advice on the best crab bait. Fish heads, chicken, squid, frozen turkey legs, cat food, herring. . . the list goes on, but we stuck with chicken. We were also told that this month has been especially bad for crabbing, proven by the fact that we didn’t see anyone catch any, despite all the traps hanging from the bridge. Sadly, we had no luck crabbing either, but we have high hopes for Wheeler! (That’s right, we’re heading south now. . . details to follow.)

Of course, the other appeal to Seaside is beach time. . .

Patio lunches at Seaside Brewery. . .

Outdoor kitty time. . .

The Wine and Beer Haus (they have Stone Ruination on tap, so Andy was a very happy camper!). . .

And having friends come to visit! Lisa and Rhema came to spend the weekend with us again, and we had a blast. Rhema climbed a huge rock.

Just kidding.

The wind was blowing like crazy on the beach!

Rhema gave us some pointers on throwing a frisbee golf putter. I’ve never seen anyone throw a frisbee as far as this guy can!

Every frisbee golfer could use a fetching-obsessed dog while practicing.

Lisa and I were cracking up watching Kona dig rows of holes!

When the weather turned stormy, we visited the Aquarium, played some Cribbage and Settlers in the Turtle, swam, shot some pool, and ate pizza. A great weekend!

Well, a mostly great weekend. When we got up on Sunday morning, Andy noticed that my bike had been stolen! Boooooo. I’m heartbroken. I loved that bike. And it feels so ratty to know some jerk was skulking around outside the Turtle while we slept. Grrr. 😦 Also, what gives?? First my phone and now my bike! *Sigh*

But we’re all still healthy, happy and active, so in the grand scheme of things, I suppose it’s a minor setback. Anyway, as a bike is a necessity for our lifestyle, we picked one up at the bike shop in town, so my heart will heal and I’ll still be able to get where I’m going. Plus, it’s purple!

The following weekend our friend Dan came up to visit with his friend Sarah. They stayed at the most charming hotel called Ashore. It’s quite small, but it has loads of accommodations. A small deep pool, a wet sauna, and a darling wine bar that stays open until 11pm! We enjoyed them all. Plus a night walk through town to check our traps and admire the little coastal homes.

We had breakfast at a place called The Firehouse Grill, and YUM! Perfect fluffy biscuits, fat strips of bacon, spicy sausage, fresh grilled veggies. . . wait, to be clear, I didn’t order all those things—we sampled each other’s breakfasts. It was a relaxing and enjoyable weekend; so fun to see Dan again, and great to meet Sarah! Thanks for coming up, guys! 🙂

We left that morning, which was yesterday, which means we’re all caught up here! We’re back at our middle-of-nowhere tent site outside Wheeler on our way to Montana. But more on that next time!

Our Last Days in Pacific City

As excited as we are to see what the lies ahead of us on our journey, as we were going over the pre-flight checklist on our last day I found myself feeling wistful to leave Pacific City! Even though Andy had to work every day we were there, including the weekend, we were able to wring every drop of fun out of that little town. And we made a name for ourselves on the pool’s check-in log, with our name filling nearly every other line on the list!

Our friends Kelly and Jason came to visit over the last few days, and we introduced them to the pool and hot tub, Pelican Brewery, and the incredible views on the beach. With their help, we discovered the superbly tasty fish and chips at the locals’ favorite hangout, The Sportsman’s Pub (skip the high prices on that menu item at Pelican), as well as the scrumptious fish tacos and scratch margaritas on the deck of BJ’s Tacos. They stayed in a nice little cabin on the same site we were staying, where we had room to play games and watch the Super Bowl. We had an unbelievable stretch of sunny 65 degree days while they were here, so we got plenty of beach time and even a few farmer’s tans!

The sunsets each night were breathtaking.

Sadly, the day after this sunset, my phone took a lethal swim. It had been in my coat pocket on the edge of Kelly’s bed, and when I wasn’t looking it slid off the bed and right into the dogs’ bowl! It sat there for the precise amount of time necessary to completely crash. I lost a bunch of photos, and am still working through that grief.

On our last day, the rain and fog rolled in, giving us a misty, moody final walk down the beach.

Scout ran up and down the sand dune three times, and was still ready to take on the remainder of the beach.

We assured him that we were only leaving one beach to reach another, grabbed some coffee, and hit the road for the next stop on the journey!

We Made It!

We’re here!

On Sunday we arrived at Pacific City, Oregon for the first leg of our exciting new life.

It was a bittersweet farewell from Portland, which was to be expected after living there for a combined 17 years! Portland holds a very special place in both our hearts, and it would take nothing more than a thrilling new adventure to convince us to leave such a unique and beautiful city.

January 30th was both the last Saturday of the month and my birthday, so shortly after noon we left our cozy slice of Sauvie Island and headed to my sister’s house in Washington. There we got to hang out with two of my three sisters, along with their husbands and all 8 combined kids! I was in sister/auntie heaven. The following morning, after a delicious pancake breakfast for me and a (requested) leftover pot roast breakfast for Andy, we said our tearful goodbyes and hit the road.

About a week earlier , we had purchased a Groupon for the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, and stopped there on our way to the coast. If you’re ever in the McMinnville area, I assert that it’s worth the seemingly-high ticket price to check the place out! You can easily spend at least 3 hours there, and more if you see a show in the theater or go to the water park. They have a waterslide that starts at the top of a Boeing 747! (Check it out at http://evergreenmuseum.org)

In the interest of time we didn’t do the water park, but we got to walk inside the Spruce Goose, take a tour inside a B-17, and see an SR-71 right up close.

We arrived in Pacific City just in time for the wild hail storm hitting the coast, and checked into the park. The following morning we were lucky enough to get a bright and sunny start to our stay here! Andy had work to do, but over his lunch break we took Scout down to the water for some border collie beach fun! He was grinning from ear to ear, bounding down the beach and back, jumping up to spring off our legs, and then would bolt away for another lap. It was hilarious!

The rocky coastline makes for a dramatic backdrop! It’s also a lot of fun to climb around on. Scout made it to the top and back five times before we made it halfway up. This really is the happiest I can ever remember seeing this dog. He was having such a nice time he even let me catch a few photos of him.

We have a nice little spot for our tiny house right in the middle of the park. It’s a clean and friendly place, and as a extra bonus, the grounds are home to dozens of wild bunnies!

We also have a great pool and spacious hot tub, which we have been taking full advantage of. Our new schedule allows us pool time before breakfast, during lunch, and after Andy finishes working. Andy gets so excited about pool time that his new work uniform consists of a warm hat, sweater, hiking boots. . . and swim trunks.

On our second day here, we opted to stay in the hot tub for the entire duration of Andy’s lunch break, so afterwards Scout and I took a trip down to the beach by ourselves. The sky was mostly overcast and the wind was incredible! It was stunning and invigorating.

The waves were crashing and pounding on the horizon, and they whipped up the frothiest sea foam I’ve ever seen! A wave would push mounds of foam on to the sand, and then the wind would push it in peaks sideways down the beach. When I tried to pick it up in handfuls, it would vanish instantly in a wisp of airy bubbles. It was magical.

We endlessly marvel at how unbelievable it is that after working so hard over the last year, our vision has finally become a reality. It was incredibly hard work, but our dream to make our lives more about quality time together outside is now our real life! We’ll keep you posted on the goings on of the upcoming week, but so far it has been made up of relaxation, lots of laughing, and especially much more time for days like this:

The Very Beginning

The question we hear most often is, “How did this plan come about, anyway?”

The story goes like this:

Andy and I had been living in our little house in John’s Landing for a few years, and loved the space, the neighborhood and all our good friends there. We were lucky in that we were right on the bike trail that gets us all around Portland, we had walkable access to restaurants we loved, good coffee options, and our favorite tap room that allows dogs! (If you’re ever in John’s Landing, check out NW Growlers; everyone there is so friendly and there are loads of dogs to play with. Also, a sweet little pig named Q-bert who doesn’t seem to mind that Scout is obsessed with him.)

Scout and Q-bert: a friendship for the ages.

Sweet little Amos, the bartender’s dog, who our friend Lisa asserts was made in a button factory.

But the highlight of our location was that we had beach access right across Macadam Blvd., barely over a block from our front door! Our summers were spent walking back and forth from home to the Willamette River Trail with our tubes on our backs and Scout pulling anxiously on his leash for some frisbee time in the river. We’d plunk our tubes in the water, paddle out a ways, and drop anchor (a rock for me and a chunk of lead for Andy). There we’d float, drink a few beers, get some sun, and chat with the friends we’d often invite along. Most hot days, Andy would get home from work, change into his swim trunks, and we’d be on the river in 10 minutes, staying until the sun went down. Our front porch looked like a beach house with the float tubes at the ready and a consistent layer of sand!

Andy and our friend Jason enjoying the spot.

Stop taking pictures and throw the frisbee already!

So one day, Andy and I were bobbing around on the river and enjoying ourselves throughly. Andy made a comment about how he wished he didn’t have to go to work at all, and wondered how we could make that moment a lifestyle. What we had a hard time being able to justify was why we spent so much time working for the majority of our time, just to have small slivers of quality time outside, enjoying each other’s company and playing in nature!

I found this quote which summed up our conversation perfectly:

We started tossing ideas around, and I think it was Andy who mentioned living in an RV and traveling. I wholeheartedly agreed, and we began making lists and plans!

Just a hilarious picture of Scout riding in the car.

What was working in our favor was that I had recently graduated, and Andy was in a position at his job where he could potentially work remotely. He had also just sold his house in Seattle, so he was no longer tied to that project and also had a little walking around money. So we began making plans. One day about month later, I got an email from Andy with a link to a Craig’s List post for a cute little 1985 Class C RV. We went out to take a look, and once Andy determined the bones and major working parts were in good shape, we bought it!

This was just 10 minutes after we bought the Turtle, when we pulled in for a little lunch and celebration!

Our original plan was to just work away on it in our free time, and move in when the project was complete. But as the year went along, we realized that it was going to take us exactly the amount of time we gave ourselves to complete it. With an infinite deadline, we’d just work and work until it was perfect, which would take an infinite amount of time! We also realized how much project time we were going to lose once the Portland rain and shorter days hit.

In the spring of 2015, we decided to make the deadline the end of September. As we all now know, that deadline did get pushed back by a month, but after months of hard nonstop work, we did it! We had to remind our friends what our faces looked like afterward, but it was worth it. With a deadline, we pushed ourselves much harder, and made quicker decisions. It made it easier to prioritize tasks, and helped us not to dwell on small details. We still have some things we’d have like to have completed, but the Turtle is comfortable and livable, and let’s be honest, at this point we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves without some projects on the list. 🙂

Why We’re Here

Hello!

So as you and everyone within earshot knows, we are absolutely loving life in the Turtle! It is a great experiment and a serious adventure. So while we’re starting out here, I thought I’d briefly explain that as we are very new to this lifestyle, I began the blog for two purposes. The first is to document our journey so family, friends, and anyone at all who is interested can follow along with us and enjoy our exploits.

Andy adventuring.

The second–and the one we are most passionate about–is to discuss the process and how much we’re learning in order to help out others who may be interested in a similar venture! Especially for those who are adopting an older vehicle to refurbish, we have learned so much that we’d love to share, and we want to be the resource for others that we felt we were lacking when we started out.

Gracie adventuring.

The bulk of the full-time RV-ing books we found are written for those who are retired, bought a relatively new vehicle, and plan to live primarily in RV parks. We will certainly find ourselves in parks as needed, and as our first few weeks on Sauvie Island have proven, it’s a comfortable and relaxing way to enjoy your RV. But our main goal is to generally be surrounded by nature for most of the time, with the remaining time spent visiting friends who we aren’t able to see nearly as much as we’d like to, due to jobs, and bills, and air fare, and never, ever enough vacation time.

Scout adventuring.

So keep up with us for whatever reason suits you best!

Amy adventuring.

If you’d like to hear specific tips on gutting and refurbishing your RV, we are excited to share! We did nearly everything on our own, from painting the exterior, to upholstering the interior, to welding the front bumper so we could bring our bikes along, to installing solar panels so we can boondock for longer periods of time.

If you’re interested in seeing what National Parks we explore first (we’re aiming to see them all!), tales from of all corners of the US (and eventually South America), and most importantly, lots of photos of Scout and Gracie (obviously), then we’d love to have you join us!

Oh, and please bear with me as I learn the ins and outs of WordPress. The posts will eventually look brilliant, I promise, but for now at least they’re live! 🙂

The Turtle “Before”

So let me catch you all up on where we began, and how far we’ve come in this last year in getting the Turtle ready to go! A lot of work has gone into it already, and with a little over a month before we hit the road, we still have plenty to do.

We bought the Turtle from a couple who were the original owners, and who had taken such good care of it over the years. But while it was in great shape, we wanted to update and customize it, making it our own little home.

We weren’t super great about taking photos initially, because it was so far from where we wanted it to be that it didn’t occur to us that we’d want “Before” photos! And I don’t think we have any of it with carpet, since Andy was such a go-getter that he ripped it out almost immediately. You’ll have to use your imagination there. 🙂

So here’s where it began.

Minutes after buying the Turtle!

The loft

The bathroom

So. Much. Brown.

Our exciting new adventure!

Hello there, fellow adventure-seekers!

We are Andy and Amy from Portland, Oregon, and we’re about to set out on an exciting new chapter of our lives together. It’s going to be awesome.

This year we bought a charming little RV, which we have named The Turtle! It’s a 1985 Ford “Turtle Top” which was in amazing condition, considering its age. We have some serious plans for making our little Turtle look bright and funky, function perfectly, and with Andy’s metalworking expertise, very Mad Max-y.

So far, we’ve done a ton of work already, and are hoping to be moved into the Turtle by the end of October. We’re on a 2-month countdown, and then our travels begin. We’ve taken so many progress photos already, that I thought now was the time to start documenting our work, so we can have the blog up and running by the time we hit the road!

Follow along and share in our adventure with us!

Amy and Andy (and Scout and Gracie too)

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