A Day at the Beach part II

After a dip in the Sound, a good rinse.

Be sure to get between my toes.

Fresh air always makes me hungry.

Thanks Mom, a new diaper. You sure know how to improve my mood.

A Day at the Beach part I

Today is clear and sunny, a perfect beach day, so we’re off to the beach at Kayak Point Regional Park where there are picnic tables, shelters, lawn, beach, and water.

We’re going to the beach, Oh Boy!  Ah what’s a beach?

At the Beach we take over one of the tables.

Not so sure I want to put my feet in.

I’m pretty sure I don’t like this.

I was right I don’t like this, I don’t care if it’s warm.

And now you made me mad.

Really mad.

Great, everybody is happy but me.

Day in La Conner

 

La Conner is about a half hour drive from us and Claire did fine on the way over, with a little entertainment from her mother. La Conner’s a tourist town with lots of shops, art and eating spots.

Here comes the Mod Squad looking for a good place for lunch. We ended up at “The La Conner Pub Tavern”. Blake and I order the Fish and Chips and I think they were the best I’ve ever had.  Debbie and I are planning a trip back for lunch again and I hope it’s as good.

Back to Italy! In July of 2009 Blake and Stacey took us to Florence, Italy. They acted as our  tour guides and I know we saw everything  there was to see. We found an Italian store here to browse.

Leaving Italy empty handed. Claire is still checking things out.

 

   
Here is a bird house next to the store that served as the model.

Claire’s not so interested in old furniture, I mean antique furniture.

Back home after a stop at the Snow Goose for home made ice cream in a home made sugar cone. We also pickup a couple of crabs since we haven’t got crabbing organized as yet.  Blake is demonstrating advanced multi-tasking. Claire had a busy day.

New Rooftop Dish Antenna

A while back I replaced the old Dish antenna with a new HD one and it works great. But now we’re in Port Susan under the trees and it doesn't work any better than the old one!

The original satellite antenna on the Horizon roof was installed when there were only two satellites in the sky for Dish.  It only locked on one at a time.  As you changed a channel on the other satellite the antenna automatically switched.  As time went on more satellites were sent up. Our antenna starting failing to lock on its satellite. As I understand it, the antenna located the first satellite using GPS then it used that location to locate the second satellite.  When it started failing, it was finding one of the new satellites, which it couldn’t identify, and that sent it searching until it stopped without finding anything.  Winegard, the manufacture, said it needed new some new parts and software but neither of which were available.

The new antenna can lock on all three Dish satellites at the same time.  I had decided to buy the antenna and have it installed on this trip as we traveled through Quartzsite. I contacted a couple of dealers and got the cost to remove the old one and install the new one, around six hundred dollars. After reading the installation manual and watching a video I decided to do the installation myself.

The hardest part of the install was lifting the new antenna up to the roof by myself. 

One task I worried about was having to cut a hole in the roof to route the new cables inside.  It looked like the hole would have to be a lot further forward , about eight feet,  than the existing access hole.  I thought I would try to pull the new wires in with the old wires. I hoped the old wires weren’t  fastened inside the roof.  I attached the wires together and then pull on them. They move about six inches then hung up. I pulled with all my strength and hooray they broke free and the new wire came through.

Dish replaced my old receiver with a new unit and now we can record two show and watch a recorded show at the same time.

The new antenna works great. Finds and locks on all three satellites, except under trees!

Reason for the Lack of Posts

She’s it!

Blake, Stacy and Claire came to Port Susan for a visit.

Ty meets Claire for the first time.

Claire wearing her knit pj’s knitted by grandma Debbie.

Multitasking is a necessary skill.

Reading a story before bedtime.

Been busy here, first getting ready for company and then enjoying Stacey, Blake and Claire's visit. The week went by too fast for us, however we did enjoy them and also visited a lot of the areas points of interest. I have around a million pictures to post!

We've had a couple of questions about weather and mosquitoes.
We we come up to Port Susan in June and leave around end of October. I guess it does rain a good deal but we enjoy the rain and the sun here. More rain in June and October. Plenty of sunny days to enjoy during our stay. 
You would think there would be a lot of mosquito's here but they are surprising light. You do get a couple in the evening and that's too many for us, so we use the Off personal mosquito repellent fan and it works really well. Not much of a problem in the daytime.
If you decide to get a lot get in touch and I can give you some things to consider.

Ty’s Right at Home

Ty has always like Port Susan. This year he likes it better because he has a long blue/green  zip line across the side of our lot. You can see his leash attached to it on the right side.

And here he is laying in the green belt.  And yes that’s sun. Its been in the low seventies since our arrival.

Arrived at Port Susan

We arrived here at Port Susan Sunday afternoon. Sunday is definitely the day to travel through Seattle. We had moderate traffic but no stop and go.

We’ve been busy since we arrived getting thing going for the summer. Setting up the gazebo, unpacking the car, pulling out all the stuff from the shed, connecting the water, electric, and sewer on the 5th wheel, taking off the 5th wheel cover, oh yeah, partaking in Port Susan happy hour.  So that’s my excuse for not updating until now.

Last year I planned on re-roofing the shed but somehow didn’t get around to it. Looks like it made it through another winter. While Debbie and I were out we checked on the available roofing material and found a really neat product called Ondura at Lowe’s. It comes in large sheets  four feet wide and about six and a half feet wide. We grabbed enough to do the shed while they still had it in stock.

Camp is almost complete. Debbie is working on a macramé project, I think she bought at a garage sale for seventy-five cents.

New Furniture

This morning we drove down to Dave and LJ’s RV Interiors, seventeen mile south, in Woodland. We didn’t really expect too much for some reason.

Maybe because we had just stopped the day before at a very large RV furniture store didn’t fall in love. Unfortunately the sales person there wasn’t very helpful. I was very interested in a dual recliner and they had one made by Best a furniture,  manufacturer whom I wasn’t familiar with.  I ask about Flexsteel duals and was told they didn’t make them so we tentatively picked out a Flexsteel sofa, easybed, and the Best dual recliner. We also chose  microfiber fabric for both, got the spec’s and left the store to talk , neither of us felt really wowed by our selections and I was disappointed that both pieces couldn’t be Flexsteel.  We decided to wait on ordering and continued on to Kelso.

Well, we met Dave of Dave and LJ’s and instead of an expected  high pressure sales job, we were pleasantly surprised when we received a helpful and informative surprise.  We ended up ordering powered Flexsteel dual recliners and a sofa sleeper.  Five to eight week delivery so we’ll continue up to Port Susan and then come back down to have the furniture installed.

This is a picture of the recliner. The neat feature of the powered recliner is the ability to stop at any point. It’s also a wall hugger so it sits close to the wall and still reclines.

Brookhollow RV Park in Kelso, WA

Debbie popped out of bed early this morning and we called the shuttle and went over to the restaurant in the Seven Feather Casino. The $4.99 breakfast special is now $6.99, but its still good.  While we were waiting for the shuttle I notice the right driving light had fallen out of the hole in the front cap. It was just hanging by the wires.  It turns out the light is held by two brackets which are / were glued to the cap and the bond failed. Yesterday when we parked I started to lower the jacks and the right side went down and then I started lowering the left side. The hydraulic pump made a strange noise and the jack didn’t move. I was going to check the fluid level but I didn’t have the right size wrench handy. So I retracted the right jacks a little then tried the left again and they worked fine.  Never a dull moment. Oh, by the way the transmission light problem I was having a while back has disappeared.

We stopped in Junction City this morning to see what kind of replacement sofas were available. We found a couple we liked but they needed to be special orders and takes about two months so we’re going to thing about it a while.

We arrive in Brookhollow around four. Ty needed out right away. All the slides and jacks seem to be working.  Here he’s doing his watch dog impression.  Tomorrow morning its breakfast at Shari's Restaurant and then down to Woodland to another RV furniture store. 

PARK: Paved roads, cement pad with patio.
SITE: We are in space 18. Level, large lawn area  between sites.
RATE: $32.50 per night.
UTILS: 50amp FHU, very good free park WI-FI, Verizon cell / data signal good. Satellite signal ok.

Seven Feathers Canyonville, OR 2012

I woke up around 5:45am this morning to banging and clanking by our neighbors on each side getting their 5th wheels connected. What a racket! Normally I can go back to sleep until 7 – 7:30. I tried but finally had to get up.

I punched the coffee pot button that Debbie had setup last night. We had a leisurely morning. I made oatmeal and Debbie ate half a hot dog left over from last night’s dinner.

I walked the garbage to the dumpster around 9am. Boy is it hot already. Checking the temperature its already 84 degrees. We had left the motorhome slides in to reduce the volume inside that the air conditioner had to cool, so getting off this morning was quick and easy. Remember it was 105 yesterday.  

Seven Feather’s office. We’ve been here before and I’ve taken a lot of pictures for previous posting but the park is so pretty and well maintained I  had to take some more.

We arrived here around 3:00pm and pulled into the the truck stop islands to fuel up.  We then headed up to the park. When I called last night from Redding, they only had back in spaces which is ok, but since we were only staying one night I preferred a pull through so I didn’t have to disconnect the Jeep.  I ask him to check again and he found a pull through for us.

The pool and spa are indoors.  We stopped here a few days before the grand opening and it was beautiful. Now years later the only change I can see it the trees are bigger and they don’t wash your windshield anymore.

Fourth of July at the Redding Elks

Finally on the road again. Debbie and I have finished all our doctor and dentist rounds. I just had a new crown installed yesterday, the last appointment, and we got away around 10:30 this morning. It was tough leaving our new granddaughter but her parents are bringing her up to Washington to visit next week. Yea!

We arrived at the Elks in Redding at about 105 degrees in the afternoon, disproving Debbie’s claims that its always 107 when we stop here.

The lot was overflowing with cars. The Elks were having a 4th of July picnic. They have a huge pool, patio and lawn behind the Hall. We checked inside. We originally thought we would have a drink and relax in the lounge but it was almost as hot inside as it was outside so we just went back to the Horizon where our air conditioner kept it comfortable,  and cooler than the lodge. Our neighbors here told me its supposed to be hotter tomorrow, maybe Debbie is right after all.  I’m not going to tell her and we’re leaving in the morning for for Seven Feather RV Park near Canyonville, Or.

PARK: Paved parking lot with trees down each row. The back-in RV parking is along the outside edges.
SITE: We are in site 16. Sites are large enough for the slides and awning and level, RATE: $20.
UTILS: 30/ 50amp and water at rear of sites, untested the free WI-FI, Verizon cell / data signal good. Satellite signal ok.

New Camera

Blake bought a new camera to capture those precious baby moments. Coincidently it is the same camera I decided on after several months of research. I never jump into a large purchase without exhaustive pondering. Actually I guess  its Debbie that get exhausted. 

The camera is a Cannon T3i purchased at Costco as a kit. It included two zoom lenses, memory card, Cannon case and some other stuff.

Here are a couple of the very first pictures taken in the back yard.

Mothers day Brad brought his mother some beautiful tulips.

Ty posses for the new camera.

Claire

And the reason we’re home early, Clair, just a few hours old.

Debbie holds her new granddaughter.

One of her quieter moments.

Home Again

April 3rd, 2012. Home again after a long drive from the Orange Grove RV Park  just east of Bakersfield. Everything looks just like we left it. Need to set up the gazebo for a little shade.  Ty is at the end of the leash on the left. 

Lamb kabobs for Fathers Day. Somehow I didn’t get any photos of my family. Debbie, Blake, Stacy, Brad, Amie, and Angela all came over to celebrate.

Debbie found some two bladed and wide bladed ‘sticks’ for the kabobs. They worked well and kept the items from slipping around when turning them on the grill.  The turned out great.

Pahrump to Bakersfield

April 2nd, 20112, we made it just east of Bakersfield to the Orange Grove RV Park where we had a reservation for an overnight stay on the way back to Concord.

PARK: Paved roads, orange trees between sites, very busy  friendly staff, quite. 
SITE: We are in site 148, gravel, picnic table.
RATE: $22.50 was the rally price.
UTILS: 50amp FHU, good free park WI-FI, Verizon cell / data signal good. Satellite signal ok.

This is a large park where some orange trees were removed and RV sites located between the trees. The evening was warm and the orange blossoms added their fragrance to the air. The park completely filled up for the night and had they to park RVs in overflow areas. The next morning, by the time we were able to get the transmission in gear and ready to go, the park was almost empty! I guess since this park is not really close to any attractions, it is mostly an overnight spot. It was a good halfway location for us, and I’m sure glad we made reservations.

After a long drive and short stay I forgot to get some photos.