A few pics of our 1000 mile coastal road trip, with 4 kids

[Bills85Westy]

Thanks very much for sharing! Ferndale is a personal favorite of mine as is the oregon coast. We have a trip planned there on up to Seattle for next year. It can't get here soon enough!
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89 Tristar Syncro Doka - White
85 Westfalia Syncro (conversion)
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[Sjwillis]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.
I'll bet that roof box was a good purchase on a trip like this where the camper was filled with people.
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Read about our Vanagon family travels and road trips at A2OT: www.AllTogetherOutThere.com

1986 Wolfsburg Weekender aka Obi Van Kenobi
1972 MGB
2003 Subaru Forester

[thatbaldwinlife]

[joetiger]

I'm doing some Samba research on a trip to Oregon and came upon this trip report. Well worth a look for you Sunday afternoon.
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Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[thatbaldwinlife]

Glad it could help and I hope the pics showed up for you due to the photobucket fiasco. If you need any Oregon travel advice, send me a PM!
nate
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1987 Westy
Insta: @Thatbaldwinlife
Vanagon Adventure and DIY videos:
That Baldwin Life YouTube Channel

[jimf909]

When this thread was revived the other day I was going to mention that I recall it was full of great pics and it was a shame that PB killed the images. I get the PB 100% ransom image where there were previously awesome photos but can click through to see the pics.

Regardless, it’s a fun trip log!
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- Jim

[shagginwagon83]

Goldtooth or mod - replace original post with mine below.
FYI, copy/paste, find and replace.

We decided to beat the Portland heat (90+ degrees every day) and load up the Westy with the kiddos and head to the coast and go south. We have been down the Oregon and Cali coasts many times but it never gets old. Now we have 4 girls ages 17, 14, and 10 year old twins. Six days in 80 sq ft will be interesting!. We slept two up top, two down below and two in a tent. The Yakima box is invaluable as is the collapsible ladder I bought before we left.

Our Westy is a 1987 full camper with added jump seat and middle lap belt added as our twins with one teenager fit nicely in the narrowed Westy seat. I have spent the past six months going over the van for trips like this. Over the 1000 miles the van did amazing. Did not have to open the engine compartment one time and averaged almost 18mpg full loaded on the coastal hills. We packed the fridge and brought a cooler to fit our food and just shopped everyday for food.

Camped every night except one as we expected to run into some issues on a Saturday night along the Cali coast with no camping reservations. We treated the kids to a hotel just north of Eureka.

Anyway, on to the pics!

For lunch breaks, we like to stop at parks or schools (when not open) to let the kids play while we make lunch. This school had a bonus of sprinklers going also.
Alsea, Or

We meandered west towards Waldport and then headed south to the Sea Lion Caves. Pretty fun if not a bit overpriced and pretty low on sea lions that day.

Camped the first night at the Alder Dune campground just outside of Florence. Not a bad site.

My new ladder

The next day we stopped and got some exercise by climbing some dunes along the highway in Dune City. Serious workout! So windy at the top too.

Stopped by Shore Acres State Park. Even though it was foggy, it was a beautiful garden at the coast. Worth the stop for sure.

Stopped by Bandon for some coffees.

Campsite #2 was a KOA just south of Bandon. Not my first pick but the teenagers wanted a shower and the twins wanted the pool. Gotta compromise to keep everyone happy! I may have had a little incident with some yappy little dogs and an RV. I will say no more.

The next morning we stopped by Cape Blanco. We had thought about trying to camp there the previous day but did the KOA. Glad we did as Blanco was completely socked in and windy. Felt bad for the campers there.

Crossed into Cali

And of course had to stop and see Paul.

Uh, no comment

We usually just stop and go but this time we cooked lunch (pasta) and then paid the money for the hike and tram ride. It was a blast.

From the tram

Up top, Emma and I

Stopped and did some hiking along the Newton B Drury Parkway

Campsite #3

Headed down towards Ferndale. Cool little victorian town.

Other vans

After a failed attempt to head to Capetown along the goaty, beat up road, the kids and wife were not as interested as I was so be backtracked into Ferndale and made lunch at the local school.

Camp site #4 was in the redwoods at Mill Creek campground just south of Crescent City. Not a bad site except for the RV group who was sooo loud until 10:00. What is it with generators and RV people being loud. The twins enjoyed it as they climbed on every old redwood stump and explored the park.

Refreshments

Neighbors from Seattle going north also

The next morning we headed north to Howland Rd in Crescent City. I got the tip for the road here in a thread and had to check it out. It did not disappoint. One of the highlights for me and my wife.

Lots of similar interests

Headed north and stopped for lunch in a day use/campground. Made sandwiches

North again this time stopping at the beach for some play time. Water was freezing but my twins don't seem to notice.

Campsite #5 was the same KOA from night #2. Much quieter this time as it was Monday night. Same deal, showers, pool, wifi...
Drying out from the beach

The next morning it was just headed home. Fought some viscous head winds coming north on hwy 99 through Corvallis and up to McMinnville. Better once we reached Hwy 26 to Portland.

Overall, such a great trip that I got to spend with my family. Sure there were some tense times but that is expected with these types of travels. As my oldest is 17, this may be the last family trip we get to take like this. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

thanks for following along.
nate
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[thatbaldwinlife]

It will not allow me to edit as it is too old. I just use one of the many Chrome browser extensions that automatically fixes the links.
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1987 Westy
Insta: @Thatbaldwinlife
Vanagon Adventure and DIY videos:
That Baldwin Life YouTube Channel

[jimf909]

Thanks for reposting. It’s nice to see them all together. I typically view the Samba on a mobile device which probably leaves me a step behind (although I wasn’t aware of a Chrome extensible n that addressed the PB issue).
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- Jim