We did it! I (Stead) have fond memories of going on tent trailer/pop up trailer camping adventures with my family when I was a kid. Since moving to Eugene, some of our good friends have repeatedly offered their pop up trailer for our use. Well, we finally took them up on it!
The original plan was Eastern Oregon, but after calculating drive time and total miles (and first time towing and using the trailer), we opted for the closer option of the northern Oregon coast. This is by no means the lesser option!
We started by heading north to Portland, where we visited my old roommate Zach for lunch, then my aunt and uncle. They were quick visits, then we hit the road again towards Fort Stevens.
We had the benefit of some expert local advice from the Box family that used to reside in Seaside.
Samuel did great in the car until about the last 45 minutes. That part of the drive he opted to scream. We stopped at a rest stop and let him touch some leaves and giggle. Put him back in his seat though and it was right back to screaming. Ugh!
We made no reservations for any of our camping on this trip because we like to live life on the edge and also didn’t know how Samuel would do on the coastal drives on the other days. Since the coast is littered with camp grounds and it’s late September, we did alright. Fort Stevens had 240 empty sites when we rolled in. Not bad!
Because we arrived at about 6:30 & sunset was upon us, we basically went right into a quick set up and Samuel’s dinner routine. He wasn’t sure what to make of the tent trailer and woke up about 4 times that night.
All in all though – a good start to the trip!