Not Closed!

I am happy to report that despite the federal government shutdown, there are still plenty of places that one can go camping here in the states.  Each state has a network of state parks, and Washington has some of the best.  I will admit I'm very biased, as I have very little experience with parks outside of Washington.  I'm hoping to remedy that now that we've got the trailer, but for the time being I'll stick with the parks I know.

Here on Whidbey Island, we have four state parks with camping - South Whidbey, Fort Casey, Fort Ebey, and Deception Pass.  One park, Joseph Whidbey, doesn't have camping but has a few nice trails.  That's quite a collection of parks on our island!

Washington State Parks require a Discover Pass for access.  For just $30 a year, you can access any park as a day visitor without further charge.  If you don't have the pass, it's $10 per day.  I am more than happy to pay that $30 fee to support our parks.  I also pay the extra $5 on my vehicle license when I renew.  $35 is a very small price to pay for unlimited access to our parks.  Overnight camping is an additional fee, and the cost varies from park to park.  Not free like some federal lands, but still much cheaper than an hotel!

Let's take a look at Fort Casey today, shall we?  Fort Casey is a WWII fort, built to protect Seattle and the rest of Puget Sound from Japanese invasion.  The extensive bunker system still stands, as does an historic lighthouse.

The old fort is quite spectacular, and ripe for exploration.  Be sure to bring a flashlight!

The campground is rather small, and one of the few first come, first serve campgrounds in the state park system.  If you're looking to visit in the off season, then this is the place for you!  There are beaches and trails to explore, and this are is also very bicycle friendly.  Note the resident deer in the background!

And the dear young man in the foreground.  That's my kid, several years ago.

Should you wish to visit Fort Casey in the off season, you'll experience a low key, relaxing visit.  This is the opposite of summer.

You'll have the park to yourself, and the town of Coupeville is just a hop, skip, and jump away.  Good coffee, good food, and cute shops.

It's a great destination.  We're just lucky we live a few minutes away!  If you want to visit and would like more local recommendations, let me know.

Camping memories...

Well hello there!  I can't say that I'm much less tired than last night, but I do have a bit more vim and vigor so I think I can manage something better than a smoking monkey.  Though I have to say, he's pretty darn cool - other than his hair.  His hair is disturbing.  But we shall move on now.

Camping has been a big part of my life ever since I was a child.  When I was quite young my parents bought an Apache tent trailer, much like this one ~

Looks sort of like a funky moth, doesn't it?  I like it.  Circa 1969.  I have vague memories of trying to get to sleep, and my parents having to leave a lantern on in the trailer because I was afraid of the dark.  I was one of THOSE kids, unable to fall asleep unless there was some light source.

LEAVE THE HALL LIGHT ON!

I am happy to report that phase in life is long gone.  I prefer the dark now.

Anyhow, we had many happy family trips with our little Apache, and eventually moved up to a larger Jayco tent trailer, complete with kitchen.  That rig lasted until both my brother and I had left the house, and my parents bought a 5th wheel - which they lived in for about three years!

But where did we go, what did we do all those years with our little tent trailers?  We had a few long trips, to Chicago and California.  But for many years we did a yearly trek to Eastern Washington, and camped with several other families.  Most years we went to Pearrygin Lake, but we also hit Potholes and Sun Lakes.  I think it was at Potholes where I walked barefoot on hot asphalt just after we arrived and burned my feet to the point of blistering!  Great excuse not to water ski.  Heh.

I have a few scanned photos from those trips.  Good times.

Teenagers camping, what to do, what to do...?

Pearrygin Lake, 1982!

Intrepid hikers on Freezeout Ridge.

In which we meet the mountain guru!

Yes, that's a moss beard.  This has got to be one of my all time favorite memories and photos.  He went ahead of us, and we came up the trail to this sight.

We slept outside on lawn chairs... and got yelled at for being too loud too late at night.  The duck ladies were around back then, too!

It's fun to think back on these trips we took every summer.  It's no wonder Pearrygin Lake was my favorite spot on our recent trip!  So many good memories from camping there.  Good friends, good people, good times.

Trailerspotting...

Tucked away in the forest of Bay View State Park we spied this little gem of a teardrop trailer.  Too small for us, but dang is it pretty!

And it's possible it could be on the old side - I just noticed it's a Kenskill, and they've been making teardrops since the 1940's!  Nobody was around when I walked by, so I wasn't able to inquire as to the age of this trailer.

It looks so nice in the forest setting.  Cozy!

A long day, a lovely night, then home...

One more night of our trip!  But first we had to travel the long slog down to HWY 2, through Leavenworth, and over Stevens Pass.  It was a beautiful drive, and at our first pit stop we were passed by three vintage trailers leaving the Winthrop rally - one of them an Aloha!

Our biggest concern was getting over the pass - I took it slow and steady, and only got honked at by a couple of jerks.  Sorry jackasses - nowhere to pull over, and I'm not about to blow up my engine so you can get home quicker!  We'll get a transmission cooler installed before next summer, and then we won't have the problem of worrying about the transmission.  We did have to stop just over the pass when the warning light went on, but only had to sit for a few minutes.  It was a lovely view!

Once we got over the pass it was smooth sailing.  We could have easily said "bag it" and headed straight home, but we had our last night paid for at Bay View State Park.  Not to mention, we just weren't ready to go home yet!

So close to home - back by the salt water, familiar smells and familiar plants.  Bay View State Park is quite nice - I can see us going there often for a quick getaway.  Just 25 miles (exactly!) from our doorstep, it's the perfect quiet spot for a relaxing weekend.

Aaaaaahhh.....

So beautiful!

We're discovering quickly that the parks all have very different characters.  This park had a lot of Canadians visiting, and they are friendly and outgoing.  The people next to us were playing the banjo and singing, and it was a very pleasant serenade through the evening.

I took a walk around the park without Syd - as one must do if one wants to take photos, and I found this tool sitting forlornly on a big log in an empty campsite.

I'm sure it will come in handy some day!

Finally we got packed up, and did our first proper sewage dump on the way out of the park.  Oh, the joys of having a toilet!

I'm really glad we have a proper toilet.

Barely an hour later we were home.  It's always good to get back after a few days away - and the first shower is the best few minutes under hot water that ever existed!  Haha.

We can't wait to take the trailer out again soon!

The best laid plans are flexible...

We woke to drenching rain that just wouldn't stop.  We all got soaked to the gills as we went about our business, getting ready to head to a new location (thank goodness).  Ironically, I actually took a shower and while it was great to get cleaned up, I might as well have just stood outside in the rain and shampooed my hair.

See the water running down the road?  Wet, wet, wet.  That Bronco wasn't looking like it would be much fun to ride in, either.  They cleared out as did many others.  I don't know if they had planned to stay longer, but I can't say I blamed the people that left.  It wasn't looking like the rain would stop any time soon.

Syd managed to keep himself entertained while we got ready to go.

The drive to Winthrop wasn't long, so we weren't in a big rush to get going (other than to get away from the rain).  We ate a nice breakfast, packed up, and headed north.  The drive was very pretty, but when we hit HWY 20 at Pateros we got a big shock -

HWY 20 CLOSED 15 MILES WEST OF WINTHROP

But, but... we were planning to go that way!  Surely it will be open!  It must!

Then reality struck and we decided that would probably not be the case.  It turns out there were several mudslides across the highway, and it would take days for it to reopen.  Here is just one of the slides that got in our way (photo courtesty WSDOT).

So that was freakout number one.  Another small freakout was yet to come, when we got to Winthrop.  We stopped for a quick pitstop at the grocery store before heading through town (we stop frequently).  As you can see, it was dry and the skies were dramatic.  Much better than rain!

We pulled out our directions to Pearrygin Lake State Park and headed into town.  It had been years since I'd been to the park, so my directionals were a bit rusty.  First instruction - "at the four way stop, go straight..."

When we got to the four way stop, we were faced with a blocked road and scads of vintage cars on the other side of the blockade!  FREAKOUT!  What to do?  Where do we go?  How do we get to the park?  I have to go!  People are waiting at the four way stop!  Think fast!  HELP!!!

We turned left, and just around the corner we were able to pull over across from the bike shop.  I ran over and got directions from the man working there - "go back to the stop sign, straight up the hill and take a right at the T."

Okay!  We can do that.  But when we started up the hill Michael (who was VERY stressed out at this point) directed me to turn left to meet back up with the road.  I was sure we needed to go to the end of the block and turn right, and to confuse things a couple of men walking by started pointing us up another street!  I told them we were trying to get to Pearrygin, and they said, "You should be going to the vintage trailer rally!"

Well hell's bells!  We had no idea that was going on, and weren't ready to attend any such thing, but it all began to make sense...

At last we made it to the park and got set up.

We're starting to get the hang of this now!

We had one last adventure ahead for the day.  Dinner with my dear friend Michelle, who lives just outside Winthrop.  It was wonderful to see her, and meet her fiancé Charlie.  It's been eight years since we saw each other!  Too long.  Dinner was very good, and Syd went for a swim!

Sort of.

Poor Syd!  He waited very patiently for rescue.  We had to pull him around to the steps so he could get out.  It was pretty damn funny!

Lake Chelan... I'm not really a fan

Time to move on from Yakima to Lake Chelan!

Oh, rain.

Lake Chelan State Park has a very different atmosphere than Yakima.  It's much more of a party park - big groups camping together.

When we arrived, we were a bit confused about our campsite at first and thought maybe there had been some mistake!

We were rebels and stayed on in this site anyhow - what were they going to do, kick us out?

No.  They weren't.

What they really meant is don't take your big trailer down that road!  Nowhere to turn around.  Lots of pretty tent sites, though.

The drive to Chelan wasn't the best, though we did take a route that was scenic and less mountainous than the usual route.  The worst thing that happened was when a guy passed us really fast, and one of those orange "men working" signs flew off the top of his truck.  Add to that a small car starting to pass us at the end of the passing zone (and not really in it at all) and we have STRESS!!!!  Fortunately nothing hit us, we didn't run anything over, and nobody had a head-on collision.

Fortunately, we made it in one piece.  It rained like mad when we were backing into our rebel site, but it cleared up quickly.  Just a short respite, as you shall see.  But while the sun was shining, here are a few of the things I saw...

Backing up too much of a hassle?  No problem, just push it!

Another vintage trailer!

One of two very noisy chipmunks residing nearby!

Transparent MATs!  Only $8.00.  And they're transparent!  See-through even!

Glamper - big earrings, flipflops, and a dress.

Not to be overlooked - it is very pretty here!

This park was okay, but I don't think it's very high on our "MUST GO BACK" list.  So it goes!

Yakima

HOT!  We are just not used to such heat.  Good thing we didn't have to spend much time in the car!

 We stayed put in Yakima all day and another night.  Our first night in the trailer was good - the bed is comfy and we slept well.  Other than it being so HOT!

Before heading over to Mom & Dad's house, I took Syd on a nice walk while Michael puttered around the trailer.  It was quite nice, but HOT!  There's a nice trail system around the park.  We walked on just a short little bit, but look forward to exploring more of the trails when we visit again in the future.

Did I mention it was HOT?  We headed over to the land of air conditioning for a while in the afternoon, it was quite a relief.  Dad showed off his mutant zucchinis for us.  He let one go on purpose, but the other went wild while they were on a cruise to Alaska.  Crazy!

That's a gardener's nightmare, that is.

Life in a state park is interesting.  People run sprinklers...

The camp host is ready for anything!  At least at this park... he was the only host that actually did anything.

And there was one REALLY unhappy camper...

Poor little thing!  We had a good time sitting around visiting with Mom & Dad.  But a sudden - and I do mean sudden - wind storm came in and we had to dash indoors.  It was quite exciting.  We were very happy for the trailer, vs. a tent.  Heh.

Syd had one last adventure - he was on his tether and went chasing after something in the dark - his collar broke and he was running free for a few minutes!  Fortunately he came back quickly, and didn't get sprayed by a skunk (which Michael had seen just a short time earlier).

Disaster averted.

First trip!

We did it!  We just completed our first trip with the trailer - 858 miles start to finish.  Are we MAD?  Apparently so.

But we survived.    We took everything slow and steady, and tried not to get too stressed out along the way - though there were moments!  The next few days I'll be posting about our trip, as I get my photos uploaded to Flickr and can appropriately document our experience.  I've managed the first day, so here we go...

We were headed to Yakima, so of course it was a bit of a long drive.  Over the mountains and through the woods, yadda yadda yadda.  Which meant stopping often of course.

We're so tiny!  I felt like I was towing a big hulk, and then we stopped at the rest area next to the big boys.  All right then.  A bit of perspective.

One thing we are lacking in our Durango is a transmission cooler.  It took a bit of learning, but now I know how to drive properly to handle the hills and not blow out the engine.  The first day was a bit touchy, however, and we sat a spell at the top of the pass to let things cool down.

Sure was pretty up there!

We cooled off and headed down the east side of the montains - and were really glad not to be heading west!  This horrible traffic backup lasted for MILES!  At least five, if not more...

Yucko.

We finally trundled into the Yakima Sportsmans State Park, in Yakima (of course).  I should mention that on the way in we saw an osprey carrying a fish, which was easily identifiable  by it's fins and tail as it dangled from the osprey's talons.

I managed to back the trailer into our site, and we were good to go for a while.  We had dinner with Mom & Dad - did I mention it was 94 degrees?!!  UGH.  I was sweating just sitting in one place.

The big excitement for the evening was when Syd went barking after some creature in the dark, and dragged our little footstool off to the far side of the campsite... and knocked over the coleman lantern - broken.

He looks so innocent, doesn't he?  Haha.

This is it!

Tomorrow we set off on our first adventure with the trailer.  We had originally planned to go to Yellowstone to pick up my son after his summer of working there, but plans changed and we have a shorter trip planned.  Probably a good thing.

We are hitched up and ready to roll.

Just a few things to pack into the truck in the morning and off we go!  Our first day is the longest drive, but then we get to stay in that spot for two nights while we visit with my parents.  My dad is the fount of knowledge as far as trailers go, so it will be good to pick his brain.  For instance, Michael knows how to put everything IN, but how does it come out?!!!  He'd never even heard the term "gray water" before!

Syd caught on to the different level of activity today, and he got really excited when we were hitching the trailer up.  He was ready to leave right then.

He was none too pleased we headed back into the house!  Poor lad.

I've got a brand new 8 GB memory card in my camera, and will report back when we return.  Signing off for a few days!

ALOHA!

Our First Trip - BOOKED!

The point of getting a trailer is for the camping, isn't it?  ISN'T IT?

Yes, yes it is.

We originally thought our first trip would be all the way to Yellowstone, to pick up Nolan after his summer of what turned out to be hell.  But the hell was just a bit too much, and he's put in his notice and will be heading home on his own by way of adventure.  Somebody laughed at me earlier because I said "I don't have to go to Yellowstone now."  WHO says that?!!  In ordinary times, I'd be horribly disappointed that we're not going.  But we have been before, and Michael's bum leg means there wouldn't be much walking around of great distances - thus, it's no skin off our backs.

Kind of a relief actually.  It was a bit nutty to think we'd go so far on our first trip with the trailer!  But hey - we're still going on a trip.  Just not so far.  The trip to Yellowstone was going to be long days of driving and very little time to relax.  The replacement trip will be shorter drives and more fun time!

Our first stop will be two nights at the Yakima Sportsman State Park.  My parents live in Yakima, and we want to spend a bit of time with them.  Michael wants to pick every bit of knowledge about trailers from my dad's brain - which hose goes where, etc. etc.

Looks like a pleasant place.  One of the things I'm looking forward to is writing about the places we visit on our travels.  It won't be too long before I can start with that!

Next stop will be Lake Chelan State Park, though it won't be this autumnal...

Our final stop east of the mountains will be Pearrygin Lake State Park.  I sure hope we see an owl like this!

Finally we will venture back over the mountains and spend one night close to home, at Bayview State Park.

Those sure are some pretty sights!  Soon I'll have my own pictures and commentary about these camping spots.  We are really looking forward to getting out on the road.  Now that we have the means, we want to make the most of the state park system here.  Whether it's just a few miles down the road or five hours away, we plan to camp there.