In a quick follow up to our first outing in Eva, we decided to cash in our complimentary 2-night stay at Timberlake Campground.  Located just 50 miles east of Portland on the Washington side of the Colombia River Gorge it did not take long to reach, despite my awful route choice... 

We decided to take Washington-SR14 rather than the I84, simply because we had never driven the I5 to cascade locks section of SR14 before.  Well, it turns out the I84 would have been an easier drive, less inclines and bends, but the views were stunning! Not to mention this route provided a convenient stop at Walking Man Brewing (www.walkingmanbeer.com) in Stevenson to get some beer.  Let’s just say I will not be taking that route with the Airstream again, far too much like hard work.

Once we arrived at Timberlake Campground it was clear the rumors of Leeroy running a tight ship were true!  The place was as clean as a whistle, not a amber leaf out of place!  Being a total novice at reversing the Airstream Leeroy walked me through the swoop and back up.  We nailed it first time.  Well, once you see the spot we had you could have backed a tank into it!  As I sit at my desk at home looking out to my driveway, I am still going to ask my friend to back the Airstream on to it for me.

It took no time to get unhitched and set up, definitely easier on trip 2 than trip 1.  Mrs.M took Luka for an exploratory walk and I got the rig settled, including awnings, ground mat, chairs and a table.  The weather was sunny and warm, 70F, so of course we sat out, cracked open the Hoptoberfest seasonal beer from Walking Man and relaxed to some music and mussing.  As the night came in we got to have a nice little fire before heading in for some lasagna.

Cooking in an Airstream is clearly a challenge, not much counter space to work with, so far Kate has been prepping meals at home and we have been using the microwave to reheat the main part the meal while using the stove to get some rice going.  The oven having only being tested with a quick garlic bread toasting, I can see homemade pizza in our future…

Sounds just easy-breezy so far, right? Well, not everything went smoothly.

The biggest challenge we have had so far is data access so I can work effectively. If you have infinite funds solutions are plentiful, but our budget is temporarily tapped out.

So far we have a Peplink SOTG which set up a nice network for us to stream stuff around and allows us to use on site Wi-Fi (which was great at Timberlake). The UM290 USB 4G widget I bought just does not want to work, so it is being sent back. (The 551L has arrived and just.works.)  We had a friends ATT hotspot with us as a back up, which was very reassuring, but we did not need it in the end.

Any how…Some how the couch grew legs at some point during the evening... very odd... At leas it kept its paws on the new mats we got!

After a belly full of food and some chatting we bedded down for the night, ready for a long day of work..  The heat pump burst into life a few times to keep us warm and we all slept well.

We definitely have the morning routine down.  I get up and churn out an hour or so of work before the puppy and wife look like they are ready to move, then fire up the French press to get some fuel in us.  It is so pleasant to take a morning walk in these beautiful wooded areas, I love the pre-dawn light, especially on stormy days. Then we get to bunker down in Eva with NPR churning away and our heads buried in our laptops. I was keen to power through for an early finish so we could go explore!

The only downside about working from the Airstream is I feel glued to the dinette.  Normally when I am on the phone I walk around a lot, I can still do this, if it is dry outside…

The time eventually came to explore again, so we drove the 3 miles back down to SR14 and grabbed coffee from the Whistle Stop.  Such a cool spot, highly recommended! The coffee was good, but the Salmon quiche was amazing – a very pleasant surprise!

We had already decided to head back to Stevenson, we know there is a waterfront walk there and a short pier.  The weather cooperated, sunshine and moody clouds. And a long, long train - FABULOUS!  After a good hour of mooching about it was time to head back and get cleaned up for dinner.

On the way we stopped at a small RV campsite called Skamania Coves.  This is a place we will stay at in the future.  It looks small and well kept with some walking routes on the river, oh, and back in spots that offer panoramic views of the gorge.  Just in case that is important!

So, what did we learn this trip?

·      The WD hitch needs adjusting now we are carrying a heavier load.  We got away with moving stuff around this time, but it was not an ideal solution.

·      Always check your route before you leave… SR14 from I5 to Cascade locks is sub-optimal!

·      We changed our route through our neighbored on the journey back, picking out the wider streets and less congested roads…

·      Keep waterproofs and warm layers in the Airstream at all times

·      Nitrile gloves, very useful, as are handy wipes

·      Condensation is an issue – dehumidifier purchased as a result.

·      The tool kit does not have a 19mm socket for the trailer lug nuts… this has been fixed now!

While our first two trips have been short and sweet, we have learnt so much about this new element of our lifestyle.  The potential is endless and we are already excited to get back out in a couple of weeks for a longer stay.  Not sure if we will head to the coast or the mountain, it all depends on the weather.  Either way it should be 3 nights J