Tinkerblue

MacGyver Style Fly-In Camping

This weekend is the Abbotsford Air Show. Hubby flew in yesterday morning because our plane is on static display (parked under a B52!) and he's working the CASARA booth. I had to work at the train station yesterday morning so I resorted to driving over.

Barb and Jerry, our friends from Quesnel, have flown down for the air show and are camping on the field. We decided on Friday night to join them. So when Hubby left yesterday he packed all the camping gear in the plane.

Well almost all. He forgot the tent! He packed the poles and the pegs, but no tent. How do you forget the tent? Kind of the most important part of camping.

His first suggestion was that I drove home and get it. Yeah, no! So Hubby and Jerry MacGyvered a tent.

A bright orange tarp, some bungee cord and a few pegs, all borrowed from Barb and Jerry and my car = a tent.

Of course it was a hot day yesterday, but once the sun went down it was chilly. I used my yoga mat for a bit of extra padding between me an the ground and a picnic blanket for extra warmth. My work fleece was also still in the car, I wore it over my pajamas. There is something to be said for leaving random items in the car.

It was comfy and we slept well. So all's good in the end.

Oh, did you notice that Hubby's sleeping mat, sleeping bag, and t-shirt are all safety orange to match Jerry's tarp? Hubby may be forgetful but at least he matches!

Happy Canada Day

Hubby and I flew down to the Oregon coast for the weekend. We're camping with our friends Fred and Joanne, Doug and Aline, Kim, Joanna and Deka.

We spent the afternoon hanging out at the campground, reading, telling stories, riding our bikes, reading...

And the evening sitting round the campfire, drinking wine and roasting marshmallows.

We may not be in Canada (we're camping in Oregon), but it's been a great Canada Day.

Randomness - Manzanita and Nehalem Bay, Oregon

Getting ready for the 4th of July:

 

I love a town and a campground that are dog friendly:

 

Beer bottles should all be twist tops:

 

Because if they're not, it's a lot of hard work just to get a drink (especially when you can't find the bottle opener, which is probably at home with the lantern!)

 

 

 

But had they all been twist off, then we probably would have drunk more and then there would have been more empties to pack out.

 

All up it was an awesome weekend. Thanks to Fred and Joanne, Doug and Aline, and Kim, Joanna and Miss M for joining us. Hope we can all do it again sometime soon.

 

Places to Fly - Manzanita, Oregon

The nearest town to Nehalem Bay State Airport and Campground is Manzanita. A 20 minute walk or a 10 minute bike ride from runway to main street. We've done both. All 7 of us rode into town on day 1 to pick up some groceries etc.

 

Day 3 we took a leisurely walk into town along the beach. It took longer because we stopped to watch the surfers, kite fliers and baby seals taking a nap.

 

In town there's a grocery store to stock up on steak for the barbie, salads, bacon and eggs, beer and wine, and icecream.

And two, yep two, Mexican restaurants. We've eaten at both of them. At the top of the hill is Left Coast Siesta Mexican Food. Hubby and I ate here last year. 

 

 

 It's all about burritos and enchiladas mainly. It's cheap and cheerful and the portions are big.  There's a patio which makes for great people watching.

 

 

At the beach end of the main street is El Mariachi Loco. It's a bit more expensive that Left Coast Siesta. 

 

 

But it has a larger selection of menu items, including some of my favourite Mexican dishes. Like Tacos al Pastor, Sopitas and Flautas.

 

They also win my vote because they serve Negra Modelo. Nom nom nom.

 

 

If you don't want to camp at Nehalem Bay State Park, you can always stay in Manzanita. There's quite the selection of cottages, motels and resorts. I could spent several days just enjoying the sunshine.

 

Places to Fly - Nehalem Bay, Oregon

 runway straight ahead, campground to the left, Pacific Ocean to the far left.

When we flew down to the Oregon Coast both last July and this year, we flew into and camped at Nehalem Bay State Park. Nehalem Bay is south of Seaside and north of Tillamook. 

 

There is a huge state campground. Seriously huge. 265 campsites, 18 yurts, 17 primitive sites at the horse camp and another 6 primitive sites at the airport. There's an amphitheatre where they run junior ranger programs during the day,  Shakespeare or other entertainment in the evening , plenty of showers, firewood for sale, a playground, beach or bay access, a 2 mile bike loop and over 20 miles of horse or hiking trails. It's an awesome place to camp.

 

There's one runway. And then a grass taxiway. Make sure you don't confuse the ditch for the taxiway. That could be embarrasing. 

 

At the airport there is one port-a-loo/honeybucket/whatever, but the main toilet blocks are not that far away. There's running water, so you can cook, clean up, brush your teeth, wash your face. Just remember the water is cold! 

 

We take our bikes with us. So we can ride over to the showers. The showers are clean, hot and free. At least they were when we were there.  Besides exploring the campground and the bay, we used our bikes to get into the nearest town - Manzanita. It's about a 20 minute walk away. But only 10 mins on our bikes. 

 

 

There are six campsites at the airport. Each has a picnic table and a firepit. The sites are large. Plenty of room for our two man tent. As it was a busy weekend we shared our campsite with Kim, Joanna and Deka. Lots of room for both tents, 3 bikes, the firepit, and our camp chairs. The 6 sites were all full the July 1st/4th weekend. More and more planes kept arriving. They just pitched their tents under their wings. Camping is only $8.00 a night. Pay up. It's cheap enough and we don't want general aviation to lose the privilege of camping here.

 

 

Pack your insect repellent. Mosquitos are plentiful, but only around dusk.  The sunsets are spectacular. Worth the hike down to the beach.

 

Places to Fly - Oliver, BC

 

Oliver is located at the southern end of the Okanagan Valley.  It sits in the only desert in Canada and is referred to as the Wine Capitol of Canada.

Oliver Municipal Airport is a nice airport. We've flown here many times. We like the clubhouse, with a clean bathroom, power, BBQ and in colder months it's warm.

 

 
  

The town of Oliver is about a 5-10 minute walk from the airport. Once in town there are several places to eat and if you have bikes (or are a keen walker) there are several wineries within cycling distance. I take no responsibility for the hills.  They are killer.

 

We've come here at least once a a summer for the last couple of years. Sometimes just for lunch, sometimes for a night or two in a nearby hotel, our most recent trip we camped.  Oliver airport allows camping at the airport.  You could probably camp on the nice, flat, green grass right near the clubhouse but we pitched our tent under the wing. It was a tad chilly the night we camped, so we made good use of the clubhouse, sitting inside having a beer before heading to bed.

 

Success - a Nutcase helmet and a Nantucket Bike Basket

The helmet decision has been made.  Mainly by default.  It came down to what the store had in stock in my size. They could have ordered any of the designs in for me, but I was too impatient to wait.  So the Nutcase drippy it is.

 

 
 

When we were in the US back in May we went to REI to buy hubby a new camera to tie to the tail of the plane.  And they just happened to have one of the bike baskets I liked.  Now it's attached to my bike and already to go. It's the classic Cisco model from Nantucket Bike Baskets..  And it's getting good use.  Last weekend I used it to carry stuff from our campsite to the showers.

 

I'm still keeping my eye out for this one (the Miacomet).  But no one seems to have it in stock right now.