Christmas 2016

This year we went to the Oregon coast at Cape Kiwanda for the week after Christmas.  Though there was some rain, most of the time there were sunny skies.  The boys loved swimming in the indoor pool and tried their hand at sandboarding. What a way to shut down the year.

Day 8 - Last Moments

We awoke this morning with sleepy eyes and a boatload to do. All night long the trains were rushing back and forth. It was hilarious to us because James made it very clear to the boys that they needed to quiet down for the parks quiet hour. The trains definitely did not get his memo. It was a beautiful morning to wake up to and we set off to return the RV by 10 am at Northwest RV.

Day 7

We started out day 7 at Riverside State Park - Bowl and Pitcher. With the nature all around us we decided to forgo a stop at Maryhill Museum and instead take it easy and have a slow start. After a while the kids decided it was time to go and we moved on to the Swinging Bridge.

The swinging bridge was a beautiful bridge over crystal clear water and overlooked the Bowl and Pitcher rock formations that the site was named after. They were gorgeous but it was a bit hard to determine which was supposed to be which. 

Then we set off on the journey home. James suddenly remembered the reuben runzas back at Cow Creek Mercantile and insisted on a stop. There was absolutely no fighting him on this and off we went! Luckily they saved some back for us and we got one each for the adults and the boys split a pizza. All very delicious. 

Then we left and immediately took atleast 5 wrong turns but all set us off to a beautiful drive through rolling hills of wheat fields. At one point a little fawn was picking its way across the highway and gave us a perfect photo op.

Then we were off on the narrow Hwy 14 heading towards the Maryhill Stonehenge WWII Memorial. James was having to pull hard to keep us on the road due to the crosswinds. Stonehenge was beautiful and a welcome stop to calm nerves.

Then we were off to Bridge RV Park. To get there we had to go through tight tunnels - 13'1 at the shortest - the Georgetown is 12'1. Needless to say our rested nerves did not last long. When we finally pulled in to Bridge RV we were welcomed with an elderly couple in our site. Annoyed and exhausted we told them the could dump their tanks and fill up on water. As the lady finished asking for this allowance and turned to go their entire black tank dumped on the site. The camp hosts had no mercy for the "foreigners" as they called them. As we calmed down we thought to ask if the couple would like to take our site for a fair exchange of cost. As James talked to them he found out they might be relatives back in Germany. Their family name being Ausmuth, an aunt of theirs. So James ever being the comic dubbed them the "Crappy Relatives North of Munich". You gotta love him...

So we set off for a place to bed down, somewhere... 

We'll call him "White-Knuckled Steve" (Not that there is any reason for it but it was a very scary ride!)

To get to I-84 we had two options (technically 3 but it was far too late to backtrack) either go on WA-14 or cross the toll bridge at White Salmon. We chose the later seeing how the next tunnel had signage for a 12'4 ceiling. James managed to white knuckle his way across with a possible 2 inches of clearance between the Georgetown and the railing. The toll attendant looked at us with shock and awe and was not all that impressed that we crossed in that manner. 

On a whim we tried Viento State Park. Luckily there was a site there for less than half the cost of Bridge RV.

Day 6

We started out today by leaving behind the crowded Tamarack RV Park. James expertly extracted the RV from there and then took us into Coeur d'Alene. He then had a fun time of trying to find parking appropriate of a giant rig like the Georgetown, 2 of the parking lots were so tight but the expert that James is got us out of the tightest places. Finally after we found parking we were off to explore the lakeside. First thing we saw was an Osprey nest. Beautiful skies also accompanied us there.

There were also 2 massive playgrounds, we had the boys try both out.

I loved all of the sculptures we found in all of the cities we visited.

So much to be done on the lake. Jude said that he'd like to try parasailing someday.

Jimmy was being the typical preteen but ever so often I got an illusive smile.

We also went on the floating dock and watched the boats coming in.

On the lakeside Jude built his own boat out of debris. It sailed well.

More of the beautiful blue skies.

On our way to the other playground we decided to nab our boys. They were good sports about it.

We got (had?) to listen to a free concert in the park. It wasn't really music for any of us but it was nice to have the atmosphere while the boys played.

The other playground was built as a huge fort. Lots of hiding places. Jude started up a game of hide and seek. He won! He was very difficult to find.

A stop and the toy store and the candy store on the way back was a special treat for the boys.

We then headed off to check out the Berkshire one of the potential rigs for purchase. It was very nice but we were unable to test drive because the RV dealer was currently showing it at a RV show.

Then we moved on to check out the Spokane River and the Sky Ride.

Jude was the only one who wanted to try out the antique carousel. There were rings that he could try to grab. He got so close a few times!

Spokane's city park had several interesting things the giant wagon/slide was one of Jude's favorites.

There was a cute baby duck paddling all over there too! So cute!

After we wore ourselves out completely we drove to our campsite at Riverside State Park - Bowl and Pitcher. It was a relaxing afterward for the day. The boys tried to catch crawdads with the site neighbors and all of them dunked themselves including James!