Tip Toe Through The Tulips

Every year, the Skagit valley of Washington is host to a colorful and enjoyable treat. It is Tulip Festival time in the valley. Lori and I hooked up the fifth wheel and headed north. I was not looking forward to Seattle traffic and we waited till the morning traffic slowed, giving us a better chance. We made it through with little traffic and soon were set up in a nice spot at the Burlington KOA. Only minus for this park is very narrow roads, making getting in and out very close. We did ok and soon Lori's folks were there. We got all set up and set out to tour the fields for a preview. Nothing but dirt! The cold spring has delayed the bloom by a couple weeks, but a couple fields were in bloom and we were happy.

We relaxed at the trailer Friday night and picked our teeth after a great dinner. I had the heat up a little and didnt sleep well as it was warm in the trailer. In the morning, we feasted on another great Lori breakfast and as we were cleaning up, Mel, Lori's brother called and came up to hang with us. He found the campsite and after we ate, we piled in the car and headed for the fields. We stopped at Tulip Town, walked around and enjoyed the flowers. Later, we returned to the trailer, had dinner and watched a movie.

Sunday morning, we loaded up and headed south. Traffic was alot heavier going south, but we did ok and had a nice drive home. I felt the area was way too tourist oriented and everything from parking to going to the fields cost money. At Tulip town, we had to pay to get in for the privilage of purchasing things inside. Weird! Anyway, still a great weekend.

Indy for a Week

Couple weeks ago, I was fortunate to get to Indianapolis, Indiana for a week to train on a new video forensics system we have. It was a very busy week and at times a little overwhelming. I flew out of Portland Sunday Morning and the flight to Minneapolis was relaxing. As we made the connecting flight to Indy, the plane backed away from the gate and stopped. The captain announced we had to wait as severe storms were rolling through. We sat for about an hour and finally got out.

Once in Indy, I got settled and after a few brief hours of sleep, I was on a bus and off to school. On Tuesday, we had a surprise visit by the current Miss America who hails from Indy. She came in and talked, posed for pics and just talked for awhile. She was interested in talking to trainees who were from foreign counties. We had six countries represented. If you look close at the picture, the guy in the blue shirt is me! I was a little behind in our project so I was hard at work.

The flight home was interesting. Several interesting people on the flight and on the final leg, alot of kids. I was pleasantly surprised that most were well behaved. It was a fast paced, hard, but very rewarding week. I came home with cases waiting for me to apply new technology (to our area).

More cabin Repairs

Hello again from the money pit,

We had a free weekend, so knowing the plumbing was busted, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and again work on the cabin. I now know why dad Fretts hated the beach over time. I seem to always have a list of things to do. Last summer, the septic line went bad from roots. I had to dig and replace. This caused the toilet to have a few problems and with old floors and other sewer related problems. We then had to replace the roof, thanks to Shawn and his friend who supplied the labor. The final item on the list was to paint and finish the inside. We got all this accomplished by September, meaning yet another year of limited enjoyment.

With the hard winter, a tiny mistake in winterizing cost me 8 hours of work this weekend. I forgot to back drain the shower and yep, all the pipes dealing with the shower burst. With every cut, replace and glue job, another section would fail. Just cant win. They are all plastic but and easy to fix unless you are a medium husky type trying to bend just right to get under the house. I paid dearly saturday night with the pipes done with severe cramping in my stomach. Today, we pulled old stuff out that had been collecting and off to the dump it will go.

One thing I found was that due to last years water problem, the seal on the shower drain and toilet now leak. Now I will have to replace floors and drain seals. Not a major set back, but once again I get to miss the sunset while up to my elbows in *&#$.

The final blow to a very nice weather weekend was a serious motorcycle accident right at the corner by the rest area at Megler just past the Astoria bridge. The roadway was closed and we were told it would be hours before reopening. This is not a good sign when they completely close the hiway. My heart drops and although its sad to see a biker go down, you always hope its not someone from out M/C family.

Well, the upcoming week is Easter, birthdays and such. Then its off in the RV to Mount Vernon for the Tulip festival. More on that later.
Be safe

Steve

Shop till you drop

OK, sometimes what seems like a good idea just blows up in your face. This might have been one of those times. In a moment of weakness, I agreed to allow Lori the opportunity to again go to the outlet mall in Woodburn, OR. We had been trying to find a camping spot for the rare weekend of freedom we were facing. I called hoping the RV park would be booked, but no, they had plenty of room. I had to take four days vacation or lose it by the first of the month. I was happy to take a six day weekend to accomplish this.

We packed up and hitched the trailer. During my final walk around, I routinely pull the handle of the pull rite hitch to insure it is locked. To my surprise, it opened! I had to set the front jacks and re hitch the trailer. Again with all the weight on the trailer plate, I pulled and it again unhitched. I again re hitched and this time put a lock on the bar opening to prevent the hitch from opening. I called Tacoma Rv and they scratched their head as to why it would unlatch with weight on the hitch. I pulled ahead slightly and rechecked. It was good now. I locked it and manually checked it again to be sure. I later found, the latch keeper was just a little tight from weather. Some WD 40 solved the problem.

I was nervous for some time and it didn't get much better as we neared Portland. Construction brought traffic to stop and go right as you exit the bridge. We crawled through town without incident and after three hours, were pulling into the RV park.

Neither Lori or I were sure what we did wrong, but in no time, everything was set up and I was cooking dinner. It was clear but clod and a nice dinner was in order. A walk around the park after dinner and we settled in for the night. Walt was doing very well so far as we have a ramp now for him to enter and exit the truck. I am pretty sure, he was getting hurt almost every time he jumped down on his front legs.

How many of you have seen a cat start twitching and making weird sounds when they see a bird through the window? This was Lori as she looked across the fence at the stores. A sigh and she soon slumbered off to a restful sleep with visions of clothing stores galore as well as any other store she could find an excuse to go in. I layed there in a cold sweat wondering how expensive this weekend was going to be. You see, Lori is a champion shopper. She has felled some of the best. Most people only shop with her once. Some develop physical problems from the pace, others find that their minds go...never to be seen again.

Saturday morning is here. I always love camping in the trailer because Lori has coffee going and a great breakfast is in store. We always eat good. OK, it should read usually. Today, she tried out the George Foreman grill with the waffle attachment. Two quick waffles, a half cup of coffee and she was dancing at the door as if needing to go out and go potty like Walt.

The door opens and like a uncontrolled child, she sprints for the gate. I give her credit, she was full stride till she lost the sole of one shoe. Lori paused, looked at it and shrugged her shoulders, advising me that we will be looking for shoes now. Just kill me now!!!

Soon she was running in circles trying to figure out what store to go to first. I showed her a map and suggested the stores we were planning on purchasing items be last, so we would not have to carry alot with us. Okay that worked for a couple stores! Within half of the first of four sets of buildings, both hands were full of bags of apricot jellies to 'special' candy bars, to baby clothes. Oh God, I promise to be good if you just get me though this day! After a brief lighting bolt scare, we continued to another store.

The weather was cold, mixed rain and snow. Very cold outside, but very warm inside. This made for interesting stops in the stores. After we made the half way mark, a good Samaritan stopped and asked if we would like to use his truck to haul our stuff? Lori didn't hear the guy as she was turning to enter the factory outlet stores for shoe laces and insoles. Fascinating I must say, and amazing how she could spend so much time pondering corn pads.

After a few brief hours (nine) we were finishing up and had successfully perused all 100 plus stores, some many times. A few clerks knew her by name and would ask how the family was. I went through one pair of shoes and ya, you guessed it, she made me go to the Nike store and bought me another pair. I am not sure about these yellow and pink running shoes, but she said they were a really good price...I know, I will hit a couple mud puddles on the way back and they will be fine.

I forgot how much stuff we had purchased. As we walked back to the trailer, the wind and ran proved to us that winter was not done yet. We were soaked by the time we got back. I had to walk to the office to pay for our spot and then across the street for a Starbucks coffee. I forgot about the shoes, but as I entered the office, the clerk asked if me and my 'partner' were enjoying our stay? I said nothing and paid. Suddenly I didn't want coffee. My official story is that I was held up by gang members who took those 'fancy' shoes leaving me to walk home in my socks...

We had a nice dinner and the next morning was nice. Lori wanted to return for another pair of shoes...I told her I was too traumatized and put my old shoes on. She ran off for last minute shopping in case anything new came in in the last seven hours. Walt and I hooked up the trailer and I walked over and got coffee for the trip home. I found the garbage man had removed the yellow shoes from the dumpster...I pushed them behind and continued.

We had a nice drive home and all kidding aside, Lori and I had a great time. The nice thing about the RV is we are not held back by weather like we are on the bike. We have been able to go out during the off season and save the bike for spring and summer. A nice addition to our toy fleet.

Camping in Grayland

It was Valentines weekend, the skies were cool and overcast, but overall it was ok for February at the ocean. Loren and Gwen had planned to stay out here for the three day weekend . Terry and Jewell heard about the weekend and it turned out that the six of us took up three spots for the weekend.

We pulled in on Friday afternoon. I felt so out of place as it was just starting to get dark. I have got into a habit of getting to the campground after dark, so setup was alot easier when we could see. It was try out time for the new set of JT stabilizers on the trailer, so we were excited to see how much better they would work. Soon we were set up and it was time to get the satellite dish up so we can watch some tv. Nothing seemed to work for Loren and I. We tried several different things with no luck. We soon gave up and watched a DVD. A VU cube is looking better all the time!

We were greeted by off and on rain Saturday morning. I again tried the satellite setup with no luck. Other sites had their dishes set up and we could not get ours to work. I had a sat prep put in my trailer and wanted to use it. Not going to happen. I again gave up and we later went to westport and toured the city looking at old houses and checking the area out. Later, Terry and Jewell got there and we had a community pot luck. Loren and Gwen still like each other, so they snuck away for a romantic dinner for two and a Two and a half men marathon DVD.

Sunday, I went outside and was determined to get the TV working. I then had an epiphiny and switched a couple cables around on the dish. I then hooked the sat finder into the short cable and hooked the other end to the sat site on the trailer. I turned on the outside speakers so I could hear the beeps when I got close to finding (if) the signal. I got a couple beeps one time and then put the dish in the back of my truck. All of the sudden, I had lots of signal! I locked it down, switched the cable out and was soon enjoying tv. At least now I know what I need to do to find the signal.

I dont remember why, but something made my blood suger react and just before dinner, I got a real upset stomach. I went and took a walk and soon everything was better. We ate dinner and sat down to watch TV. Around 9pm, my phone rang and work needed me to respond as soon as possible. I told the fellow RVers, what was going on. All pitched in and took a part in order to get things ready to go. In about 15 minutes tops, We were hitched and pulling out of the campground. It was a white Knuckle run to Aberdeen, but soon we were home, a quick change and off for wht turned out to be four days with a little sleep here and there. Lori got the trailer cleared out and I finally got it parked I think the following Thursday.

The good thing is the JT's worked great. The bad was having to leave early and messing with the sat dish. We had great company and as usual, great camping. We stayed at Grayland Beach State park in space 17.

Finally our 5vr has a parking space

A couple weeks ago, we dropped off the Mountaineer at Tacoma RV for some minor warranty work. With the trailer gone, I thought, what a great time to build a parking pad. We had parked the trailer along side the house during the summer, but as the rains hit, I didn't want it sinking in the soft ground. We parked it on the pavement, but this made for an inconvenient parking situation.

The weather was going to pretty good, so I decided last Friday was the day to get forms and gravel. Off to Home Depot and after about $90.00 for treated 4x4's, I was ready to begin. Some squaring and staking and there it was, a 26' by 10' area ready for gravel. I called and they told me they would be out soon. I continued to prepare the sight and ask Lori to come take a look...why do I punish myself..."why dont you make it bigger" she asks? So instead of chasing her off with a shovel, I just set the forms out two more feet and get it ready just as the gravel arrives.

Now, I am tired and ready for the truck to dump it and with a small amount of raking, I am done..ya right.. The truck arrives and as I discuss with the driver about how the ground might be soft and I mention the fact that I'm not sure where the drain field starts, he refuses to drive onto the lawn. I understand and watch as he drops five yards of crushed rock in one spot for me to rack out. My muscles tell me this is stupid and then I think...Erv, my riding buddy, has a tractor. After a quick call, he is eager to head to the house and assist (must not have noticed the now steady rain!) Boy was I glad to see him. 5 yards is more than I thought. After an hour or so, the area was level and we were ready to try it out.I settled in for the evening to muscle spasms, back pain and joint lockups from all the exercise. Being bull headed, I refused advil and spent several hours during the night now too stoved up to get up and take some advil. Boy does the wife sleep sound. All the moans and groans only made her snore louder. I was able to crawl to the living room the next morning and hit the pain killers. We later headed to Tacoma to get the RV. We made a side trip to Loris folks to drop off firewood, take them to Costco and assist them spending some money on a new Plasma TV. Got it home and set them up and we were off. At Tacoma RV, the parts guy was in the middle of showing us how our new JT stablizer's worked and he stopped, looked and told us they had been installed wrong. He dashed off and returned with tools and within a half hour, we were off. I was getting nervous as I was very tired and it was getting dark. This would not be fun getting backed in as the driveway is dark and long. We made it home and I was right. After several tries, I was frustrated, worn out, but in the driveway. I left it on the pavement for the night and felt a fresh start to make the turn into the parking spot in the am.

This morning after a long and mostly painless night, I fired up the truck and with no cars to worry about, I could try a couple different angles and find a good line for backing into the new spot. With a couple adjustments, I was in the spot and my calculations for length worked very well. Don't tell Lori I said this, but the extra two feet worked well making the turn. I was in, set the new JT's and soon I was sitting inside watching the Superbowl Pregame show. Now we have a great spot and with a little more work, I will have power close and a walkway to and from the trailer. Now we don't have to worry about the weather (wind...trees...you know) and we have the


driveway back. Oh and by the way, even with only the front stablizers down, it is very noticeably stable. So far, it seems money well spent.

Oregon Coast Birthday Getaway

This last weekend, Lori and I snuck out as usual for a birthday/anniversary getaway. I wanted to take the trailer out as the weather was very nice and we needed to work on our cabin. The cold weather took out several water pipes and we needed to get them fixed.

Thursday, we loaded everything and readied the trailer. Friday we only needed a few minutes to load food and we were off and rolling. I had not pulled the trailer for a couple months and the first leg of the trip is always a little stressful till I get used to pulling the trailer again. We got to the Astoria/Warrenton KOA around 6:30. It took about an hour to set up as we were rusty and did alot of rechecking etc. Finally set up and settled down for the evening. There was a bit of a drop off from the third step to the ground, so we took out the small stool and used it for a forth step. A short time later, I went to take Walt uot for a walk and as I stepped to the first step, I caught a lace on my slippers and off I went. Somehow, I missed the dog, lnded on one foot and regained my footing without a major incident! A lot of noise, but no injuries. We both took a rest stop and went back in.

Satuday morning was laid back. We got up after 8 and drank coffee while Lori made some great Omlettes. We walked to the pool building and spent some time in the hot tub soaking up the warmth. Soon we were off to the cabin and as I crawled under the house to fix broken water pipes, Lori picked up drift for the fire pit. It got up into the 60's and we just sat around and enjoyed some rare winter sunshine and warmth.

We returned to the trailer for a very nice dinner and then went to watch a movie (Mall Cop) in Aastoria. It was a good movie making for a great weekend so for.

Sunday, we decided it was time to head for a Casino. The only one close (So we thought) was Spirit Mountain which turned out to be about 2.5 hours south east. It was quite a drive but what a Casino. It is very big and has the real Vegas or Reno look to it. We noticed a large RV area to the side, but found it to be dry camping. Quite a few rigs there though.

We gambled and went to the buffet fo a great dinner. They have 75 entre's to choose from. It was a Sunday night so there was alot of different types of seafood. We ended up walking out with more money than we arrived with and had a great time.

Back to the trialer by around 10 pm, Walter did his thing and of to bed we went. We slept in and watched TV for a couple hours. We broke camp and headed home. It was a nice drive with little traffic. It only took two tries to back in even for being rusty. It's amazing how after a few miles, I feel okay pulling the trailer. I just hate the first part.

Now its off to Tacoma RV for some minor warrenty work. Next adventure is about a month away.