Hwy 101 in Oregon

[VegasFlyer]

After conversing with my distinguished colleagues over dinner about this subject, I do think it is important to add an addendum to my original post.

 

While I do feel that the area of the cape will generally be passable and plausible with most HDT rv's, that statement contains a qualifying assumption that the driver will have been trained or have a requisite knowledge level to at least a basic CDL equivalent, have experience with their specific rig to where they are quite comfortable and competent driving on roads with reduced lane widths and very sharp curves, as well as have training and experience in defensive driving.

 

With that said, all this would apply to not only Highway 101, but ANY highway that does not start with an "I" and even some portions of our most heavily traveled interstate highways.

 

There are also many many places where even a simple accident or natural occurrence can conceivably shut down a two lane highway, for many hours, if not days, with little to no chance of a detour without your ability to back your rig for a long distance or maneuver in tight spots to get turned around, so plan accordingly.

[Raquel]

It's all moot at this point. Trish suffers from SAD and spending the winter on the coast was an "experiment". We're leaving Saturday morning and heading south for warmer climes. We'll be heading for Pahrump, NV.

[Dollytrolley]

It's all moot at this point. Trish suffers from SAD and spending the winter on the coast was an "experiment". We're leaving Saturday morning and heading south for warmer climes. We'll be heading for Pahrump, NV.

Wife has SAD so her therapy is intense SW winter sun and Pahrump works fairly well although it can get a bit chilly during some winter nights....

 

For several years we owned a wonderful extremely private canyon home just West of Tucson... Unfortunately a surgeon fell in love with the place and he piled enough $$$ on the table that we sold out and tried Yuma,(too many geezers in the winter) Wickenburg,(Few too intense cowgirls) and now we are being simi-hermits out at Last Chance Peak West of Death Valley and North of Pahrump and West of Vegas....

 

Vegas is....Vegas we seldom go there ....Pahrump is a bit odd but it's ok compared to Vegas.

 

Lot different than Oregon coast and somewhat similar to our Bend, Oregon location but Bend is colder and some years snow can pile up and linger a Looong-time .. .

 

Seen quite a few HDTs pass through Pahrump on Hyw 160 sneaking around Vegas and a few HDT's hang out in Pahrump much of the year.

 

Drive on.....(Enjoy S. Nevada winter)

[2gypsies]

To us, Pahrump is not a warm climate in winter. Try it but if it doesn't work mosey on down to the Phoenix/Tucson area. Good luck!!!

[Raquel]

Wife has SAD so her therapy is intense SW winter sun and Pahrump works fairly well although it can get a bit chilly during some winter nights....

 

For several years we owned a wonderful extremely private canyon home just West of Tucson... Unfortunately a surgeon fell in love with the place and he piled enough $$$ on the table that we sold out and tried Yuma,(too many geezers in the winter) Wickenburg,(Few too intense cowgirls) and now we are being simi-hermits out at Last Chance Peak West of Death Valley and North of Pahrump and West of Vegas....

 

Vegas is....Vegas we seldom go there ....Pahrump is a bit odd but it's ok compared to Vegas.

 

Lot different than Oregon coast and somewhat similar to our Bend, Oregon location but Bend is colder and some years snow can pile up and linger a Looong-time .. .

 

Seen quite a few HDTs pass through Pahrump on Hyw 160 sneaking around Vegas and a few HDT's hang out in Pahrump much of the year.

 

Drive on.....(Enjoy S. Nevada winter)

 

Your wife's therapy sounds like Trish's. Besides the intense full-spectrum light therapy (or sunlight), she has found supplements that usually seem to help. Having been up in N. California (Chico/Paradise) area, the combination has worked pretty well. She just can't seem to catch up here though.

 

We understand that Pahrump isn't the warmest place we could have chosen, but we have friends there who are going to let us stay on their property and use the full hookups they have at the house. We have some other friends who are stopping in Pahrump on their way from N.W. Washington to Tuscon. We'll probably stay until the holidays are over so we can spend time with all of them.

 

EDIT: We're not "geezing" yet, but we are in our late 60s, so maybe we'll find someone to talk to in Yuma. We have some friends who have a lot and a "casita" in Yuma, who said they could find a place for us if we ever need it.

[Raquel]

To us, Pahrump is not a warm climate in winter. Try it but if it doesn't work mosey on down to the Phoenix/Tucson area. Good luck!!!

 

We were talking about that last night. If it's just too cold for our bones, we might go down to Parker or even Yuma. We've never been.

[Dollytrolley]

 

We were talking about that last night. If it's just too cold for our bones, we might go down to Parker or even Yuma. We've never been.

We have spent parts of a few winters around Yuma and it is for the most part a very pleasant winter climate. A lot of Canadians flock into Yuma right around Christmas and it can become a bit crowded.....in the last couple of years of very strong U S Dollar valuation versus the weaker Canadian Dollar some of the Canadians have chosen to not winter in Yuma.

 

Once in a while sand storms occur in Yuma and that can be a bit of a drag but they tend to be of short duration. Lot of winter vegetables are grown in Yuma and the farmer markets are nice.

 

The airport is pretty much in the middle of town with a fair amount of military and Agricultural aircraft traffic but most folks do not notice the noise much.

 

North of Yuma are some very nice Boondocking locations as well.

 

Wife is Luke warm about Yuma because the horse trails are not very good around Yuma.

 

Drive on.....(Enjoy the S W winter sunshine)

[Jemstone]

Raquel, you may find Yuma expensive and crowded if your place does not work out. There are many other warm wintering areas on the Arizona Sonoran western desert. To name a few towns on the low desert which have RV parks there are Bouse, Brenda, Buckeye, Coolidge, Casa Grande, Salome and the many parks near the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas. I would suggest taking a look at rvparkhunter.com - Arizona if you want less people and possibly better prices than Yuma. It seemed to list the parks in the smaller western Arizona towns in some detail.

 

Welcome to Arizona where ever you land. Last year we had nothing close to winter weather and it's been in the 80s in the Phoenix area till today, when temperatures plummeted into the 70s, but still sunny.

[dzwiss]

Today we drove from Nehalem, Or to Bandon, Or. on 101. A simply beautiful drive, even though it rained the whole way.

[Raquel]

Today we drove from Nehalem, Or to Bandon, Or. on 101. A simply beautiful drive, even though it rained the whole way.

 

It is a very beautiful drive. Having lived in Portland 40 years, we'd driven it many times ... with a car. The road restrictions are what had me going. Combinations 60' and over are not supposed to take the road over Cape Perpetua. At 65' I would clearly be in violation and I didn't want to have any kind of mishap on the road. Whatever caused the mishap, it would have been my fault for being over length.

 

I looked at every web page for ODOT and every map. I then called and talked to 2 or 3 different people and found the map that I had been missing, showing that the road is a "red road" and that I should not be driving it, no matter what I think of my skill level.

 

dzwiss, I'm glad that you enjoyed the drive and the scenery. I truly believe that the Oregon Coast is the most scenic coastline on the continental U.S.

[Dollytrolley]

 

It is a very beautiful drive. Having lived in Portland 40 years, we'd driven it many times ... with a car. The road restrictions are what had me going. Combinations 60' and over are not supposed to take the road over Cape Perpetua. At 65' I would clearly be in violation and I didn't want to have any kind of mishap on the road. Whatever caused the mishap, it would have been my fault for being over length.

 

I looked at every web page for ODOT and every map. I then called and talked to 2 or 3 different people and found the map that I had been missing, showing that the road is a "red road" and that I should not be driving it, no matter what I think of my skill level.

 

dzwiss, I'm glad that you enjoyed the drive and the scenery. I truly believe that the Oregon Coast is the most scenic coastline on the continental U.S.

Indeed it can be pretty frustrating to deal with ODOT some of the time and even the governor of Oregon gets the bums rush from ODOT at times.

 

It's a power play that ODOT seems to enjoy by hiding maps and verbiage regarding MANY of the LIMITATION roads scattered ALL over Oregon.

 

Obviously you really dug deep to finally get to the details of the Cape section LIMITATIONS of highway 101 and it should not take a CIA search to uncover these limitations but it is just a ODOT thing that never seems to change....

 

Legend has it that ODOT hides many of the highway limitations info simply because it's embarrassing to have charge of so many miles of substandard roads. Of course substandard roads are not all the fault of ODOT as in the case of the Cape section of 101 it's just a factor of the gorgeous location coupled with highly unstable cliffs that no road should be built on and then ODOT is charged with keeping from falling off into the ocean....tends to make some ODOT a bit grumpy .....

 

Sorry it was so much trouble to Slough out the LIMITATION info but as you mentioned it's better safe than sorry...

 

Drive on.....(ODOT has..... limitations)

[rdickinson]

I did that 101 from Astoria to where Hiway 20 to Clear Lakes cuts off. I-5 was getting freezing conditions at the time (1st week Jan), so this was the alternative if I wanted to proceed south. My rig is 66', there were no issues. lots of twists and turns but no more than going out to the West Coast of Vancouver island or some stretches of some of the Passes in the Rockies, at least in Canada. Quite a bit of it at night, dark before 5pm local.

 

It is tiring but there are lots of pull outs and the road was no worse or better than anywhere else.

 

Roger

[Raquel]

Thank you, Roger. Five days before the move down the coast (November 19) we decided to "beat feet" out of the cold, wet, and grey and headed on over to I-5 through Newport. We made a fast trip over the Siskiyou's and beat the freezing rain, staying in Pahrump for 3 weeks before heading on. We've been spending the last month and a half in Yuma, keeping mostly warm. Just a couple of weeks ago we saw the tunnel just North of Cape Perpetua with snow.

 

I'm glad you made it through without too much trouble, especially before the bad weather hit that area. Now they're having problems with high surf!