Hee Hee Illahee RV Resort – Salem OR

You can’t help but giggle when you see the name of this resort, located in Salem. Some internet research indicates Illahee generally translates to “earth” or “country” in Indian folklore, but another translation specified “house by the water.” However, the “hee hee” part does bring a smile to your face. One of the co-managers said the name is supposed to translate to “fun place to be.”

Thank goodness the park paid for a good supply of signs posted from the freeway because my GPS didn’t recognize the street (and Mapquest.com doesn’t have it either). As of this date, the park had been open 1 year and 5 months (according to one of the co-managers). This park has 139 spaces and most of them are pull-through. Only 25 are back-in. As of this writing, the back-ins were $30 and the pull-throughs are $34. The slots are quite long, and nicely paved with concrete. There is an adequate amount grass between each slot. Although you see your neighbor, you won’t feel like your neighbor is “in your face.”

The park has an outdoor pool (which was closed at this time of year) and an indoor spa. The restroom was very clean (can only speak for the women’s restroom, didn’t see the men’s…), but there is only one shower. Two more unisex showers are available in the spa area. The laundry area is accessed by a code and available 24 hours a day. The laundry area had an adequate supply of washers and dryers for the size of the park. There is a change machine, too! Although all the laundry facilities were in one place, this park is flat, so anyone who is staying at the outer edge of the park and has mobility issues can easily get there in a mobility assistance vehicle.

The cable TV has a very good lineup of channels. If you have a digital TV, you will get a few additional ones. The trash dumpster and recycle bins are quite concealed (more like a fortress!) so as not to interfere with the ambience of the park. Those two items were so well hidden, I had trouble finding them! When I eventually located them, I discovered the fences surrounding them were arranged in a “walk through maze” which prevents ugly viewing from anywhere in the park.

The reservation office is open until 9:00 PM at night (6:00 PM Sundays). Additional amenities include a pay phone, a propane facility, a room where you can exercise and read books, and great wireless! For full-timers, there are phone hookups, but you have to arrange the service through the phone company. Further, the park is well lit at night with many tall and very bright street lights (every other slot). There is one down side to this: my window shades didn’t block the light as much as I would like. Add to that, a very much loved (and spoiled!) pet cat who insists on the “3:00 AM guard watch,” at the window, where the street light is… But this was a very minor inconvenience compared to the security of having a park this well lit at night.

Actually, the only thing I didn’t like about this park was: on the day I was leaving, they wouldn’t/couldn’t sell propane before noon because their propane person didn’t come to work until then!