Gary's Place

Those boy's can cook! Gary's house for a barbque.

Cousin Deb..always upbeat,always smilin'

Pretty Ellie, a teenager now, Jack's great-niece

After a relaxing morning with Denise Jack and I headed to brother Gary's  house for a barbecue. As always, great food and company.

Roughing it!

So yesterday as the weather was heating up and getting muggy, best friend Denise drove out to spend the night. Trip from Mukilteo took her almost 3 hours. Seattle  traffic you suck.

Jack barbqued some Salmon and Denise, who is a chocolate lover, brought out some fantastic French pastries and wine to share.

The power went off several times during the evening and we discovered that 5 of us along the back row had nothing, while the rest of the park appeared to still have lights,A/C etc. Jack and our neighbors dragged out the generators so we could attempt to sleep with at least the fan on (not enough juice in the generator to run the A/C.) Windows open and generator running.....around 3AM the CO2 alarm blasted and woke us up. Jack shut down the generator so we wouldn't expire  and it warmed  up pretty fast inside the 5th wheel.

Power back on this morning, things appear to be back to normal.

Temps are suppose to hit 90 by Monday, which all Northwest residents know is miserable. The humidity has been high the past week as well. Currently overcast and 70.

Dinner out with friends

Candy and Mykel...great dinner with friends at Farrelli's in Maple Valley

New Boat

Stopped at Gary and Suzy's this morning to drop off some crab bait for  the upcoming trip to Sequim. They will be bringing their new boat up and dropping some pots in Sequim Bay....while staying at the "Best Rats in Town" motel up the road from the RV park. Looking forward to checking out the new boat and catching some crab!

Secret Dog Love

The neighbor next to us is seems to be a friendly,hard working, blue collar,biker attired guy. Last night I overheard this one sided conversation: " Where's my Fanny-Dog?" " Whose a good Fanny-Dog?" "Who wants a Pupperoni?' "Huh,huh? Who wants a Pupperoni?"   Fanny is a yappy beast and does not deserve a Pupperoni in my opinion.

Had some heavy rain last night but temps are mid 60's and slightly humid for this neck of the woods.

Pictures from Lake Sawyer

My camera is dying a slow death but I was finally able to download some pictures of our site at Lk Sawyer. You can see our awning touching the neighbors RV...tight quarters.

Our little outdoor living room

Madison learns how to ride a bike. I picked her up in Tacoma and we went for pedicures and lunch with friend Jana C. Then Katie and Derek came out in the evening for burgers.

Daughter Katie,son in law Derek, and grandson due in August

Derek vs. Mt. Baker

 

With permission I am reposting this picture of son-in law Derek and his successful climb of Mt Baker. Congratulations Derek!

 

Jack and I spent the day running errands, then relaxing with a book, heat on inside the 5th wheel while it rained. Temps in the upper 50's.

Lake Sawyer

Lake Sawyer


Arrived at Lake Sawyer around 10:30AM and a sign on the office door said  ( "Closed until 11:30) Ugh. We stay at this park because it is so close to friends and family in the area. It is fairly inexpensive and has full amenities, which are deteriorating in my opinion. It is $2 extra per day for sewer, extra for a second vehicle, wifi costs $19.95 for the two weeks we'll be here,cable TV is $2 day, several of the spots we scouted out as being preferential were already "reserved" but currently empty. A couple other spots we liked had no sewer hookup. We have a decent back in spot along the fence. It is long enough for the 5th wheel and car but the truck has to live in the overflow parking area. Our awning touches the rig next to us.

Jack was able to check us in finally, and set up before the downpour hit. We missed the rain in California. We're getting plenty now to make up for it. I don't really mind. It is refreshing and cool. And Jack brought me flowers today because I didn't feel good and I was crabby. And did I mention this is a good location?

Wednesday is Moving Day

We'll be leaving Elma tomorrow    http://www.kmresorts.com/travel-inn-resort/  and head to Lake Sawyer in Black Diamond WA.

It's been quiet with Madison going back home! 

The rain really came down about an hour ago (3:30 pm). Upper 60's and cloudy at the moment.

Elma ER

Well after a week of back pain,home treatment that didn't work and a sleepless night I decided to head over to the Elma ER which is about a block away. It is a brand new facility that opened in February. At 5AM I had the place to myself.

One urinalysis and CT scan later and the diagnosis is acute low back pain.....ta da! (Isn't that why I went in to begin with?) Actually I was relieved that it was nothing more serious.  Jack felt sorry for me and took me to the Rusty Tractor for breakfast. The Percocet they gave me in the ER started to kick in and I went back to bed for a couple of hours.

I have no idea what initiated this bout of back pain. It may have been the laundry basket I lifted last week proving that household chores can be dangerous.

Sunny most of the day but now raining hard at 4PM.

Lost Lake on Father's Day

Survivors Den Shop in Elma

Lost Lake,Olympia WA

Lost Lake Olympia WA

Derek Summit Mt Baker: Congratulations and Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of you Dad's out there. We took Madison home today after a great 8 day visit.    The picture above of the Survivors Den was a place she and I visited in Elma. A hoarders paradise, but some cool stuff.We were  greeted at her house by Daddy Derek who summitted Mt. Baker yesterday.  Congratulations Derek!The Eberts had a nice "grandpa"card for Jack and it was much appreciated.

We stopped to take a look at Lost Lake RV Resort near Olympia.Lost Lake - Is located between Shelton, and Elma, about half-way between Olympia and the coastal community of Aberdeen. This  wooded setting. features a 3-acre lake. Fish for Trout and Silver Salmon, , there is public access and a public boat launch.  It is a private RV park that went through some difficult times a few years ago. The realtor who showed us around said things have been settled recently:  This article from the Olympia paper describes it quite well.  http://www.theolympian.com/2011/11/20/1883740/lost-lake-lost-dreams.html

We thought the place was great.We are looking to rent a spot,not buy, in August that is close to the Eberts when baby comes. This place has everything....pool,lake,full hookups,hiking trails etc. The pictures were taken from a moving golf cart as we toured the property.

Elma WA

 

We had some business to take care of in the Renton/Kent/Tacoma area so we left rainy Elma around 9AM and headed North on I-5.

I-5, I-405 and Hwy 167 are the devil. We are not used to this type of traffic any more.

Katie was able to come home from work for lunch (5 minute commute!) and Derek barbecued some burgers on our last stop South then back to sunny Elma!

We have been so fortunate in the weather,especially at the ocean. Newport OR and Copalis WA were exceptional for June coastal weather. We saw in the news that a dead whale washed up in Ocean City yesterday, which was just down the road from our site in Copalis.

Currently enjoying sun and 60's. Madison is so much fun to be around. She is 8 and smart as a whip.

Games People Play

 

Madison is hooked on Foosball now. I'm guessing a Foosball table will be on her 2013 Christmas List.  She thrashed me in UNO. Am I smarter than a 3rd grader? Apparently not. We leave in the morning for Elma. We had one last walk on the beach in the sun before the clouds rolled in.

MadDog and Crabman

Maddog talking to Crabman (Jack) over the radio

It's hard for Katie to bend over and roll up her pants. Madison helps out.

Some guys surf fishing


Katie and Madison arrived at Copalis Beach this afternoon and  we took a quick walk on the beach in the sun. Jack had walkie talkies  that we purchased at a swap meet. They are a big hit and we all have "handles" now. I am Gran-Dog, Katie is Red-Dog, Maddy is Mad-dog and Jack is  Crab-Man (I suggested Horn-Dog  but we nixed that one LOL)

Copalis Beach WA

Green Lantern Tavern in Copalis Beach WA

Sign on the road into the Quinalt Casino at Ocean Shores WA

We moved over to the Copalis Beach RV Resort this morning. It has large,grassy spots with full hook ups, cable TV and wifi from the RV. We had dinner at the Green Lantern Tavern, which is the hot spot in town and just down from the RV park. Great food!  It reminds me of a funny thing my dad did. He liked to pick up clothing at the Goodwill and one day he came home with a bowling shirt that said "Green Lantern Tavern" embroidered on the back. My mom threatened to leave him if he wore it....My parents did not drink or bowl and my mom thought the shirt was tacky (it was). The Green Lantern Tav in question was in the University District at the time.

The "no Marijuana" sign was on the road into the Quinalt Casino. It's the first of it's kind we've seen....

It's cool and windy here.

Crossed the Border

We made it into Washington yesterday under partly gray skies. We were hoping to stay at a small RV park across from the Shoalwater Casino in Tokeland but as Joni Mitchell said "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"  It is now a gas station.

Moved on down the road to Grayland to the Kenanna RV Park. This place is kind of a hidden gem. Aside from no cable TV and wifi only in the laundry room it is a huge RV park, 100 spaces, grassy wide spots with full hookups. Not more than a dozen people here. I guess there are trails to the beach however I did not go exploring. I took a picture which I will download later onto this blog. My camera batteries seem to be dead again. The friendly retired Navy/Law Enforcement Officer gave Jack the "Fireman Discount".

We had the buffet at the Shoalwater Casino which was good and only $10.95 for ribs,mashed potatoes, brussel spouts, pulled pork sandwiches, salad bar and dessert. Jack hates for me to post this but he got lucky on the Jungle Wild Slot. Lets just say "Jingle Wild" for now.

Off to Copalis this morning where we'll stay for a few days and take on Granddaughter Madison!

Jack cooking crab cakes at Seaside OR

Kenanna RV Park Grayland WA

 

Sign in Seaside OR

Not gonna try it EVER.....Are you serious?????

Seaside Oregon

Seaside Oregon Promenade

North on Hwy 101 from Newport to Seaside.... about 120 miles of winding sometimes rough road with wonderful views out to the ocean.  I made a stop at Fred Meyer  :)  in Tillamook for some trail mix and scented candles. I have been putting them in my closet and drawers. (The candles not the trail mix) For some reason the smell in the 5th wheel bugs me this year. It's not nasty, just "stale" smelling to me. Maybe from sitting in the desert and the sand for 7 months.We set up our camp in the Seaside Thousand Trails RV Park and we have wifi from the rig as well as cell phone service but no cable TV. We are able to receive a few major  channels (and one in Spanish) with our antenna so that is a plus.

Jack stopped in Garibaldi at one of our favorite fish markets and bought some fresh Ling Cod which he is cooking right now!

We'll be here for three days and then move north into Washington to Tokeland.
Weather is sunny and somewhat cool at 62 degrees but beautiful for the Oregon Coast this time of year!

On to Seaside Monday

We'll be leaving Newport and heading up the coast to Seaside for a couple of days. The weather here has been great for the Oregon Coast. Sunny again today after raining all night.Forecast is for more of the same next week.

Farmers Markets and Weird Stuff

Made out of corks. Price $750.00

 

Made out of pennies.Price $800      


An early walk on the beach this morning and I saw two eagles snacking on a sea lion carcass. No sign of the USGS guys doing any research today.

Jack and I went to the Newport and Waldport Farmers Markets. The usual produce,soaps etc but at the Waldport Market a lady from Indio was selling jewelry she had made out of dried potatoes. She cuts up the potatoes (organic) and spreads them on a table to dry for about 7 days...then paints them and adds beads. They are actually pretty cool. All you desert dwellers I think I've found our winter project!

I made a trip to the Newport Aquarium Village hoping to visit my favorite knick knack shop but it is closed down. Instead, I found the cork and penny forms for sale in another trinket shop. Interesting but a bit expensive. I have been saving corks for years by the way......

Another beautiful sunny day. Temps in the lower 60's.