Thursday, August 30, 2012

Silver Springs NFS Campground

Big trees form a canopy over the campground.

Just another short trip up the road for an end of season adventure.  We didn't take the Saturn, as we didn't really want to do anything at all other than hang out.  We actually hadn't been here for a couple of years, even though it is one of our favorite places to go.  We love dry camping.  Unfortunately, we discovered it's time for new batteries.  With our CPAP machines going, we ran out of juice between 0215 and 0515 every morning.  We didn't get much good sleep!
Rozzie seemed to enjoy his first RV trip with us.  Whether inside or outside he was having a good time. 

Too bad we elected to not bring the toad.  The weather was pretty good, and we could have taken some easy trips to Sunrise and Tipsoo Lake, both inside nearby Mt. Rainier National Park.  Oh well, we accomplished exactly what we set out to do...  nothing...



Friday, August 17, 2012

Bumping Lake

The morning walk at Bumping Lake.
Nestled in the Cascade Mountains on the east side of Chinook Pass lies Bumping Lake.  This man-made reservoir supports a private resort and a Forest Service campground and day use area.  We had never been to this campground, despite it being (or maybe because it is) relatively close to our home.  Originally, we had made reservations for Memorial Day weekend only to be cancelled due to it still being snow-bound.  August worked out better, as there was less snow!  After a relatively short trip across the pass, we settled into our spot in the Upper Bumping Campground.  Nicely treed and fairly private.  The best part of the whole trip was that we really had no plans to go anywhere other than Whistlin' Jack's restaurant in Cliffdell for breakfast on Saturday.  We must have gotten spoiled by the Washington State Parks, because I got a little upset about the Forest Service nickle and dimming us to death.  I figured since we had paid for a campsite, we had access to the lake.  Wrong!  To park at the beach/picnic/boat launch area, you need to pay.  Not a biggie for us, as Janae has a Golden Access Pass, so it was free.  But most campers have to pay.  That's just wrong.  And then, to use the dump station was $10 for everyone.  To make a long story short, we hauled our crap back to Buckley and dumped at the Eagles Club for $7.  But the beach was nice and we enjoyed it every day.  Cool thing was that we had an airshow every day.  Between 11am and 2pm or so, we had two F18s fly over the lake each day.  The sound of freedom!
Enjoying the beach.
  Colton's friend Alex came along again on this trip.  The boys did some fishing and swimming.  But mostly enjoyed catching frogs and tadpoles along the edge of the lake.  While at the beach on Saturday, Janae met a couple with two puppies.  She learned that they were called "Chugs".  Half Chihuahua, and half Pug.  Janae has shown no signs of allergies to either of those breeds.  She fell in love with them.  To make a long story short, within four days, we had a Chug.  Rozzi is almost two years old, and basically a rescue dog.  After a rough initial meeting with us, Rozzi is fitting right in with the madness that is our home.

Life can be strange...

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Wanapum State Park



Our site at Wanapum State Park
Enjoying the swim area.
As we arrived at Wanapum State Park, we were surprised to find a "No Parking" sign in our site.  We were soon to find out what that was all about.  Withing a few minutes of setting up camp, we had people walking through our site.  They were going to the restroom.  I mean literally between our picnic table and the RV!  There are no walkways to the restroom, so people just walk through sites.  No amount of stinkeye staring seemed to sway them from their camp splitting strolls...

I was aware that this campground along the Columbia river had quite a reputation for wind, and we were not disappointed in that regard.  The evening we arrived, it was calm, but the campgound host did suggest we not leave the awning out.  Day two the wind increased throughout the day, but Colton and I were able to complete a rousing game of Risk on the shaded lawn of our site.  As the day wore on, the wind picked up.  Eventually, it was blowing so hard we couldn't eat outside.  After dinner it got so bad it was a challenge to open the door, and then to close it without really slamming it hard.  I had to bring in the passenger side slides for fear of tearing the toppers off.  As we went to sleep the RV was rocking from the wind enough to remind me of our recent boat trip on the recent fishing trip!

Risk players.
Pat Benetar
Day three was the reason we ended up in this park at all.  Journey at The Gorge!  Everyone ended up playing another game of Risk.  We were able to put the canopy up, as the wind had died off.  Later that evening, we ended up at the concert, shortly after Loverboy began their set.  We had real nosebleed seats in the grass.  We could have gotten closer, but the walk out would have been really hard for Janae and her knees.  Everyone had a great time, and it was cool to see Colton cutting loose on most of Journey's hits!




Next trip, Bumping Lake!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Grayland Beach State Park

Victoria trees a squirrel.
We spent July 8th through the 13th at Grayland Beach State Park, on the Pacific coast of Washington.  I'd like to say the weather was spectacular, but it was pretty much normal for the area.  While the Puget Sound basin basked in 70s to 80s temperature-wise, we enjoyed clouds and 60s for most of the week.  I'm not complaining...  It was typical weather for the area, and we had little rain.




Joey, Carrie, Victoria, and Michael joined us again this trip, although Joey could only stay one night due to work.  We kept busy trying to keep the fire burning with the moist wood that the locals sold us (watch out for the pitbull!).  The ladies enjoyed time on the beach, while I just enjoyed time...




I had recently discovered that YouTube had nothing regarding doughboys.  Doughboys are a delectable treat which Janae had taught me to make several years ago.  She had learned of these gifts from God several years ago as a Girl Scout leader.  As a smore hater, I took right to them.  Over the last several years I have become dismayed at the number of people who have never enjoyed a doughboy.  So, I took it upon myself to create a YouTube video on the making of doughboys.  I hope you enjoy it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhSOm6YEFWE

Once that was completed, I had fishing to look forward to.  Micaela and Travis arrived on Wednesday afternoon, in preparation for the expedition. Thursday morning started early, at about 3:30am.  We actually got out of camp at a decent time, arriving in Westport in time to check-in, and still get some breakfast.  We were actually the first people at the boat, the "Slammer".  Fourth time on the boat in three years.  Captain Rhett Weber does a great job putting you on the fish.  http://slammercharters.com/

Let's fish.
We left the pier at about 0530 hours, and headed out on the 1 hour and 45 minute cruise to the target area.  Seas were pretty calm, and I saw a couple of harbor porpoises just past the bar.  We arrived amid the fishing fleet and began fishing.  Things were pretty slow, with only a couple of Kings being caught.  Rhett moved us and the "Slamming" began in ernest.  We pretty quickly limited out the boat on Kings, with Travis and I catching two a piece and Micaela catching one.  Unfortunately, Micaela and Colton became a bit ill (no chumming) and became more interested in lying on the seats than fishing.

Micaela and Travis


Me and Travis
Uncle Alan











Then it was time to find some Coho salmon.  Rhett moved the boat a couple of miles, and we dropped lines again.  This was quite a bit slower, and the Coho hadn't really arrived enmass in the area.  The deal is you can only keep hatchery fish, not native fish.  You can tell the difference by the hatchery fish having a small fin clipped off.  I was lucky enough to catch a hatchery Coho, along with two other fishermen, for a total of three.  The reason you can't keep natives is because they are "endangered".  There sure were a lot of them for an "endangered species".  Probably 10 natives were hooked as opposed to the 3 hatchery fish caught.  In the end, the Kings we caught were really nice fish, and we made it into the Charterboat Slammer Facebook page cover photo.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Charterboat-SLAMMER/123090081687




Great trip!

17 Kings, 3 hatchery Coho









Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Alta Lake State Park

Doughboys bring a smile to my face!
View to the lake.
The week of June 16th through the 24th found us once again enjoying Alta Lake State Park, in north central Washington State.  A beautiful lake, in a beautiful setting.  We were lucky enough to have reserved the disabled spot in the lakeside loop this year.  We really had a nice view out our windshield to wake up to.  If you are from out of the area, we have been having another soggy spring and early summer.  ( We've had double the normal rainfall for June so far...) It was really nice to escape to the dry side of the Cascades for some sun. Well, let me qualify that... Our first night there, I awoke to the sound to rain on the roof of the RV.  I thought to myself, and remarked later to Janae, that I don't think I've seen it rain at Alta Lake, in all of my 40 or so years camping there. Well, other than maybe a thunderstorm or two...  Fateful words indeed...  Anyway, Colton brought his friend Alex along for the trip.  Seems like they had a really good time.  There was some swimming, sightseeing, and plenty of computer time.  I know, I know, we RV, we don't camp.

Alex and Colton atop the dam.
 We did go back to Grand Coulee Dam for the tour and laser light show.  Alex had never been there, so we figured, what the heck.  To our surprise, the tour went to a different area of the dam than last year. It did end again, with a trip over, and a stop atop the dam.  Once again this year there was a great deal of spring runoff flowing over the top of the dam.  Very cool, and the tour is free!

What?...  A game without a computer?...  Really?

Almost got the restroom!
Leaner...
 We also had our friends Dez and Carol show up for a couple of days.  While they were there, we had a thunderstorm come through.  Dez and I had taken the boys fishing down the lake.  As we walked back to camp, we could hear thunder, and see flashes of lighting in the sky behind the ridgeline to the southeast.  When we arrived at the RV, there was no wind or rain.  I walked down to the restroom.  Two minutes later, when I walked out of the restroom, all hell had broken loose.  The wind was howling!  I ran back to the RV, as the wind picked up, and the rain started coming down.  When I arrived, I was greeted with the sight of three adults and Alex trying to hold down o.ur Eaze-Up canopy.  Alex was rising up in the air on his corner.  Luckily, a teenager from the next campsite arrived to assist him, as I began organizing our defense.Shoes and boots were disappearing with the wind.  I had to save stuff on the table, and then got the canopy lowered and collapsed.  Carol and Janae went somewhere, and Dez and I stood in the wind and rain trying to hold their tent down.  I've never seen anything like this storm while camping.  It knocked down or topped several trees in the campground.  Two trees came down around the restroom, and we had a leaner across the drive from us.  You could see where the ground had been scoured by the wind, as the pine needles were gone.  The side of our motorhome was plastered with dirt and needles.  In fact, the inside of our RV is in desperate need of cleaning due to all the dirt and stuff that blew in.  Luckily, no one was hurt in the storm.  However, due to the trees, several campsites had to be evacuated.  Definitely the most exciting part of our trip.  The remainder of our time was much more relaxing.  

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Snow?!!

Our trip this weekend was cancelled due to the campground still being snowed in...

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Gray Land Indeed

That's a tent under the tarp.
Late March in Washington, as a general rule is not known for beautiful weather.  The general rule held true for our latest RV trip.  We spent the weekend at Grayland State Park with many guests.  I took Monday off to extend the trip a bit.  I knew what the weather was supposed to be like, and really was not looking forward to it.  I made sure everyone brought their boots, and confirmed the tarps were stored.  We arrived towing the Saturn to find that most of the campsite was submerged.  That included the fire pit and picnic table.  It was so bad that it was pretty obvious that Micaela and her friend Tasia were going to have to set up the tent on the paved section of the site.



I was able to cover the tent with a tarp, secured on one side with stakes into the ground.  On the other side, it was secured with lines into the trees.  It looked good.  Unfortunately, at O'dark thirty the winds and rain came.  The tarp was not nearly secure as we thought it was.  Somehow, the tarp slid off the stakes (which I later found were still secure in the ground), and flipped over the top of the tent.  I was awake in the RV, listening to the torrential rain and wind outside.  I figured that if there was a problem outside, the girls would be smart enough to abandon ship and come inside.  They didn't come inside, so I figured all was well.  Apparently they are just really slow...  They were wet.  Micaela's boyfriend Travis was smart enough to sleep inside.  Well, ok, he knew he was likely to not survive the night if he tried to sleep in the tent with the girls.  But I probably shouldn't speak about that...  One night was enough for them, and they all drove the Saturn home on Saturday evening.


Our friends Joey and Carrie, their daughter Victoria, and son Michael also shared the weekend with us.  Carrie and kids came out with us, and Joey arrived Saturday night after work.  Joey cooked Sunday and Monday morning, giving me a nice break from that chore.





We did manage to get out a few times to the beach, in between downpours of near Biblical proportions.   Nothing much to see there.  It just worked out that this weekend, there was no razor clam digging.  The weekend before, and next weekend we could have tried our hands at chasing those mollusks.  Maybe next year.
  We left around noon on Monday, a bit earlier than planned due to an incoming storm packing 70mph gusts.  No thanks, we'd had enough!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Buck, or no Buck?

Ready to ride!
Our usual end of season trip in mid-October once again found us parked on Gene and Janet's RV pad at Deep Lake, in Stevens County.  Mikee and I drove over together, yet apart.  I drove the RV, and she drove the Durango, pulling the trailer with the quad and supplies.  She did a great job.  The trip was pretty much uneventful, except for a surprise call from my Doctor about two hours before we lost cellphone coverage...  Damnit...  Anyways, Mikee got to see Gene and Janet for the first time in several years.  They have been wintering in Utah, but were staying late this year rebuilding their home after last years fire.  Janae also got to meet them this year.

Good thing we brought food...
We had such good fishing last year that we had to hit the lake again.  And got skunked.  We fished several times over the 8 days all of us were there, and only had two fish on the line.  Both were lost before we could bring them in.  Too bad.

My plan for the year was too help Mikee get her deer, and then go looking for a mule deer for myself.  If I had no luck, there was always late Whitetail with the guys.  Mikee's challenge level was raised this year, as she is now 16 years old (almost 17 as of this posting!).  This means she can no longer shoot a doe, it has to be a buck.

The saddle.
It was pretty typical weather for the time of year.  Crisp and clear mornings, and mild afternoons.  Our first day hunting brought me one of the funniest close encounters I've had in my years of hunting.  About midday, we were riding the quad up the road behind Gene and Janet's, stopping and walking into meadows and cuts to glass.  We arrived at a saddle and pulled off onto the landing, stripping off our riding gear, and getting our hunting gear.  We began walking to the edge of the landing.  Just as we got to the edge, I caught movement to my right in my peripheral vision.  I turned my head and there was a whitetail buck, walking almost parallel to us.  The buck was no more than 50 feet from us, maybe 75 feet from where we parked the quad.  He had a nice set of antlers on him to boot.  I turned toward Mikee, who seemed as unaware as the buck, and hissed,  "Shoot it!"  I pointed with my barely raised left hand towards the buck.  Mikee looked at me, confusion on her face.  I again hissed, "Shoot it!"  With no response from Mikee.  At about this time I turned, to see the buck looking at me, with it's eyes popping out of it's head.  After a couple of seconds, the buck sprang into action, bounding away in front of me.  I had concluded that Mikee was not going to shoot this deer, as I rapidly brought my rifle to bear.  Alas, to no avail as the buck dropped over the far edge of the saddle before I could fire.  We ran over to edge, but the buck had vanished.  Mikee picked this time to tell me that she thought she needed new lenses in her glasses...   She told me that she couldn't see the buck from where she was about 20 feet from me.  So we walked up the side of the bench and found a place to glass from.  We spent about two hours sitting there and saw a doe and fawn crossing the saddle on the other side of the bench, in the same direction as the buck.  I thought we had found a good spot to sit as this appeared to be a well used funnel.  We sat here several more times and never saw another deer.  Weird...  You don't see a lot of bucks in early season...

Mikee's hunting did however end successfully a couple of days later.  We set up Sunday evening in Helen & Merry's barn watching the upper field.  It was slow, but just as it was getting dark, we caught movement to our right.  I checked it through my binos.  It was getting hard to see, but I could tell the deer had antlers.  I had Mikee get set up on a steady rest and encouraged her to shoot it.  The blast and flame from her rifle were not enough to keep me from seeing the deer drop like a sack of potatoes (at a paced 100 yards).  We stayed put, keeping an eye on the spot the deer had gone down.  We couldn't actually see the deer, as the grass was not grazed this year.  I checked my phone and found it was just a couple of minutes before the proscribed end of shooting time.  I looked through my scope toward the deer, and it was literally now too dark to really discern anything.  After a few minutes, we got down out of the Barn.  On a side note, Merry had built us a very nice ladder into the loft, after they tore down the rickety stairs this year.  Thanks Merry.  We began walking towards where we believed the deer was down, now using lights.  We spread out from one another as we weren't following a blood-trail, just going on direction and distance. Within a few minutes,  I found Mikee's buck.  A very respectable, if smaller eight-point.

Eight points, counting eye-guards!
Gotta be honest here.  To date, this is the largest buck our family has taken.  I'm very proud of her.

At the Lind Ranch
 One day, Mikee and I rode the quad up to the Lind Ranch.  This is an old, abandoned homestead on the top of a mountain.  On the way, we saw a group of hunters hauling out a very nice mule deer buck.  We also saw about eight mule deer does.  But nothing for me to shoot.  We rode a lot, and eventually found our way to the ranch.  Mikee had a blast shooting photos in the wonderfully warming sunshine.  Later, that night, Janae and Colton arrived at our hunting camp.  Mikee left the next morning to return to school.




Janae never got a shot on a deer.  We saw does and fawns, but no bucks until our last evening.  To be frank, it was probably for the best, as we were really out of freezer space after our earlier bottomfishing expedition.  It was really hard to see in the overgrown fields.  However, on our last day, I set up my two gamecams.  That evening, as we sat in the loft, a deer entered the field from left to right.  It moved rapidly across the field as I noticed it had antlers, a small spike.  Janae moved to a rest as the deer stopped along the right edge next to the fence.  Janae no longer moves very quickly, and before she could set up and fire (what seemed an eternity to me), the deer jumped the fence and disappeared.  Janae told me that she had in fact pressed the trigger, but had left the safety on.

Vince butchering Janae's deer a month later!
During "Man Camp" in November, Vince put this poor dumb spike out of it's misery.

How do I know it was the same deer you might ask?  Well the spot where the deer had stopped was right in front of my gamecam.  Very unique looking spikes.
 
"No, first I will stand here and mock her..."
One lucky deer.  At this moment, Jane was looking through her scope at it.  Curved spike antlers...
I got a couple of shots of it while Janae was working on shooting it.  Same deer.

We did have a great time this trip.  Janae and Colton got to ride the quad if nothing else.

The trip home was uneventful this year.  We are all looking forward to the next season of Longtine RV Adventures!