Just Can't Wait To Get On the Road Again

Cruising down that ribbon of highway with the wind at your backs, the kids playing cards behind you as you're admiring the scenery from your captain’s chair. Or maneuvering a giant beast through small towns, spending your days trying to track down the source of that funky smell, and your nights sleeping in crowded, dirty camp sites that look more like parking lots. 

To tell the truth, I’d been inclined to assume the latter when considering a family RV trip. But after talking with local family the Callahans, I’m ready to rent a rig and hit the highway!

The family

More than anything, the Callahans (Kathy, Tom, and sisters Claire and Grace) love reading, animals, and spending unstructured time as a family, far the madding crowd.  They are nature lovers who have spent many family summer vacations exploring the quiet beaches of Ocracoke with their beloved family dogs.  Last summer, the Callahans embarked on their first RV trip: a weeklong adventure through Oregon.

The rig’s digs

The “rig” turned out to be a real beauty. At 31 feet, it had a sleeping loft over the driver’s cab (with a TV), a large private bedroom with a queen-sized bed, a real cooking kitchen with stainless steel refrigerator, and a living area with a leather couch. Within minutes, Grace (age 13) and her sister Claire (age 10) had made it their home-away-from-home.

Majestic beauty on your doorstep

The Callahans stayed in a different campground every night and experienced all types, from an upscale retirement community to national parks. The first thing they did when arriving at a new site was to get on their bikes and get the lay of the land. Although many of the campsites they stayed in were quite full, they were situated in the middle of scenic beauty and never felt crowded.

Along the way, the family shared many adventures in nature, including: 

• Exploring the redwood forest
• Seeing a colony of 50 sea lions on a quiet beach
• Riding horses on Cannon Beach
• Taking a boat tour of Crater Lake
• Renting ATVs and exploring the Oregon Dunes
• Hiring a skiff and boating up the Siuslaw River
• Having a close encounter with a mama bear and her two cubs.

Kathy and her family loved every minute of their RV trip, from being engrossed in a book in the back seat of the rig, to looking for wildlife on spectacular hikes. 

All in all, says Kathy, “it was a spectacular week. We got to pack an outsized number of lifelong memories into just a week because of our beloved ‘Arvey. When you don’t have to pack and unpack, picking up and heading for a new destination every day is exhilarating instead of wearing. We found the RV concept combines Tom’s wanderlust with my nesting instincts – new horizons every day, but a cozy ‘home’ to return to.”

Practical Information

RV rentals aren’t cheap, but you really can’t beat the convenience factor of not having to unpack every night and not having to go out to eat for every meal.  Here is the cost breakdown:

$1,800: Flight for four from DC to Portland, OR

$1500  to rent the 2011 Class C 31-foot Forester for 8 days from RV Northwest in Portland; (plus $500 in extras including bedding, kitchen set, bike rack, a few miles over the 800 allowed); $350 in gas at 8 miles per gallon www.rvsnorthwest.com;

$25 to $40 per night campsite fees.  For information about national parks, see www.nps.gov; for information about RV parks and campgrounds by state, see www.rvparkhunter.com

$400 for four bikes for a week