Preparing for Departure From Portland and Start of Full-time Solo RV Life

 

The last few days in Portland have been a whirlwind time of visiting with friends, making final purchases and moving all my belongings from the house into the trailer. I'm not expecting to return to this home next summer and needed to get everything out. I also got my hair cut and colored, had a last minute pedicure, chiropractic adjustment and made a pilgrimage to my favorite place in Portland; the Portland Japanese Garden. The fall colors were outstanding and the garden did not disappoint.

Calm before the storms

Japanese Garden waterfall

View of Mt Hood from the garden

Veins of Japanese maple

Video of the pilgrimage with my friend Diane

The weather for the 1st week of travel looks to be very, very wet and actually stormy. My original departure date was set for Sunday. The weather service put out a high wind alert with thunderstorms and crazy amounts of rain. The forecast warned of a bomb cyclone with an atmospheric river arriving. Not the weather I was hoping for. I decided to postpone getting on the road by a day to let the worst of the storm pass. Best to be safe.

A few Portland friends had suggested camping with me for a night or 2 as I leave town. The horrendous weather forecast changed that. What's the point of camping if you can't leave your RV? So far, it looks like I'll be camping with cycling friends Dave and Edna while they travel to Tucson for the winter. Patty will also camp in her newly renovated van to test her rig. It will be great to have company and camp with friends especially with the poor weather forecast. 

I found a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) campground with 21 sites on Hult Pond. This is less than 3 hours from Portland not far from Eugene. The campground is also free. I checked Google maps earth view and it looks like there are a few areas big enough for all of our rigs. I doubt there is phone service but it looks nice and should be a comfortable spot. The winds are forecast to be 30-50 mph at the coast. I'm expecting these campsite will be sheltered from the winds. Even though the coast is gorgeous, this will be a much safer spot. We aren't in a hurry and may stay a couple of nights before heading to the stormy coast and driving south.

Location for Hult Pond BLM campground

Looks like the campground is in a beautiful spot

Google Earth view of the campsites

With the plants watered and the house ready for my friend Mitzi's return, I loaded up the last of my things including my trike into the back of the truck to drive over to Paul's and get the trailer hitched up. Now the trip and full-time RV life was really going to start.