Corvallis and Eugene OR…

The trip south on Interstate 5 and then on state road 99 toward Eugene went smoothly as we pulled into our space at Riverbend RV Park in Harrisburg, Oregon. Again we primarily chose this park so we could visit Corvallis and Oregon State University as well as catch up with our friends Pam and Vic. Riverbend RV Park is a rural park but has some nice sites (if you are nearer the river) with full hookups for $25 per night when booking a week stay. The scenic Willamette River skirts the park and there are nice views of it when visiting their large hot tub and pool.

We made a trip over to Corvallis and drove through the campus just as they were preparing for a huge annual fair called Da Vinci Days. So we decided to simply buy some groceries at a nearby WinCo (excellent place to get bin products if that is your thing) and headed home. We figured we would make another trip later to check out the town more thoroughly.

We also made a road trip with Vic and Pam over to Eugene to participate in the Bite of Eugene. A quaint little gathering of tents offering “bites” of their wares at a discounted price. I did have a chance reacquaint myself with a Ninkasi IPA and sample some fabulous catfish with a dill aioli sauce – very yummy. Sharon enjoyed her veggie burger as well. A sample of some locally made ice cream made with coconut milk (non-dairy) was also very good. The fair had some bands offering up some lively music but the fair overall was a bit toned down and was not as heavily attended as we thought it may have been. We did have a great time visiting with Pam and Vic and Sharon had the chance to chat with and have her picture taken with the Slug Queen.

We made an additional trip back to Corvallis on Saturday morning to take in their farmer’s market. We followed Pam and Vic to the market and what a great little farmer’s market Corvallis has. The diversity of produce and food products was amazing! We purchased local raspberries, loganberries and cherries and certainly would have purchased more but we really didn’t need a lot of produce at this time. After the market Pam and Vic took us on a walking tour of the riverfront and the downtown area. There was a lot of activity in town since the Da Vinci Days fair was in full swing. People were everywhere and we stumbled onto a small parade that was a part of the fair festivities.

After enjoying our stay here at Riverbend RV Park we will leave on Tuesday and head south to stay at the Lane County Richardson Park on Clear Lake. I planned to stay at Armitage Park but we were able to stay longer at Richardson. We are not able to stay through the weekend so we may boondock at the Mall for a few nights before heading west to Florence and the Lane County Harbor Vista Park. We are finding it is easy to get spots in parks for weekdays but weekends are going to be a problem as we hug the coast going south…