Monday, June 14, 2010

Hangin with Friends

Several weeks ago, a little bantering on Facebook led to a camping trip for three couples. Lori and I were joined by Troy, Marie and Blaine along with Loren, Gwen and Land Shark (AKA Cooper). I somehow got put in charge of this caper and had the duty of locating a decent RV park to suit or needs.

After a couple trys, I found the Toutle River RV Resort in Castle Rock, WA. I called and was able to get reservations for all three with no problem. As time neared, many things changed and the weekend almost didnot happen.

Asd I was getting hooked up, I noticed a tire on the trailer looked low. I was going to check it anyway, but found it had about 25 lbs of air. I filled it up and it lost a couple pound in five minutes. I was already hooked up, so off I went to Schwabbs for a tire fix. Soon, I was without a screw in the tread and we were headed south. My luck lately.

We all got there and found this huge park very well kept and tons to do. We got set up and soon had dinner. A gathering was in order to solve all the world problems and at 8pm, we headed to the Karaoke area just in time to watch Blaine 'strut his stuff' on stage. A great night and off to bed as it was getting very cold.

Only issue with this park, is it is located close to the main line for the railroad and lots of trains come through. I loved it, but Loren complained (ya I know what else is new) yet he did seem to have a good time.

Saturday brought clear skies and warm temps. We headed to the pool for awhile, went to Castle Rock for coffee and just goofed off. Lori and I walked alot and all was good. As the evening drew closer, we sat and talked and had a great time just hanging out. Then it was off to watch Blaine sing and had to laugh when he was given a free two night pass to the park for his song choice and entertainment value!

Late in the afternoon, Loren pointed out my water connection was leaking and I used the quick connect to unkook and tighten the hose. Well I decided to reconnect without turning the water off and yep, got hosed down real good with Loren standing right along side. He was laughing so hard, he couldn't breath! Jerk...

Sunday morning, we walked up and hit the hot tub to sooth the sore muscles from Saturdays walk. It was fun and we were virtually alone. Soon it was time to hookup and head home. Only 75 miles to get home and with a coffee stop, we were there in no time. Jen was coming home from Portland and wanted to hitch a ride. She was dropped off at the RV park and rode home with us.

Unlike last time, I hit the driveway on one try and had no issues getting in. It was a great weekend and now I am nursing a sunburn, but one I galdly earned!

A Little R&R

Just over a week ago, I found out I had some heart problems and ended up getting a stint put in. I was off work for 10 days and with my new found energy, was driving the DW nuts. We decided to hitch up and head to Spokane to visit the oldest kid and sister. We took our time and was all hooked up and ready to roll last Wednesday. Only problem was a nasty pacific storm going through with some wind and heavy rain.

We did well watching traffic and taking our time. All was going well. we started to head up Snoqualmie pass in very heavy rain when all the sudden, the passenger wiper quit all the way up, the driver side came down on top and bent the %$@* out of both wiper arms and stuck!

I managed to get off the freeway with almost 0 visibility and after getting drenched, was able to salvage enough parts to make the drivers side work. We called ahead to a Dodge dealer and they welcomed us in. The one wiper worked ok (had to bend the arm back enough for it to partially work) and made it to Ellensburg with no further problems.

We unhooked the trailer and sat outside and ate lunch (much to the amusement of all passing by) while they put our Dodge back together. They didn't have the parts, so after a weather check, we hooked up and continued to Spokane and a Dodge dealer fixed it for us here!

Never let it be said that any of my RV outings are not an adventure! Oh and by the way, we were delayed just long enough for one day of good weather here and now the rain has followed us.

We set up at Ponderosa Falls campground and really like hanging out here. We visited Mark and Aunt Sandy over the next few days. On Thursday, Mark and Aunt Sandy were working, so we headed to Spokane falls park in downtown Spokane. Lots of trails and things to see. We walked so much with my new found energy that Walt almost stroked out on us. I thought I was going to have to carry him at one point as he was so exhausted! We went to Red Robin and had a great salad for lunch, walked some more and headed back to the trailer.


Friday night as we were wrapping up out trip, met everyone out at the Casino (Northern Lights) for dinner and some fun. After a great dinner and visit, I was getting the itch to 'pay' for my trip. As we walked through the casino, Mark and I stopped at the Craps table. He wanted to learn how to play and we went over a few rules and put some money down. In just over an hour, both of us had an incredible tie and walked away with alot of their money ( well alot to us!)

We met the crew Saturday morning for coffee and Lori and I headed for the sun. It was off to Yakima and the Casino in Toppenish. We got to town after a pleasant drive and along with Walt, sat and enjoyed the sunshine for the day.

As evening set in, Lori and I had dinner, closed up and walked the half mile to the casino. We bummed around and while I lost a little of my earnings from Spokane, she won enough to make us even again. Back to the trailer and sat outside to watch the sun go down. It was still warm as we went to bed. What a great day.