Potlatch State Park

Hood Canal

April and May found our RV parking at Potlatch State Park, nestled in the bend of the Hood Canal.  We needed to get out and use the RV, and clamming seemed just the ticket.  In April, it was just Janae, Colton, Rozzie, and I.  Between then and the May trip, we picked up our puppy, Piper.

Piper snuggling

About a third of a limit of clams

Clammers

We were also joined by KJ, and her boyfriend Jon.

KJ and Jon with Janae digging clams

A couple of times, dinner was served Crab Pot restaurant style.

 

Deer Hunting 2012

Micaela is gaining a reputation for bringing home the bacon.  I've been told by my hunting buddies that it's good that at least some one in my family knows how to hunt...

"Dad, I think I missed.  He ran off..."  Heart shot, and still ran 50 yards into the woods.

 Oh well, at least I enjoyed the thrill of gutting, packing, and processing it...

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...

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...

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!

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

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.