Orcas Island

In January, we took a trip up to Orcas Island in the San Juans.  It was the kids first trip there, and the first time we had been since 2002.

We stayed in a Worldmark which is always lovely due to having kitchens. This one even had a private hot tub on the deck.

I had looked up "Things to Do on Orcas Island" and hiking Turtleback Mountain came up repeatedly.  There were several geocaches on the hike, so off we went.  Boy, were we unprepared!  It was much steeper than we were expecting and we were all pretty bushed by the time we made it back.  Our legs were quivering from exhaustion.  It was also sprinkling, so we looked like drowned rats as well.

We drove up to the top of Mt. Consitution, but it was quite foggy and breezy, so we weren't able to see the view.

Camp Lyle Mcleod

Went on another camping trip with the Girl Scouts.  Brrrr!!!!  It is COLD in October!

We got to sleep in Yurts, but it was still freezing.

Yellowstone

We took a family field trip to Yellowstone with a homeschool group.  It was a great trip, but it was a lot of driving and we don't need to go back any time soon!

 Jellystone, Missoula, MT

West Yellowstone KOA

Mammoth Hot Springs

 Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

Elk Ridge campground

A small camping trip with a friend turned into a PCF Reunion. 

We decided on Elk Ridge Campground outside of Naches as a half-way point between the western and eastern Washington folks.

We hiked Boulder Cave, sat around with our feet in the river, and Kim even broke out her T-Rex costume.  A grand time was had by all!

Boulder cave

 Joshua & Elsa

 Michelle & Nora

 Dianne & Kim

 Kimberly & Nora

Tom, Ruby, Bobbi Ann, Kimberly, Elsa, Kim, Stella, Benjamin, Nicoletta, Nora, Dianne, Joshua

Kris, Kerry, their daughters, and sister and her kids were also there.

Tri-cities Geofest

I made plans to attend the Tri-cities Geofest for the first time this year.  The main event is Saturday when they release 30ish new caches which you then race around to find and earn 4 coins. 

I drove down on Friday, caching all the way.  I spent the night at the Pasco KOA.  Since I was too lazy to set up my tent, I thought I'd just sleep in the car.  I brought the bed rolls the kids use, moved the seat out of the way, and tried to sleep.  Wow.  I am too old for this nonsense.  The floor is hard and lumpy.  I eventually gave up and napped in the front seat with it reclined all the way.

Due to my uncomfy sleeping arrangements, I was up and caching by 530 am.  I went to the event and went around to all the caches with a nice older couple I met.  We finished up around 3, then I headed home, again caching all the way.  I ended up getting 71 caches that day!  All told for the weekend was well over 100.

Portland

Eric had to go to Portland for some training.  We found an AirBnB for the amount they would cover in hotel, and the whole family went down.  Dianne and kids did some exploring while Eric was in meetings.

  Large geocache on the way down. 

 Witches castle. 

 Portland Rose Garden

 OMSI

Multnomah Falls

Concrete KOA

May 26-29, 2017

We took our first camping trip of the year to the Concrete/Grandy KOA.  The weather couldn't have been better - gorgeous and sunny.  Very unusual for Memorial Day in Seattle! 

In addition to our 4, the kids brought friends, Dominique and Oliveo (best idea ever, I hardly saw the kids as they were off playing the whole time), my sister's family (Julie, Keith, Parker & Cecily), and my brother, Jared. 

We brought our trailer, still sporting a lovely, plywood-covered hole in the floor.  Eric attempted to repair the pinhole in the canvas, but the patch refused to stick. 

We put the boys outside in a tent as the camper is rather cozy.  There about froze the first night, but refused to give up their spot when the girls offered to switch with them. 

This was our first time staying at a KOA on a weekend and experiencing their "events".  There was ice cream, cake, bingo, putt putt golf, a jumping pillow and more.  You had to buy a bracelet for some of the events, which I find annoying, but the kids used them enough we got our money's worth. 

We drove into Concrete on Sunday to find some caches.  Pathetically, we found 2 out of 5 we looked for.  

Overall, a great weekend at the nicest KOA so far.  The kids came home sun-burnt, dirty and tired.  Perfect!