Living In America ..You say Goodbye, I say Hello, ...

[kickassangel]

New Thread.

Jolly good. I saw on the news a while ago that they'd all but disappeared and that there was only a handful of them there. I can't remember the reason.

It wasn't that long ago. They ended up in the Sea Lion Caves here in Oregon. I don't know if they're still here, or have gone back.

That's really funny! I'll bear that in mind!

Wow, it's gone really quiet in this corner! How is everyone? Hope the weather is good and everyone can get out and about.

Hi again...yes it has gone really quiet on this thread.....hope someone is reading this, but I'd love to hear of any cool campsites in the States we'll be visiting (New York, New England, D.C., Wash state, Oregan and California)
Would love to find places that have little tree houses, log cabins, teepees, yurts, old railway carriages, retro trailers, that sort of thing, obvious;ly not ALL of the above! (Though that sounds cool!)

Hello PeaSoup - we stayed at this campsite last year. Whilst it doesn't have any of the fun things you mentioned it is the closest to DC - it was also very, very friendly. Also check out the KOA campgrounds - many of them have little wooden cabins which are probably not what you are looking for but are fun. Beware the teepee sites as many of them are just farmers who have thrown up a couple of old canvas teepees in the most mosquito ridden spot they can find. At least that is our experience. I vaguely remember a book listing all of the cool off-beat campsites. I will think on it today and let you know if I can remember.

Hi peasoup, friends of ours stayed at this motel with railway carriages in northern California last year and really liked it: www.rrpark.com Also, check out www.oregonstateparks.org as loads of them have campsites and lots have yurts. My cousin from Portland is coming to stay at Tumalo State Park in Bend, Oregon so will let you know what her yurt is like! Hope these links work!

Thanks Lily and TadJ, That railway carriage motel looked cute; and lots to look through on all the other links. There are Cool Camping books for England, Sciotland , Wales I think but I haven't come accross one yet for USA. Letme know if you remember the title Lily.

bump

Um, I'm sorry, but I seriously hate camping. Agree with LilySmalls in that the only thing I know about is the little cabin thingies in the KOA. If you are headed to Central Oregon, Kah Nee Ta has teepee camping, but it looks kind of expensive, and we've always stayed in the hotel, so I don't know how the teepees are. It is a nice place, though.

There is some place in Southern Oregon that is a giant tree house to stay in, but I have no idea what it is called.

Sorry I've been off for so long. I ended up getting pneumonia, and was really not feeling good for a long time.

I am still trying to remember the cool campgrounds thing. How about you just rent a retro airstream! You should definitely buy a copy of Trailer Life 2010 RV Parks, Campgrounds & Services Directory. It is the official directory of the Good Sam Club (which is mainly for RVers) - it is exhaustive in the information that it lists about pretty much every campsite in the USA. Are you planning ALL of those states in one roadtrip - very ambitious!

Thanks lily The tip about Trailer Life Directory is a good one...No we're not doing some massive huge road trip. We're staying with friends in D.C., NY, Seattle, San Fran and Portland, Oregan. But we'll also go off on our own in hire cars to explore so would love to stay at the cool campsites but not in tents- in cabins or yurts or whatever. It's not a predominantly camping holiday, but we'd like to check out some cool campsites along the way. No RV....

The yurts in Tumalo State Park are quite cool - they're like little round circus tents with a skylight, electricity and heating. The one I saw yesterday had a bunk bed with the bottom bunk being larger and a double futon, a couple of tables, shelves, fire pits outside etc. It did make me feel a bit dizzy somehow. Oh, it has a proper door and a wooden floor, so quite cool! HTH peasoup!

Thanks Tadj, Do you know what's the most reasonable car hire place there? Also am thinking to get from SF to Potrland, driving might be the best option. Train seems really expensive and 17 hours (a sleeper compartment makes it expensive), plane also pretty pricey. Can you pick up a car in SF and drop off in POrtland? What are the cheapest companies?

Thrifty seem quite cheap usually. Don't know about one-way drop-offs but I imagine they make it more expensive, especially in a different state. Flying can be v expensive!

I remember reading where you could stay in a fire look-out type of thing in Washington state. That was a while ago but you might be able to google and find it.

Not a big camper otherwise though.

What's a fire look out Jabba?

It's a really tall tower that looks out over the forest so that fires can be spotted quickly.

Thanks Jabba I googled it, so I needn't have asked the dumb question "What's a fire look out?" They look VERY cool. Probably not for us with a four year old as it's a hike to get to them, but VERY cool. 360% view all round; I'm now craving ditching the four year old for a night and heading up there (wonder if Grandma could pop over form London to Oregon for a nights baby sitting )

ok, time to resurrect this thread, or start another?

anyhoo, been v busy in RL, as it appears we're applying for a Green Card. Working our way through all the paperwork atm. Today we did medicals & i have had 4 needles stuck into my arm, so feeling a little sore & achey.

Mainly we're applying for the green card as it means i could work & dh change jobs easily - his job is v unstable. BUT it still feels like we're making things here more permanent, and I'm not sure how i feel about that.

also, me not working has made me feel a bit like i'm on an extended holiday. the prospect of a job rather takes away from that feeling. after all, what was the point of making this move & missing our families, if we just end up both working & never having any free time? (apart from dh losing his job in the UK)

real life seems to be looming.

we've just done the same thing - shiny canadian pr visas in our passports as of friday

it keeps our options open but has left me panic-stricken - should we sell the house at a huge loss to get a cheaper mortgage?... the chances of us maintaining this income long term here are minimal. i'm now also flapping about education - if we are here indefinitely instead of for a couple of years, should i be being a bit more discerning on behalf of my children?

there are no jobs for me here - except for the pt/ low income one i already have lol... so if we're staying, we need to stay somewhere else...

rl indeed.

Have just found this thread. I love the bits about covering up while nursing. I never understood that, and I'm from a hyper-conservative American family.

Anyway, living is Seattle now myself, having also given up my crappy career for international SAHM-hood.

Oh, and epicurious.com is great for recipes

Just wondering if anyone still in PA? Heading there soon - life of international mystery continuing...and looking for ways to make friends there