Author

Mrs TinCanPlan

A Port Town on the Columbia River – Cascade Locks, OR

We stumbled upon this adorable little campground, Port of Cascade Locks, adjacent to a boat launch in Cascade Locks, OR. After we left the Portland area, we had our hearts set on seeing Multnomah Fallas. We’d heard great things about Multnomah Falls and have been told it’s a MUST visit when visiting Oregon. Much to our surprise, you could actually see the spectacular waterfall from the highway. You could also see the sea of people who were visiting the area to get up close to the falls. We drove by twice and saved ourselves the trouble of dealing with the crowd.

full time airstream

We only spent one evening in Cascade Locks, OR but we did get a chance to head down to a small little brewery and I even got in a run through the town the next morning. All in all, it was a great little town to visit for the evening with an awesome campground.

full time airstream

July 20, 2016

Hiking, Biking, and Kayaking, Oh My!

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

As you already know, we have come back to Bend. We arrived on a Friday afternoon in hopes of scoring one of the awesome spots out off of Forest Road 4610. When we first pulled in we noticed there were some pretty sweet rigs parked in spots along the road so we were fearful there might not be room for us. But we were in luck. Our old spot was wide open and ready for us to return. It felt good to be back home!

Bend, OR

In our last visit to Bend, we didn’t get a chance to enjoy the coolness of the Deschutes River so we were determined to jump right in this time around! Well, we didn’t actually get in the water, it is still freezing, but we did venture out to rent some kayaks. We started the morning out determined in purchasing a tandem kayak so we would only have to transport one kayak opposed to two. After some shopping around, we decided it was best to rent one first. We headed down to a local raft house and tried out some of their inflatable kayaks. First we tried an inflatable tandem kayak and quickly realized it wasn’t going to work. We then rented two whitewater kayaks, Rocky Mountain Rafts, to give the river a test drive. We paddled up river about a mile and half to some small rapids. Let me tell you, those white water kayaks are not smooth water friendly.

Bend, OR

Bend has some AMAZING mountain bike trails. The last time we didn’t get any footage of us biking through Phil’s Trail so this time we strapped the GoPro to our bike and hit the trail. One of may have even wrecked. The trails are very well marked and there are multiple routes you can take. You could spend days riding all of the trails Bend has to offer and still not get to half of them.

*It’s not the best quality, but if you watch long enough, you’ll see the crash.

The last time we were in Bend we took the dogs up to Tumalo Falls for a hike. This time we headed out to Smith Rock State Park, sans dogs, and hiked a few of the trails there. It was gorgeous. You can read more about that hike from Mr. TCP’s POV.

Smith Rock

We tried to go to Munch and Music at Drake Park but it started to rain and we are fare weather friends. We prefer to sit out in dry warm weather, not wet cold weather. We did frequent this adorable little half cafe half market called Jackson’s Corner.

Image credit: visitbend.org.

Bend, OR encompasses everything I love about a town. It’s smallish, has fantastic outdoor activities, the people are friendly, the traffic is minimal, and there is a little bit of weird to it.

July 10, 2016

The Oregon Coast – Bandon, OR

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

After we left Bend, OR for the first time, we headed east to the Oregon coast with our sight set on an awesome state park right off of the 101. The campground was covered in beautiful green giant mossy trees. We found the perfect spot that separated us from the other campers and it was right on the path to the beach. We even had another couple eyeing us for the spot. Well, they ended up getting it because we quickly realized we had zero internet coverage. This was a disappointment but I am glad we realized it before unhitching in the new neighborhood.

We moved down the road a little ways to Bandon, OR where there is a well maintained state park with full hookups. From the campground, it was roughly a mile hike to a dog friendly beach. Meaning, you could let your dogs run wild along the coast! George is a well versed when it comes to beaches. He has dipped his toes in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean. He quickly learned, the water doesn’t taste too good. Serendipity though, has never been to the beach! And we rarely let her off leash given she can’t see and just wanders around into things. But this time we let her loose and she had the time of her life.

bandon, or

Bandon, OR

I think it is safe to say, the dogs are loving their new adventurous life!

July 10, 2016

A Place to Call Home – Bend, OR

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

If there is a place that we could potentially call home, it would be Bend, OR. When we arrived in Ashland I was fascinated by the cute little town and had already fallen in love with Oregon. Little did I know, we would love Bend even more.

The longest time we have spent in one place is seven days. We officially exceeded that record by an additional two weeks. We would have stayed forever if we could, but we must move on. One thing that has been so appealing is that fact that we found the perfect place to boondock. We haven’t had a chance to really experience boondocking up until this point and it has definitely been a learning experience. We have had some trouble finding a reliable water source which means we have been hitting up the local grocery store with the Glacier water dispensers. Not only does this get kind of expensive, it’s time consuming. You’d be surprised the amount of time it takes to fill five separate seven gallon water containers.

Bend has some pretty kick ass mountain bike trails. The heart pumping kind of trails. The adrenaline rushing kind of trails. The kind that put your bike to the test. WE LOVE IT! We hit Phil’s Trail and boy did we stand out. First, our bikes are the sub $500 variety. It’s kind of like driving a 1997 Honda Accord around a race track with Audi’s and Lamborghini’s. We were a bit out of place. The trail has sections that are one way and other sections that warn you to yield the right of way to uphill cyclist so you it’s your responsibility to stop for the uphillers. Which only makes sense. Have you ever tried to bike uphill while rock jumping? You definitely don’t want to be stopped due to some down hill cyclist breezing by. It was a little chilly out so instead of wearing my regular cycle helmet I decided I could wear my snowboarding helmet which had earmuffs. About half way through the trail, we stopped at an intersection and I had a lady yell “HEY! Are you wearing a motorcycle helmet?” We both died laughing. My head is just that big lady. A typical helmet looks like it should be made for motorized vehicle.

phils trails

We spent a Sunday hiking Tumalo Falls. The portion we hiked was roughly 6 miles round trip without any significant elevation gain. This was Serendipity’s first ever hiking experience! We had heard the trail was easy and the ground was pretty smooth the entire way so we decided she should come along. We don’t usually bring the dogs with us because it’s either too hot or the trail doesn’t allow dogs. I’d say they had a blast!

The town has everything you could ever need. It’s full of breweries, pubs, and an endless amount of trails to stroll along the Deschutes river. In the summer they have a fun music in the park series, very similar to Austin’s Blues on the Green. Minus the sweltering heat and there are a few less people. Sounds like heaven.

We even spent an afternoon climbing rock walls. We had a ton of fun but quickly realized our upper body strength was lacking.

rockwall climbing

There was an abundance of kayakers and rafters which looked like a TON OF FUN. One thing we noticed is they would fight the current heading up the river and then sail down the river. This eliminated the whole “how do we get back to the truck” element. A bunch of smarty pants I tell ya.

farewellpark

The people in Bend were just the friendliest folks. Many of them were not originally from Bend, but from The South! We heard some “howdys” and “yalls” and I WAS IN HEAVEN! Anytime we brought George with us somewhere it’s an immediate conversation starter, back home anyway. And in Bend!

Needless to say, we love everything Bend, OR has to offer. We haven’t spent a winter there so I can’t speak to that, but I can tell you it’s one of the greatest places to visit. I think we might head back Friday!

June 29, 2016

How to Travel Full Time with Pets

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

First, I would recommend limiting the number of furballs you bring with you. Space is at a premium and you might not want the extra four legs taking up precious couch space. However, in our case, that wasn’t an option.

vegan bulldog

Traveling full time with pets can be a bit overwhelming and frustrating at times. We have four ill mannered dogs. When we first set out on this new way of living, many folks asked what we were going to do with the dogs. Well, they’re coming with us, duh! Mr. TCP wasn’t thrilled about this, he already isn’t thrilled that we have FOUR dogs but he married a crazy person. So, we have four of them in a small space. It’s a recipe for good times!

Step 1. Get em’ all vetted up. Before we left Austin, we headed to our vet to make sure they all had their vaccinations because we knew some states might check this and when we head into Canada we will most certainly need it when crossing this border. This could me a myth, but it’s what I believed at the time. I can say that some of our kids haven’t received vaccinations in, um, years. I know, I know. Terrible dog parent. We took all four, at the time same time, and vaccinated them all. Well, little did we know, we would be using one of their rabies certification more than we would like in the coming months.

vet with the dogs

Step 2. Determine your nearest emergency vet. When we arrive in a new location we (Mr. TCP) checks the weather radar to make sure we aren’t going to get washed away in a flash flood or burn up in a forest fire. So naturally we recommend pinpointing the nearest emergency vet. You see, when you are in the woods there is a variety of things that could effect your pup. You don’t want to be in the dark.

boxer pug french bulldog airstream

Step 3. Pick up after your pets. This is a huge one. You don’t want to be the jerk that lets your dog (or four) potty all over a campground and not pick it up. It sucks, but there are worst things in life. Such as dumping your black tank. Most campgrounds have bags to use, but if not, pick some up at the grocery store or repurpose your plastic grocery bags. Easy peasy.

Step 4. This is something we don’t do, but should. Secure your pets in the truck as you roam from neighborhood to neighborhood. They make dog seat belts, which is hilarious, kind of practical and ridiculous all at the same time. It could save their life if you crash, or at least keep them from escaping when you open the door.

Step 5. Some places you visit will be scorching hot in the summer time so it’s important to make sure your rig stays cool while you are out exploring. The last thing you want is to come home to some hot dogs. HA! You can do this by monitoring the internal temperature with an app on our phone. You leave the thermometer in the Airstream and connect to it via the app.

french bulldog airstream

Step 6. You’ll want to be aware of what campgrounds allow dogs and which have a limit on the amount. This is usually only an issue with the private RV resorts. Many state campgrounds allow dogs and don’t put a limit on the number you can bring.

All in all, I love our little rugrats and couldn’t imagine leaving them behind. We are courteous to our neighbors by not leaving ours tied up outside the Airstream and by picking up after them. While we have had to take George to a vet in each state we have visited so far, he loves the adventure and you can see it in his crazy eyes!

french bulldog beach

I guess I really just wrote this post to publish a bunch of irrelevant pictures of our cute dogs.

June 22, 2016

Two Months of Living Tiny – Airstream Style

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

At this point, I am sure even our parents are tired of reading our blog but I am going to keep writing because, well, I kind of enjoy it. There is a service where you can have your blog turned into a book and that is my plan when we finish roaming around.

We’ve successfully reached the two month mark of living full time in our 27′ Airstream. In the beginning, we believed we were being extravagant with our 27′ Airstream opposed to the 25′ or 23′. Boy am I glad we landed with the bigger home. It affords us the opportunity to have hallway space and a designated “living room” and “bedroom” area which can be a game changer. Especially with four dogs.

After rereading my post about our one month milestone, I can say they all of the good things about our tiny lifestyle are still true one month later. I could even add to the list.

We are still laughing, a lot. While there are many time when it’s one of us laughing at the expense of the other, it still feels good to laugh. To add to this, we are not nearly as grumpy as we were back home. It helps that we no longer have a commute or deal with some people face to face. Now, we meander 10 ft from the bedroom to our desk. No traffic jams there people.

Having the flexibility to change our surroundings is priceless. There are days when we end up somewhere and it’s just not up our alley so guess what? We don’t have to stay. We can hitch up and head out. This my friends, is amazing.

We are both sort of introverts so that makes meeting new people kind of difficult. I am super awkward in social settings and usually say something that will embarrass both of us. Mr. TCP just generally doesn’t like most people so that keeps the social encounters at bay. However, when we do meet someone new it’s always a nice surprise.

I am being 100% serious when I say this, I have learned SO MUCH from Mr. TCP. First of all, he can spell. I cannot. This is HUGELY helpful when I am spelling something so incredibly wrong that even autocorrect isn’t picking up on it. Second, he reads wikipedia for pleasure so anytime we arrive somewhere new he has already read everything there is to know about the place and then proceeds to dump that knowledge on me. It’s great!

An update on the bad. While we are still spending money, it’s definitely slowed down since we got out of California. We are getting to dry camp more in Oregon which has been super nice. Don’t worry, it’s not in the middle of nowhere with no one around. The spot we found in Bend, OR is actually right smack dab in the middle of a highly trafficked bike trail with yuppies blowing through every hour on their $4,000 mountain bikes. We have some neighbors too which is good. We are in the market to purchase a different vehicle so that will fall under the “bleeding money” category but it is what it is.

Oh, and I still hate laundromats but I think I have found a solution. We don’t generally stay RV resorts because they have a lot of rules (read: limit on dogs) and are kind of stuffy BUT they do offer clean laundry facilities. If we have been staying somewhere were we didn’t have easy access to laundry facilities then we will find a nice RV resort to spend an evening. RV resorts are interesting places too. You know those expensive rigs that you rarely see anywhere? They are all at these resorts and they amaze me for some reason.

At the end of the day, we are happier, healthier and love this new way of living more than we had ever imagined.

June 16, 2016

The Cutest Little Town in America – Ashland, OR

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

When we left Yosemite, we had grand plans to head back to the California coast and wind our way up through the Redwood Forest. After some poor navigating on my end, we ended up staying at this little (creepy) campground right off of I-5 north of Redding, CA. It was on the Sacramento river which was lovely. The only spot that would fit our rig was the Camp Host spot. I am sure we broke a million camping faux pas, but hey, it was open (and had been since 2014) and it was right at the front of the campground so we could make a run for it need be.

camphost

We packed up the next day with the California coast out of our mind and Oregon on the horizon. We had read some pretty stellar reviews of a campground right outside of Ashland, OR on Emigrant Lake so we pulled in that afternoon and looked for a spot that had vacancy for a few days. Little did we know, we would stay a full seven days. We liked this place that much! It was $30 a night with full hookups. We must be dreaming. After paying $50+ a night with no hookups in California, we were in heaven!

We’d heard great things about Ashland so we set out to explore the adorable town. There is this little wonderland of a park that is smack dab in the middle of the town where people literally sit on the grass and relax. It was bizarre. You usually see people playing on their phone or it’s a homeless person drunkly passed out. Not these people. They were content. Right when you reach the end of the trail, you come to a water fountain that spits out Lithia water. It’s defined as a type of mineral water characterized by the presence of lithium salts. It wasn’t very good.

Ashland is the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with a whole block dedicated to buildings that host this year round festival. That isn’t something we are interested in so we didn’t pay it much attention. Moving on…

The people here were so friendly! It was a nice change of pace from the grumps we encountered south of the Oregon border. They smiled, laughed, and even said “howdy”! A good portion of the folks we saw in Ashland were your real deal hippies. Not the fake ones you find back home, but true tree huggers. The town had a permanent smell of patchouli. Peace on earth, y’all.

Ashland is also known for it’s food and craft breweries. We think. We didn’t eat out much, maybe once, and we had nachos. We couldn’t help ourselves. We’ve come to realize that salsa up in these neck of the woods is really just pico. We did hit up a few of the super cute and trendy brew pubs. Again, we loved it.

It was rather hot during our time in Ashland so we opted to head to the mountains for a couple of different hikes. A good friend recommended we hit up Crater Lake, which we did. It was amazing. Breathtaking. WE LOVED IT! The second hike we participated in was about 10 miles from our neighborhood and rather easy. The trail was called Grizzly Peak and was located off of a private road that the residents allowed the county access to so folks could reach this piece of nature. The hike itself wasn’t too difficult but it had a variety of terrain. All in, I think it was around 6 miles. We even passed some new age hippies walking without their shoes on but they had an $800 labradoodle pup in tow. So surely, they chose to walk without shoes. There is a part of the forest that was victim of a forest fire a few years ago. This opened up the trail to where you could see Mount McLoughlin.

At this point, I was ready to move to Ashland but little did I know, Bend would be even more up my alley!

I should note that I had to Google about four words in the post to see how to spell them and then the mister had to correct another six or so words.

June 14, 2016

Crystal Cove State Park – Laguna Beach, California

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

Ever since I was high school age, I have wanted to visit Laguna Beach. It has nothing to with the fact that my girlfriends and I would have watch parties every Thursday when the infamous (not really) show, Laguna Beach would air. Embarrassing, I know.

After we left Big Bear Mountain, we needed to head back down to the coast for a couple of different reasons. I’d say one of the biggest reasons being, I needed service so I could work on Monday.

Mr. TCP said we were going to head back to Encinitas, which fine, it’s a lovely place but I really wanted to go to Laguna Beach. You see. I am the navigator when we travel. I am the one who puts our new neighborhood address into Google Maps and I then direct Mr. TCP where to go. In reality, we could go anywhere and he wouldn’t have a clue until we arrived. Kidding. After some back and forth, he finally gave in and we headed down to Laguna Beach. WAHOO!

When we arrived, it was just as picture perfect as I had imagined. The beach was blue. The houses, or mansions, were outrageously giant, the people looked to be from a catalog, and the town was adorable.

Mr. TCP saw some dudes skimboarding. It looked fun and completely doable, so we set out to find in a skimboard. This required a trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods.

He had a few mishaps but then finally figured it out.

He is now a professional skimboarder.

George can even skimboard!

You can view a few more pictures here.

June 9, 2016

A Story About a Tahoe and an Airstream

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

In our search for a new home, Mr. TCP kept mentioning this topic of “weight of the Airstream” and the “towing capacity” of the Tahoe. He was very adamant that we stay under a certain weight so the Tahoe would have the power to pull it through our journey. I didn’t really think much of it because, well, I don’t really think about much honestly. And I usually just leave most of everything up to Mr. TCP. Literally. Can you say dependent?

tahoe pulling airstream

We made sure the new home didn’t weigh more than what the Tahoe could handle and we did just fine. The Airstream weighs 5,500lbs dry and with our crap it weighs roughly 6,000lbs. Early on, we made the mistake of pulling it with a bunch of water in it. Oops. We now make sure the Airstream is completely empty before heading out on a long haul. Oh and the Tahoe’s towing capacity is 8,200 with the added tow package it has.

I dropped the Tahoe off at Master Lube, great little place in Waco, TX, to have it serviced and they sure did fix her up nicely. She was running smoothly and happy as a clam. I even got a couple, “You’re going to pull the Airstream with this?” from some folks. But shook it off.

After we had put a few miles between us and Waco, my dad would ask “How’s the Tahoe doing?” “Is it pulling the Airstream OK?” Well duh, dad. It’s doing great. At this point, we had only traveled through the flat lands of West Texas and a bit of New Mexico.

When we arrived in Arizona, at Catalina State Park, we had an older gentleman stop by and ask us how the Tahoe does pulling our “rig”. Why would he ask such a thing? It does fine!

Well well well, we hadn’t hit the mountains yet. And let me tell you, the Tahoe DOES NOT like the mountains. It’s a struggle going up and then equally as not fun coming down.

But we made it to our next destination and then my dad asked again, “How is the Tahoe doing?”. On top of that, we had another neighborhood gentleman ask us again, “Does the Tahoe pull your trailer well?”. What is with all the questions people?! If I were the Tahoe, I would be feeling very special that everyone was so concerned with my well being.

And then it happened, we finally figured out we might be putting our SUV through too much. Especially when we hit mountainous regions. We both uttered the words, “How about a diesel?”.

Next, I did what I normally do with any big decision. I called my dad and said “I think we might need a diesel.” Much to my surprise he returned with “Well, I do think I see a diesel in your near future.” Where was this wise advice when we were still in Texas?!

I do wish this was something that would have been thought harder about while still at home so we could have made a vehicle change before hitting the wide open road. Right now we are in a bit of a pickle. While, yes, we could go purchase a big ol’ diesel pusher but then here we are with two vehicles. We can’t exactly trade-in the Tahoe, or even sell it to a private party, because we are missing all of the seats. Yes, that is right, we took out the second row bucket seats along with the third row and left them at my dads. At time, it was a great idea! More space for all of our stuff. But now, we are sitting here with a vehicle, if need be, we can’t do anything with.

We do have a few options though.

Option 1: We can live with what we have. While it’s not an ideal situation because we are worried about the ability of the Tahoe to pull through the regions we are headed, but it’s shown us that it’s capable of going through the mountains. Even if it makes it a bit angry.

Option 2: Buy a truck up here, hey no sales tax in Oregon! We’d then either ship ($$$$) the Tahoe back to my dad OR I have a good friend that has offered to fly up and drive it back ($$). I like part II of that because we’d get to see our good friend AND it would be a little easier on the wallet.

Option 3: I’d fly down to Dallas, pick up a truck, then drive to Waco get the seats to the Tahoe and then haul it all back to Oregon. This one sounds pretty miserable. But doable.

So there you have it. Our current pickle. And it’s a bit sour.

June 8, 2016

Cleetwood Cove Trail – Crater Lake National Park

written by Mrs TinCanPlan

We headed to Crater Lake yesterday from our neighborhood in Ashland. We had planned to stay near Crater Lake but Verizon’s coverage isn’t strong enough for our internet needs so we took a day trip instead. When we arrived at the park we realized that only the East Rim was semi open due to all of the snow that is still on the ground. This is pretty mind boggling given the temperatures were in the mid 80’s.

There were a few different places you could pull of the road to view the lake from a “view point”. Those were crowded and so we looked for a way to get behind the scenes and see the lake with fewer folks.

The park ranger passed on some information that if you hiked in roughly 4.5 miles up the road that takes you to the East Rim you can then hike down Cleetwood Cove Trail which leads you to the shore of the lake. The hike was straight up the paved road so we decided to utilize our bicycles for this trek.

As we were biking to the trail head, we climbed an initial steep hill and then just cruised the rest of the way. This is always an good indicator that the ride back is going to be a real booger.

I am pretty sure we would have missed the trail head if it hadn’t been for a family standing off to the side of the road near it. It was tucked away and not very visible from the road. We stashed our bikes behind some trees and took off down a few switch backs towards the lake shore. All of the switch backs were bringing back scary memories. As we were hiking down, Mr. TCP said “this isn’t too steep”. Ha! He wasn’t saying the same thing on the way back up.

The hike down to the shore was 1.1 miles so it didn’t take much time to reach the bottom in which we were greeted by crystal clear blue water. The lake reminded me of the Amalfi coast with its deep blue yet crystal clear water.

We passed the cutest little forest animal on our way down and Mr. TCP just about put him in his pocket to bring him home with us.

There was a rock you could jump off of which was calling the misters name but he thought better of it since neither of us were equipped with swimming attire. And that water was FREEZING COLD. It would have been a polar plunge.

Again, we were amazed at the beauty of another National Park.

You can view more pictures on our Flckr page!

June 5, 2016

Newer Posts

Older Posts