Apr 2, 2016 – Apr 3, 2016

After a long winter break we felt that it would be relatively safe to de-winterize the RV and get it ready for another year of travels. Last Saturday (Mar 26), we brought the RV home for the day to clean the outside of the coach. At that time we took advantage of the good weather to wash the exterior using our new “foam gun“. In addition, we installed the bike rack (purchased via Craigs List), and swapped out the drop-hitch with a “dual-hitch” receiver so we could have the bike rack and tow car connected simultaneously.

This weekend, we went to Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothel, WA to prep the RV for the season. This includes cleaning/vacuuming the interior, sanitizing the fresh water tank and plumbing, waxing the exterior, etc… We only stayed one night, so it was a busy weekend.Tasks completed include:

1. Purged the antifreeze from the water system
2. Sanitized water system
3. Waxed lower half of coach
4. Polished all wheels
5. Vacuumed interior
6. Set up Temp monitors and Verizon JetPack

Daniel joined us in the afternoon after working on Saturday. In the evening, we watched “Before I Go To Sleep”. While not really a “getaway” – this was more of a working weekend. We are all looking forward to our next trip!

Oct 16, 2015 – Oct 19, 2015

This mildly sunny Friday afternoon, we set out for the familiar Fidalgo Bay Resort. This being our third stay there, we knew to expect a relaxing weekend looking out at the water. The weather behaved itself, with only a few spots of rain early Saturday afternoon and an almost constant haze over the water that made the distant shorelines look like pirates’ coves. We took advantage of the mild weather to visit the local farmers’ market on Saturday, a relatively small but pleasant setup in a square beside what appeared to be a rundown train station. After perusing the selection of fresh veggies, flowers, pastries, and homemade crafts, we returned to the RV for a quiet night in: reading, watching the water, and finally a movie (The Intouchables, which is one that I would definitely recommend to others). This was all very well (the forecast had predicted outright rain, after all), but what we didn’t expect was an appearance made by a couple sea lions, who occasionally graced us with their presence throughout our stay, bobbing in and out of the water at intervals that baffled our understanding of sub-water lung capacity.

Sunday brought with it a thicker layer of clouds and a bit of a chill, but still no rain. Time was spent reposing indoors, but for one brief excursion to scout out another potential campsite (H-12 was the best spot, I say! Don’t let them tell you otherwise!).

Tomorrow, Monday, will see us packing our bags to return to our regular work-lives, refreshed from this much-needed getaway and counting the days until we can get out again.

Aug 30, 2015 – Sep 6, 2015

We took a week off and headed out to the Idaho border. Lewiston is on the Idaho side of the border and Clarkston on the Washington side, with the Snake River in-between. We stayed at the Premier RV Resort at Granite Lake.

View out front window of motorhome

We had a waterfront site (site #39) overlooking the Snake River.

The weather was nice most days – sunny and warm. We did some walking on a path that goes along the Snake River and is right in front of our RV. We also sat out in our lawn chairs quite a bit, reading, snoozing, and just taking in the river and mountain views.

Lewis and Clark Discovery Center at Hell’s Gate State Park

On Friday afternoon, we went to Hell’s Gate State Park – just a few miles away.

They had a Lewis and Clark Discovery Center with exhibits and information pertaining to same. They also had a lot of hiking trails but we enjoyed the one near the center that had more exhibits and views of the Snake River. The park also has an RV park that we looked at for a possible future visit

Apr 30, 2015 – May 3, 2015

We had a few odds and ends to have done to the coach, and we heard good things about Brazel’s RV in Centralia, WA. So, we planned a weekend to spend a few days in the RV, and then drop it off at Brazel’s for some minor work. We spent Thursday and Friday night at Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothel, WA.

Saturday morning, we then drove down to American Heritage Campground in Olympia, WA

Wooded area, with plenty of privacy

The view above…

We left early Sunday morning for the drive home. The total trip is 1295 miles,or about 23-1/2 hours if we averaged 55 mph overall.  We originally planned for three days, stopping near San Jose, CA the first night, and Canyonville, OR the second night.That would put the drive at about 460 miles (8-1/2 hours) each of the first two days, and then 355 miles for the final day. Our main concern was the possibility of snow at Siskiyou Pass.

The first day, we drove a bit further than planned, and ended up overnighting at the Walmart Supercenter in Willows, CA. Of course, we had shopping to do in Wal-Mart anyway, and bought odds and ends. We parked at the far end of the parking lot, which allowed us to open one of the bedroom slides.

View from Rest Stop

The next morning, we left early and hit the road again. We stopped at one of the rest stops on the way for breakfast – which offered beautiful views of the mountainsides. We made it over the mountain passes without incident and stopped for lunch near Azalea, OR.

The second night (Monday night), we stopped at the Walmart Supercenter near Woodburn, OR, and again, did yet more shopping at Wal-Mart.

Since we were making good time, we decided to stop on the way home to stay at an RV park Tuesday night, and relax.

Cruise ship coming down the Columbia River

We picked Columbia Riverfront RV Park in Woodland, WA. We ended up with a great site, overlooking the Columbia River. While relaxing in the RV, we glanced out the window to see a huge cruise ship coming down the river. The river didn’t appear wide enough to accommodate a cruise ship, so we were rather surprised.

The next day, we left around 9:15 am (after dumping the tanks), and pulled up in front of our house at about 2:45 pm.

We flew out early Friday morning (Feb 28, 2015 @ 6:40 am) to Palm Springs to pick up the RV. Upon arrival, we rented a car and immediately drove to the RV Storage site. The RV started right up, and we drove it about a mile down the road to the RV Park (Indian Waters RV Resort).

View from front window at site.

That’s us, on the right (with our rental car on the left of the RV)

We had a perfect spot right across the street from the clubhouse, and the person taking us to the site guided me right into the spot.

Hot Tub, Heated Pool, etc…

The park is very nice with lots of amenities: Heated Pool, Hot Tub, Pickleball Courts, and various activities scheduled for most days.

We spent the weekend (Fri-Sun morning) getting acclimated to the RV, and trying to figure out how everything worked, and where the switches are located. We also made several runs to Walmart to stock up on supplies (Coffee Maker, Toaster Oven, Pillows, Sheets, etc…)

Joshua Tree Nat’l Park is only about an hour away, but we didn’t make it there this trip. We would definitely stay here again when we are in the area in the future.