I try to be an optimist as much as possible, however this weekend, I went into it with a somewhat 'poor' attitude. I only went as we got to see Mark and his new friend(not sure if I can call her his girlfriend yet). So off to Bellevue and a visit with the privileged...?
The day started off great. I took the day off in order to travel during that brief lull in heavy traffic. Phone rings at 0600 and off to work I go for 8 hours of stuff. Get home and finally on the road at about 2:30. Yes, this put us smack in the middle of Fort Lewis traffic which gave us the opportunity to look over the side of the roads very close as we traveled at a robust 5 mph for about ten miles. Eventually we got back up to speed and although heavy traffic, we made pretty good time.
Rosie(GPS) got us off the freeway and to the RV park with no problems. As I turn in, I see a very narrow main road in. The park was clean, but damn, how do I get this rig parked? We check in and they point out a site just off the main building. I thought as I looked that this was not going to be fun. The staff is required to assist in parking as they stack us in like sardines!
After three tries, I get into the spot and realize this is not your typical RV site. I have less than 2 inches clearence in back and the slide outs are right on the line. As I look around, the RV dump for the site to the other side is right at our door. Hope those people lay off the spicy foods or we are in for a fun weekend. After I unhook, I have to park the truck next to the trailer. I have to get so close that I cannot even sit in lawn chairs. It is miserable and we are unable to even move. Walt is being wierd because he likes to be on the long leash and sit and be a people watcher. Cant see around the truck here. My day is going great.
Lori and I ordered Pizza as it was too hot to cook and couldn't get the barbecue out. Soon we had changed into our bathing suits and we were off to the pool and hot tub. Very nice facility and very clean. That made up for alot. Later that evening, I was looking and tried to imagine how I would pull out and leave the park. Pretty tight turn.
About 1030, Mark and his friend arrived. We sat and talked until I couldnt keep my eyes open anymore. Lori and I always sleep good on the road and I am pretty sure you could have lit off a bomb adn I would have slept through it.
Saturday morning, we enjoyed a great breakfast from Lori and sat and BS'd for awhile. Soon, they were off to get ready for the wedding. Lori and I went and found a car wash to clean and vacuum out the truck. She also needed to find a hair clip for her ensemble and of course, we needed coffee. As Rosie guided us into the car wash, across the street was Starbucks. Two buildings down from there was a place for her clip. That was a good call.
It is 3:30 and we are off to attend the wedding. It is at a country club and promises to be a beautiful setting. We drove to the Hilton to get Marks friends and shuttle them to the site. As we arrived at the front gate, we were allowed to continue to the wedding. What a beautiful park like setting. It was so green and lush. This isnt so bad after all I thought. We went inside and were seated. Chairs were not designed for us 'medium husky' types. I was almost a full butt cheek off the chair!
A soon as the ceremony was over, we were ushered out to the deck overlooking the greens and first tee. As I waded through a couple hundred people, I now learned the line for drinks was inside on the opposite end. I was no again irritated as I worked my way to a 50 person deep line. All I wanted was a diet Coke! As the line see,emed to get longer and larger in the middle, I soon realized many people 'seeded the line' and as the person got close, the whole party either arrived to collect drinks or we had to wait till they were located. Now I was mad. It was hot and I was no where near my damn diet coke..also getting cranky as I am hungry and I forgot all my meds back at the trailer.
As I got about two thirds of the way through the line, I looked back and could see almost everbody in line had a drink and was headed for seconds. Soon, waitress' could be seen taking orders from those behind a select few of us slogging through the line as time passed us by. I am now officially pissed. When I finally got to the bar, I ordered two Diet Cokes as I would not endure that indignity again. I have morals, I have pride...It was now time to sit at our assigned tables. After much confusion, we learned that we had to go to a table, find our name and open the tent thing to get the table assignment. Wow, at least we were both at the same table! We went there and after introductions, found we had been placed at a table in the back corner, by the kitchen with future co workers of the bride! Very nice people and they made us feel at home, but what the ^%@*??? We had a great dinner and the reception went well. I could tell my blood sugar was getting out of whack, so we headed back. A very interesting afternoon.
I forgot to mention that just before we left, the Clampets pulled in on the other side of the trailer. They were in a very large older motor home which stuck out into the drive a couple feet. I could not believe it. How was I going to get out. I didnt worry about it and left. They family retrieved a picnic table and set it up in our site on the other side using our bedroom slide for shade. I forgot to close the dinning room window and were greeted with a blue haze after they polished off a couple cases of cigarettes under our window. Oh, I love camping!!!
We were up and out by ten the next morning. After being guided past the 'home' I had almost an inch of clearance and was able to get out of the park. We had a nice uneventful trip home and logged this rv park into the do not return file.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Off to the Banana belt for the 4th
Sequim is a unique area in western WA. It is in whats called a rain shadow of the Olympic mountains and does not receive much rain throughout the year. After joining K&M we wanted to get out somewhere and relax for the weekend. After checking the resorts, we felt Diamond Point in Sequim would be just the place.
I got off work an hour early and it only took a few minutes to hook up and get on the road to 'beat the traffic'. As we headed east, the westbound traffic was very heavy and we thought this may have been a great idea to head north. As we rumbled up US 101 through Shelton and then along side Hood Canal, it became apparent that very few were on this road today. We made good time and soon were pulling into Diamond Point RV resort.
The park is layed out kind of different. The center is the entrance drive, you then can take a loop to the right or two roads to the left. We were on the loop and found our spott tucked up against the hillside. It was warm outside, but the afternoon sun was nicely shaded by the trees. A easy back in and set up. I was excited to get the new Winegard carry out set up and grabbed it and soon figured out where south was. I set it up and within minutes, the tv was on and Two and a Half Men were on. Life was now good, Lori was cooking dinner and I could relax and watch TV. A few moments later 'Pop' and we lost all 120 volt power. I had the air conditioner on and forgot to turn it off to use the microwave. We were on a 30 amp box, which should be fine for most appliances, but you have to be carful with the microwave.
I reset it and soon everything was coming back up. What's this, no satellite signal, out to check and reset, I could hear it, but whats wrong? I went in and went through the set up again. Crap, what is all this? The menu's were different, you could not find the zip code entry or even the dish type. When it loaded a few minutes earlier, the system did a software update. They made major changes to the setup menues and added several new options. I didnt care...my show was nearing the end and I had no TV. Panic was setting in as I struggled to keep a clean mouth (kids next door) but with the cost of this new contraption...no, it was not going to beat me, I would win or else...(side note, average time to erect old dish, find north, set and tune in was about ten minutes...we are nearing 45 minutes now and this piece of &^#)* still wont work. I had 18 or so combination's for the receiver to work through due to their timely software download. The instructions (which I left home as it was so easy to set up) told me to choose a two lnb oval dish for the carry out and it would work fine. With the new set up, I didn't have that choice. I had a few 3 lnb choices but none seemed to work. You were also given the option of a single switch or multi. After several combinations, I tried a 3 lnb multi switch 72.5% option and all of the sudden, data started to download. My new carry out unit designed for quick set up only took 1.5 hours...Damn now its bed time...
On the bright side, I unhooked several times and locked up the dome whenever we left and it was 30 seconds to tv time when we got back. How much hardship is one supposed to endure while 'roughing it'!
Its Friday morning and I made Lori watch tv with me for an hour or so...It was not going to beat me...no way...I have a strange twitch in my cheek again... Soon we off and the GPS was locked in on a Coffee place. This would make everything alright and it did. We enjoyed the sun and later found our friends from biking Bill and Barb. They invited us to the family lot for the afternoon. Walt saw the water and just walked straight out and started to swim. He fel better as it was pretty warm out. Bill and Barb followed us to the campground and we enjoyed a wonderful evening of talk, wine and a barbecue followedby a little more wine. We said our good byes and again made Lori stay up and watch tv. I was going to get my moneys worth!
Saturday was a lazy start. I had written in the Montana owners club forum about assisting a neighbor in the park with a hot water issue. Soon a couple wrote to aske where in Sequim we were at. They were in Diamond pont also and soon we were visiting and catching up on our activities since meeting in Oreagon a few weeks ago. Small world.
I called my brother Craig and was able to meet him and his son Jeff for lunch. Craig too followed us back to the RV and again, wine, talk barbecue (are you seeing a pattern) and some more wine. What a great visit and hope to have many more.
Well as I rose early to watch more tv, the reality of our festivities hit hard. My blood sugar went out of whack as expected and it was slow going for an hour or so as I got the levels back down. We putzed around and got all loaded up to head home. A very nice and quiet drive home but was there problems ahead? The westbound traffic headed away from the ocean was incredible. How could so many people pack into that area? I have to make a left across the hiway to get to our house and this may be a problem. As we approached the turn, there was a substantial break like the parting of the red sea! Across, around and a pro style backing job got us off the road quickly. What a great weekend, but not as we had planned. Talked to alot of people and enjoyed life.
I got off work an hour early and it only took a few minutes to hook up and get on the road to 'beat the traffic'. As we headed east, the westbound traffic was very heavy and we thought this may have been a great idea to head north. As we rumbled up US 101 through Shelton and then along side Hood Canal, it became apparent that very few were on this road today. We made good time and soon were pulling into Diamond Point RV resort.
The park is layed out kind of different. The center is the entrance drive, you then can take a loop to the right or two roads to the left. We were on the loop and found our spott tucked up against the hillside. It was warm outside, but the afternoon sun was nicely shaded by the trees. A easy back in and set up. I was excited to get the new Winegard carry out set up and grabbed it and soon figured out where south was. I set it up and within minutes, the tv was on and Two and a Half Men were on. Life was now good, Lori was cooking dinner and I could relax and watch TV. A few moments later 'Pop' and we lost all 120 volt power. I had the air conditioner on and forgot to turn it off to use the microwave. We were on a 30 amp box, which should be fine for most appliances, but you have to be carful with the microwave.
I reset it and soon everything was coming back up. What's this, no satellite signal, out to check and reset, I could hear it, but whats wrong? I went in and went through the set up again. Crap, what is all this? The menu's were different, you could not find the zip code entry or even the dish type. When it loaded a few minutes earlier, the system did a software update. They made major changes to the setup menues and added several new options. I didnt care...my show was nearing the end and I had no TV. Panic was setting in as I struggled to keep a clean mouth (kids next door) but with the cost of this new contraption...no, it was not going to beat me, I would win or else...(side note, average time to erect old dish, find north, set and tune in was about ten minutes...we are nearing 45 minutes now and this piece of &^#)* still wont work. I had 18 or so combination's for the receiver to work through due to their timely software download. The instructions (which I left home as it was so easy to set up) told me to choose a two lnb oval dish for the carry out and it would work fine. With the new set up, I didn't have that choice. I had a few 3 lnb choices but none seemed to work. You were also given the option of a single switch or multi. After several combinations, I tried a 3 lnb multi switch 72.5% option and all of the sudden, data started to download. My new carry out unit designed for quick set up only took 1.5 hours...Damn now its bed time...
On the bright side, I unhooked several times and locked up the dome whenever we left and it was 30 seconds to tv time when we got back. How much hardship is one supposed to endure while 'roughing it'!
Its Friday morning and I made Lori watch tv with me for an hour or so...It was not going to beat me...no way...I have a strange twitch in my cheek again... Soon we off and the GPS was locked in on a Coffee place. This would make everything alright and it did. We enjoyed the sun and later found our friends from biking Bill and Barb. They invited us to the family lot for the afternoon. Walt saw the water and just walked straight out and started to swim. He fel better as it was pretty warm out. Bill and Barb followed us to the campground and we enjoyed a wonderful evening of talk, wine and a barbecue followedby a little more wine. We said our good byes and again made Lori stay up and watch tv. I was going to get my moneys worth!
Saturday was a lazy start. I had written in the Montana owners club forum about assisting a neighbor in the park with a hot water issue. Soon a couple wrote to aske where in Sequim we were at. They were in Diamond pont also and soon we were visiting and catching up on our activities since meeting in Oreagon a few weeks ago. Small world.
I called my brother Craig and was able to meet him and his son Jeff for lunch. Craig too followed us back to the RV and again, wine, talk barbecue (are you seeing a pattern) and some more wine. What a great visit and hope to have many more.
Well as I rose early to watch more tv, the reality of our festivities hit hard. My blood sugar went out of whack as expected and it was slow going for an hour or so as I got the levels back down. We putzed around and got all loaded up to head home. A very nice and quiet drive home but was there problems ahead? The westbound traffic headed away from the ocean was incredible. How could so many people pack into that area? I have to make a left across the hiway to get to our house and this may be a problem. As we approached the turn, there was a substantial break like the parting of the red sea! Across, around and a pro style backing job got us off the road quickly. What a great weekend, but not as we had planned. Talked to alot of people and enjoyed life.
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