We left Ainsworth State Park and headed to our favorite Elks Lodge in Sherwood. It is located close to our friends and is easily accessed off highway 99. On a clear day, there is a beautiful view of Mt. Baker. And for $16 per night for water, electric and a Thursday pump-out, what’s not to love? We stayed two nights, then made our way to Eugene/Coburg for some Scoopy love. After that, we returned for a week to spend some time with our friends.
Mount Baker as seen from the Sherwood Elks Lodge.
The Eugene/Coburg area is our favorite place to get work done on Scoopy. Home to Cummins Northwest and Carrier RV Service, among others, it’s a great stopover for annual service and repairs. We joked on our way to Carrier that it was time to visit with friends Bill and Diane, who were sitting in the lot when we arrived there in 2016. This time, on our second day there, who comes rolling in? Bill and Diane. I guess we’re all on the same maintenance schedule! It was good to spend some time with them and catch up!
Carrier RV in Eugene. Bill and Diane’s rig is to the right!
Last December I wrote about getting some upgrades done to Scoopy at a facility in Mansfield, Texas. In the end it didn’t work out at all as their quotes were about three times higher than expected. Truthfully, they had zero interest in working with us, I think because it wasn’t an insurance claim. If we’d been t-boned on the way into their facility, no doubt we would have been welcomed with open arms. So we planned to get some things done in Eugene instead. But, getting renovations done while still living in Scoopy is difficult at best, and after our Mansfield experience we just kind of lost interest. While in Texas, we did upgrade our kitchen and bath faucets and we purchased some gorgeous glass tiles to install in those two areas. The tiles are still sitting in our closet. 🙂
At Carrier we had Scoopy’s slides adjusted, a new tailpipe put on (that was my birthday present this year, along with my ceramic Chicken. I was so excited!) and a few odds and ends done. We moved on to RV Glass Solutions, across town in Coburg. You may recall that upon exiting Canada following our trip to Alaska, a little red Corvette rounded a corner at high speed and threw a rock into our passenger side windshield which left us with a web-like dent about the size of a half dollar. We’ve been traveling with it ever since, and still wouldn’t have bothered to fix it if not for the fact that we had a brand new front window gasket we wanted installed. They said even a slightly damaged window would not survive being removed and reinstalled, so it had to be replaced. RV Glass Solutions is the most professional outfit we’ve dealt with and they did a great job on both the gasket installation and the new window. Now we’re traveling crack-free!
We had to sit for at least 24 hours after the gasket and windshield were installed. This was a gentle reminder.
While in Eugene, we had a delicious brunch at the Lion & Owl. Highly recommended!
We would have to wait on a part to complete repairs to our automatic levelers and return the following week to Carrier. So we also made an appointment to service our generator at Cummins, as it was time.
With all that done, it was back to Portland to hang with our friends. Steven and Glenn were eager to go out and make a movie of some sort (creepy/scary) while Kris and I hit up the Farmers Market and get creative in the kitchen (happy/tasty). See the difference? Kris and I went to the Farmers Market in Beaverton where I discovered two of my new favorite things. Golden Elixir Brown Butter Ghee and Wild Roots Marionberry Infused Vodka. Both of them are out of this world! I only bought one of each, but on the day we headed north into Washington, Steven and I made a quick trip back to Beaverton so I could stock up!
Shopping and shooting. We were both happy!
Among our group are vegans, vegetarians and paleo-leaning folks, and we enjoy the challenge of meeting everyone’s preferences. I am the latter, but I’m happy to try foods I don’t typically eat, mainly because Kris is such a great cook. I draw the line at soy, however, but other than that, I’m pretty flexible. It’s a lot of fun to come up with yummy food everyone can enjoy, and we do pretty well. One night, I prepared Shakshuka. It’s a vegetarian dish, made vegan by adding tofu instead of eggs.We made both kinds, and it was delicious! We also had everyone over to our place for a cookout. We sat around our little campfire in a can (which I just love!) and enjoyed each other’s company. It’s good to be with friends.
Shakshuka, simply yummy.
Out with Kris and Glenn and the boys look positively spooky by our campfire in a can.
Our friend Chris took us for a spin in his spiffy Tesla. Those things are zippy! Look at that gigantic display!
Now, it’s time to move north to see our kiddos. We haven’t been in Seattle for two years and we decided this time we’d do a few touristy things!
UP NEXT: Touristy Things in Seattle
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I bet it was nice to get the repairs taken care of and put that behind you. And to do it in an area you can visit friends made it even better!
Man, that Tesla is sharp! Know what you mean about being zippy, as we rode in a Chevy Bolt electric recently. Definitely want your Starbucks secured in the cup holder before you hit the throttle! 😎
I get the same kind of birthday presents:))
I always thought we'd do our work in Coburg, but it's never worked out right for our travels. Glad you were able to get so much done! When they changed our gasket on the windshield (full size) they had to replace the whole window because as soon as they move it out they know it breaks. Both play days sound like fun – movie making and food making!
We are so spoiled, right? 🙂
That Tesla is awesome. The door handles recede into the body of the car when not in use. They slide out to open the door. Pretty cool! The owners have a kitty named Tesla, I suggested they name the car Kitty. 🙂
Our motto is "if 80 percent of your rig is working, then you're 100 percent good." LOL, actually, we read that on the blog of the folks we bought Scoopy from, but it sounds about right!
We've been toting that gasket around for a while, so we figured it was time to get it installed. So glad to have the extra room back in our bay, that gasket took up a ton of room!
Yum, that shaksuka looks divine! And farmer's markets with marionberry infused vodka, and a vintage Airstream with an intruiging brunch (yes, I had to check out the menu). There's no place like the Pacific Northwest for food! Thanks for the tip on the Lion and Owl…on our list for our next swing through Eugene…
It's good to be a foodie in the PNW! And Portland is a huge vegan scene and we've had some memorable meals there (for a couple of carnivores)!