Lakeside

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Be Your Own Health Care Advocate

One of the main struggles for us with living full-time on the road has been losing our primary care physicians.  Since we are lucky enough to be more or less healthy, this loss has been somewhat manageable, but over the last couple of years as we have both turned 50 it is getting more challenging.  It’s important to note that if you come from a place that you are willing to return to every year or so, you can keep your doctors, and we know many people who have done this.  In our case though, we wanted to explore new areas of the country and getting back to New Hampshire every year just isn’t a viable option for us. For the first couple of years on the road, we used Urgent Care a couple of times for minor issues, and blew off preventative care.  After I turned 50 I knew things would have to change.  I needed to schedule a colonoscopy, was behind on my annual mammogram, and the only way I knew to get those tests scheduled was through a PCP or Primary Care Physician.

Last year I took a deep breath and set about finding us a new one.  Other than knowing I wanted a woman, the choice was completely random, and I picked a hospital group that was somewhat local to where I was working at the time and called and asked for the first available appointment.  Originally I started looking in Texas, thinking I would would use the San Antonio area as my home base in the winter, but when I tried to schedule physicals I ran into all kinds of problems.  Several medical groups that I called were not accepting new patients and even the ones that were didn’t have any openings for months.  I didn’t necessarily know where I would be 2-3 months from when I called, and more importantly I just didn’t get a good feeling from any of the several places I called.  I don’t know if it was because I was an out of state resident, or because I was on an ACA healthcare plan, or maybe I just caught the receptionists on a bad day, but I didn’t get any warm fuzzies.  So I kicked the can down the road and decided to try again in the summer.

Thankfully, it was much easier to schedule appointments in Oregon, and since my only criteria was that the PCP was a woman, I was able to get in to see her within 30 days of requesting the appointment.  It was weird starting all over again with someone new, and to be honest I didn’t know how much energy I wanted to invest in the relationship because I had no idea if we would be coming back thew following year.  I shared the bare minimum, skipped over any part of my medical history that wasn’t relevant, and scheduled the mammogram and the colonoscopy.  And to be clear it wasn’t the PCP’s fault.  I just found myself missing my doctor of 15 years very much, who knew my kids and my life history, and at that point I just wanted to get through it and get the tests run so I could be on my way.

The colonoscopy went amazingly well, but on the mammogram they found a spot they didn’t really like.  In a completely impressive move though, the Breast Care center sent away for my medical records and within 2 days had a baseline mammogram from New Hampshire and had compared the results and felt everything was fine with no followup needed.  That truly  impressed me.  I carry my medical records in the RV, but not my mammogram results, and they compared images and cleared the spot in record time.  And those experiences in no small part influenced us to return to Oregon this year.  It was Lee’s turn for a colonoscopy and I knew we could see the same PCP for a second year. I once again had no issue getting an appointment for a physical and this year I opened up a little more about my health history.  I don’t think she remembered me at first, but Lee she definitely remembered.  Not surprising really, as he tends to be pretty funny with healthcare people that he likes, and since he had such a good experience I really felt like we were on the right track.

I went for another mammogram, and once again they found a spot that they didn’t like.  This time though they had their own records to compare it with and it was not the same as last year.  For those of you who don’t know, year over year results are a big deal with mammograms.  Many women have cysts of some kind, too much caffeine can cause them for example, and although most of them are benign and go away on their own, sometimes they don’t.  When new ones show up, which happens to me almost every year, the technicians look at the shape of them and your medical history and make a determination as to what comes next.  And this is where things get a little tricky. As my brother the doctor says, looking at these test results is more art than science since you can look at two nearly identical scans and one could be cancerous and one could be benign.  Deciding whether to do further tests is heavily based on your statistical risk factors, which is fine unless you are the one that is the statistic.

I should probably take a step back here and mention that almost everyone in my family is in the medical field.  My father and brother are doctors, and my mother and sister are nurses.  As the “black sheep” of the family I took another route and went into business, but since I have been surrounded by medical talk my entire life I have picked up a few things.  Now you might be thinking how big a deal can medical care be for her since she can just pick up the phone and call someone in her family, and certainly there have been times in my life where all that medical knowledge put me at a distinct advantage, but since we all live in different states, I had my own doctors my entire life, although I certainly have not been above “phoning a friend” when I felt I needed some advice.

I never needed that more than when 10 years ago I had a spot on a mammogram that led to an ultrasound, an MRI, a biopsy, and ultimately a small piece of my breast being removed.  That entire situation had me so freaked out that I called my baby brother and asked him for his advice.  He wasn’t that long from medical school and up to date on the latest and greatest in medicine, and he had a friend from school who was a specialist.  I sent them all of my test results and Eddie gave me someone to talk to that I absolutely trusted, and all of this was with my primary care physician that I absolutely adored.  If you are not a woman it is hard to explain why having a spot on your breast is so terrifying, but almost any woman who has been through the experience will tell you that it is very difficult.  It doesn’t help that each step of the process takes so long.  All in the entire process took over two months and the entire time you are carrying around a sense of foreboding and “What if”.

As hard as that situation was, I did walk away from the experience with some important information.  First, I had unusual breast tissue.  The tissue is dense for one thing which made clear pictures on a mammogram harder, but more importantly despite a complete lack of family breast cancer history I was at higher risk for it once I hit menopause.  Because of this risk, I should never be on hormone therapy for menopause symptoms and it was really important that I get my annual mammograms.  The other thing that I will always remember was that ultimately the decision to remove the small piece was made by my PCP.  Despite numerous tests and the biopsy, she made the decision to have it removed stating, “I don’t like having it in there and let’s just get it out.”  OK, that worked for me.  I had great insurance at the time and I completely trusted her judgement so we had it removed. Once it was out, I breathed a sigh of relief and went on with my life, rarely thinking about it.

Except it didn’t quite go away.  Right before we went on the road, they ordered another MRI for me and for a brief time I was 100% convinced that it would come back with bad results and that would be the thing that kept us off the road.  A couple of years later, I went to a doctor for something relatively minor and after describing my symptoms of pre-menopause he cavalierly recommend hormone replacement therapy.  That was a bit of a shocker and I had to tell him that it wasn’t an option for me.   The look on his face as he realized he had almost screwed up almost made it worth it, but I was left with a deeply uneasy feeling that if I hadn’t known my own medical history or felt educated enough to challenge him, I could have easily just taken his advice.  That is one place where having medical people in my family really helps me.  I know first hand that although they are educated and committed people, they are people and as such make mistakes.  We tend to think of medical professionals as these omnipotent beings, but like anyone else doing a job they are only as good as the information they have.  My Dad often says, being a doctor is often like being a detective.  There are clues that can lead to the correct diagnosis, but sometimes the tests don’t provide the information they need.  That’s where the relationship with the patient becomes so important.

Sorry, I know I am going the long way around here, but it is important that I put the story in the context.   10 years ago I had a full time job, great insurance, lots of paid sick time, a wonderful PCP who I had a long term relationship with and a family full of medical people I could call on.  Despite all of that, it truly was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. So a month ago, when I got the call that they wanted me to come in for a follow-up ultrasound because of a spot they found on my mammogram, my stomach tightened.  Yes, I was much better educated this time around, but I also knew what my risk factors were and my overriding feeling was it was inevitable and my time was up.  That may sound a bit melodramatic, but it is also true especially because around Christmas time I had asked my brother to re-look at those records from 10 years ago.  I was really struggling with hot flashes and other menopause symptoms and wanted to know if things had changed in medicine (or maybe we had made too big of a deal out of the test results) and there were any hormone therapy options out there for me.  My brother, who is a really good guy, did a bunch of research and came back and said, no things unfortunately hadn’t changed and the risk factors were the same.

The day of the ultrasound, I was randomly given one of the radiologists from the pool of doctors and for whatever reason I did not like the guy.  He was older and somewhat abrupt, and when he was called in to consult he obviously wasn’t aware of my risk factors.  He looked at the results, stated they were inconclusive, but because of my age and lack of family history I should just wait 6 months and get retested.  Well that was a problem for me, because I had no idea where I would be in 6 months and even if I did I would be starting all over again with a new set of doctors.  Plus his attitude really rubbed me the wrong way, so I started educating him on my actual history.  At this point he left the room (to review my chart I am thinking) and when he came back in his entire attitude was different.  Now he thought I should have a biopsy scheduled, just to “be on the safe side.”  After he left I was pretty agitated, because he never should have walked into that room without knowing my history.  Plus the fact that they scheduled the followup procedure the following week didn’t give me the warm and fuzzy.

Generally you can tell how concerned physicians are by how quickly they schedule the follow-up appointment.  It doesn’t completely track, but generally the quicker the test the more concerned they are.  Since I could only go on my days off, I needed to wait a full week, but they slotted me in as soon as they could.  The nurses all looked concerned as well.  When you are healthy everyone is generally smiling, but in this case several people actually said good luck with the test results.  Once I came home and looked at my schedule, I realized that I had actually scheduled the appointment the exact same time as my tax appointment,  The odds of that are pretty high, and since I had pushed my tax appointment twice already I had to call and reschedule.  That turned out to be a good thing though, because since I rescheduled I ended up with a totally different doctor. His name was Dr. Chan and he was everything the first guy was not.  He was extremely serious and calm, and completely up to date on my history.

When I went in I told the nurse I was dreading the procedure because of the pain I experienced the last time it was done, but they both assured me they would make sure they used plenty of local anesthesia and if I experienced any discomfort to let them know immediately and they would stop.  For those of you who have never experienced a breast biopsy, think staple gun with a needle in it.  They only use locals to numb the area and both times I had it done they had to “punch in” three times.  Twice to take samples and once to place a small marker, which lives in your breast going forward so doctors know where the problem areas were.  The first time I had it done, the area wasn’t numbed sufficiently and it really hurt when they were taking the sample.  This time I didn’t feel anything immediately, which was nice, but I have experienced soreness for several days now.  And because this was scheduled on a work day, I had to drive myself 2 hours to get there and then 2 hours to get home.  I couldn’t lift anything heavy for over 24 hours, which turned out to be a bit of a problem at my job the next day, and the soreness didn’t help my mood any.

Basically I was a mess, and since the results wouldn’t come in for 2-5 business days I was carrying around a strong sense of foreboding.  It didn’t help that simultaneously I was dealing with some major work issues, our truck broke down, and we were planning to meet our daughter in Seattle.  My emotional cup was way overfull and the only thing getting me through was the few women that I worked with who I told.  Most women have a story in their past where they have had some sort of similar scare and every one of them who had, was completely supportive.  That was a good thing, because I was really downplaying my anxiety to Lee because I didn’t want him to worry.  And if you are reading this and are my friend or family and are wondering why I didn’t say anything, I’m sorry.  I really was trying to hold it together in case it turned out to be nothing and except for the people I had to tell at work for logistic reasons and my brother who I asked to look at the test results, I kept it to myself.

And ultimately the results came back as benign, which was of course great, but  I didn’t realize how much I was carrying around until that moment, when I found myself needing to sit down and take a few deep breaths.  Lee was generally surprised by the strength of my reaction, so I suppose I did a good job of hiding my feelings there, but again anyone who had been through this won’t be.  And it was also a huge wake-up call. This incident reinforced how important it is that we are our own healthcare advocates.  I am lucky because I have some insurance and more importantly an HSA account with the funds to cover the bills.  I have to ask myself would I have made different choices if I would have needed to pay out of pocket or would the doctors have run the tests at all? Even without cost being a major factor in this case, it was still a struggle to get the right tests run, because yes, despite the fact that the test was benign, it was very important that they were done.

And to be clear none of this is going to change my mind about living the full-time lifestyle.  I knew coming in that we were rolling the dice when it came to our healthcare and don’t regret accepting that risk.  But it is an increased risk, and it’s important that we are honest with ourselves about that as we travel.  What I mean by that is obviously I could get sick anywhere, but my chances of early detection are less with the way we live.  The best way to combat that risk is through regular wellness care and educating myself.  When we become full time RVers we learn how to take care of our RV’s and for those of us who pull with trucks are generally obsessive about preventative maintenance.  Our bodies should be treated the same, in my opinion.  We don’t absolutely trust RV techs we don’t know, so why should we put our full faith in a doctor we have no relationship with? And luckily, in both cases, with the internet, we have the means of educating ourselves.  Certainly we will never know as much as trained professionals, but we can know enough to keep them honest.  If you are a person who puts doctors in the omnipotent category, remind yourself that they are also mechanics.  They can’t always diagnose the problem, they do make mistakes, and they never ever know as much about your body as you do.

Oh, and if you haven’t had a mammogram in over a year, please get one.  Yes it can be scary, but you can’t fix what you don’t know.

Update:  Well I was my own health care agent but I wasn’t my own billing agent.  I spoke to the doctor prior to getting the procedure and he estimated it would cost around $1400.  The bill was actually $4700 and the bulk of that was the charge for the operating room.  Even though I had the work done in a standard doctors office in their wellness center, they charged me for an operating room.  I spoke to Providence Medical Center, I spoke to Blue Cross Blue Shield (my insurer) and long story short they are allowed to treat it as an out patient procedure and charge me that much.  There is no negotiation and no appeal and trust me I have spent a ton of time on the phone trying to go that route.  I am working with their financial assistance and may qualify for a break there but that is a painful process.  Honestly I am not sure what I would have done if I would have known the cost.  Probably rolled the dice and not had the procedure.   Anyways, I still believe you need to be your own health care advocate, but I am not doing a single thing unless I get the full pricing upfront. In all fairness if I would have been diagnosed with breast cancer this would have been the least of my worries, but since the test came back negative the price seems pretty steep. 

Update as of 11/6/18: Ultimately Providence Medical agreed to provide financial aid for 100% of my remaining bill.  This was a huge relief obviously, although I did feel bad about needing financial assistance, but ultimately felt ok about it because Blue Cross paid $1100 towards the bill above.  I am sure that amount more than covered their costs for a 40 minute procedure so no one is losing money here.  The whole experience was an eye opener for me though, and going forward I will absolutely get firm estimates on any non-emergency procedures I need to have done!  Be your own health advocate is physical, mental, and financial and although it all turned out ok in the end I really did a lousy job of being my own financial advocate.  Big Lesson Learned!

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

 

 

 

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Have I Mentioned it’s Never Boring Here

The only constant about Timothy Lake this year has been that there is always something going on.  It’s been hard for me to write this blog, because anything that has to do with employees or customers I haven’t been writing about, and those issues are what the majority of my time is being spent on.  But throughout my days other things do occur, and I have been snapping pictures as a way of trying to capture those things in the hopes I will find a few minutes to sit down and write about them to give you an idea of exactly how busy it is.  What follows is the account of one week (Sunday through Sunday), and as much as I would love to say this week was anomalous, it really wasn’t.  Even though I am a person who enjoys constant variety and challenges, at this point in the season I am yearning for a nice quiet week. The veterans tell me that once Labor Day passes, things really settle down and I am really hoping that is true.  There is a cumulative affect that is wearing everyone down, which is pretty normal in all busy campgrounds, but is magnified this year here because it has been “such an unusual year.”

Sunday is the day I go around and see all the camp hosts and get their paperwork for the week, and for four weeks in a row something unusual has happened when I am off property at other sites.  This week the something was an incident with a camper in a campground, but I wasn’t available to help because on the way back to Timothy from Harriet, this is what I ran into.


The Forest Road 57 between Harriet and Timothy is a singular road so any obstruction means you either wait for it to be cleared or turn around and drive over an hour the other way. As I was driving back this tree had randomly fallen across the road.  No one hit it with their car, it wasn’t down when I drove the road less than an hour earlier.  It just fell, and since the forest service had gone on Level IV no one could cut the tree except for forest service personnel.  Through sheer dumb luck that truck in front of me was a Forest service truck who just happened to be traveling along the road.  We do have several forest trucks in our area, but we also have lots of forest, so the odds of this were pretty slim,  Not to mention this entire section of road has no cell coverage, and it would have taken a while for someone to get there.

The ranger attached a chain to the tree and pulled it over. It was way bigger than it looks in the pics.

 

Four guys helped push it to the side.

 

And then the ranger cut it up.

The whole thing took roughly 20 minutes, and I helped stop traffic while it was happening.  The incident reinforced to me that we are living in a wilderness out here and if I had been alone there would have been no way for me to handle it myself.  Remember this particular stretch of road, because it comes into play at the end of the week as well. When I got back to the campground Lee had dealt with the customer incident, thankfully, but it will give you an idea of how busy it’s been that 8 days later neither he nor I can remember exactly what the incident was.  We aren’t forgetting because it wasn’t a big deal, I specifically remember apologizing to the camp host because I wasn’t on property to help take care of it, but I cannot remember the specifics.

Probably because on Monday, I had my hands full making Thanksgiving dinner.  We have had one big get together each month up here, and my plan all along was to make a huge turkey dinner for everyone because I have access to a regular size stove, and I’ve been wanting to make a turkey since we hit the road in November of 2014.  Monday the lodge guests left and no one was coming in until Tuesday, so I had a rare narrow window to make and serve the dinner.  Since Monday is usually a slow day I felt pretty confident about how it would go, but I didn’t take into account I would need to clean the lodge that day as well, because the lodge hosts were off.  Thankfully one of the camp hosts came up and helped with both the cleaning and the prep, but it was still a pretty long day, in particular because I was obsessing about the turkey.  It was a 23 pounder that Lee found at WinCo Foods, and I was obsessing about how long to cook it.  The last thing I needed was for the staff to get salmonella, plus if you are going to go to all that work you want it to be right.  I spent a ton of time that day checking on the turkey and even called my mom three separate times to get her advice.  Thankfully it turned out really well, and almost all of the camp hosts were able to come.  It was a really nice dinner and hopefully a break for everyone from the demands of the job but the prep and cleanup afterwards made for a super long day for me.

 

Tuesday Lee took off because his friend Brian was coming into town.  Lee and Brian (we never call him that, he’s always been “Noodle”) have known each other for 22 years, and Noodle actually flew from Columbus to us just so the could spend a day and a half together.  I covered for Lee on Tuesday and then ended up working part of Wednesday and Thursday that week, which actually was fine because it gave them lots of time together.  The two of them can just sit and talk for hours on end and as much as possible I gave them their space and let them catch up.  I did hang out a bit one day and we played this virtual reality game called Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. It’s a bit like being in an escape room, but in your own house, because one person wears the VR goggles and tries to disarm a bomb while the other people decipher the clues and tell them what wires to cut, etc.  I thought it was really fun and since it was my first experience with virtual reality, made me wonder what else was out there.

Noodle with the VR goggles on. The goggles hold a smart phone which provides the brain.

 

Noodle stayed in our tent right on our site. He’s a super low maintenance guy which made it easy on us.

 

The bromance continues!!

We all had a really nice time and I am still amazed that he flew all the way out here for just a couple of days.  But that is the level of their friendship, and as Lee’s wife I am really glad he has someone like Noodle in his life.  It was also very cool of Susan (Noodle’s wife) to loan him to us.  While Noodle was here, I also had the opportunity to catch up on my TV shows.  They sat outside talking for hours upon hours and I got to watch Bachelor in Paradise 🙂  Lee despises that show so I never watch it when he’s in the RV, so I binge watched 4 episodes to get caught up.  Yes, I know, garbage television, but hey, everyone has their secret TV pleasures, plus there is something about watching all those beautiful 20 somethings have no idea what they are doing that makes my less attractive 50 year old self feel better!

One interesting thing that happened while we were “off” was we got a new propane tank for the compound.  Power will be out here for the month of September due to a new power turbine being put in the dam, so they are putting in a propane generator.  Our existing tank was pretty small, and when I told the maintenance folks that we have a propane generator and it really sucks propane they rethought the size of the tank.  It was pretty neat watching them bring a truck with a mini crane to remove the old one and set the new one. Since this happened right across from our site, we had a great view of the happenings.

Old tank on flatbed

 

Big fat new tank !

Friday when we came back we were faced with resolving another unusual problem.  I had been working some on my days off and I knew that because we had gone to Fire Restriction Level IV in the forest we needed a solution for Meditation Point.  Meditation point is a small 4 site campground that has it’s own little bathroom.  There is a 30 gallon tank in it that once a week someone has to go up and manually remove and drive (in a gator) back to our pit toilets where it is picked up and dumped into the sewer.  If the job sounds nasty, it is.  I’ve done it three times this summer myself and since it is a two person job we try and take turns doing it.  With Fire Level IV though the gator is not allowed on forest trails and since wheel barreling a full waste tank out isn’t really practical we were all trying to think of another solution.  Finally the head of maintenance had an interesting idea.  We would take our maintenance boat to Meditation point and bring the waste tank down that way. Four of us ended up going to try this idea out and just being on the boat was lots of fun.  Only a couple of staff have the license to drive the boat so it has sat here all season unused.  For me it was cool getting to be on the lake (first time all summer) and see the scope of it.  I see it from the perspectives of the different campgrounds, but it was nice seeing things from the lake itself.  Gave me a different perspective.

All suited up for the lake and yes I wore a life jacket…we all did

 

Lots of beautiful dispersed campsites along the lake

 

This was the shore near med point where we ultimately put in

 

I stayed with the boat while the guys did the cleaning and moving to make sure no one tampered with it

 

the wheelbarrow they used to ferry the poop tank down to the dock

 

This was the trail they ultimately brought the tank through

 

The whole enterprise went surprisingly well and this little adventure was the absolute best part of my week which should tell you something 🙂  I got a phone call from the host at North Arm while we were there and he said he needed help moving a very heavy picnic table and since I had some muscle with me we took a little side trip and the guys moved the table.

After we worked the rest of the day, Lee and I decided to head down to Estacada to have dinner and pick up some things at the hardware store, and instead of taking the company truck we decided to go in our personal vehicle.  Usually we take one of the work trucks and get it gassed up, but today on a whim we decided to take ours.  That was both good and bad because on the way back, not far down the road from where the tree fell earlier in the week, all of a sudden our traction control light and ABS light came on.  We smelled a burning smell, and Lee pulled over as soon as he could find a spot and we saw that the front left tire was barely hanging on the axle, and was totally tilted in at the top.

Unbelievable the whole tire didn’t fall off

 

Hard to see here but it was barely hanging on and you can see the pile of shavings in the bottom right corner.

The good news was the next time that truck would have been driven I would have been alone going down the mountain for a doctors appointment.  The bad news was we had no cell coverage, weren’t 100% sure where we were as far as distance up the mountain, and weren’t crazy about leaving the vehicle alone.  We frequently see disabled cars out here in the wilderness that have been stripped, windows broken, and sometimes burned. We knew Harriet Lake campground had a landline and was somewhere close by, but I wanted to stay with the truck just in case someone tampered with it.  This was not an unreasonable concern since we see trashed and stripped cars along forest roads all the time, but Lee was adamant I couldn’t stay alone, saying finally that the truck and it’s contents could be replaced, but I couldn’t. That was incredibly sweet and hard to argue with so we both started walking. It’s worth noting by the way that four different vehicles passed us by and not one slowed down and asked if we needed help.  One was even pulling a camper and probably heading towards Timothy Lake and they could have let our camp host know where we were.  Thankfully someone was watching out for us though because we were only 2 1/2 miles away from Harriet and it was mostly downhill. We made good time, which was a good thing, because it was almost dark by the time we arrived.

I was very happy to see the bathroom

 

Dusk was upon us as we hit the campground

 

The camp host at Harriet called our head of security and it was pretty dark by the time he got to us.  We went to the truck and grabbed a few things, but most of it (including Lee’s tools) we had to leave.  We got back to the RV by 9:30 and at that point I called Ford roadside assistance.  I have to say I was incredibly impressed by the service we received.  Not only did they get a tow truck driver to come out with a flatbed, but they also paid the first $200 and negotiated the total amount down to $535.  That may sound like a lot for a tow but people have routinely been paying $750 – $1K for tows up here and I could totally live with paying $335 to get it off the road on a Friday night.  Lee ended up going out and being with the truck until 1:30am because it barely fit on the flatbed, but the driver also took it right to the closest Ford dealer and roadside assistance left them a message that the truck was there and why.

The next morning we called and things again went VERY smoothly.  It was taken to the Surburban Auto Group in Sandy and since we had an oil change there last year we were already in the system.  They confirmed that the truck was covered under warranty (we are at 94,000 miles and are good until 125,000 whew) and also told us the bearing had gone bad (defective part) and it was all covered except for our $100 deductible.  Wow…this has to be the best repair experience since we have been on the road and as a cute side note you may have heard of Suburban Auto Group, because 10 years ago they had some viral commercials featuring their trunk monkeys. If you haven’t seen the commercials here’s one to get you started..and it’s pretty amazing Lee saw this back in New Hampshire before we ever hit the road and then ended up here.   They were great, the tow driver was great, the camp hosts who helped us were great and seriously this whole thing could have been so much worse in many many different ways.  I even have a rental car that is totally covered for some of the days and the Gresham Enterprise dealership was awesome also. One of our camp hosts was kind enough to drive me down on Saturday to get the rental car and to say thanks I bought us lunch.  She turned me on to a restaurant in Boring called the Red Apple which is a combination diner and Chinese restaurant (not making that up) and I had one of the best club sandwiches I have ever had.

 

When these sorts of things happen it’s never pleasant, but since it is inevitable that they will when you are traveling full time on the road, you REALLY appreciate the people and businesses that help you through it.  I could have been alone, we could have had to have walked many more miles, insurance might not have covered it, there could have been no rental cars…seriously things could have definitely been a ton worse.  God was looking out for us, and I am grateful that things went how they did.

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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First Time in Yakima, Washington

It was chilly when we woke up the next morning and unfortunately our air mattress had a slow leak so we were sleeping on the ground, but the sounds of the river were awesome and we turned on our Bond Mfg 66603 Aurora Portable Gas Steel Fire Bowl, 18.5″, Black fire pit to take the chill off.  I woke up with some heavy thoughts the morning of my birthday and mostly they were about the job we have been working.  We have “had a rough go” this season as we like to say.  Partially because I’m new and partially because of all the unusual things that have happened.  Seriously there have been at minimum 10 times (probably way more) where pretty major occurrences have taken place and I have heard “that has never happened before”.  When you are in a near constant state of crisis management, it’s easy to lose perspective.  Being in the Mountains (and without a cell signal) had allowed me the emotional and mental space to see things a little more clearly.

It was a pretty heavy conversation for a birthday morning, but ultimately a good one.  And while we had it we tried another one of our instant meals.  Of all the things I had purchased I was the most excited about the scrambled eggs and bacon.  I thought these might taste the closest to the “real food” and since I eat breakfast for dinner all the time thought this might be my favorite solution.  Unfortunately unlike the meals from the night before the flavors were chalky and bland.  Also the instruction tell you to “drain the excess water” and without a colander of any kind, quite a bit of the egg mixture fell on the ground.  I only took a few bites and even Lee (who will eat almost anything) threw most of his away.

Ultimately that was OK though because by this time we saw that the smoke wasn’t going to clear today either, and decided to head to Yakima Valley on our way back to Timothy Lake.  I love getting fresh produce from the different places we travel to and one of the first things I research about an area is where to find local fruits and vegetables.  In my research Yakima Valley kept coming up as the best place to get fruits and vegetables.  Since it wasn’t that far out of our way, we headed north to the 410 scenic highway, and then drove that down to Yakima.  This road took us through the Wenatchee National Forest, and although it was super smoky once again we could tell on a clear day it would have stunning views.  And the road itself was in very good condition, so in relatively no time we made it to Yakima.

 

One of the interesting things about leaving the Cascade Range is how dramatically the landscape changes.  You go from dense, old growth forest to sagebrush and juniper in what seems like the blink of an eye.  Yakima Valley lies near the edge of the Cascade range and apparently has an incredibly fertile valley.  They also have access to water and the combination has made this a very fertile valley.  The first thing we did was stop at McDonald’s and I got myself a breakfast sandwich.  I needed fortification for all the farmers stands we were going to, because there were around 15 in a relatively small area.  Generally this is not something that Lee really loves to do, but since it was my birthday he was game.  He did want a map and for me to GPS us from one place to another, but he was a pretty good sport about the whole thing and we ended up stopping at 8 different places.

I love wild huckleberries and know they are extremely time consuming to pick, but these prices were too steep for me

 

This sign was in one of the farmer’s markets and at first I thought it was funny, until I met the guy who ran the place and saw this was his overall attitude on everything.

Actually the Yakima Valley is divided into two areas.  One is outside the reservation and the other is within.  I actually preferred the stands that were on the reservation because the prices were better and the vegetables were (to my eye at least) much better quality.  I bought some absolutely fantastic green beans and tomatoes at one stand and some really great peppers at another place.  The peppers I was particularly interested in because I am not really a big fan and I had a great conversation about the mildest peppers they had.

Pimento Sweet peppers

 

This pepper is called a Christie sweet and unique to this farm. The woman told me her grandfather traded with a Bulgarian and cross bred some seeds to create this pepper. She gave me one to try.

 

We also were able to buy gas really cheap on the reservation. only $3.09 a gallon, and we enjoyed the drive down to the Dalles and towards Timothy.  I was getting hungry again then so started to look at restaurants on Yelp and ran across a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Sai Gan.  In the last two years we have been super disappointed in almost every meal we have had up here, but not this time.  First off Vietnamese is my absolute favorite ethnic food, because it’s plentiful, relatively inexpensive, and delicately spiced.  Lee has come around to my way of thinking too and after eating this meal he is definitely a convert.  The restaurant had a cool ambiance, the service was great, and the food was really good.  It was the perfect way to cap off my birthday and we are definitely coming back here the next time we want a good meal!

Back to work we went, but my birthday wasn’t over yet because a couple nights later a few of the camp hosts threw me a surprise birthday dinner.  I was so surprised, I didn’t even notice the decorations at first, but was super grateful when I did.  It was very sweet of them and much appreciated and we all had a wonderful time eating and drinking and of course having cake!

I was so tunnel vision I didn’t even notice this at first

 

One of the hosts bought me these cool lights and a new water bottle since she see I am always carrying one

 

they were kind enough to go easy on the candles 🙂

 

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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First Time at Mt. Ranier

Don’t get me wrong, I love the road less traveled as much as the next full timer, but sometimes when you take that road you get lost!  But let me back up a bit.  When I was searching  for something to do on my birthday, I knew two things:  I wanted to go someplace I had never been before and despite living in an absolutely beautiful setting, I needed a change of scenery.  Mt.  Rainier seemed perfect because it was a national park, and only 5 hours away by car.  There were two routes we could take.  One was all major highways and through Portland, or the “back way” which was on all new roads for us.  Of course I chose the back way, and since we weren’t pulling the trailer, Lee agreed.

The beginning of the drive started out pretty great.  We enjoyed the scenery and felt like we were getting back to a part of the lifestyle we really loved.  Then we came upon one orange sign that said “Forest Service Road 24 was closed in 23 miles”.  After a brief consultation we decided to keep going, because we had our paper atlas and Lee had the GPS in his phone.   The farther north we went the less maintained the road was, and the deeper into the forest we were.  We both lost cell service, but felt OK because our phone GPS was still working and then we came to an intersection.  To the right was highway 24, which our phone wanted us to take, but now it said the road was absolutely closed in 12 miles.  According to the GPS we needed to go farther than that, so not knowing what else to do we made a left on FS 90.

Now this is where it got dicey.  90 ran east/west and although my map had some thin road lines on it, none of them told us the name of the road.  So I truly had no idea where this road would eventually end up, and more importantly didn’t know what road to take to go north again. 90 was in even worst shape than 24 was, and Lee started to dodge some serious potholes.  More important than that, entire sections of the highway had “sunk” and despite his best efforts it was impossible to miss them all.

This was actually worse than it looks, and there were MANY of these. The area to the left of the fissure is a good 9 inches lower than the right.

 

Now I was starting to worry.  We had plenty of gas, but a flat tire in the middle of nowhere is an entirely different thing. Eventually I asked Lee to pull over so we could talk about it (not something I would have done in our early years as full timers), and he plugged in our Rand McNally RV GPS.  We’ve had this GPS since the very beginning, and I’ll be honest we don’t use it much now, but when we need it we REALLY need it.  The GPS loaded right up and started routing us, which is ultimately how we figured out which road to make a right on to go north.  We also stumbled across the small town of Eagle Cliff  in the middle of nowhere (closest utility power was 30 miles away) and there was a small campground and camp store.  The guy running the place was super nice and verified that yes, 24 was actually closed, and we were roughly on the right track.  Since it was well past lunch at this point we grabbed a couple of snacks and both wished the little pizza place was open.

Sadly, only open Thursday through Sunday

Once we turned onto 25 we both started to feel better, but then we started to see the smoke.  We’ve been really lucky at Timothy Lake this year with not many really bad smoky days, but the valley  leading into Ranier was was full of it.  There were lots of pull-offs and what we assume were spectacular views but we couldn’t see any of it. At this point I started to get really bummed out, because the weather report for Ranier had shown clear skies and there was no mention of smoke at all.  Eventually we made it to our campground. Ohanapecosh, and went into the Visitors center.  We met a very nice ranger who told us that unfortunately there was a fire ban (again not on the website anywhere before we took off and I read their twitter feed!), but I wasn’t too terribly disappointed because just in case we brought our new Bond Mfg 66603 Aurora Portable Gas Steel Fire Bowl, 18.5″, Black. The smoke was a larger concern, and at that point I was tired and just wanted to get into the campsite and eat some lunch. 

The views on the way in

 

Entrance to Ranier

 

Ohanacopesh Visitors Center

 

This topical map showed that the entire park really centered around Ranier, which bummed me out more, because I thought we wouldn’t be able to see it

Despite my darkening mood, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the campsite.  #16 is on Ohanapecosh river and we even had a dirt path we could use to walk down to the river bed.  It was a huge site, very deep, with a place close to the water we could pitch our tent.  Really great site and the fact that it was only available for that one night made a ton of sense to me.  It was in Loop A which was a generator free loop, and they had bear boxes for food at every site, which was a great feature.  My only complaint was the restrooms, which were very dirty and didn’t include any paper towels for drying your hands, or soap in the dispensers.

Campsite, from where we parked the truck

 

View of the river from the edge of our site

 

Here we are all setup

 

Highly functional bear box

 

The river was beautiful and the cool water felt great

 

I sat down here on the rocks for awhile and just enjoyed the noise

After setting the tent up we were both starving and decided to try out a couple of our ready to eat meals we had brought with us.  After our last camping experience and having raccoons get into our food, we both thought we wanted to try some dehydrated, “just add hot water” meals.  Using Amex points we purchased about twenty bags of different meals and we both wanted to give them some of them a try.  I should mention that these meals are NOT cheap, but they are super convenient and you don’t have to worry about bringing ice, coolers etc. There’s also zero cleanup, since all you use is a pot to boil water, and you pour the water into the bag to “cook” the food. You can eat right out of the bag, but we brought paper bowls. We had ordered multiple varieties and manufacturers to see what we liked, and Lee tried Mountain House Beef Stroganoff with Noodles and I tried Wise Foods Entree Dish Chili Mac with Beef (2 Servings)

 

Lee really enjoyed his, and the flavor of mine was surprisingly good, BUT we didn’t stir mine enough so there were chunks of powder in the bottom of mine which was not so good.  It was definitely operator error, but a bit disappointing, because there was no good way to tell it wasn’t fully cooked until it was too late.  Still, it got the job done, but despite being better flavored than I would like I was stuck on the price.  They cost over $8 each, and I kept thinking about what other kinds of meals I could get for the same price, which isn’t really a fair comparison, because the whole idea is that you eat these when there are not other places around.

I was also struggling with the fact of how disappointed I was by the smoke.  As full timers we tend to take a pretty philosophical view when weather isn’t cooperating, but mentally I was acting like I was on vacation and it was an all or nothing experience.  That concerned me because theoretically we could jump int he truck and come back anytime we wanted to this summer, but the reality was we both knew we wouldn’t.  This job has been seriously kicking our butts and it was tough enough to carve out these two days to get here.  I really didn’t like the fact that I was feeling this way at all, but Lee said let’s just go into the park and see what we see.

Turns out that was an absolutely wonderful idea, and I am so glad I agreed.  For one thing at 4pm crowds were minimal and as it got darker, more animals came out.  From this point I am going to show you what we saw with the pictures, but I think you will agree that staying inside the park and exploring after 4pm is a great way to go!!   That choice not only salvaged the day, but taught us something as well, and helped reconnect us once again to the true purpose of this lifestyle for us.  By the way, we drove into the Stevens canyon Entrance (no one was manning the gate so entrance was free) and worked our way “backwards towards the Nisqually entrance.

The first place we stopped was at Box Canyon and saw a place where a fire had cleared a section of land

 

Where the fire cleared.  Ranier is in the background, and could barely be seen, but that was OK because there was neat stuff to look at anyway.

 

Beautiful stone bridge looking down into a DEEP gorge

 

Super Cool gorge

 

Loved the stone bridges

 

On the other side of the road there was a viewing platform, and once Lee reached it he emphatically waved me over

 

Across the gorge, ambling along the trail we saw a huge black bear

 

These sightings aren’t really that common, and we knew the moment was definitely special. The later time period made it possible and the lack of people on the trails. I just felt like the universe was giving me a birthday present, and once again saying, you are on the right path, keep doing what you are doing. Yes, it was just a bear, but it was more than that to me, and I believe in those sorts of moments.

 

My mood noticeably brightened after the bear and depite the fact that the Mt. Rainier views were hazy I was glad we could at least get a feel for it’s size

 

Plus there were more super cool rivers, creeks, and small waterfalls along the route

 

Really amazing glacier streams were kind of everywhere

 

And since the ice was still melting even in August they had great force in them

 

 

I was momentarily bummed out a little when we got to Reflection Lakes because what could have looked like this

 

But instead we saw this. But I was heartened by the fact that we knew what we were missing and we both vowed to come back on a clear day

 

And the higher elevation we went the better the views became

 

We got a pretty decent view of the many glaciers

 

And the top.

 

This would have been an awesome pic on a clear day

 

Plus I saw on the map that there were two waterfalls near our route and I knew that the haze shouldn’t affect them much.  Turns out the waterfalls were absolutely amazing and the Christine Falls were one of the most romantic waterfalls I have ever seen.  There may have been waterfall kisses 🙂

We walked down a path to Narada Falls

 

And saw this beautiful black tailed deer along the way

 

This was at least three stories tall

 

You get a feel of the size from the stone bridge at the top which could easily fit a regular sized automobile

 

Christine Falls were even cooler though because you could see where it started

 

See a side spring that fed into the falls

 

Giving a second stream under the bridge

 

And walk across down to a viewing point to see this

 

Just wow.  This is not clever photo framing, it really looked like this.

 

After the wonderful waterfalls, we decided to go up to Paradise Inn and eat some dinner.  We knew it would be pricey, historic lodges generally are, but splurging for a birthday dinner seemed like an OK thing.   And I am so glad we did, because there was construction going on and we missed our turn into the parking lot which took us on a one way loop away from the lodge, and back down the hill to where we started when we headed up to the lodge. Lee stopped the car rather suddenly and asked for the camera, and started taking pictures of a hoary marmot.  These guys are about as big as a ground hog and the only other place we had seen them was Alaska.  The first little guy posed for me for a really long time to my delight and then a second one was on Lee’s side and stood up for him and he got some really great shots.

My little guy was right by a hole, and although he started to go in he changed his mind and decided to pose for me instead

 

He gave me the side pose

 

Then had a nice scratch

 

And looked right out me for a long time

 

Lee’s little guy was eating when we came upon him

 

But then decided to stand up

 

As cute as they are take a look at those teeth and claws. Personally I wouldn’t want to be near one who was unhappy

 

That encounter was amazing and pretty much dumb luck since we took the wrong turn and once again the lack of traffic on the roads made it possible.  The lodge itself was OK, and dinner was pretty good, although the service wasn’t awesome.  Lee had and Elk chili noodle dish and I had prime rib, which I actually really liked.  It was a nice way to top off the day though, and the gift shop up there was pretty terrific.

The lodge

 

Dining room

 

Lee’s dinner

 

After we were done we headed back and made it to the campsite in the dark, and fell asleep to the wonderful sounds of the river.  It was a really good day and I was very grateful for it and especially grateful that my husband had hung in there with me and made it a special day.  We had a plan B  if it was still smoky the next day, but more about that in my next post.

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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Campground Etiquette

At the very beginning of the season, my oldest daughter asked me if I would write a post on campground etiquette.  None of my girls have much experience camping, and none at all in an RV, and she was curious about what the “rules” were.  It’s definitely a tough subject to tackle, but one I thought I might try after a season of running these campgrounds because I would have lots of feedback from the people who have stayed here since the complaints funnel through me. That being said, I am speaking here as a private citizen, but those comments and experiences have impacted how I feel about this particular topic.

As I told Kyrston, this particular question is very subjective.  Different RV parks have different rules and norms also vary from state to state.  I do think there are some basic categories that are worth talking about and some generalities I can share with her based upon what I have experienced and seen.  You may disagree vehemently with me on some of these, I’d be shocked if you didn’t, but I am going to try and put a personal stake in the ground here.  If you don’t agree with me on any particular subject please feel free to add it to the comments, but please keep in mind you are talking to my kid here, and she doesn’t have a ton of experience camping.

Walking through someone else’s campsite- This is probably the most common etiquette faux pas and usually only done by the inexperienced camper.  When you rent a site the entire area is yours for the length of your stay, and it becomes your de facto backyard for the length of the visit. Just like in a sticks and bricks home you wouldn’t like it if someone walked through your backyard without invitation, in general people feel the same way in campsites.  When it becomes a real problem is when there are no paths to get to the bathroom, or water, or any other area of interest and your site is quite literally the path of least resistance.  And by the way, people don’t get cranky about this just because they feel possessive of their space.  Minor thefts are pretty common in many campgrounds and since most people have chairs, grills, coolers etc outside, they don’t want folks walking through.  Later at night it can also be a little physically threatening when you see the silhouette of someone strolling through your campsite.  Again think of it like it’s your backyard and you will understand the emotions many people have.  All of that being said, you can ask and usually people are pretty cool about letting you walk through.  But it is very important that you ask and if no one is in the site, go the long way around. 

Noise – In general there are two ends of the spectrum on people who camp.  Some love to party and go into the wilderness to let their hair down and others like the quiet and peace of nature.  Although many people fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, there are lots of folks on either end and unfortunately what they want from the experience are diametrically opposed.  The fact that sound really carries in most campgrounds doesn’t really help, and there is no such thing as a “rowdy” section, so often quiet people are in sites right next to louder people.  Most campgrounds solve this by having established quiet hours and the 10pm rule is pretty constant in most places.  The problem is what constitutes quiet?  Talking in a normal voice can sound very loud at night to the person trying to sleep next to you and something as simple as playing cards or sitting around a fire chatting can be disruptive.  The way we deal with that personally  is to call it a night when quiet time comes.  Since we are early risers this normally works well for us, but is rough on the night owls who like to stay up later.  My best advice is to be aware of the habits of the folks who are staying around you and try to keep that in mind, especially at night. 

Generators – We have received more complaints about generators this season than any other issue.  Purists want to camp in an environment with as little machinery noise as possible, but many people camp in RV’s that have either onboard or outside generators.  In general generator hours match quiet time hours, but listening to a generator run all day (especially loud ones) really ruins the experience for many people.  Some campgrounds are dealing with this by having “no generator” loops or zones, but not all campgrounds (including ours) have that option.  If you are staying in a place with electric hookups it is less of an issue, but when you are dry camping without services this can be a huge deal.  It’s even worse now because of the prevalence of CPAP machines.  Many people want an exemption from the quiet hour rules to run their CPAP machine all night which means the generators are running 24/7.  As sympathetic as I am to the need for a medical device, personally I feel this is unreasonable.  There are battery operated CPAP machines and I hear they are coming out with a solar version, but if that doesn’t work for a person, they really should have electric.  That’s just my opinion, but I am one of those folks who finds constant generator noise extremely annoying and since I invested in a solar system to minimize generator use, I suppose I think people who need that much power should do the same.

Dogs on Leashes – The second most common complaint we get is regarding people leaving their dogs off leash. I have been a dog owner most of my life and although I don’t have a dog now for a long time I was firmly on the side of the folks who felt that as long as the dog was well behaved, let them go off leash.  Unfortunately my thoughts have changed on that for two main reasons.  First, Lee was attacked by a dog when he was a small child and has a healthy fear of any dog that is not under control.  When people’s dogs run up to him to sniff him, he goes completely rigid and no one should have to feel afraid when they are trying to relax and have a good time.  The second thing, which really put me over the edge on the topic, was when our friends small dog was attacked in a campground by two dogs off leash.  Those dogs belonged to the campground owners and ran wild through the campground, and one day they just decided to attack my friends dog.  His belly was ripped open and he had to have over 20 stitches, not to mention it took over a year for him to get back to his normal personality.  Dogs are animals, despite our tendency to humanize them, and their reaction to other animals or people can never be taken for granted.  All that being said I am a huge fan of  “off leash” areas in campgrounds and think they should all have them.  One of my eventual goals up here is to add an off leash dog swimming area, to give the puppies a place to play without bothering anyone else.

Trash – Speaking of dogs leaving dog poop laying around really isn’t cool.  Not every campground has staff that picks up the poop and frankly with that many dogs in one area it can relaly build up.  Not to mention the flies and smells that dog poop brings with it.  And speaking of trash, please don’t use your fire pit as a trashcan.  If you have a fire going and it’s not windy, it’s fine to throw paper plates etc in the fire, but make sure you are going to be there until it totally burns through or someone is going to have to deal with food on partially charred pieces of wood, which is frankly gross.  The worst experience I ever had was at a state park once where I checked in and their was a half eaten (and rancid) chicken leg in the fire pit.  It was just nasty and a terrible way to start a visit in a new place.  

Smoking – This is a rough one, because we smoke and I would say I am the most guilty of breaking these etiquette rules especially in crowded RV parks.  We have friends who hate cigarette smoke and in crowded RV parks have to close their windows, which should never happen.  That being said, as a smoker in a crowded RV park, I am not that crazy about having to walk to a remote area every time I want to have a cigarette.  For me personally, we try to avoid the parks where we are on top of other people because of this issue, but it’s not always possible.  We try to be considerate when we are with friends, standing far away from them and making sure the wind doesn’t blow towards them, but even as considerate smokers we know on occasion we break the unspoken rule.  It’s not lost on me that we are out in the beautiful outdoors and polluting the fresh air people are trying to breathe.  My only solace is these same people are often breathing in campfire smoke, which yes, I know isn’t the same thing, but for some reason makes me feel better.

Occupancy – Most campsites have a set amount of people who are allowed on the site, but in general these rules are not always strictly enforced.  It is very common for a campsite to have a huge group of people and in the case where several sites know each other the groups can spill into common areas, and sometimes other sites who are in between them.  This wasn’t something I personally experienced as a camper, but as a campground host it is a pretty frequent problem.  People have tons of vehicles, parked all over the place, and so many guests that the noise level gets really high.  Since it’s not always possible to get all the sites you would like to have adjoining each other, one persons site becomes the “hangout” place and since people are having such a good time they aren’t really aware of the folks around them.  Best case scenario the neighbors are invited to join in on the fun, but worst case someone who is trying to have a nice quiet camping weekend gets totally overrun by a huge party.  It really does happen all of the time, and in retrospect, I have probably been guilty of it a time or two.  I have a tendency to be oblivious to what is happening outside of my little piece of the campground and I am sure on occasion I have annoyed the crap out of people.  

Dealing with Conflict – It seems there is lots of this in any campground where people stay for awhile, and can range from something relatively minor to something major.  As much as people want to relax and not be hassled when camping, often they love to complain about what other folks are doing.  In my experience the campgrounds with lots of seasonal campers are the worst and the “pass through” campgrounds where people are only there a night are the best.  Basically the more time people spend with each other the more chance that they will get on each others nerves.  There are exceptions of course, and lots of RV parks where folks get along really well, but we have sort of seen this pattern over and over, especially in the more established parks and the conflicts can get nasty and escalate quickly under the wrong circumstances.  My personal stance on this is we have wheels and whenever possible should leave the conflict behind.  Of course that isn’t always possible, especially in an area where campground spaces are limited, which means if you want the spot, you have to find a place to get along.  Yes, you can appeal to the owner or camphost to intervene, but generally they aren’t able to do much.  The best thing is to nip these potential conflicts in the bud before they escalate and be aware that just because you are camping that doesn’t mean you can blow people off.  Treat them as you would your neighbor in your apartment or house and you will probably do fine.  Act like it’s no big deal because it’s “temporary” and it’s likely you will end up with more conflict than you bargained for.

So, that’s my thoughts, and as I said, feel free to add yours in the comments.  Like I said, please keep in mind this was written to someone without a ton of camping experience, and I would appreciate it if you kept that in mind with your responses.

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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First Time with a Half a Million Hits

When I started this blog four years ago, I had the vague idea that it would be a place where I could document my travels and keep my friends and family updated on what I was doing.  I had no idea that it would become such an important part of my life, and I certainly didn’t expect so many people to be interested in my travels.  Don’t get me wrong, objectively I think it is a pretty interesting story, but I have met lots of people with interesting stories in my life, and mine is just one of the many.  So it is with extreme humility and no little awe, that I want to take a moment and recognize the fact that people found what I wrote interesting enough to click on this web page 500,000 times.  To me that’s extraordinary and in no small way helps me to remember that my life is different…and different in a good way.

So as the number grew closer, I tried to think of the best way to say thank you.  Thank you for caring.  Thank you for the support.  Thank you for giving me external validation, which I know I shouldn’t need, but hey, I’m human.   For liking our pictures and our words.  For talking to us as people.  Mostly for sharing in the journey and being invested in it. As much time and effort as I have given this blog it has always given more back to me.  To illustrate I’d like to share one small story.

If you have been reading all along, you know that dental care has been a huge challenge for us on the road.  After RV repairs, it’s probably been my least favorite thing, so last year when we found a dentist that we liked in Oregon we were pretty excited. We started talking about our lifestyle with him to explain our particular challenges and it turned out he was very interested in what we were doing.  Sometimes, if it feels right, I’ll share the blog with people, but it’s always an awkward moment for me because it feels a little self-aggrandizing.  Still it’s the best way to really explain what it is we do, and sometimes, the person I am sharing it with takes a look and gets hooked.  We rarely know when that happens after the fact, but this year when I called to make Lee a dentist appointment the receptionist immediately knew who we were and said “We have been following your travels!”.

Even after five years, when that happens I am still surprised by it, and I was even more surprised when we went to see Ed yesterday and he spent a ton of time in between patients talking to me about what had happened to us in the last year.  He doesn’t just skim the blog, he reads it! And through it he knows me.  He cares about what happens to us, poked me a little bit because I haven’t written as much as I usually do, and in a very cool way gave me some career advice on what to do next.  The blog brought someone into my life who cares about us and not to sound too corny, but ultimately nothing is more important than that.  So thank you Ed, and all the other people who share this journey with us.  We are truly grateful.  And sorry Ed I know you wanted to stay in the background, but that story was just too good not to share 🙂

Faced with this, I wanted to find a cool way to say thank you.  Lots of ideas went through my mind, but ultimately I decided to go back and pick out pictures of some of our WOW! moments.  It’s easy to lose site of why we do this sometimes, especially when life becomes all about working, and the exercise helped clear my mind, refocus me on what is important, and was a ton of fun.  After all, we have done some pretty cool stuff.  I hope you like it!

This may seem like a silly place to start, but we came across this Giant Fork in the Road (July 2013) while we were still thinking about becoming full timers and it really felt like the universe was speaking to me.

 

Lee and I at Looking Glass Waterfall, which we stumbled across accidentally.  This was the moment I decided I wanted more waterfalls in my life.

 

Lee at Jekyll’s Island in late December 2014.  After going on the road in October and then spending the holidays with family, we were finally moving and Lee as you can see felt totally free.

 

Feburary 2015,  we took a sunset cruise with Jo, Ben, Kelly, and Bill and the dolphins swam along side our boat for most of the trip.  After enduring 15 winters in New Hampshire watching dolphins at the ocean while on a boat was particularly special.

 

April 2015 we spent a month with friends in the Outer Banks and one special day went to Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers Memorial with Kelly and Bill. Walking the path where their airplane took off and landed felt very much like walking on hallowed ground and I absolutely loved the monument.  It is still one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

 

In June 2015, we went to Minneapolis to visit my daughter and visited the Star Trek exhibit at the Mall of America.  I have been a fan since I was a child, but never in my wildest dreams imagined I would ever get to sit in the captains chair.  I was completely giddy as I channeled my inner Kirk and pondered how to get us out of another jam.

 

And then there were the bears. Hands down my most amazing experience to date on the road was when we were 80 yards away from a mama and baby grizzly bear. The fact that we were Deb and Steve only added to the joy and this moment has yet to be beat by anything we have done.

 

Another childhood dream of mine was to see the redwoods, and not only did we see them in November of 2015, but we lived in one of the groves when we spent a month volunteering in a campground along the Avenue of Giants. Although the constant rain did eventually get to us, those first moments with the trees were magical and completely lived up to my expectations.

 

When the constant rain in the grove drove us to the coast to explore in December of 2015, we followed the advice of a park ranger we had met and went to explore the Lost Coast. This was the most beautiful piece of of coast I have ever seen and I just laid in the grass and enjoyed the amazing view.

 

Ok I know this is a weird one, but in January 2016 I was able to dump our tanks all by myself in Quartzsite That was a major victory for me and the first time I felt like I was getting a handle on the mechanical aspects of of the lifestyle. It was a major “victory” and made me super happy.

 

In March 2016, we got to visit the site of one of Lee’s childhood dreams, The Very Large Array.  It’s out in the middle of nowhere, and not easy to get to, but completely amazing in it’s size and scope.

 

As we headed up to Alaska in May 2016, we had one day where we saw seven different large wild mammals. One of the most interesting sighting was watching a baby caribou attempt to cross the river and eventually we watched it scramble out.

 

At the end of the month Lee’s first moose sighting was also really special, mainly because he kept saying there are no moose…and then there was! I love it when I am right and he is wrong…although to be honest that doesn’t happen often 🙂

 

Alaska had so many jaw dropping moments I could make this entire post about them, but I’ll pick one of my favorites when we walked on an actual glacier and got to see an ice cave and a waterfall. Very special.

 

For Lee standing under the Alaskan pipeline was a really big deal.

 

But nothing beat finally seeing Denali.  I was giddy!

 

I completely geeked out when I finally got to Stand on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona. It is a quintessential RVer moment and totally lived up to what I thought it would be. Plus there was hands down the coolest giftshop I have ever been in next door.

 

In April of 2017, we fulfilled another childhood dream of mine and saw the Petrified Forest. What I didn’t know was there is also a section of absolutely gorgeous painted desert that truly blew me away.

 

Sharing all the waterfalls in Columbia Gorge with Lee in June 2017 was a very special moment for me, and hiking to bridal veil falls (one I had not seen before) was really wonderful.  You could swim at the base of this one and being in this picture, felt like I was in it.

 

This picture doesn’t really capture the experience, but we had a magical moment at night standing at the base of the Hecata Lighthouse with Rick, Jim, and Diana.  We could see so many stars through the beams of the lighthouse and it was really special.

 

Crater Lake, July 2017, with our friends Kat and Bert was amazing. Some things in life really do live up to their press and this was definitely one of them. Every picture was a good one and it was really special that we got to see the floating “Old Man of the Lake” log. After talking to some locals not everyone gets to see that when they visit, and we wouldn’t have even known if some folks didn’t point it out to us.

 

In August 2017, we saw the eclipse and being in the path of totality was well totally amazing. I thought it would be anti-climatic after all the fuss, but it really wasn’t. It was 5 minutes or so of pure magic.

 

In March 2017, we finally made it to Padre Island in Texas.  There were lots of great moments when we stayed on the ocean in one of our best camping sites ever, but nothing beat when we saw this pelican eat a huge fish.  It was definitely a mouth hanging open kind of moment.

 

And then there was our April in Utah, 2018. After Alaska, I didn’t think any landscape could impact me that way again, but the three weeks we spent in Utah had so many of those moments. Again it’s hard to just pick one (and maybe I won’t) but standing at the base of Grosvenor’s Arch and looking up was very special.

 

Ok I can’t pick just one. The photographer’s tour of monument valley.

 

This gorgeous view of Canyonlands brought tears to my eyes.

 

And Arches. For me this was a terrifying and exhilarating moment because it was a difficult climb to get up there and a drop to death behind me.  Not something I would have ever done in my old life.

 

And most recently in July 2018, standing in the cave behind North Falls. Waterfall kisses are the best!

 

As I am finishing this post up, I realize it comes woefully short of capturing the complexity and joy of the last five years. Yes, when I think about my life there are a series of images that flash through my mind, but the true story is in the details, the small moments, the day in and day out struggles and triumphs.  I know it’s presumptuous, but if you haven’t had a chance to read from the beginning I really wish you would.  It’s not about getting more hits (although a million would certainly be cool!), it’s about sharing the story arc with you.  We are in the middle of our story now, and I have absolutely no idea where all this will end, but I do promise that I will share it all the way through.  And once again…thank you!

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.  Search Amazon Here
  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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Budget July 2018

It’s interesting that when we have a really good financial month it is almost always a month that we have very few experiences.  Despite the fact that we “live” in a gorgeous place and have all sorts of low-cost nature things we can do in the area, we have found that almost everything costs some money (gas, lunch, trinkets) and it turns out that the best way to save money is not do anything at all.  That shouldn’t be a huge surprise I suppose, since that is how it was in our old lives also, but I thought that surrounded by so much nature we would always find lots of cool things to do.  And in all fairness some people do.  They take their days off and hike or fish or kayak and explore, but all of that takes energy and one thing we have found is when you are working this hard, energy, for us at least,  is in short supply.  The good thing is we aren’t spending all the money we are making on fast food or Amazon purchases  and we were able to put $2500 back in our savings account, which was a much-needed event, but aside from the end of the month when our friends came to visit our lives were all about work and more work. So yes, it was a good month with only $2,151 in expenses, but not such a good month in the overall life category. You can see below for more details.

 

Groceries –  Well, we got our groceries expenses under control this month, but that’s mainly because we are eating lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  We did have some fantastic meals when Deb and Steve came to visit, and I have been trying to use what we have lying around, but the freezer is getting pretty bare and we definitely need to restock in August.

Dining Out – The fact that we aren’t huge fans of any of the restaurants in the area (Huckleberry Inn aside) certainly helps in this category.  Plus we paid for Lee’s birthday escape room and then Deb and Steve paid us back in a couple of meals out so we were actually closer to breaking even in this category.

Entertainment – We ended up spending $180 on the escape room because Lee wanted the room all to ourselves.  Since it was his 50th I was happy to spend the extra money, but definitely next time we will use Groupon on and if we can’t find enough friends will have to try the room with other people.  I’m just glad Lee enjoyed it so much, because he’s a tough guy to buy presents for.

Truck Fuel – We only gassed the truck up once the entire month, which was a good thing because gas prices are kind of high right now.  We have to take our company trucks down to Estacada to fuel them up and are able to combine a grocery store trip with that which helps save us a ton of money in gas. Next month we will be doing some exploring in Washington so these costs will go back towards normal levels.

Home – Thankfully no repairs this month and the extra items we bought, like the propane campfire, we used Amazon points.  We just let our points build throughout the year until something camping related comes along that we want and then we cash them in.  So thanks for your support in both buying the recipe book and through our Amazon link.  I really like the propane campfire and we both wonder why we were so resistant to having one before.  If we didn’t have the points we probably wouldn’t have gotten it, so thanks again! 

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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Lee’s 50th Birthday

Lee is not a big birthday person, but since this is a landmark day, I felt like I really wanted to do something for him.  Months ago Deb had reached out with her travel plans and with a little tweaking we worked it out so she and Steve would be visiting on the big day. I was really excited about this because we spent my 50th in Alaska with Kelly, Bill, Jo, and Ben, and I wanted Lee to be with friends for his.  It’s really amazing how wonderful our RV family is and how often we manage to be with each other for those special days, despite traveling all around the country. And since we tend to do things big when we are all together, we had to have the pre-birthday dinner.  Deb made teriaki flank steak, rice, and green beans (which were yummy) and then  brought out a homemade cherry pie she bought at the fruit loop.  After tasting it Lee decided cherry pie with a crumble top was his new favorite, so all of you who are keeping pie score take a note 🙂

Afterwards we went down on the lake with the propane fire pit and watched the sun set.  It was our first evening down on the lake, and we really loved it.  There were tons of bats swooping along the lake surface and we had geese, ducks, and could see the fish jumping.  It was beautiful and serene and we all just chatted and chilled until a group of young kids came along with flashlights who were looking for crawdads in the water.  Since we have 7 kids between us, we really loved talking to them as well and it was a perfect pre-birthday celebration warming us up for the main event.

Hurley got in on the action

 

Geese

 

The kids were so cute

 

They all got excited when they found one

 

Oh and I keep forgetting to mention Steve bought me this cool present. It’s a solar powered jar with stones in it and turns lots of cool colors at night. I bought him some huckleberry preserves! For some reason we always buy each other little things and it’s always a real treat when we see each other.

 

On the morning of Lee’s birthday Deb and Steve invited us over for breakfast.  I took some signs, which long time readers may remember, and Lee got his presents from Steve and Deb.  They bought him alcohol because they think my alcohol budget is too stingy (just kidding) and we had a fantastic breakfast with some Portuguese sausage that tasted different than any sausage I have ever had.

These “50” signs have been used by Bill, Kelly, me, Greg, and finally Lee. I was thrilled they had seen so much use, but even more glad I didn’t need to carry them around anymore 🙂 Lee as you can see was thrilled with his Piehole , apple pie flavored whiskey

 

Steve cooking an awesome breakfast

 

Portuguese sausage…yum. It’s sweet with a bit of a kick

 

 

After breakfast we took a little break and then met up again at 2pm.  We headed into Portland for Lee’s birthday wish, which was to try an escape room.  Deb and Steve had tried a pirate themed one a few months back, but Lee chose an assassin themed room since he’s a major spy buff.  His one request was that we do it with just the four of us, and Steve called the company Hour to Midnight .  We paid for 6 (it normally holds 8 people) and they guaranteed us a private room, so although it was a little pricier than we would have liked it was worth it to have the room all to ourselves.  The outside of the building was pretty unassuming, but inside was neat as a pin and the room itself was fantastic.  There were multiple clues and multiples puzzles and the theme was to diffuse three different bombs.  We all loved it, and Lee said as soon as he was done he wanted to do another one.  High praise from him.  We solved it in an hour and 6 minutes (6 minutes grace over the hour because we were so close) and it was really thrilling.  I highly recommend trying an escape room if you haven’t and I especially recommend you do it with close friends.  It was really cool how each of the four of us brought something different to the party, and how many clues were only solved when we combined wits.  Big fan and we definitely plan on doing it again in other areas we visit. 

Lee, me, Steve, and Deb

After the escape room we drove across the state border to Vancouver, Washington, and had a Chinese buffet. It was nothing special, but the company was great and after the event we were all really hungry.  The day held one more cool moment though when we stopped on the way home at the very first geocache ever.  Deb and Steve are huge geocache fans, and have done at least one a day for over two years now.  The very first cache is a special place and even had a plaque to memorialize it.  Turns out the first cache is in the middle of nowhere, but also pretty close to where we worked last year, so it was fun to see it, especially because it meant so much to our friends and was a perfect way to cap off Lee’s birthday.

Supporting our Blog

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.  Search Amazon Here
  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes.
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Planes and Pianos

You never know what you are going to get up here at Timothy Lake, especially when Deb and Steve come to visit, and this week was no exception.  On Monday, Lee saw on Facebook that Deb and Steve were having some trouble with their site at a nearby state park, and since their site here was open, invited them to come up early.  Deb is one of the most badass chicks I have met on the road, but she has a thing about bees/wasps/hornets, and the site they were given had a huge yellowjacket nest in it.  Given the option of staying in the site or driving the additional two hours to us, they chose the latter and arrived in the late afternoon.  It took us a while to get them settled into their site, so we ended up having their arrival dinner close to 9pm, but no one cared since it was so great to have them here.

Steve is staying in one of the few spots here that has Verizon service, since he was working during the week, and we had to work the next day, but we were excited that we would have two sets of days off with them.  We made tentative plans for dinner Tuesday night, but Tuesday morning bright and early I got thrown another curve ball.  With no warning we had large planes dipping water out of the middle of the lake, and Lee and I were scurrying around trying to determine what the protocol was.  Through sheer bad luck our most experienced veteran was off property and I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to do.  There was a fire in the National Forest about 22 miles NE of us (as the crow flies), and it made sense that they would get water from the lake, and since it has been so dry they had 4 planes taking water to the fire.  The problem was I wasn’t initially sure who was supposed to clear the lake of small water craft and since the lake is pretty huge wasn’t quite sure how to do it.

Plane coming in with Mt. Hood in the background

 

You can see why having a kayak or sailboat in the planes path would be an issue

 

Despite the concerns over how to clear the lake it was amazing to watch

 

I spent time on the phone trying to get some answers, but Lee just jumped into action.  He got our bull horn, connected with some Fire Service rangers who arrived on scene, and ultimately helped them clear the lake.  He loves using the bullhorn and hasn’t gotten to use it all summer, so he was into it, but I was more concerned about what my responsibilities were.  This is a huge lake with 5 major points of entry and since we are low on staff (and equipment to clear the lake), it was a bit confusing for both us and our camp hosts.  Eventually we got it all sorted out and I did find some time to watch the spectacle a little, and I must say it was a really cool show for us and Deb and Steve.  The flights went on for several hours and most of our campers sat on the beach and watched, with the little kids in particular really enjoying themselves. That night was a long one for us, but Deb made a lovely pasta dish and she was kind enough to pack some up and Lee devoured it at 8:30pm.

The next day we had more planes but things were a little slower and we were able to make some steak dinner for Deb and Steve and enjoy time around their propane fire.  The fire ban for the National Forest was finally started and after some initial confusion, basically they settled on anything with a shut-off valve being OK.  I’ve seen the “campfire in a can” at Quartzsite and other places, but didn’t really like them because they didn’t generate much heat and I thought they smelled bad.  Steve’s was totally different and I absolutely loved it.  We often find that we want a little fire, but don’t want to mess with starting one and I could see the benefits right away.  I liked it so much by the end of the first night, that I asked Lee to order me one for an early birthday present, and we will soon be the proud owners of a Bond Mfg 66603 Aurora Portable Gas Steel Fire Bowl, 18.5″, Black

The next night Deb and Steve cooked, and they made a pork loin, smashed potatoes, and Brussels sprouts.  As I have mentioned, Deb is a fantastic cook, and since Lee loves brussel sprouts I had to get the recipe.  Unfortunately with Deb (who cooks by feel), it’s a little tough to nail down exactly how she does things, but I have gotten better with deciphering her descriptions.  Basically she cuts the sprouts in half, tosses in olive oil, salt, pepper, and Tuscan spices, and the broils them in the oven until they start to turn crispy.  Then she uses a spatula to move them around on the pan and cook some more, until there are lots of brown, crunchy flakes which are the best part.  Totally Lee approved!

Lee, Steve, and Deb

 

Yummy brussel sprouts

 

I love watching Hurley with his “sticks” or really logs.  He’s being a good puppy and staying on leash while he is here since we have pretty strict leash rules.

 

Another night with a fire. I particularly like the holes in the sides, although ours actually has diamonds.

 

We knew we were going to have a busy weekend so we recommended a list of things for Steve and Deb to do and refocused ourselves on the jobs.  Being with good friends is great because they totally get that we are not on vacation, and Deb and Steve make their own fun wherever they go anyway.  They took several of our recommendations (and tried a few new things we haven’t done yet) and you can read all about it in her blog Down the Road. If you haven’t seen it you should definitely check it out, because it’s full of amazing hikes and lots of great restaurants.  Steve loves to eat (and drink) and Deb loves to hike, which works out to be a nice balance!

While they were doing the fun stuff, we had the hottest and busiest weekend to date.  Lee, in particular, is super busy with Day Use on the weekends and we were filled to the rafters Saturday and Sunday.  We also had an event scheduled for Saturday evening, which made for a long day for both of us but was a ton of fun.  Hunter Noack is a classical pianist, and for the past two years has done the In a Landscape concert series where he plays the piano out in nature.  The coolest part is they rent wireless headsets, so guests can wander in nature as they listen to music.  For us it was a bit of a challenge because our amphitheater is down near the lake and has a very narrow road to access it.  Hunter’s team needed to pull a trailer into the spot (with a grand piano mounted to it) and then they transform the trailer into a stage.  When I first got the email about the event, I was a bit perplexed, but then I remembered who I was married to.  Lee’s live event (and RVing experience) was perfect for this event, and he not only measured the entry but also personally directed the trailer in and out of the venue, which was no joke when they left in the dark,

 

It was a wonderful event with multiple musicians and since it was totally free (headsets were $10 but you didn’t have to rent them), our campers really enjoyed it.

The piano on the trailer which was converted to a stage

 

We had a nice crowd

Hunter

 

Cellist

 

I loved the classical guitar player

 

Although we were working the event, we were able to walk a bit with the headsets and the experience was very cool.  The combination of beautiful music in an amazing setting was really neat and if you ever have a chance to experience something like this I highly recommend it.  Here are some of the images I snapped while listening to Debussey’s Reflections in the Water.

 

I also loved that it was a family and dog friendly event, which with the headphones on really added to the experience.  The coordinator of the event brought her family and watching her two year old play while the music was in the distance was really lovely.  He had a wonderful time.

 

 

So, it was a very full weekend, but Lee’s 50th birthday is coming up, and thankfully Deb and Steve are here to celebrate with us.  Looking forward to doing some fun things with them on our days off!

Camper Chronicles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, a program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. We very much appreciate any purchase you make via our website links.  There is no additional cost to you and helps support our blog.  Search Amazon.com here

Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.

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Going Bat Crazy

It’s been 9 days since my last post, and the reason is things have been bat crazy.  I mean that literally, there have been actual bats, but I am jumping ahead, so let me catch you up a little.  First of all I went down to the fireworks display in Estacada and really enjoyed it.  Lee wasn’t feeling well so he stayed home, but it was a nice enough show that it was worth the long drive there and back.

Then Lee and I actually got to go out an eat a meal one night which was cool.  I had a wonderful Huckleberry shake at the Huckleberry Inn and Lee had a huge country fried steak.

Yummy!

 

And I took another day, again by myself, and went to the Fruit Loop and Hood River to get some of the first cherry crop.  Amazing.

 

So you are probably wondering, why so little activity?  Well the answer is we had some staff changes up here and have been working very hard to cross train people and redistribute workload.  Folks tended to own their own lane up here, so it’s critical with less people folks can work multiple positions if there is a need.  Since Lee and I had learned most of the positions, we were carrying a lot of that load initially, but things are smoothing out a bit and we are coming up for air.  Plus, aside from the staffing changes there have been a series of events. We had a film shoot at one of our locations that lasted a whole day.  Lee spent some time down there just watching and it was pretty cool.

Film crew, it was an ad for the Ipad and they had a vintage camper which was pretty neat. Although to be fair this is not a spot you can camp overnight so see you can’t always trust what you see on TV.

 

We also had a camper with a heart attack (they were life flighted and are fine), missing kids (we found them), a guy back his truck into the lake.  Yes I am not making that up..not really sure how that happened but here’s the picture.  Our head of security winched him out, and yes the entire bed of his truck (and the drivers seat) was full of water.

It hasn’t all been bad.  We managed to have a potluck/birthday party for one of our camp hosts, and I am trying as much as possible to give people extra breaks as our busy season gets in full swing.  It’s important to say that we are now filling up completely in all campgrounds by Thursday and every week that gets a little earlier.  Our day use is packed, which has put extra pressure on Lee, and I am covering shifts for folks at least once a week.  Still we feel pretty good overall, although we are both being careful about pacing ourselves.  Burn out at this pace is a real possibility.

Birthday cake!

Oddly one of the most stressful things has been the bats.  We have some interns staying in the duplex next to the office and on Friday and Saturday the girls side had bats flying around the room.  Both nights they ended up sleeping down in the living room and I was once again at a loss on how to handle the issue.  The head of security once again came to the rescue and shooed them out, but the same ones were either coming back or we were getting new ones and no one could figure out where they were coming in.  So I punted and on Saturday called the maintenance on call tech and they were kind enough to bring up a sonic device that we hoped would drive them away. It did work.  It drove them out of the girls room and into my office, but thankfully someone else was in there at night when the bat came out to play.  Now I am afraid to turn the lights off in there, and am just hoping that in a few days the bats will be gone forever.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like bats and think they perform an important function, but I want them in their little bat houses and not in my working/living space. One more thing that I wasn’t prepared for, but if nothing else this job is teaching me to be prepared for the unexpected.

The good news is Deb and Steve are coming up for 9 whole days and we are incredibly excited to see them!! Their being here will force me to start getting out of here on my days off so hopefully you will be seeing some pretty pictures soon.  And sorry it took me so long to get to this.  Most of the stuff that is happening I simply can’t talk about and when that’s the case I just don’t feel motivated to write.  It’s one of the downsides of having this job, but I am hoping that as things settle down that will get better.  It might not be until after August though, so don’t be surprised if my posts are a little sparse until then.   If you are Jonesing for a Camper Chronicles fix, go back and re-read about Utah 🙂 That was a fun month and packed full of awesome blog posts!

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Or you can check out our recipe book filled with 80 real recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. The cookbook specializes in recipes that have a limited number of ingredients, without sacrificing flavor and is organized into categories that matter to full time RVers such as Happy Hours, Travel Days, and Pot Lucks   You can preview the kindle version on  Amazon or the Apple version on Itunes.    It is available in paperback on Amazon if you prefer.