Oct. 31st to Nov. 21st 2022
Hee Hee Illahee RV Park was a wonderful place to stay. The park is a clean park, with lots of good people. Their Maintenance team was wonderful with Sidney. We were there during Fall leaf cleanup season- For 2 days while they where in our section of the park, Sidney spent most of the day, raking and shoveling leaves into their dump trailer. They even modified a rake so he could use it (trimmed and sanded the handle). He also got a couple “firsts” out of the way with working with them: He got to drive a golf cart (steer while they handled the pedels) and Sidney also got to unhook their dump trailer (actually remove the pin and raise the tongue off the hitch). The Park Manager also gave Sidney a ‘Certificate of Awesome.”
We enjoyed using the park’s fire pit (since we couldn’t use our own) and had friends over for dinner and smores a few times.
Activities
Willamette Mission State Park
We got to enjoy a morning bike ride though one of the gems of Oregon State Parks. We were joined by our good friends the Overbys for our first ever family bike ride. We started our ride at the Weathland Ferry dock and biked a couple miles through the park. Sidney did a very well on his longest bike ride to date. He kept up with the other kids and had a great time!
This was also Richard’s first bike ride- we borrowed the Overby’s bike trailer for Richard. He had a blast until he fell asleep for the 2nd part of the ride. Katie enjoyed pulling him (Kyle’s bike would not tow the trailer) but decided that it would Kyle’s job going forward.
Silver Falls State Park
We took a few hours on a weekend to drive around and explorer the area. We did not spend much time in the park but is very high on our ‘come back to’ list. It has several camping sites that could fit our rig and lots and lots of trails to explore.
Centennial State Park
We visited Centennial Park one afternoon to hang out with a friend and her kids. We did not spend much time here as it was very windy and pouring rain. It did have a nice playground but not a lot of shelter from the elements.
Woodburn Premium Outlets
We spent an afternoon at the Woodburn Premium Outlets. Sidney enjoyed pulling his brother around in the wagon and enjoyed some Thai food.
Projects
The boys bunkbeds
Kyle finally got to install the boys new bunkbed. This project crossed a couple months and taught Kyle a lot about doing the project on the road. The biggest challenge was not having an area to let the paint dry, so he was completely at the weather’s schedule and not his. Waiting for a day with below 70% humidity and above 60 degrees was interesting. In the end, he was setting up the Gazebo with a space heater to get the job done.
Gear update
Kyle’s new bike and Richard’s bike trailer
One of the big goals of our new lifestyle is to try and be a more ‘active’ family. We are taking a 3 prong approach to this goal- to equip the family to spend more time on the water kayaking, enable us to go on family day hikes, and to try and do more biking.
Before we left for the road, Katie and Sidney got new bikes. Kyle was able to find a good deal at the Northwest Hub bike shop in Salem, Or. The Northwest hub is not only a bike shop but also an outreach mission supported by several local churches. We found old floor model of a new bike that worked well for Kyle.
After borrowing a friend’s bike trailer for Richard, we ordered one for him. It came in just before we left and look forward to using it in the future.
