Bunny Land!

The misty morning of our second day on the road started early. Despite the rv mattress being surprisingly cozy, it just wan’t dark enough for my sleep needs and I tossed and turned all night. I will have to cover the skylight with some fabric before tonight. We had a quick breakfast of pb toast with bananas and went back to the beach, on foot this time. We played with a giant piece of driftwood, chased seagulls, and made our way back along the shopfronts again. There was a really eerie rock garden with strange statues and a cauldron of mist. Cool. I took a few small rock trinkets and we left some change as a donation. We hooked up and pulled out around 10 and headed straight for an RV shop in Tillamook to see what was up with our water pump. It was only a 20 min drive and it was the most beautiful stretch yet…glassy bays, quaint farm houses, forested rocks that rise from the water right off shore, and some super cute tiny towns. 

  Tillamook Bay
 We quickly arrived and were helped by the owners and their black lab Buddy. The fixed it easily and we picked up a few supplies from their store. Zo also enjoyed the play area and it’s assortment of trucks. She is really fascinated by all vehicles, which is pretty cool since she LIVES in one now!

Directly across from the shop stood the Tillamook Cheese Factory!!!! So of course we had to check it out! Grilled cheese for them, Mac & Cheese for me! Yummo. Just barely made it out without grabbing a pint of icecream. We also peeked at the observation deck where you can see the processes the cheese goes through such as Cheddaring, which removes the curds.  

 Zo said “Cheeeeeese” all afternoon after our delicious and educational pit-stop. Really not feeling like driving the whole 80+ miles to Newport, we instead drove just another 20 minutes (yes, we are taking our sweet time) and pulled into Pleasant Valley RV Park. This place. Is. Magical! The first thing I saw by the office was a couple of huge bunnies loping out of a red hutch and right across the path. There is also a fuzzy terrier that roams around. It is very grassy and meadow-like and clean, but also has lots of trees. We got our sight which was thankfully a pull-through (no backing up this time). This is about when I realized that the bunnies weren’t just in the hutch and fenced area up front, but ran freely across the entire park! They are snuggled up under parked rvs and boats and basking in the sun all over the stinkin’ place.  

 Shep, of course, was not pleased and had to be leashed. He still proceeded to whine incessantly at them which was annoying. They really are the cutest!

As William was leveling the trailer  

 (nice job hunny) I started talking to the men across from us that I had seen cleaning fish at the wash station up front. They were all decked out in fishing gear and looked, I will just say, legit. After a few minutes of conversation I found myself with a glorious cut of salmon which they had caught just hours earlier. 

  I am thrilled. I will hopefully get around to cooking it tonight. Because of the water situation our ability to prep and clean up after meals has been limited so far. The best part, I think, is that this generous fisherman was named Spud 🙂 His buddy was Troy. Lots of friendly folks at these parks so far…it probably has something to do with being outdoorsy and following their bliss. He said they come out from Portland as often as they can to fish and enjoy nature. Ditching suburbia is good for the soul it seems

What isn’t good for the soul…is the seemingly endless number of things that can malfunction or just outright break. It has been one step forward, one backwards this whole time. Aaaargh. I won’t get into the frustrating little details, but I am writing this in front of the laundromat/showers where I just took my FIRST hot shower and am currently waiting for our laundry to dry. Nice facilities though! This little guy or gal came up to visit me.

We got the bunnies to eat some baby carrots out of our hands. Sooo cute. 

  

  There are black, white brown, huge, tiny and lop-eared varieties. They are everywhere. They have even taken over the play structure. The baby bunnies live under this old boat that I assume was put there for kids to play on, and the adults like to roll in the sand by the slide. Just magical I tell you! There is also a really lushly forested creek with a swimming hole. We waded into it and Zo sent some leaf boats down 

  

  I would like to take our time here in the morning since it is so lovely, but we’ll see. We want to make it all the way to Newport. The 101 is beautiful, but pretty slow going so we will get a better idea as we chug along. There are so many other (in most cases MUCH larger) rvs on this stretch…it’s nice because, not only do we feel a sense of camaraderie when we see them struggling to maneuver, but there are many large turn-outs and areas that are designed with them in mind. TONS of shops that sell and fix trailers line the hwy. It has been really convenient for us so far The Cheese Factory even had it’s own parking lot reserved for rvs.

This has gotten quite long. Looking forward to hopefully getting a good night’s sleep and seeing what tomorrow has to bring!

~N

Hopefully William writes the next one!