Classic motorhome gathering, western edition

[tevake]

Been feeling left out and too far away to join in at earlier get togethers?

Maybe it's time for us western members of the Classic motorhome Ohana to plan our own gathering.

To avoid confusion on the existing thread, and to start the planning process for a west coast gathering, I thought this might be a good place to get the ball rolling.

So far. Jenniflow, Smartstream, and myself Tevake have expressed interest. And I'm sure other Classic and Argosy (and possibly other) vintage airstream motorhome caretakers would like to meet up and get acquainted, and share some good times.

One possible location that has occurred to me from an earlier trip on the coast, is Ferndale Ca.
Centrally located in Northern Ca., this charming well preserved Victorian farming town
Has RV Camping at the fairgrounds. Offering nice basic sites with water/elec hookups, and a dump site on the property. At very reasonable costs.

Their 4 of July parade and celebration is a truly classic small town event seemingly from yesteryear. Also nearby is the Avenue of The Giants, the beaches with good surf fishing, nice coastal mountain drives, etc.

So that is my opening suggestion for consideration.

Ferndale Ca. Early July. I think this could work well for a small gathering, nice location, cool event.

I'm open and really interested to hear what other think would work out well.

Gualala River park is another neat spot that comes to mind for a place deep in the redwoods that could be a sweet spot to consider.

But getting plans/ reservations in place needs to happen soon for good choices.
Ideas anyone?

Cheers Richard

[Jenniflow]

Originally Posted by tevake

Been feeling left out and too far away to join in at earlier get togethers?

Maybe it's time for us western members of the Classic motorhome Ohana to plan our own gathering.

To avoid confusion on the existing thread, and to start the planning process for a west coast gathering, I thought this might be a good place to get the ball rolling.

So far. Jenniflow, Smartstream, and myself Tevake have expressed interest. And I'm sure other Classic and Argosy (and possibly other) vintage airstream motorhome caretakers would like to meet up and get acquainted, and share some good times.

One possible location that has occurred to me from an earlier trip on the coast, is Ferndale Ca.
Centrally located in Northern Ca., this charming well preserved Victorian farming town
Has RV Camping at the fairgrounds. Offering nice basic sites with water/elec hookups, and a dump site on the property. At very reasonable costs.

Their 4 of July parade and celebration is a truly classic small town event seemingly from yesteryear. Also nearby is the Avenue of The Giants, the beaches with good surf fishing, nice coastal mountain drives, etc.

So that is my opening suggestion for consideration.

Ferndale Ca. Early July. I think this could work well for a small gathering, nice location, cool event.

I'm open and really interested to hear what other think would work out well.

Gualala River park is another neat spot that comes to mind for a place deep in the redwoods that could be a sweet spot to consider.

But getting plans/ reservations in place needs to happen soon for good choices.
Ideas anyone?

Cheers Richard

You read my mind on a new thread, and great ideas! thanks Richard.
Will talk with my fella.

We know and love the Ferndale and Gualala areas. We used to live on the coast in between them. In a way, we'd kind of like a new experience - has anyone here been to Lassen Volcanic National Park? - but these are beautiful. You do have to be prepared for lower temps, wind, and fog, though, at this point in the calendar on the coast.

The are wonderful parades in small towns all over CA. Just for grins i just looked this up:

http://www.seecalifornia.com/events/...y-parades.html

Staying loose,
Jenniflow

[Jenniflow]

Oops, just noticed that's a list for 2014 July 4th.

[tevake]

To share a bit more about Ferndale Ca.
It's very close to half way between Seattle and San Diego.

Located near the coast so comfortable summer temps.

The fairgrounds are right on the edge of town, so walking and biking around town is easy for those without a toad.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferndale,_California

[tevake]

I hear you Jenniflow, about the fun of exploring new teritory.
And am looking forward to the suggestions of all that are interested in joining in.

One concern that I have is temps inland. The summer that I spent on the coast had temps well over 100 degrees inland reaching as high as 115 near Redding when I went for a ,mountain drive from Ferndale, I was so glad to get back to the cooler coastal temps when I got back to the coach.

The high temps plus fires inland kept me near the coast for the whole of the summer. My plans to go inland from Seattle to check out Montana, Wyoming , Etc got changed while sitting in hours of traffic in Seattle in 100 degrees +
Neither the coach or I enjoyed it much.

This sent me back south along the coast in time to make it to Laguna Seca in August. where I camped for Monterey car week including two weekends of vintage racing at Laguna Seca racetrack.

This could be another destination for our gathering.
Ah so many possibility.

Glad we have some ideas coming in for a fun gathering.

Cheers Richard.

[Jenniflow]

"One concern that I have is temps inland. The summer that I spent on the coast had temps well over 100 degrees inland reaching as high as 115 near Redding when I went for a ,mountain drive from Ferndale, I was so glad to get back to the cooler coastal temps when I got back to the coach.

The high temps plus fires inland kept me near the coast for the whole of the summer. My plans to go inland from Seattle to check out Montana, Wyoming , Etc got changed while sitting in hours of traffic in Seattle in 100 degrees +
Neither the coach or I enjoyed it much."

Now THAT is an excellent point. In fact, one of the reasons I ended up living on the coast for years is that I was avoiding travel in the motyho, as I fondly call her, in the hot months. I had planned to go to the southwest, but the cross-country trip convinced me that my a/c probably wasn't up to it.

You're fast making me a coastal convert.

[Smartstream]

I agree about the heat, that's why we live on the Olympic Peninsula. 80 degrees is a massive heatwave here. Richard must not be livin right because 100 plus doesn't happen in very often in Seattle, a very rare event.

Been to Ferndale, a quaint little town. The wife had family in Fortuna for many years. It can get pretty warm there. The Samoa Cookhouse just outside Eureka is a must stop for a meal. I personally like the redwoods, lots of shade if nothing else.

[xrvr]

If you are going to have two, why not try to coordinate on dates just in case someone would want to attend both get togethers. Allow time for travel between the two.

[Jenniflow]

Originally Posted by avionstream

If you are going to have two, why not try to coordinate on dates just in case someone would want to attend both get togethers. Allow time for travel between the two.

Great idea, Avionstream.

I hadn't been thinking of them as exclusive. If anyone is interested, they'd have a bit of hike between them.

I haven't been tracking both threads carefully, but I believe the eastern one is leaning toward early June and we're considering July 4th, so that could work.

[Vycan]

Great idea here.

Regarding exclusivity, I hope no one got the impression one excluded from the other. If I can fit it into my schedule I also would like to see if I can make the July one, but it may be a bridge too far with temps climbing the national divide.

[dreamsrus]

We'd love to be there but will be spending the next few months in upstate New York. Maybe Summer of 2018 will work for us. We leave in a couple of days from our home in Eastern Utah heading East!! We have a 1982 Airstream 280 Turbo Diesel (Dura-Max Engine replaced with a new one about 23K miles back!)

dreamsrus

[USAtraveler]

Not a MOHO driver, but thought I might be able to add some useful info. Humbolt Co. fairgrounds in Ferndale is a great destination! The RV section has 50 water & power sites, plus there are a number of other dry sites around the fairgrounds that double the number available. There are no sewer hook-ups, but there is a dump station at the fairgrounds. Early July there is an AKC dog show at the fairgrounds which wraps upon the 2nd. Until they leave there is no RV space. After the 2nd there is currently RV space available, but you should be making reservations soon to get sites with water & power. Fee is $28/night.
You are probably too late for Monterey car week. There aren't many campgrounds in that area to begin with and the ones that are there jack up prices astronomically for car week. Monterey Co. has dry RV campgrounds at Laguna Seca that normally go for $28/nt. During car week the county leases out their whole inventory to the local sports car club, which in turn resells the sites. Try $200+ per night. Most of the camp sites are resold year after year to the same RV'ers, usually race participants. There is a KOA nearby, but they charge extra and are also booked up quite early. The closest state campground is Sunset Beach in Watsonville. It doesn't charge extra, but is booked up solid all Summer. I made my reservation there coinciding with car week 2 months ago, within an hour of the earliest date & time reservations could be made for August....and I wasn't the first! State and private campgrounds along the Eel River and the Ave of the Giants (old 101) also book up for most of the Summer. Many are not accessible to large Mohos anyway.

[tevake]

HI
Thanks for the info USAtraveler!
Yep we are a bit behind the curve in trying to make group araingements this late in the year. The parks all along the coast are very popular in the summer months, and do book up early.
Your comments brought back the memory of the stress of trying to wing it along the coast for the summer 2015.

Vycan It would be great to have you and your family join us and bring the aloha from our eastern clan. I think the only exclusivitiy is the distance and time involved in getting so far across the country. Your DP classic would eat up the miles.

Dreamsrus, good to hear from you, welcome to the forums.
I'm sure many here would love to hear more about your coach and your engine change experence.
It does sound like you have good travel plans for the near term. Perhaps you work the eastern get together into your travels
Hopefully this only the first of many to come out west, maybe we will see you in the future.

So Ferndale and a few other lesser known destinations may still possible for a summer gathering. Or maybe we should look farther out and think about planning a fall/ winter plan somewhere deep in the southwest.

Cheers Richard

[tevake]

Folks, please don't let my recollections of a summer on the coast with NO reservations derail this conversation.

I'm sure if we put our heads together we can find some good options for a fun summer gathering.

Let's keep the ideas flowing.

Cheers Richard

[Vycan]

Zion Nat'l park?

[Jenniflow]

It's actually not so much a matter of the location for us, we know we like Ferndale, it's more complete lack of decisiveness in our house as to what may be going on this summer.

I imagine Zion would be beautiful, crowded, and hot. But I've never been there, so that's a plus. We only have one a/c working right now, so I guess heat is a bigger factor than it might be.