Monday, April 18, 2016

We got on the road at a leisurely pace this morning leaving our campground at about 10 and arriving in Mount Vernon, at the new campground, Riverbend RV Resort, at about 1 PM.  Riverbend is about 20 miles north of Seattle but a perfect place to accomplish the next part of our schedule.  We had stopped to eat lunch about a half hour down the road at a Rest Area.

When we arrived, we got settled almost immediately and then headed out for Ebey’s Landing National Preserve on Whidbey Island.  It was about 60 miles from our campground and we thought we could take care of it today.

It was a beautiful drive down the island that took us extra time because the road was only 2 lane, but the traffic moved right along.  But the Preserve was very lovely with an overlook that took in the entire preserve.  The Preserve was in the shadow of the Olympic Mountains which means that it get very little rainfall each year.  Sometimes only 18 inches a year.

On our way back home we timed how long it took us from Anacortes to the campground.  We will be catching the Ferry tomorrow and we don’t want to be late for the sailing time.  We figured if we left at 8 we’d have plenty of time to make it.

The weather co-operated all day today with a sunshiny day and 70+ degrees.  We had the air conditioning on in the car all day today.  The air was also running in the motorhome after we got to the campground.

The temp in the motorhome was just right having been cooled for most of the day.

This was also the first time in four days that we’ve had TV for the night.  It was a welcome addition to our evening’s entertainment.  We stayed up until 10:30 tonight even though we need to be on the road early tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

We were off this morning toward Anacortes, Washington to catch the ferry to San Juan Island.  We were a couple of minutes early by the time we got there, so we stopped at McDonald’s and picked up our Breakfast.  We continued on to the ferry and ate in the line for the ship.

When the boat arrived, it was the largest ferry we’d ever been on.  We’ve been on a few and this was definitely the largest.  And although lit seemed the car deck was full, there didn’t seem to be that many passengers.  I guess it’s probably the season.

It was a very nice ride over to San Juan Island and it took just over an hour to get there.

As soon as we hit the island we got on the coast road and headed for English Camp.  We assumed that is where we would pick up the cancellation for our passbook.  It wasn’t manned so there would be no stamp today.  We left immediately for American Camp where we knew there was a Visitor’s Center. Unfortunately there was no Ranger there and the Visitor’s Center was closed.  So Billy was not a happy camper.  We had spent 60-70 dollars riding the ferry over here without so much as a stamp.

Although there was no immediate reward for having come across to the island, We got to see the entire island which was quite beautiful.  The town of Friday Harbor, where we landed, is the largest city on the island.  The protected harbor is filled with yachts and sailboats, and the shopping is quite productive.  I found a T-shirt and Sharon found a spoon and a Christmas ornament.

We also ate while we were on the island at The Hungry Clam Restaurant.  I had a Shrimp Basket and Sharon had fried Clam Strips.  They were about the best shrimp I had ever eaten.  There was nothing special about them except that they were cooked perfectly.

While we waited in line for the return ferry, Sharon picked up a Chocolate Shake for me and a Chocolate Waffle Cone for her.  It was a nice relief for a long hot day.  On the ride back we stopped at Lopez Island to pick up additional passengers and vehicles.  It was about halfway into the trip back.  We only stopped for about 10 and then we were on our way again.

Sometime during the day Sharon called the Cascades National Park and found out it was not open yet.  So we’ll be going to the headquarters just a few miles up the road to see if we can get the stamp there.  We can see the mountains from our campground so it won’t be like we were never there.

When we got back home I started filling our empty water tank.  We’ll need it for showers tomorrow morning, and since we don’t have to drive to the Cascades tomorrow, we’ll dump and get ready to move the next day.

We were both content to just sit and watch TV tonight.  Mainly because we had several of our regular shows on tonight.  We did get back late though so we had to record our shows on the West networks.  But we managed to see most of them tonight and the others will wait for us until we’re ready.  We stayed up until about 10:45 tonight before we finally crashed.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Our regular plan was to go to the Cascades National Park today but since their not open until May it will be a “get ready to move” day instead.  We would, however, go up the road a few miles to the National Park Headquarters and try and get the stamp for the Cascades and the one we missed yesterday at San Juan National Historic Park.

We had a light Breakfast and then got on the road for the 15 mile trip up the road.  We were lucky that Sharon had decided to call the Cascades and found out from the person on the other end of the closure, and of the Headquarters building in the town of Pedro-Woolen.

We managed to get the stamp for the Cascades but they didn’t have the one for San Juan Islands.  A $50 ferry trip just flushed down the drain.

On our way back home we stopped at McDonald’s and had lunch which was a saving grace for the day.  Unfortunately we got lost as soon as we left McD’s heading home.  We turned on the GPS and she was telling us to turn on roads that didn’t match her directions.  We were actually lost for about a half hour or so, and we were only 2 miles from our campground.

Eventually we managed to get back home again and get our stuff done.  I had to fill and dump tanks and check oil on the motorhome.  It wasn’t that it took that long, it just had to be done.

The rest of the day would be filled with relaxation.  Since we had nowhere to be today, we had a day we could just basically sit around and do nothing.

We had a problem with our dish today and no solution for the problem.  The early recorded programs were skipping, but the later ones didn’t.  We were wondering if there was a slight wind that was causing the difficulty.  We’ll never know unless it happens again.

It was warm enough out today that the air conditioning was running all day.  This Global Warming is doing a number on Washington.

The rest of the night was pretty peaceful and we stayed up until 10:30 before we all of a sudden just got up and headed toward the bed.  It had been a relaxing day but we were both still tired.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

When we left the campground this morning we’ll be turning toward home.  We’ll still be stopping at National Park Sites, and it will take us a couple of weeks, but we are headed home.

We were in no hurry to get on the road this morning since the traffic would be horrendous and we couldn’t check into our campground, The Lake Sawyer RV Resort, in Black Diamond, Washington, until after noon.  Black Diamond is about 30 miles from our next stop in downtown Seattle.  We’ll stay here for at least a couple of days, while we go into Seattle tomorrow.

We arrived at the campground right on time, almost exactly at noon.  It seems like a very nice “little” campground.  The sites, however, are extremely narrow.  And if the neighbor is not careful his awning will bang into the side of your coach.  We’ll have no TV, cause our dish can’t get a signal, and no sewer, but we didn’t need that anyway.  We’ll spend the next two nights here and then we’ll be on our way again.

We spent the afternoon just relaxing and playing games on our devices.  Me on the computer and Sharon on her Nook.  We researched a couple of our next stops and where we needed to find campgrounds.  Sharon has been doing a wonderful job making those plans for us.  The planning has been difficult for this trip since most of the time we’re ad-lobbing the stops as we go.  But Sharon has done a wonderful job keeping just a day or so ahead of the game.

We had Tacos for supper tonight.  They were quite good but I could only find room for two of them.  No matter, Sharon will eat the rest of the filling in a salad for the next couple of days.

After Dinner, we went right back to our devices for a little more gaming. I had a couple of regular shows taped on the DVR that we also watched tonight.  And after that we went to the 8th season of Seinfeld for a little light comedy.

We finally called it quits about 10:30 and settled in bed and anxiously waited for tomorrow.

Friday, April 22, 2016

We were off to downtown Seattle this morning and the weatherman called for rain, but the Sun was shining and the skies looked good.  We left later hoping to avoid the huge traffic rush, but that was a mistake we’ve made before.  As soon as we got onto a road with stop lights it was evident we would be in traffic all day.

Our GPS managed to get us into the city with only one bad turn, which we rectified by ourselves, just before noon.  We found the Gold Rush National Park site immediately but didn’t find a place to park, for free.  Eventually we had to pay $10 for the hour we anticipated we would be in there.

As we parked the car a self-professed Liberal came up and wanted to take a picture of the Arizona Shirt I was wearing.  She wanted to haze her boyfriend about the Arizona Conservatives who are now coming to Seattle.  I quickly informed her that I was from Michigan. As she walked away she informed us not to leave anything of value, in view, in the car, because people will steal it.  Sharon was happy because I didn’t tell her how proud she must be of her Seattle Liberals, who’d rather steal than work.

After exiting the National Park Site we actually saw a guy checking for unlocked doors on cars.  We saw him check two cars that were definitely not his, and when he saw us watching him, he stopped and moved on. I guess the street walking liberal was right.

After leaving The Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Site we drove to the Space Needle which was erected for the Seattle World’s Fair.  There was no place to park again, but we weren’t paying for the privilege of taking a couple of pictures.  We drove around the block a couple of times and found a spot across the street that had opened up.  We took our pictures and then headed home.  We passed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Building but Sharon wasn’t quick enough to snap a picture.

The traffic on the way home had not subsided a bit even though it was before rush hour this afternoon.  Our plan to miss the traffic had failed miserably, so we just got used to it.

We needed to stop for groceries on the way home so we decided to stop and have a late lunch also.  We stopped at a place called Shari’s, a diner that Sharon had seen advertised on the road.  The food was good and not too pricey.

We got back on the road and it took us about 15 minutes to get to the campground.  We were finally home and out of the traffic.

We had nothing left on the DVR that we hadn’t seen so it was a night of Seinfeld DVD’s for our entertainment tonight.  We only go through about 5-6 episodes a night, including all the extras.  I went to bed early tonight while Sharon stayed up for a while.  It was about 9:45 when I gave up the ghost.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

We got on the road this morning at a leisurely pace since we couldn’t check into our campground until noon and we only had 167 miles to get to Moses Lake, Washington and the Pier 4 Resort.  Our timing was perfect as we rolled into the resort right at noon.

It took a while to get registered for some reason, undetermined by me, and not explained by Sharon. It didn’t take us long to get set up and ready to relax.  Today was determined to be a driving day so our jobs were done for the day.  We tried to get the dish set up but failed miserably.  We called the office and DirectTV to see what the problem was and we finally determined that our elevation sensor had gone awry.  We probably could have had TV for the last few days if we had known what was going on.

An amazing situation played out on the way over when we crossed the Columbia River.  We had never seen a river so large, in our lives so far.  As we approached, we figured it was a lake until we looked on the map for verification.

We sat and relaxed except for the walk that Sharon went on around the campground.  We have a campground with absolutely no trees so we were surprised when we couldn’t get a signal.  But we do have EWS and it’s only costing us $13 a day under AOR.

The Sun was shining, We had TV, and we were hooked up to all the utilities.  Life is good.

We were content to just sit and gaze at the TV tonight even though Saturday is a lousy night for TV.  We did manage, however, to catch all the recent episodes of Lockup tonight.  We gave it up at 10 tonight since Sharon has to make an 8:30 mass tomorrow morning.  I’ll be up in plenty of time to get her out of the sack.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Sharon was off to church this morning with the GPS in hand to show her the way...and the way back.  I was off to the TV to watch my Sunday shows and see how the world of politics has changed.  Unfortunately it hasn’t changed at all and people are still complaining about Trump.

Sharon had mentioned having a Pancake and Sausage Breakfast this morning, so while she was gone, I started the Breakfast about when I had assumed she’d be back home again.  I was just finishing up the Apple Pancakes when she got home.  The sausages were already cooked and we sat down to a lovely Breakfast.

It was unfortunate that this was a “rest and recuperate” day today because we were suspecting that the two National Parks we were going to visit would not be open on Sunday. So here we sit, waiting for the National Parks on a day that we could be out sightseeing.  It’ll put us a day behind schedule, but it does feel good to take a day off now and then just to do nothing.

The afternoon was spent watching the NASCAR race at Richmond, Virginia.  It was quite an exciting ending when Carl Edwards bumped his way to the finish line at the end.

Tonight for Dinner we had one of Sharon’s experiments.  It was Chicken Tenders wrapped in Bacon, along with Fried Potatoes and mixed vegetables.  The whole thing was very good and I think I’ll be seeing that entree’ again in the future.

I had recorded 5 movies yesterday, when we had TV, for future watching, and when we ran out of regular shows tonight we watched a movie called “Little Man.”  It was absolutely horrible but we hung in there until the end hoping it was going to get better, but it didn’t.  After that we caught a couple of episodes of Lockup to finish out the night.  It was about 10:15 when we finally folded up our tents and headed to the feathers.