First Trip of the year

Belong to a club of campers, well RV'ers actually and this weekend we went on our first trip of the year to Toppanish WA, just south of Yakima, on Hwy 97. Roy couldn't come because of a prior but that never stops me. I filled the refrigerator with legal (my diet) foods, packed warm clothes and headed out on Thursday about noonish.

Trip over the pass was uneventful and in no time I was pulling into the Yakama (spelled differently) Nation RV Park and easily found my friends actually sitting in the warm sun. It was absolutely beautiful weather but that wasn't going to last as I would find out.
The last time I solo'ed we dry camped but this campground was full service so I had to hook up the water, electricity and sewer. Plugging in the electricity, and screwing on the hose takes little talent, and even the sewer didn't pose much of a problem. I didn't get the water on all the way so there was some worry as I didn't have any water, but it just took a double check. Flipped on the water heater and the propane heater and I was good to go.
Lola and Ray introduced me to Roy and his lovely wife with an equally lovely Korean name I can't pronounce let alone spell. She and I had a great time talking about Korean foods and laughed about at how hot (spicy) she ate her foods.

Friday morning the other rigs were quiet so I dressed warmly as the cold front had now moved in including a strong wind. I decided to walk to Toppanish to check out the "famous" murals. There are about 50 of them and new ones are added each year to the walls of the local businesses. Some are historical, others whimsical, and all are interesting. They are scattered all through town, so I missed many of them and ended up walking nearly two hours. Got home just in time to join the others for lunch at the Casino across the street. I also won $65.35 on a slot machine that I didn't have a clue what I was doing. It said I won 1000 points but didn't have a clue what a point was worth. Couple more wins and I cashed out. Didn't want to press my luck.

Becky and Rob pulled in and it was really good seeing them again. We were now up to 4 rigs, but unfortunately Roy and his wife were going to have to leave early Saturday.

Saturday we decided to drive to Ft Simcoe, an 1850ies Army post that was only active for about 3 years and then turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It had some restored building and the Colonels home was furnished in period doings, but unless your a real history buff or have nothing better to do, don't make a special trip. It was cold, windy and threatening snow and rain so we didn't say long.

(I took pictures of all this to show you but for some reason, I get an error message when I put the card in. Don't know what I'm going to do about that. )

Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast and then I unhooked and got ready to go. Unhooking was as uneventful as hooking so think I'm ready for anything. Before heading home, Toppanish has a wildlife refuge just about 3 miles out of town and since I love to check out these places, I headed here. Well, it is small and not much. I can't add many birds to my list. A magpie, but they are all over the area, a Cinnamon teal, okay that was cool and I heard blackbirds. Oh also swallows but don't know what kind as the fly faster than the eye can see.

I was rather concerned about the pass over the mountain as snow and rain clouds were all around by this time. Called 511 and found out that while the road was wet, conditions were fine and the only thing that happened was that I found out we need windshild wipers.

Victoria

Wow, did I pick a beautiful weekend or what. Sharon and I headed out on Thursday for Victoria BC and we had an absolutely great time. We took the Coho out of Port Angeles (25.00 round trip)and I was shocked at the number of motorhomes and 5th Wheels that were going across.

We didn't take our rig thought, and found a cheap motel called Pauls Motor Inn that was about a mile from the ferry dock. It wasn't bad, the room had a fresh coat a paint (and someone forgot to remove the painters tape on one wall), the rugs weren't the cleanest and kids ran up and down the hallway until late at night, but still, the price was better than most, so we put up with the rest. It was just for sleeping anyway.

The Empress Hotel would have been a better choice if we were rich.$239 Canadian as opposed to $64. at Pauls. But look at that place. Isn't it awesome.

After dropping off our luggage we walked back down town and get directions to take the city bus out to Buschart Gardens. DD warned me that it might be to early for any flowers. OMG, the place was not only full of blooms and the sweet smells were delightful. Buschart is the most beautiful garden that I have ever been to and I have lived in Japan where gardens are fantastic. Warning -- it cost $25.00 to enter the place. A little on the pricy side I think, but then the dollar is way down so that made it worse.