Today I learned the value of reconnoitering. I am in Tillamook, Oregon, visiting my darling 88-year-old mother and my almost-as-darling something-something-year-old sister. Tillamook is an important intermediate destination of our 100-day westward wandering: we have to be in Tillmook for Thanksgiving 2012 and will be staying a week. I had tentatively planned on staying at what I thought was the closest RV park: the Tillamook Bay City RV Park. I wasn’t expecting much in the way of scenery or amenities, but since we were visiting family all we really needed was a place to sleep and a chance to escape from the non-stop Euchre games. But since I was here – and, truth be told, there isn’t much to do in Tillamook to amuse one’s self unless you like to nibble on cheese – when my sister offered to escort me on a tour of the local RV parks I quickly jumped at the opportunity.
My short list of RV parks for the Tillamook week also included the Harborview RV Park in Garibaldi and the Pleasant Valley RV Park just south of Tillamook. I liked the Garibaldi park based on its location on the bay in downtown Garibaldi. I had visions of Jett and me, at the end of a long day with family, walking across the street to a fine restaurant. But it was about 20 minutes from my sister’s house.
The Pleasant Valley park was a smidge closer, but had very little to offer otherwise. Its only real advantage was that it would cut off a few miles when we headed south to California.
Ok, I wasn’t real serious about the Pleasant Valley option. But it was an option and I might as well take a look.
But my sister and her husband scoffed at all three parks. They said I needed to check out the Wilson River RV Park (which was actually the park closest to Tillamook and their home) and the Netarts Bay RV Park which, they said, had the most spectacular bay view.
So we went to see both.
It was a beautiful day in Tillamook. Apparently that is about as rare as a liberal Republican, so it was a great day to do a regional tour. Because it was closest we hit the Wilson River site first. It is small – maybe 100 sites arranged along the banks of the Wilson River. Salmon come up the Wilson during spawning season, so this campground is very popular with fisher people during the salmon runs. We encountered the park manager along the entry road, shirtless and toiling in the sun. He was very pleasant and assured us that they could accommodate us at Thanksgiving time and that dogs were very welcome. That satisfied me, so we toured the grounds a bit. It struck me as a friendly and comfortable place.
Wilson River RV Park
We then traversed Tillamook (a 4-minute exercise) and drove to the coast – Netarts Bay, to be specific. We found the Netarts Bay RV Park tucked away along the shore of the bay. It did, indeed, have a spectacular view of the Pacific. We were again assured that our big rig could be accommodated and that dogs were very welcome.
Netarts Bay RV Park
So we now have two good choices for the week in November. And neither of them were on the short list I had when I arrived. This is the value of reconnoitering.