Shamrock Village Rv Park, Eugene, OR

Thursday, June 7 - Well it is my birthday today. It is sure different without family and friends and “boss” giving me the special treatment. Ray will have to be the one to make it special, but tomorrow, not today. I have already selected a place in Eugene to get a massage and go to dinner -- place to be determined. I LOVE Oregon coastline.
We left Klamath Falls this morning with 35 degrees at 7:30 AM. We have arrived at our park Shamrock Village Rv Park in Eugene, OR. Tight quarters. Our slides are out and we have satellite all by 3:00 pm, so we are happy campers. It is much warmer here than Klamath Falls. We have reserved seven days here at Shamrock Village. The scenery along our drive even on I-5 was unbelievable. Never have seen so many fir, pines, and other trees I can’t identify.
The park has a train track about two blocks away and the traffic is quite heavy outside the fenced-in area located three sites away. Doesn’t really bother us as long as the trains and traffic are minimal at night. Obviously I didn't take pictures.

The train just went by and it was loud and blowing its horn constantly. This certainly was not mentioned on the web site!

Covered Bridges: "They don't build 'em like that anymore." As a matter of fact, they don't build 'em at all anymore. Covered bridges are anachronisms in an age of 70-mile-an-hour interstates and no time to stop and linger.

Oregon has the largest concentration of covered bridges west of the Mississippi -- 51 of them scattered around the Willamette Valley south of Portland. There is even a special organization, the Covered Bridge Society of Oregon, dedicated to the preservation and restoration of these historic remnants.
In the days before creosoted and chemically treated lumber was available, bridges were covered to protect them from the elements so they would last longer. The state's first covered span was built in 1851 in Oregon City, and at one time Oregon boasted several hundred of them. The reason the Willamette Valley has so many is that a large number of the early settlers came from New England, where covered bridges were common. These people built them from familiar designs, using Douglas fir that grew abundantly in the area.

Ray’s Reflections: We have spent several stays in smaller cities, so we opted for a larger city, Eugene. As always, when we are looking for another RV park, we have only the reviews of other and the park ads to determine if this is our next stop. Shamrock Mobile Home Park and RV Park on the east end of Eureka turned out to be two or three blocks from a homeless town and near railroad tracks. The park spaces were so tight we could hardly open our slides. Obviously designed for older and smaller trailers. One good thing, while unloading my 900+ lb. motorcycle from the truck bed, the usual bystanders gathered to ask questions and make comments. From this group one of the fellows asked if I wanted to ride with him. He said about 200 miles and 4-5 hours over to the coast. I didn’t have to think about that answer. Our route from Eugene was I-5 south on Rt. 38 west Rt. 101 north coastal, Rt. 34 west back to I-5. On Rt. 38 near Reedsport, we stopped to see the Elk grazing less than 100 ft. away. The coastal ride can’t be described in words or photos. Awesome! River was great with some of the roadsides full fir and pine tree canopies overhanging. Again, with my personal guide, Bill, the ride was great. We put on 244 miles in 7.5 hours. The day was beautiful with blue skies and lots of sunshine.
Friday, June 8 - Weather is great today with sunny skies and 70. Cool at night down to 47. We drove around to see the 4 nearby covered bridges and decided that we didn’t need to travel elsewhere to see the remaining 22. Parvin Bridge was erected to replace one dating in the 1880's. Lowell Bridge is the widest covered bridge in the state at 24 ft. and the only one that crosses a reservoir – it was used by logging trucks until it was closed and is now only used by pedestrian traffic. Unity Bridge with a Howe truss span and full-length window on the upstream side. Pengra Bridge also straddles Fall Creek.
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For my birthday, we went to a local restaurant called North Bank and is located on the north bank of the Willamette River. Beautiful setting and outside seating was available. We preferred to be seated indoors with a view of the river due to the chill in the air. Dinner was great and prices were reasonable and we loved the casual atmosphere and young people. We both had baked trout special since we hardly ever fix fish at home anymore. Saturday, June 09 - Rainy day with off and on showers

Wednesday, June 13
Our day to get packed up and ready to drive over to Florence. Ray went to Wal-Mart and brought home two Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena) plants that have artificial orchids blooming on the stems. They look so real, I was fooled. Never have seen this before. Put one on the dash and one near my desk. Hope they last a long time.b:if cond='data:blog.pageType !="item"> >