Yep, we’re still at Birch Bay, Washington

 

Sunday, July 31, 2011                                                                                                                                              Lorraine’s report

Hello once again on a warm but gray Sunday afternoon in Birch Bay, WA, I must say this week summer finally arrived. We had 3 days in a row without any measurable precipitation. And the temperature was finally in the normal range for this time of the year-the mid-70 degree range. Everyone was ecstatic!! Last night the weatherman said a low was suppose to go through; did it ever! It just poured for over an hour from about midnight until 1:15 am; then again this morning around 5 am.

One thing I like about the rain, it clears all the pollen out and the air is fresh and clean smelling. There has been lots of pollen from the weeds, trees and grasses, in the high range.

Last weekend still stands out in my mind. It was an eating frenzy weekend for us. We were celebrating several peoples, birthdays all weekend long.

Sunday night we went with Richard and Sandy to the Silver Reef Steakhouse to celebrate their birthdays. What an incredible meal! Our waiter was excellent, as was the food, the drinks-the whole smear. Thank you Richard and Sandy for asking us along; we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The rest of the week we spent doing our same old same old. Chuck met with his VA advisor and he took care of other business.

The one thing that stands out to me is on Friday we had made an appointment to take a look and see inside our home on Lummi Shore Road. Last year we weren’t here long enough to do that. This year we have had plenty of time.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the inside was neat, clean and tidy. I wrote down all the things that were damaged and went away feeling that the gal leasing it really does like living there. They are making an effort to keep the house in better repair than the previous leasers. Chuck still will have to go over and try to fix some of the things that he can, while others will have to be covered by the damage deposit, but all in all, it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined it could be. What a relief for my mind.

Saturday we had Richard and Sandy come over for a bar-b-q steak dinner with all the fixings. We enjoyed a nice visit and quiet time together and ended our visit watching the new “True Grit” Movie. Thanks again, Richard & Sandy for last weekend-it was fun!

I want to wish Joy our friend from BC a very Happy Birthday on Tuesday, August 2nd; also, to my sister, Thelma, a very Happy Birthday on the 4^th of August. To Katie & Joe, I’ve tried to contact you through your comment on blog, but I don’t think it has gone through, so could you send us your e-mail or phone number? We want to see you both when we leave here and go through Utah next month. Chuck also has some questions maybe you can answer for us. Thanks.

Until next time…

Lorraine

 

7/31/11                                                                                                                                                                       Chuck’s report

Boy, another week has gone by quickly.  We tried to take it easy this week as we know next week will be busier with Lorraine’s birthday and Susy/Kaitlyn’s visit. 

Sunday evening we had the last of our Birthday celebration dinners for Richard, this time at the Steak House inside the Silver Reef Casino, one of the nicest steak places in the area for sure.  Sandy was able to get us a coupon from a coworker of hers so both couples could order whatever they wanted, nice.  Once again we had a very nice time with our friends and for the last time this year, we wished both Richard and Sandy a very Happy Birthday. 

Monday was a stay home and rest day, I don’t think Lorraine got that memo as she cleaned the coach, made a run to town and still fixed dinner.  Don’t know what I did but I sure wasn’t that busy. 

Tuesday we headed into to town, had to stop by the Veterans' place and the place that takes care of our renters.  We made an appointment to inspect our house for later in the week.   We also stopped by the mall and other places.

Wednesday was another restful day, Lorraine ended up going to the movie house, Joe stopped by for a visit and the neighbor gave us a freshly caught/cooked crab for our dinner. 

Thursday I finally got some ambition and decided to finish washing,shining the tires and wheels on the coach.  We also made a quick check of all the basement storage areas but didn’t get rid of too much stuff, we’ve paired down pretty well over the last couple of years I guess. 

Friday we made the scheduled inspection of our house.  We tired to sell it before we went on the road back in ‘07, in fact we had a good offer that fell through at the last minute.  We’ve had it leased out since we’ve been on the road.  The first year we made an inspection and were both very disappointed in the care the first renters were giving the house, yard and gardens.  We did come to the conclusion that it was now a house, no longer was it our home.  We were unable to schedule an inspection last year so we didn’t really know what to expect with the second renters.  We were both pleasantly surprised that the place was a bit better that when we saw it two years ago.  These renters seem to be taking more pride in it and it shows.  Of course, it wasn’t like when we lived there but we were the owners, not renters. 

Yesterday we invited Richard/Sandy over to our place for a bar-b-q.  I must say we thought of Dave/Sandy as Lorraine fixed the potatoes/vegetables and I cooked them as they showed us a couple of years ago.  They didn’t turn out as good but very close and we had a good time explaining the process to Richard and Sandy (Dave, you know what I mean).

This morning Lorraine got ready and headed off to Church.  Just before she left I started the dishwasher and it started beeping and showed a fault.  While she was gone, I tore the thing down, couldn’t find any problem so I searched the internet for a solution.  I found out what the fault meant (water high level switch) and how to repair it (dry it out with a hair drier).  I tried the recommended repair and lo and behold, it works just fine!  Sure glad we didn’t have to have a serviceman out to fix it.

I also dumped and flushed the holding tank while she was gone and repaired the screen door handle, it sort of came apart when I went outside one time.  I also had to give our dog, Misty, a bath as she was outside and managed to crawl under the engine and get oil/grease all down her back. 

The weather has been much more summer like this week even though we’ve had a couple of days with rain but the afternoons have all been sunny.  We’ve been close to 80F once again, don’t think we got quite there but nice none the less.  I did manage to get a bit red from the sun yesterday, one of the nicer days we’ve had this week. 

For the upcoming week it looks like Loraine has a hair and a doctor appointment.  Our daughter, Susy, and grand daughter, Kaitlyn, are flying in on Thursday to spend the weekend with Nana and help celebrate her birthday on August 6th.  Last I heard, our son, Rich, wasn’t sure if he could make it too, that remains to be seen, I guess.  But if he isn’t here in person, I’m sure he will call and be here in spirit. 

I didn’t have any pictures for the blog last week and very few this week.  Looking through the camera it appears the only pictures Lorraine took was when we were at the Steak House for dinner with Richard and Sandy on Sunday night.  Therefore, here are a few pictures of that happy occasion. 

The four of us at the Steak House.            Richard and Sandy.

  

Our waiter making the salads and cooking Sandy’s steak at tableside. 

   

Flame on.  Very nice presentation and the food was excellent too. 

 

A different waiter cooking the dessert at tableside. 

 

One of the two lobster claws from the appetizer tray.  Lorraine ordered the two lobster tails for her dinner.

  

Richard and I both ordered the Bi-g-g- Porterhouse steak. 

We had to look over the dessert tray, here are some of the options. 

 

 

 

We ended up with Lorraine’s Tiramisu, Sandy had the layered chocolate cake with ice cream.

  

Richard and I both had the Rockettes cake and ice cream. 

 

So there’s another week in review, not too exciting but what the heck.  Guess when we stay put this long, life gets more predictable. 

Thanks   Chuck

Back at Birch Bay, Washington

 

Sunday, July 24, 2011                                                                                                                                                    Lorraine’s report

Well, we made it back to Latitude 49 safe and sound, last Monday. We had a nice time at TT La Connor, although it was wet and cold last Sunday. In fact, the weatherman said that Sunday’s temperature had broken a 30 year old record for that day for being cold, the high was only 62 degrees/wet and gray. It feels like it’s fall here at times, not summer.

We enjoyed the company of the group we were with and the park-well; that left a lot to be desired. Like true 30 amp; we had to turn off a good bit of electrical stuff so I could dry my hair. While we were there they kept dumping gravel/rocks to fill in all the ruts in the road, which turned the roads mucky when it rained, which it did. It felt like we were roughing it and not smoothly like it says on the motto on our coach, roughing it smoothly.

We had a lot of fun with Steve and Sandy-thanks for going with us; it was great to catch up.

Monday was a busy day, packing up the rig to go home. Once home and after setting up, I decided to take all the laundry over to wash all at once. Chuck took me over and helped me get the laundry started, then came back to finish setting up. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to use the 3 washers/dryers I used. There are signs posted on the walls in the laundry room that you can use only 2 machines at a time. But it’s cheap, only a dollar a wash and a dollar for an hours worth of drying.

We had stopped at the Swinomish Casino for lunch, so I didn’t have to cook that evening. The lunch buffet was very good. They had roast beef, fresh baked salmon and fresh shrimp.

Harry Potter’s last movie had come out over the weekend and I went on Tuesday to the matinee to see it. It was very good, but it’s been over a year since I read the last book, so I can’t remember the book. Popcorn was free and my membership card gave me a free drink, too.

Wednesday Chuck had more appointments at the VA in Mt Vernon. He had his eyes checked, ordered new glasses; saw a doctor about his claustrophobic tendencies, and had a prescription added to his list so he could receive refills. For a very late lunch we stopped at a burger place-Chuck’s Chuck Wagon there in Mt Vernon; they have great burgers, fries and shakes. I called Sandy and wished her a Happy Birthday when we got home.

On Thursday Chuck washed and cleaned the car. We then had running to do that took us to late afternoon. I fixed us fried chicken for an early dinner. Also, while I was cooking dinner, I signed up for my supplemental health insurance carrier I will need for the other part of Medicare. Talk about being busy. But I sure am glad that Medicare is done with!

I had read in a local paper that the various tribes of the area, with their homemade tribal canoes were making their yearly journey and were coming into Birch Bay at 5 o’clock that day. This has been going on about 5 years, with the Journey to Lummi being the first journey. I went down to the bay to see them arrive. This journey trip started as a way to try and help troubled youth find their way back to sobriety and to stay off drugs.

The paddlers ask each tribe they visit if they can land their canoes on the beach. After they are welcomed by the host tribe, the paddlers and everyone attending is invited to share a meal. The Nooksack Indian Tribe was the host for this landing. The tribe then fed over 200 people, with their salmon cooked over an alder fire spit, hamburgers/hot dogs/ribs/chicken and of course, fry bread, all kinds of salads, fruit and lots of desserts, as well as water, coffee and soft drinks.

Following dinner, they have traditional songs and drumming called protocol. I didn’t stay for that since it was getting chilly out with the wind blowing off the water.

Friday we were working on cleaning up paperwork files, when I received a call from Sandy. She asked if we could meet them for lunch at the Silver Reef Casino. We agreed and went in to meet them. Richard and I enjoyed the sea food buffet while Chuck and Sandy ordered off the menu. We played a bit afterwards, and I think we all came away winners.

Dinner was in Blaine for Alice’s 60^th birthday party. Eleven of us attended and had a wonderful Mexican Dinner with tons of food, (and I wasn’t even hungry,) laughter and fun. Happy Birthday Alice!

Saturday, Chuck was up and out washing the roof on the coach from 9 am. I went out at 10 to help. He did the front end and when I arrived, he just kept going. I fed him leftover chicken for lunch, and by then the sun had moved so that the last side-the drivers side and was in some shade. We finished about 2 o’clock and rested outside in the shade. I have to say that this was one of the best days of the summer; it hit 74 according to the weatherman.

Since Saturday was Richard’s birthday, we were invited over for dinner. Sandy’s brother did bar-b-q, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, beans, and a special treat of Elk sausage as well as cake and ice cream-2 kinds each. A bunch of family and friends came and went throughout the evening. We left a bit early; both of us were pretty tired from washing the rig-it’s big when you are washing and hand drying. The dinner was fun for us and I hope Richard enjoyed it too. Happy Birthday again, Richard and Sandy!

I didn’t sleep too well, sore from doing the rig, but I made an extra effort to go to church. It was well worth the effort. I arrived home to find Chuck finishing up his part of the blog.

Tonight we are going to The Steakhouse at Silver Reef Casino. Sandy works for the reef and gets a complimentary birthday dinner for two. Her friend didn’t want hers so she sold it to Sandy and they invited us to go with them. The Steakhouse at the reef is one of the best steakhouses we have eaten at, if not the best. The service is impressive!

That’s it for me…Until next time….Lorraine

7/24/2011                                                                                                                                                                      Chuck’s report

Here we are, back at Joe’s extra lot at Latitude 49, back with full hookups, 50 amp electrical service, water and sewer and back in the land of full service with Verizon cell and internet service.  Although we really liked La Connor 1000 Trails I think they need to spend a few dollars to upgrade the utilities and maybe even cut down a few of the trees to make maneuvering easier.  

I had to run over to the doctor at Mount Vernon on Monday morning early, Steve decided to go along and we stopped to pick up Joe from the RV park at the casino where he was staying.  While we were gone, Sandy and Lorraine checked the weather forecast and decided it might be a good idea to leave on Monday vs. driving in the rain on Tuesday.  So when we got back we started putting things away and getting ready to leave.  It was no problem checking out a day early, we just had to stop by the dump station to empty the holding tanks and we were on our way.

Steve/Sandy decided to drive on back to their lot at at Lake Tyee, we had a good time visiting with them once again.  Lorraine and I decided to stop off at the casino for a buffet and played slots for awhile.  We had a good meal there and played a few slots but it was good to be heading back.  We got back and set up by around 4 and Lorraine decided to go over to the very good laundry facility here to do all the laundry at once rather than one load at a time at our place.  I finished setting up and putting things away then went over and waited with her until the laundry was done. 

Due to the rainy forecast on Tuesday, Lorraine decided to go to a movie, the new Harry Potter one, I think.  As I don’t care to go to the movie house, I elected to just hang around the place until she got back.  I managed to finally make a final decision on which route to go for Lorraine’s Medicare coverage.  Thanks to my brother, Craig, who helped us with some good advice too. 

Wednesday was back to the Veteran's office in Mount Vernon for another doctor visit and an eye exam and get new glasses ordered.  We stopped by for a hamburger at the Chuck Wagon in Mount Vernon on the way back, a place we’ve had good burgers before.  Once we got back, Lorraine talked on the phone with Sandy on her birthday, Happy Birthday once again to Sandy.

Thursday was forecast to be the start of some nice weather, finally.  I washed the car in the morning before we headed in to town to run some errands.  Once we got back, Lorraine fried up some chicken for our dinner, very nice.  While she was cooking, she also signed up on the phone for the final plan for her Medicare, talk about multi-tasking.  She is now all set for Medicare coverage starting the first of August, the whole thing will actually end up costing a bit less per month than what we are currently spending for our private insurance and with better (I hope) coverage.  Now we hope the politicians don’t change things this week for her as they try to set a budget for our country.  (Rant here,  I wish they would do the same thing we all have to do with our budgets, if we don’t have enough money, we cut back on our spending rather than try to just bring in more money.  Maybe we shouldn’t have all the rich folks in congress and put more regular folks there, ya think.)

Friday morning Lorraine got a call from Sandy inviting us to meet her and Richard at the casino for brunch buffet.  We agreed and had a good time with them and their daughter, Kelsey, was even our waitress.  Later, Lorraine had a good run on the machines and I even left ahead to, $0.10 on my part but at least I didn’t lose. 

We had already made plans to meet with Joe/Alice for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Blaine to help celebrate Alice’s birthday.  There were 11 folks there and all had a good time with much laughter and good conversation.   Happy Birthday once again to Alice. 

The forecast for the weather on Saturday was once again favorable so I got an early start and started to wash the roof of our coach.  Of course, once I got started, I continued on by washing the front.  About that time, Lorraine came outside and said she would help me wash the passenger side if I wanted to get it done while it was still in the shade.  So together we washed and dried the passenger side and then the back of the rig. 

We decided to stop there for the day and Lorraine brought out some leftover chicken she had fried the other day for our lunch.  After sitting for 1/2 hour or so, we checked and the driver’s side was now in the shade.  Lorraine suggested we just go ahead and finish up and be done rather than wait for another day so in about 45 minutes or so I was putting away our ladder and all our cleaning supplies.  So, as soon as I get the tires and wheels done, we once again will have a clean coach, yea.

After washing and drying the rig, we took a break, cleaned up and then headed off to a Bar-B-Q at Richard/Sandy’s house to celebrate Richard’s birthday.  Once again we had a great time, visiting with family and friends of both Richard and Sandy.  Happy Birthday once again to Richard. 

This morning Lorraine and I both took a couple aspirin for our aches and pains, she got ready and headed out to Church.  I decided the tires and wheels could wait at least one more day so I got caught up on the blogs and forums I read and started this blog.  Once Lorraine gets home I’ll let her add her portion, if she wants to that is, and get this posted. 

We have one more birthday celebration, this afternoon we meet with Richard/Sandy at the Steakhouse.  This is one of the best steak places in the area and we are looking forward to this meal and good times with our good friends.  So lets see, we celebrated three birthdays this week and it took us four meals to do that, ha. 

Lorraine has a birthday coming up, on August 6th she will be eligible for Medicare.  I know we have plans to celebrate her birthday at the casino with family and friends on the day after.  We have made reservations at the Silver Reef Casino for buffet on August 7th at 5:00.  Our daughter and grand daughter will be here, they are flying up from California on the Thursday before to spend a few days with us.  Our son called this morning and he is looking into getting some time off and flying down from Alaska to be with her also.  So it’s possible we might all be together on her birthday for the first time in a very long time.

The plans for the rest of this week is to just hang around and do not much of anything.  We don’t anticipate going anywhere with the coach but I’m sure Lorraine will have to do some shopping/resupplying.  She also needs to let me know what she wants for her upcoming birthday although I think I have a pretty good idea already (something shiny that fits on a chain around her neck).  We have to head to town on Monday and she’s already said something about stopping off at the jewelry place, hint, hint. 

The weather has been better this week, we almost hit 80F for the first time this year yesterday and might make it today.  Maybe we are now getting the summer we’ve been waiting for although the forecast is for the rains to come back on Tuesday.  I don’t mind the rain so much but would gladly share some it with Texas and the rest of the country that is experiencing draught and very high temperatures.  I guess, given the choice, I’d rather have the rains and temperatures in the 70s like we’ve had instead of the the triple digits most of the rest of the country has been experiencing.  I was raised in the mid-west and remember those very hot summers on the farm, sure was miserable putting up hay in those hot temperatures.  And of course there was always the crops and garden to take care of plus the animals that always needed attention too, didn’t matter if the weather was hot or cold/snowing, we had to take care of them. 

We haven’t taken many pictures this week, in fact, none that I’m going to add to this post.  So that means, I’m done.

Thanks   Chuck

We’re in La Connor, Washington

 

Sunday July 17, 2011                                                                                                                                            Lorraine’s report

Hello from La Connor 1000 Trails, a wet, rainy, damp day.  It’s a good thing all the people here from Lewis & Clark are so nice and friendly, they make up for the bad weather. 

Well, we came here from Blaine on the 13th with Tim, Steve & Sandy.  Tim waited for us on the road behind our rig in Latitude 49 and drove down ahead of us and we met Steve and Sandy at the Farmhouse Inn off of Highway 20.   We hooked up with them and Tim led us to this RV park, we haven’t been here before. 

We came here to attend the Lewis & Clark La Connor, WA. Rally.  This is a group we joined 2 years ago in Seaside Oregon.  This is only the second event we have attended since joining. 

This year there were 25 rigs that attended.  We came in on Wednesday, expecting to be early and found that most of those attending were already here.   The volunteers in charge arranged to have one area of the park reserved for those attending.  We didn’t know that, so Chuck and Steve found an area just a road over to park our rigs. 

We were fortunate to get a site that is satellite friendly so we have TV.  Steve and Sandy found a site that is internet/phone friendly for their cell coverage.  I guess it’s pretty hard to get both in this park.  Tim was over in the trees and was only able to get local TV on his bat wing antenna.  The park has free Wi-Fi that works, as long as there aren’t too many using their site.  You need to go to the clubhouse to get access. 

Thursday found Sandy and I headed into La Connor to walk though all the quaint shops.  La Connor is what you would call a tourist trap.  Sandy and I made it though all the shops and had a lot of fun.  Chuck drove Steve and Tim to Oak Harbor so Steve could pick up his Dad’s Cadillac.  Everyone had a nice day, with the guys doing their own thing and the gals having fun too.  The group here at L&C had hamburger/hot dogs for everyone, they were very good, thank you. 

Friday morning was the potluck breakfast with the group meeting together.  As is usual for these type of affairs, there was way to much food.  If anyone went away hungry it was because they wanted to. Chuck and I headed over to the clubhouse to check our email.  Following that, Sandy and I went into Burlington for a few things we needed.  We came back and rested.

Dinner that night was at the Farmhouse Inn with over 50 people in attendance.  I was unhappy with my meal, I had ordered the turkey dinner with all dark meat.  It came with one chunk of the last piece of the turkey and bit of scraps like pulled pork, all while meat.  Sandy had the same dinner only all while meat, she received 2-3 slices of white meat, no chunks and no pulled type.  Mine was pretty dried out.  Oh well, the double high Lemon meringue pie made up for it. 

Saturday we headed out to go to the Anacortes Shipwreck days.  Steve drove the four of us into town.  The Shipwreck days were a lot like a big garage sale with the stuff that could have been confused for the garbage dump.  It was at least 6 blocks long with the streets being blocked off, of course. 

Dinner that night was potluck with the whole group from L&C.  One bunch of the people had been going out crab fishing and brought enough fresh Dungeness crab for the entire group.  I want to say “thank you” to Sue and all the rest that brought the crab.  Also, thank you all the rest of the group for the good food. 

Everyone went off to either play games, cards or sit by the fire.  We went to the Swinomish Indian Casino to see Joe/Alice and her brother and sister in law.  It was nice to see them all.  Both Chuck and I were up for the evening. 

Sunday morning found us attending the final Continental breakfast.  It was nice to see most of the group before they headed out to their homes.  The ones that stayed on were again treated to another helping of freshly made ice cream and cake. 

That is it for me.  Happy Birthday on the 17 to Rob and his twin brother and again to Richard and Sandy, also on the 13th to my nephew, George. 

Until next time, Lorraine. 

 

July 17, 2011                                                                                                                                                      Chuck’s report

We are at 1000 Trails in La Conner and for the first time in a long while, I don’t have cell phone or internet coverage with Verizon but Lorraine has some cell service with AT&T.  Therefore I am writing this offline at our coach and will be posting it later when I walk over to the lodge building where there have WI-fi.

The first part of this week was more of the same, gathering information so Lorraine could sign up for the best (for us, anyway) coverage with her Medicare.  My brother sent me an e-mail reminding me that he was an insurance salesman and he understood Medicare coverage and would help us with our decision.  I called him, told him our needs/wants and picked his brain about coverage.  He is licensed in Texas and Missouri but checked prices in South Dakota for us.  Turns out our decision to “move” to South Dakota when we retired was also a good choice for insurance, about half price for identical coverage compared to Washington, almost the same savings compared to Texas and/or Missouri, yea. 

We had made plans to attend a rally with our Lewis and Clark chapter of FMCA.  We happened to be in a 1000 Trails park in Oregon two years ago when they were having a rally there.  We met a few of the members, liked them and joined there.  Our friend, Tim, happened to be in the same park the next week and met some of the members who stayed on after, met them and joined also.  This was the first time either of us have attended a rally since.  Our friends, Steve/Sandy who stay on their lot at Baker Lake for the summer, asked if we would mind if they came along to the rally.  We, of course, said yes and made plans to meet them along our route. 

Wednesday morning Tim stopped by our place just about the time we were ready to leave and waited until we got ready and hooked up the car.  Lorraine called Steve/Sandy as soon as we were on the road and we met them at a local restaurant and caravanned the rest of the way to the campground.  The rally was for Thursday through Sunday, we wanted to get there early and find a good spot.  Well, not having been to a rally with them before, I sort of under planned, we were one of the last to arrive but we still managed to find a good spot, although not in the same area as the rest of the group, but close. 

Once we got set up, we walked over to meet with the rally hosts and see what was happening for the weekend.  Nothing was planned for Wednesday so we accepted Steve invite to tour La Conner with them.  We ended up having dinner at a local restaurant then returned back to our coaches. 

Thursday Lorraine and Sandy took off for a shopping spree in La Conner, lots of little touristy shops and such there.  Steve, Tim and I took off for Oak Harbor to pick up Steve’s car that was at the shop.  We all returned back in time to go to the first planned event of the rally, a hot dog/hamburger feed at the clubhouse. 

Friday we had a pot luck breakfast before the gals took off to town once again for a short shopping trip.  When they got back we went to dinner at a local restaurant with about 50 people from the rally.  Even with that many folks, everyone had good service and food except they ran out of dark meat turkey so Lorraine didn’t get exactly what she wanted. 

One of the small towns here had an event planned for Saturday, Ship Wreck Days, that the gals wanted to attend.  Steve volunteered to drive so we took off, he dropped us off at the front of the blocked off street fair while he found a place to park the car.  (He found a spot about 1/2 block away, lucky)  None of us realized this was really a lot of folks who set up tents to try to sell their JUNK.  We walked the area, didn’t find much of interest to us and left just as the rain started in again. 

We then made a trip down to the Deception Pass, it’s been awhile since Lorraine had been there.  We stopped on the North side, took pictures, drove across the bridge and stopped on the South Side.  We then returned back to the park and headed over for our potluck dinner. 

This morning we had a continental breakfast with muffins, rolls and such along with coffee and juice.  Tim left shortly thereafter, headed for home.  Lorraine and I went over to the lodge to use their WI-fi and catch up on our email and such.  There was one last planned even for the rally, an ice cream social this afternoon.  When we joined this chapter two years ago we met all the folks who were there, but only two couple who were there showed up for this one so we got to meet a whole new group of people.  Once again though, we had a good time with good folks, had plenty to eat and enjoyed ourselves.  Tim and Steve/Sandy said they had a good time and enjoyed themselves too. 

Saturday evening Lorraine and I went to the local casino to meet up with our friends Joe/Alice who were staying at the campground with her brother.   I dropped Lorraine off at the casino to meet up with the gals who were already there while I went over to visit with Joe at his rig.  Later he and I went over to the casino and played for a awhile too.  This was one of the good trips for us, both Lorraine and I left with some of the casino’s money in our wallets, yea. 

The weather this week hasn’t been very nice, lots of gray, rainy days and heavy rain almost every night.  I heard on the news the other day that this is the latest in the year that we haven’t seen 85F for at least the last 30 years.  And we haven’t hit 85F yet, not even in Seattle I don’t think.  I remember one year like this when we took off on vacation once with the destination of just trying to find the sun!  I’m about ready to do that this year.  We have had a few sunny days and about half the days have some sunny afternoons but all in all, the weather has been crappy.  It’s raining as I write this but the forecast is for better weather tomorrow, we’ll see.  I’ve told people for years that summer around here starts on July 5th but that sure wouldn’t be the case this year.  The major signs of summer so far has been the rain is a little warmer.

Our plans for the week are to leave here Tuesday, heading back to Birch Bay.  We’ve got a couple of birthday parties to attend, I’ve got a couple doctor visits to get out of the way too.  Other than that, no great plans for us for the upcoming week.  Here’s hoping for some warmer, sunny days however.  If we get some good weather I would like to wash the rig, clean out some of the storage compartment and get everything ready for when we leave and head out.  We are still working out our route and timing but are sure leaning towards going through Utah for our way South this time.  Our friends, Dave/Sandy are there now so we are probably going to pick their brains once they get back home to Minnesota before we firm up our plans. 

So there you have it, our WET week in review and our look ahead for a quiet week upcoming.  Guess I’ll add some pictures and have this ready to post when I walk over to the lodge later. 

And a note for our grand daughter, Kaitlyn.  She had her 6th birthday in April and Lorraine flew down to be with her.  I asked Lorraine to have Kaitlyn give her a call every month on the 15th, the day of her birthday.  I don’t know if she tried this month but so far we haven’t heard from her.  Kaitlyn, don’t forget to give Nana a phone call, please.   Thanks, Papa. 

Entry gate to the park. 

 

 

The boat launch area inside the park.  We are very close to the salt water here. 

 

Steve and Sandy with one of their dogs, a border collie, Andy.

 

La Conner.

 

 

Deception pass and Deception bridge. 

 

 

The gatherings at the rally.  Lorraine painted and decorated our coach cut out, middle of the top right hand row. 

 

 

 

Notice the fresh caught crab on the table, Lorraine really liked that.  Tim looking over the group.

 

And now to walk over in the rain and get this posted.  

Thanks   Chuck

We’re in La Conner, Washington

 

Sunday July 17, 2011                                                                                                                                            Lorraine’s report

Hello from La Connor 1000 Trails, a wet, rainy, damp day.  It’s a good thing all the people here from Lewis & Clark are so nice and friendly, they make up for the bad weather. 

Well, we came here from Blaine on the 13th with Tim, Steve & Sandy.  Tim waited for us on the road behind our rig in Latitude 49 and drove down ahead of us and we met Steve and Sandy at the Farmhouse Inn off of Highway 20.   We hooked up with them and Tim led us to this RV park, we haven’t been here before. 

We came here to attend the Lewis & Clark La Connor, WA. Rally.  This is a group we joined 2 years ago in Seaside Oregon.  This is only the second event we have attended since joining. 

This year there were 25 rigs that attended.  We came in on Wednesday, expecting to be early and found that most of those attending were already here.   The volunteers in charge arranged to have one area of the park reserved for those attending.  We didn’t know that, so Chuck and Steve found an area just a road over to park our rigs. 

We were fortunate to get a site that is satellite friendly so we have TV.  Steve and Sandy found a site that is internet/phone friendly for their cell coverage.  I guess it’s pretty hard to get both in this park.  Tim was over in the trees and was only able to get local TV on his bat wing antenna.  The park has free Wi-Fi that works, as long as there aren’t too many using their site.  You need to go to the clubhouse to get access. 

Thursday found Sandy and I headed into La Connor to walk though all the quaint shops.  La Connor is what you would call a tourist trap.  Sandy and I made it though all the shops and had a lot of fun.  Chuck drove Steve and Tim to Oak Harbor so Steve could pick up his Dad’s Cadillac.  Everyone had a nice day, with the guys doing their own thing and the gals having fun too.  The group here at L&C had hamburger/hot dogs for everyone, they were very good, thank you. 

Friday morning was the potluck breakfast with the group meeting together.  As is usual for these type of affairs, there was way to much food.  If anyone went away hungry it was because they wanted to. Chuck and I headed over to the clubhouse to check our email.  Following that, Sandy and I went into Burlington for a few things we needed.  We came back and rested.

Dinner that night was at the Farmhouse Inn with over 50 people in attendance.  I was unhappy with my meal, I had ordered the turkey dinner with all dark meat.  It came with one chuck of the last piece of the turkey and bit of scraps like pulled pork, all while meat.  Sandy had the same dinner only all while meat, she received 2-3 slices of white meat, no chunks and no pulled type.  Mine was pretty dried out.  Oh well, the double high Lemon meringue pie made up for it. 

Saturday we headed out to go to the Anacortes Shipwreck days.  Steve drove the four of us into town.  The Shipwreck days were a lot like a big garage sale with the stuff that could have been confused for the garbage dump.  It was at least 6 blocks long with the streets being blocked off, of course. 

Dinner that night was potluck with the whole group from L&C.  One bunch of the people had been going out crab fishing and brought enough fresh Dungeness crab for the entire group.  I want to say “thank you” to Sue and all the rest that brought the crab.  Also, thank you all the rest of the group for the good food. 

Everyone went off to either play games, cards or sit by the fire.  We went to the Swinomish Indian Casino to see Joe/Alice and her brother and sister in law.  It was nice to see them all.  Both Chuck and I were up for the evening. 

Sunday morning found us attending the final Continental breakfast.  It was nice to see most of the group before they headed out to their homes.  The ones that stayed on were again treated to another helping of freshly made ice cream and cake. 

That is it for me.  Happy Birthday on the 17 to Rob and his twin brother and again to Richard and Sandy, also on the 13th to my nephew, George. 

Until next time, Lorraine. 

 

July 17, 2011                                                                                                                                                      Chuck’s report

We are at 1000 Trails in La Conner and for the first time in a long while, I don’t have cell phone or internet coverage with Verizon but Lorraine has some cell service with AT&T.  Therefore I am writing this offline at our coach and will be posting it later when I walk over to the lodge building where there have WI-fi.

The first part of this week was more of the same, gathering information so Lorraine could sign up for the best (for us, anyway) coverage with her Medicare.  My brother sent me an e-mail reminding me that he was an insurance salesman and he understood Medicare coverage and would help us with our decision.  I called him, told him our needs/wants and picked his brain about coverage.  He is licensed in Texas and Missouri but checked prices in South Dakota for us.  Turns out our decision to “move” to South Dakota when we retired was also a good choice for insurance, about half price for identical coverage compared to Washington, almost the same savings compared to Texas and/or Missouri, yea. 

We had made plans to attend a rally with our Lewis and Clark chapter of FMCA.  We happened to be in a 1000 Trails park in Oregon two years ago when they were having a rally there.  We met a few of the members, liked them and joined there.  Our fiend, Tim, happened to be in the same park the next week and met some of the members who stayed on after, met them and joined also.  This was the first time either of us have attended a rally since.  Our friends, Steve/Sandy who stay on their lot at Baker Lake for the summer, asked if we would mind if they came along to the rally.  We, of course, said yes and made plans to meet them along our route. 

Wednesday morning Tim stopped by our place just about the time we were ready to leave and waited until we got ready and hooked up the car.  Lorraine called Steve/Sandy as soon as we were on the road and we met them at a local restaurant and caravanned the rest of the way to the campground.  The rally was for Thursday through Sunday, we wanted to get there early and find a good spot.  Well, not having been to a rally with them before, I sort of under planned, we were one of the last to arrive but we still managed to find a good spot, although not in the same area as the rest of the group, but close. 

Once we got set up, we walked over to meet with the rally hosts and see what was happening for the weekend.  Nothing was planned for Wednesday so we accepted Steve invite to tour La Conner with them.  We ended up having dinner at a local restaurant then returned back to our coaches. 

Thursday Lorraine and Sandy took off for a shopping spree in La Conner, lots of little touristy shops and such there.  Steve, Tim and I took off for Oak Harbor to pick up Steve’s car that was at the shop.  We all returned back in time to go to the first planned event of the rally, a hot dog/hamburger feed at the clubhouse. 

Friday we had a pot luck breakfast before the gals took off to town once again for a short shopping trip.  When they got back we went to dinner at a local restaurant with about 50 people from the rally.  Even with that many folks, everyone had good service and food except they ran out of dark meat turkey so Lorraine didn’t get exactly what she wanted. 

One of the small towns here had an event planned for Saturday, Ship Wreck Days, that the gals wanted to attend.  Steve volunteered to drive so we took off, he dropped us off at the front of the blocked off street fair while he found a place to park the car.  (He found a spot about 1/2 block away, lucky)  None of us realized this was really a lot of folks who set up tents to try to sell their JUNK.  We walked the area, didn’t find much of interest to us and left just as the rain started in again. 

We then made a trip down to the Deception Pass, it’s been awhile since Lorraine had been there.  We stopped on the North side, took pictures, drove across the bridge and stopped on the South Side.  We then returned back to the park and headed over for our potluck dinner. 

This morning we had a continental breakfast with muffins, rolls and such along with coffee and juice.  Tim left shortly thereafter, headed for home.  Lorraine and I went over to the lodge to use their WI-fi and catch up on our email and such.  There was one last planned even for the rally, an ice cream social this afternoon.  When we joined this chapter two years ago we met all the folks who were there, but only two couple who were there showed up for this one so we got to meet a whole new group of people.  Once again though, we had a good time with good folks, had plenty to eat and enjoyed ourselves.  Tim and Steve/Sandy said they had a good time and enjoyed themselves too. 

Saturday evening Lorraine and I went to the local casino to meet up with our friends Joe/Alice who were staying at the campground with her brother.   I dropped Lorraine off at the casino to meet up with the gals who were already there while I went over to visit with Joe at his rig.  Later he and I went over to the casino and played for a awhile too.  This was one of the good trips for us, both Lorraine and I left with some of the casino’s money in our wallets, yea. 

The weather this week hasn’t been very nice, lots of gray, rainy days and heavy rain almost every night.  I heard on the news the other day that this is the latest in the year that we haven’t seen 85F for at least the last 30 years.  And we haven’t hit 85F yet, not even in Seattle I don’t think.  I remember one year like this when we took off on vacation once with the destination of just trying to find the sun!  I’m about ready to do that this year.  We have had a few sunny days and about half the days have some sunny afternoons but all in all, the weather has been crappy.  It’s raining as I write this but the forecast is for better weather tomorrow, we’ll see.  I’ve told people for years that summer around here starts on July 5th but that sure wouldn’t be the case this year.  The major signs of summer so far has been the rain is a little warmer.

Our plans for the week are to leave here Tuesday, heading back to Birch Bay.  We’ve got a couple of birthday parties to attend, I’ve got a couple doctor visits to get out of the way too.  Other than that, no great plans for us for the upcoming week.  Here’s hoping for some warmer, sunny days however.  If we get some good weather I would like to wash the rig, clean out some of the storage compartment and get everything ready for when we leave and head out.  We are still working out our route and timing but are sure leaning towards going through Utah for our way South this time.  Our friends, Dave/Sandy are there now so we are probably going to pick their brains once they get back home to Minnesota before we firm up our plans. 

So there you have it, our WET week in review and our look ahead for a quiet week upcoming.  Guess I’ll add some pictures and have this ready to post when I walk over to the lodge later. 

And a note for our grand daughter, Kaitlyn.  She had her 6th birthday in April and Lorraine flew down to be with her.  I asked Lorraine to have Kaitlyn give her a call every month on the 15th, the day of her birthday.  I don’t know if she tried this month but so far we haven’t heard from her.  Kaitlyn, don’t forget to give Nana a phone call, please.   Thanks, Papa. 

Entry gate to the park. 

 

 

The boat launch area inside the park.  We are very close to the salt water here. 

 

Steve and Sandy with one of their dogs, a border collie, Andy.

 

La Conner.

 

 

Deception pass and Deception bridge. 

 

 

The gatherings at the rally.  Lorraine painted and decorated our coach cut out, middle of the top right hand row. 

 

 

 

Notice the fresh caught crab on the table, Lorraine really liked that. 

 

And now to walk over in the rain and get this posted.  

Thanks   Chuck