Summering in the Pacific Northwest

07/01/2023 – 09/16/2023

The journey west is over. We are settled at our new site in Castle Rock WA, which is about 45 miles north of where our kids live. Why so far away, you ask? Our site last year was only 20 minutes away from them. How come we aren’t staying there this year? The short story is the park would not accept us because our rig was too old! And we did not receive this information until 3 weeks before we were due to arrive!! Apparently, the park is under new management and have enforced a strict 15-year-old limit on RV’s. Honestly, I really do not understand this rule. I get that they want to keep the riff raff out, but I believe admittance should be on a case-by-case basis. Anyway, I could really go off on a rant, but I will spare you.

We found our home for the next 2 ½ months on Facebook Marketplace, of all places. It was nice and quiet, and the price was right. It did not take us long to settle in and meet our new neighbors.

RV-iversary

Shortly after settling in, we celebrated our 2-year anniversary of being Full-Time RVers. We are still very happy with our decision to live FT in an RV and travel the country. The places we have been and the things we have experienced would not have been possible if we still lived in our sticks and bricks. We’ve made some new friends and have gotten closer to old friends along the way. Is it always rainbows and butterflies? No. There are some downsides to this lifestyle, but the benefits far outweigh them.

This year we travelled 9,758 miles through 19 states; 12 new ones and 7 we visited last year. Along the way we explored 18 National Park and Historical Sites as well as many other fabulous places. The food we tried along the way…unbelievably good!

Happy Anniversary to us!

A New Truck

After we got settled in Castle Rock, Bill brought up the idea of getting a new tow vehicle. What??? He loves that jeep. Having the jeep was the main reason we purchased a Class A RV. I’m not going to lie; I am totally onboard with getting a new tow vehicle. I like the jeep… to do jeep things, not for everyday use. The inside is always dusty and dirty and there is no a/c. LOL But to be honest, the main reason I am on board for a new vehicle is that I do not feel the jeep is reliable. We have had several incidents this past year where it has broken down on us. Fortunately, I was not alone when those incidents occurred. So, Bill thought it would be a good idea to “retire” the jeep and get a truck.

Off to Boise

After searching for a week on FB Marketplace, Bill had several appointments made in the Seattle area to look at some trucks. Then he found one in Boise. It had everything we were looking for. But… it was in Boise. We were getting ready to go look at the trucks up in Seattle, Bill is very quiet and is acting weird. I ask him, “What’s going on?” “Nothing” he says. I’m not buying it. I ask one more time, “What’s the matter?” He says, “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I want to go to Boise and look at that truck.” I say, “I am used to you and your crazy ideas. This is how we found our 5^th wheel, jeep and motorhome, right? Let’s go!”

Bill reached out to the seller in Boise and they were available all day. We book a couple of standby seats on an Alaska flight and head to the airport. We were not able to get on the 2PM flight, but secured tickets for the 5PM flight. The seller, said to come on and they would even pick us up at the airport. How cool is that?

Now I’m going insert this here… before we went to the airport, I asked my wonderful husband… “If this truck is what we want it to be and we end up buying it, how are we going to pay for it? Can we wire the money through Zelle?” “Should we call the bank first to see if we need to make special arrangements to wire this much money?” He said, “Nah, it’ll be okay. We shouldn’t have any problems.” Okay…

Meeting What Will Be Our New Truck

We get to Boise, the seller and her husband pick us up… in the truck… and we are in love the moment we get in. After taking it for a test drive we head back to the seller’s house, the offer is made and we agree on a price. It’s time to go inside and handle the paperwork. Bill tries to transfer the money via Zelle and we instantly get a message that the transfer limit is $2000. What?!? (Can I say “I told you so” now?) Alright, Can we give you a $2000 deposit and come back with a cashier’s check? Agreed.

So…. The seller and her husband take us back to the airport. It is close to 9PM and there are no more flights out tonight. Now we have to find a hotel… Sunday morning, we uber back to the airport and catch a 9AM flight to Portland and make a plan to get back to Boise with a check. We were telling our oldest son what happened, he said, I’ll go with you to pick it up.

Back to Boise

Monday morning, I head to the credit union and get the cashier’s check. Then Chris and I head to the airport to catch another flight to Boise. The seller picked us up at the airport… again… (aren’t they the best??) and we went back to their house to finalize the paperwork then Chris and I were on the road to make the 7-hour drive back to Portland. Road Trip! We got back to his house around midnight and were completely exhausted.

Off to South Dakota

Now we have a truck with no plates and our home state is South Dakota. You know what this means? It means Bill and I are back on a plane to Deadwood SD, via Minneapolis, to get the title transferred and the truck registered. We now have SD plates and a new title. 😊 I also have to say, our experience flying standby this time was SOOOO much better than the trip we took to NYC in April. If you are curious about that trip, click here. Can we get on with the fun part of our summer now?

Summer Fun

What did we do this summer? We did a little wine tasting, rode a portion of the WA Backcountry Tail, rode trails in the Tillamook State Forest, made some chow-chow, got over to the coast, attended a “tribute band” music festival, snuck on one of Christopher’s flights, visited with friends and took a vacation to Hawaii. Oh, and we also replaced all the awnings on our coach. Do we know how to stay busy or what?

Our Son, First Officer for Skywest Airlines

The biggest thrill for me this summer was flying three legs on one of Christopher’s flights. He had sent us a screenshot of his schedule, like he usually does, and Bill started studying it. He found a day that would be perfect for us to surprise Chris. I tease Chris all the time, we are going to sneak on one of your flights and after the landing (if it is a good one) I am going to stand up and say, “That’s my son!” and we are going to have the entire plane clap for you. LOL

It is off to the airport one more time. (I don’t think we have been to the airport this many times in this short amount of time…ever!) We get on a flight up to Seattle, where we will meet up with him. It was super cool sitting at the gate watching your son’s plane taxi in. Next thing I know, he is walking around the plane on the tarmac, doing his inspections.

Seattle to The Tri-Cities

Tickets in hand, we get on the plane, unnoticed. Take-off and we are in the air to the Tri-Cities. Thirty minutes later we are landing. Was that Chris landing the plane? Dunno…

The moment of truth arrives, our surprise will now be revealed as we exit the plane and pass by the cockpit and say “HI”. But wait, he’s getting up and getting ready to head out the door to do his inspections!! No! How will we surprise him if he’s on the tarmac!

He has to wait until some of the passengers clear, so I stand up in the aisle and I’m about half-way back. As he’s standing at the front of the airplane, he starts looking down the aisleway. Our eyes meet and he has a confused look on his face and then he continues to look past me. As he is scanning the aisle back up, our eyes meet again and I give him a little wave. Then he realizes what is going on and the biggest smile emerges on his face. I wish I could have captured that moment of realization; it was GREAT!

Bill and I made our way up to the cockpit and we were all laughing. Chris was like, “You’re on my plane!” Yep, we sure are! He went on to complete his inspections and then met us at the gate. He thought that was the coolest thing ever and wanted to know if we were flying back to Seattle with him. “That’s the plan.” He was happy and told us he was going to be flying the next two legs; to Seattle and then down to Portland.

Tri-Cities to Seattle

Bill and I both got on the flight back to Seattle and our son saw to it that the flight attendants “took care” of us. On our short 30-minute flight back to Seattle, we had cocktails and received a bag full of snacks. I should add that on these short flights there are no beverage or snack services. Here we are enjoying our cocktails and no one else is being served anything. Did I feel bad? A little, but that did not stop me. 😊

As we started our descent into Seattle, I prayed Chris would have a smooth landing. I was sitting in my seat, looking out the window, sending him my best “mom vibes” for a good landing and it was… PERFECT! Did I have all the passengers clap for him? No, but I was beaming with pride! Bill and I, both, were beaming with pride. This will be a day we remember for the rest of our lives.

Seattle to Portland

The story gets a little sad here. The plane to Portland was full. Bill and I waited until the last person boarded with the hopes that 2 people would not show. We watched as they did their final count and discovered there was one seat available. Bill, being the gracious person he is, told me to take it. I didn’t want to go if he couldn’t go, but he insisted.

When I got on the plane, the flight attendant said, “Awww, Chris’s mom made it but dad didn’t? I was counting the seats and was really hoping you both would make it.” Then once the plane got to cruising altitude, she once again brought me a bag full of cocktails and snacks! LOL And Chris once again made a perfect landing! Thanks, Chris for an exciting day!

Jeeping and Camping

Now that Jefferey’s Durango is all built up, he wants to take it on the trails all the time. We had so many places we wanted to check out but due to everyone’s work schedules we were only able to spend a couple of days playing in the Tillamook State Forest and a weekend riding one leg of the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route.

Tillamook State Forest – Brown’s Camp

Our first trip out to Brown’s Camp, in the Tillamook State Forest was sort of a bust. Jefferey and his friend came in the Durango and we met some friends of ours who recently bought a jeep at the staging area. We soon realized that the trails were closed between 1-8PM due to the High fire danger. Off to University Fire Power trail we go! Tillamook State Forest has a great network of well marked OHV trails for all skill levels. Here is a link to the site: https://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Recreation/Pages/MotorizedTrails.aspx and a link to the map: https://www.oregon.gov/odf/recreation/guides/tsf-ohv-mapside-map.pdf . As you can see there is a lot of fun to be had out here!

It took us about an hour to run this trail and we had a great time. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around the gravel roads and ended up back at the day use area where we cooked some brats and hung out for a bit.

Jefferey wanted to go back out there and ride more trails, so the next weekend we got up early and spent 3 hours riding. The area looked a lot different than when we were here 5 years ago. A lot of logging has happened which completely transformed the views and some of the trails. In 2018 we were able to drive under the Cedar tree. No way, we could make it under this time.

Washington Backcountry Discovery Route

A backcountry discovery route is designed to navigate motorcycles and 4x4s across a state or region using primarily forestry roads. There are several located throughout the US and it is our hope to check some of the others out. This weekend, however, we are exploring the Washington route.

The Washington Backcountry Discovery Route runs through the Cascade Mountains and is 575-miles long. It begins in Stevenson WA and continues to the Canadian Border. The best time of the year is from June through September. In my opinion, early July would be the best time to start. It won’t be as dry and dusty as it is in the later summer months and chances of wildfires and/or smoke from wildfires is lower.

We left on Saturday, 8/19 and planned to do sections 1 and 2 of the route. We may have been able to both sections but we ran into a little technical difficulty with Jefferey’s Durango. Our trip began just off the Wind River Highway in Carson. We started our climb through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest up into the mountains. A very pretty drive and the views would have been phenomenal had it not been for all the wildfire smoke. ☹ Somewhere in all that smoke were views of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens.

A little hiccup

As we were making our way from one forest road over to another, I noticed something hanging down from the wheel on the Durango. It turned out that a rear shock busted. Fortunately, we were just an hour away from Hood River OR and Jefferey wanted to get it fixed. We found a Les Schwab Tire, he bought a shock and they put it on in the parking lot. An hour later we were back on the road and headed back into the mountains. We picked up the trail where we left off and stopped for a quick peak at the Guler Ice Caves.

Back On The Trail

Daylight was slipping away and we started to look for a place to set up camp for the night. We found a big open area that was perfect and bonus someone had built an outhouse! Sadly, due to the extreme fire danger, campfires were not allowed. It was dinner by lantern, a couple of adult beverages and early turn-in.

The next morning, we got up, had breakfast, packed up and hit the trail again. We completed section 1 and made it to Packwood by late afternoon. Section 2 will have to wait for another time. After gassing up, we decided to drive out to Clear Lake and camp for the night. Jefferey found us a nice little spot right on the lake. It was very smoky, which gave the lake an eerie feeling. We enjoyed the evening tossing rocks into the lake, exploring some little trails close by, eating brats and telling stories around the lantern. We introduced Weston to a new story-telling game that we used to play with the boys and we all had a good laugh. Good times and more good memories!

Vacation Time

I know, you are probably thinking, vacation? Isn’t your life a vacation? Well, it is…kind of… but we still have chores and the day-to-day hum drum and Bill does still work. So yes, it’s time for a vacation 😊 Hawaii will provide our place to escape. It’s been 7 years since we have been to Hawaii and we are very much looking forward to a trip back.

Our condo has 2 bedrooms and I hate to not utilize one of those rooms. We gave first dibs to the boys, but they could not do it understandably, so we invited Bill’s cousins, Tami & Alan. They flew to Portland and we spent a few days showing them around the area.

Oregon Coast

We have been here 2 months now and have not made a trip to the coast yet. How can that be? The Oregon Coast is one of my favorite places! Today we are taking Tami and Alan to Cannon Beach and then we will head up to Fort Stevens and build a fire on the beach. It is a beautiful warm and sunny day.

Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach of course was filled with activity and not my ideal place to come on a warm and sunny day. But if you have guests visiting from out of town and not a lot of time, Cannon Beach is a good place to go. After walking on the beach and seeing Haystack Rock, Bill was more than happy to leave this bustling little coastal town behind.

Our tummies are starting to grumble and clam chowder sounds good. Before going out to Fort Stevens we stopped at Buoy 9 in Hammond. This local little joint has fantastic clam chowder and fish and chips. During the drive from Cannon Beach to Hammond, Jefferey called and said he and Weston would be joining us on the beach. Yay!

Fort Stevens

By the time we were done with dinner, the fog set in. We made our way down to the beach and by the time we got parked we couldn’t even see the water, the fog was so thick. The guys built us a nice fire while Weston had fun riding his bike down by the water. It was cold and windy and Tami decided she would stay in the truck and take a nap. Later, we all sat around the fire and while enjoying s’mores, we began playing our storytelling game again. Somehow “George, Harvey and the chopsticks” from our previous camping trip made their way back into this story. (SMH 😉)

Hawaii – The Big Island

It’s time to board our flight to Kona and we are super excited. All our stress melted away when we stepped on the island. (not that I have a lot of stress anymore) We rented a jeep through Turo, a first for us, and it was a great experience. Not only were the rates a little cheaper than the car rental agencies, our jeep came with two beach chairs, an umbrella and a cooler. Score!

We dropped the luggage off at the timeshare, went into town to grab some lunch and get supplies at the grocery store. With all the “business” out of the way, it’s time to start having some fun!

We took Alan and Tami to all our favorite places on the island and several “off-the-beaten-path” areas as well. Our travels took us to Beach 69 and Two-Step Beach for snorkeling. To Hawaii Volcanos National Park, several black sand beaches, a couple of Heiaus and the southern-most point of the USA.

The time flew by fast. One afternoon, I was planning out our last few days to ensure we got to see everything we wanted to see and get some time at the pool. When I shared these plans with the crew, I was sadly informed I planned for one day more than we had left on the island? What? How could this be? My days got mixed up and I lost a day somewhere… womp womp. All that aside, we had a wonderful time and I cannot wait to return. It most definitely will NOT be another 7 years!

The Hawaii Sticker Goes Up

We had to cheat, or deviate might be the right word, on our rules for adding a sticker to our US Map. The rule is; we must visit a state in the coach, spend at least one night and do an activity. How in the world can we do that for Hawaii? We agreed we would take Theo, our mascot, to Hawaii and take her picture at Hawaii Volcanos National Park sign. State checked off!

New Awnings

Remember how I said the RV life was not always rainbows and butterflies and how we do have chores and whatnot? It’s time to replace Theo’s 18-year-old awnings. Bill found a locally owned small business right here in Washington that makes awnings for all types of RV’s. Tough Top Awnings is located in Brush Prairie WA and are awesome to work with! If your RV is in need of a new awning, give Tough Top Awnings a call.

Their website provides detailed instructions on measuring for your replacement awnings and several YouTube tutorials on how to install them. They offer free shipping anywhere in the lower 48 too! But since they were just an hour from us, we picked them up.

The Replacement Begins

Bill watched the videos then we got busy taking off the old dry-rotted awnings and installing the new ones. We tackled one awning a day. Most were pretty simple and went in with no problems. I was most concerned with the large patio awning. How are the two of us going to manage this? Should we wait for the boys to have some free time to come up and help us? Nah, we can do this. It was a little bigger and more awkward job than we thought. I accidentally dropped the large pole and it hit the side of the motorhome and made a small gash. 😐 Then our neighbor came out and helped us, thank goodness, and shortly after that we had it all put back together. Thanks, Bob!

Time Out

We had one last awning to install. The small one over the door. The one that you would have thought would be the easiest, right? There were no videos for this one, though, and we sort of winged it based on what we learned with the others. This small little awning over the door turned into a big cluster! Taking the old awning out was easy. However, we ended up spending over 4 hours, in the hot sun, trying to figure out how the new one goes on. Frustration levels rose and tempers flared (for both of us) and we decided to take a break. That break lasted about 3 weeks.

Bill finally found a manual, on-line, with instructions on how to install the awning and how to reset the awning motor. It’s amazing how much easier it is to do something when you have directions! We had the awning installed and working an hour later. Hooray!

What’s Next?

The leaves are starting to change and there is a cool nip in the morning air. It is time for us to start making our way back to NC and FL for the winter. Our route will take us through ID, WY, SD, IA, IN, KY and TN. What will we see along the way?? Stay tuned…