Solo'ing

Took and survived my first solo RV trip and while I had a great time, I don't think Ill do it often as there is just something comforting about having a 'co-piolet' along.
The RV was in the garage right up to the day I was suppose to go depart, delaying me by a full day. To save time, I loaded up the car with all I'd need on the trip and then just transferred it to the rig. Big mistake, I should have brought it home as when I got to the campground, I found the water tank was only a quarter full and well, I won't even try to describe what the refrigerator looked like after 3 weeks of being unplugged..
I was meeting friends at the campground, so it really wasn't a solo event, but the drive up was awesome. I went over Hwy 90 to Cle Elem and then over Blewett Pass to Levenworth and then the camp is about 10 miles beyond town. I thought it was a couple of miles from town, so when it didn't magically appear, I started to get panicky. I kept telling myself the next brown (National Forest Service) sign I would pull in an ask where Tillicum Campground is. Lucky for me, Tumwater Campground appeared and I didn't have to embarrass myself by asking for the wrong place.
Tumwater Campground is a real jewel in the National Forest system of campgrounds as only the Federal government can afford to space out the sites so that you feel as if your alone in the wilderness. Set in the confluence of the Wenachee River, Chiwaukum Creek and Hwy 2, each sites backs up one or the other. Our site wasn't the best as we wanted to be together but we shared a large area and were out of the way of other campers. Since it is dry, all I had to do was make sure the propane was on the refrigerator and since it had never been lit before, it took some doing, but finally I heard it click on and while it took some time to get cold and I worried about the large steak I bought, it was working. Meanwhile, I noticed that I really needed water and there was no place at all to fill up the tank. It has water but the faucets didn't have treads on them so I couldn't attach a hose. I didn't worry about it cause I was sure I had enough to wash and since the park had flush toilets, I would just use that.
That was Friday, Saturday we decided to head into town an we stopped at Heidleburger for a hamburger. Oh yummmmm, I got a mushroom burger and a huge order of curly fries. I really recommend this cool little place if you need a decent burger for a fair price. Next we went out wine tasting and while the place was pretty, a rustic log cabin, the wine was not to my liking.
Levenworth is a great tourist town, done like a little Swiss village and its fun to visit.
Sunday morning we headed west to a great restaurant we heard about. The service was slow, but worth the wait.
Monday I headed home and cheated as when I got home, I conned Roy into coming with me to dump. LOL So I really didn't have much to do at all. Now I am still cleaning the refrigerator in bleach water and hoping to get it back to its sparkle.

Pleasant Surprize

Last night I had a call from Japan. My travelin' buddy Sallie called and I'll be we talked the good part of an hour. (Japan's phone companies charge about 4 cents a minute so she can afford to call the US. I can't even call Seattle for 4 cents a minute. I think we are getting ripped off) Anyway, she said Nick and Fumie, Bev and Berry and she had gone to see a professional Japanese baseball game in Hiroshima and said they had a great time. I remember when she took me to the games and it was just about kicking and screaming cause I am not a fan of baseball unless its sand lot soft ball and my daughter is playing first base. But I had a ball and I guess Bev and Berry also enjoyed themselves. First of all, the fans are exceedingly polite and they take turns cheering for their team. First the one side gets up with their flags and drums and banners and they cheer for about a half hour and then the other side does the same.
Okay you can soon get bored with that, but then the 7th inning starts and your looking around cause suddenly you see a balloon in a fans hands. Not one of those round balloon. but a balloon about 3 foot long. Then someone else has a one and then you notice that everyone in the park is blowing up these balloons and its a sea of color. Then on cue, they are all released into the air sounding like one big fart. LOL
http://www.gonomad.com/japannomads/2007/06/baseball-in-japan.html Here's a blog about the same thing. LOL, with pictures even

Enter at your own risk, lots of rambling goin on

I love blogs and read a lot of them. I told you about the lady RVer who I read a lot. Also there is George. George has a RV and he travels 30 or so miles a day, parks where he can for free and has seen most of the western US and Mexico. I enjoy reading "George" but lately its become a little repetitive. http://vagabonders-supreme.blogspot.com/ so I only check in once in awhile. I love Horses' Ass, a political, left wing blog but its mostly Washington State politics so you probably won't be interested. Then theirs Jamies stuff. I would give my eye teeth to beable to write like that lady. I would give you her link, but you'll have to ask and Ill email it to you privately. She's sidesplitting funny, or stone serious, but I love both sides of her.
So where is this going. Oh yeah I remember. So you can absolutely find anything on the internet and you have to take all of it with an understanding the folks don't have to tell the truth, like Fox News, you need to make a point, make something up. Or like that Savage Nation guy. Roy actually listens to him and a couple weeks ago when the Chief Justice got sick, Savage blamed the liberals for causing his seisure. That man is a sicko.

Speaking of Sicko, the movie. I went to see it and I really enjoyed it. If your a conservative and don't like Michael Moore, see it anyway. Its not like Farenheit 9-11 at all. Its not conservative bashing, its just asking why all other nations have great medical care for their folks, all their folks including the poor. Did you see the study that came out this week about the life expectancy in the US. 48 countries have higher life expectancys than we do, including Cuba, Tiawan and most of Europe have better health care. Its a shame,

Lets kick the bums out and elect anyone else.

I just finished reading this great blog written by a single lady full-time RVer and she was talking about how most women are the co-piolets who help back the rig up and read the maps. She is right. In our circle of friends, the guys do the driving and the gals enjoy the scenery.

Personally, I love to drive and in our family it's just easier for me to drive since I usually know the way to go, where to go and since Roy rarely wears his hearing aids and can't hear my directions , its worked out best for the both of us.

Now, I have to say that it was Roy who taught me to drive something 30 foot long. He explained the wide corner thing and the "straighten out the road" thing and it's a comfort to have him in my rearview mirror when backing up. Also it's his job to hook up the utilities and SEWER and I certainly don't complain about that.

Would I like to do the single thing? End of this month I am going camping with our friends and Roy can't come, so I decided I would go it alone. I think I can figure out the sewer thing, one hose, one hole, stick A into B. I know that I can do the electricity thing cause I usually have to go behind him and turn the switch to the "on" position, he usually forgets and I don't think the campground has TV or Cable so that won't be a problem. But the backing up thing... Maybe I can find someone to guide me in or find a pull through. Maybe I'll find a big empty parking lot and some orange cones and practice a bit before I go.

There seems to be a lot of different styles to RVers and the more I travel, the more differences we notice. The full-timers must be at the top of the list. They live and love, travel and work in their up to 40 footer. Some workcamp, some have jobs that only require internet connections and some are just lucky like us and are retired. Lots of full timers stop after a few years as health or children or just living on solid ground again draws them back. I spoke with a lady at the pool just recently who sold their home on wheels after 5 years on the road, She missed her piano and thats why they quit.

Then there are the snowbirds and their counterparts the sunbirds. The snowbirds geneally live in the north and when the leaves start to turn, they pack up their motorhomes for some warm weather living. The sunbirds (I think I coined that) live in the warm south, and come out during summers and then go and hunker down at home in the winter. Both are like part-time full timers.

The episotic traveler, like Roy and I, come in all sorts. Roy and I like to just set a compass point and head that way, checking out all the sites along the way. Other RVers find a campground they like, and go spend a week or weekend there when they can. That appeals to be also

Recently we joined the Nomads, a group of RVers who meet once a month and spend the weekend camping at one site or another. We dry camped at Cle Elem, we spent a great weekend by the lake at Tanwax and our next trip is going to be in the mountains west of Levenworth. We eat together and play together and have a great time. I think I am going to drag out the Dutch Oven and see if I can find any great recipes.

So, plans for the future. In September we're going to northeast Oregon and spend a week or so over there. George, our buddy and friend is coming with us and I know we will have a great time. There is just about something for everyone. For the History Buff in me, we are going to see the Oregon Trail. Do you know that there are places where you can still actually see the wagonwheel ruts in the ground. We are going to take an antique train thru Hells Canyon wilderness. We're going to explore John Day Fossil Beds and walk thru a couple ghost towns. All in all, its going to be a great time and I am so looking forward to it.

Do you know I was like 10 when I last saw the Grand Canyon and so I think Roy and I are going to just "do" National Parks next year, starting with the Grand Lady and ending at Glacier. I know its going to be fun.

Well that trip note kinna died

From Yakima we headed to the Tri Cities area and spent a few days so Roy could do Grand Lodge and when it was over, we headed north through some of Washington's most beautiful countryside, ending at Grand Coulee Dam. That was an amazing experience. We toured the dam and then spent the night in a parking lot, (with permission from the locals) so we could watch the laser show. (I'm glad we didn't have to pay to see that cause while it was okay, I was pretty bored with the whole thing in about the first 10 minutes)
So our trip was great and now we are off to another adventure.