Camping 2025
Let the 2025 Camping Season begin! We don’t have a nickname for this season yet…usually one is earned after a few adventures or misadventures.
On May 24th, we traveled to Bend, Oregon for a week and we will go on to the Oregon coast. It’s a combination trip – urban camping in bustling Bend on the high desert and then beach camping in Yachats, Oregon.
Campground: While in Bend, we camped at Sun Outdoors Bend in the Old Farm neighborhood in Southeast Bend. It’s a lovely campground with very roomy brick paver sites, shaded by towering Ponderosa pines. A bonus: there’s a small shed at the back of most RV sites to securely store bicycles and other outdoor gear while camping there. There is also an fenced off-leash dog area that’s handy to give dogs a bit of freedom to run and work out some energy. The only downside is that it’s mostly dirt and rocks on an uphill slope. It’s dusty on a dry day and muddy during rainy days. We’ve suggested making improvements to the staff in the office such as expanding it into an adjacent grassy area or adding some artificial turf. They acknowledged that it’s a concern of many pet owners and that they’ve passed it on to the corporate office. So hopefully, that will be improved. Overall, we’ve camped here at least once a year, always had a positive experience, and would consider this one of our favorite PNW campgrounds.
Activities: We spent a few quiet moments at the simple yet beautiful Veterans Memorial in Bend on Memorial Day, and drove to the top of Pilot Butte (a 4,142 foot lava cinder cone) to soak in the panoramic views of the Cascades and the surrounding area. We biked to nearby Alpenglow Community Park, a fantastic community park with paved bike paths and a huge dog run area. We had many folks wave and comment as we rode our Himaway e-bikes and towed the Doodles in their chariots (aka doggie bike trailers). We visited the Newberry National Volcanic Monument – those massive lava beds and the view from the fire tower at the top are impressive. We spent an afternoon moseying through the quaint village of Sisters. and I ducked into The Hen’s Tooth, my favorite shop, to say hello. We relaxed at Bend Brewing Company, Worthy Brewing Company, and Crosscut Warming Hut No. 5 – all three had dog friendly patio areas so the Doodles were able to come along with us. We also stocked up on groceries at Trader Joes and Costco (we don’t have those stores at home).
There’s always a bit of maintenance to do on the first trip. Unfortunately, our fridge decided to quit on Tuesday afternoon. Thankfully, we noticed the temp rising and lack of fans humming and were able to buy two large coolers and big bags of ice to salvage most of our groceries. The silver lining to that misadventure is that it happened while we were here in Bend and not at the more remote coast. There are fine mobile RV techs in area. We called that evening, they answered (even though it was after hours) and sent Tech Gary to our campground the very next morning. He repaired the fridge and it was happily chilling our vittles at its optimum temp of 33º…until Saturday evening. It stopped chilling again but this time Willie knew which fuse to replace. He then reset the power to the trailer and voila! It’s been working perfectly since then. I’ve promoted Willie to Lead RV Technician., a qualification he says he does not want or seek.
Another bright note: the folks at the neighboring site had a RV detailing crew washing their gorgeous motorhome. The crew of four was diligently scrubbing every outside inch of that rig and doing a terrific job. Fortunately, the crew had time to wash and wax our travel trailer, too. Truly was truly sparkling in the sunshine in under two hours. A bonus: The Beast (our black F350 truck) also got a bath, removing its layer of the dusty green pollen. We’re looking pretty spiffy and relieved to cross “wash & wax the trailer” off our annual maintenance list.
Summing It Up: The week at Sun Outdoors flew by. The campground was full and lively over Memorial Day weekend, with families camping together and teeming with “tricycle motors” (aka littles) and older kids racing each other on bikes, scooters and skateboards. After the holiday weekend, it was much more mellow with mostly couples and dogs chilling out at the campsites. Both vibes were appreciated.
Next Up: Now we’re off to Sea Perch RV Park on the coast. (The Doodles will be writing more, too. Barley has been taking in all the activity at the campground and has much to say!)