Cougar Rock

September 1-4, 2006
Cougar Rock Campground, Mt. Rainier, Site #C22

Who: Eric, Dianne, Joshua, Nora, Julie & Keith and lots of their friends were at several nearby sites.

Gorgeous campground! Sites are very well wooded and separated from each other.  The weather was hot and sunny (rained at night) so the shade was much appreciated.

We went for hikes in the mornings and had visitors (Elsa & Nora, the Priddis's) in the afternoons.

We drove in the back way via Hwy 410.  While more scenic, the road is longer and very winding.  We will only go that way again if going to Ohanapecosh.

 

Millersylvania State Park

July 28-30, 2006
Millersylvania State Park, near Olympia, Site #222

Who: Eric, Dianne, Joshua, Nora, Elsa, Nora, Lydia and the Priddis family

Most RV sites, our included, are out in an open field and quite close together. A few are more wooded and those are definitely better. There was also an occasional strong sewage smell.  Our guide books says there is a playgrounds, but we never found it.

There are 2 nice, shallow, swimming beaches.  Great for kids.  Lots of trails.

We mostly hung around camp as Eric was finishing up fixing the water system.  We have hot water now - it's awesome! Elsa gave Nora a bath and she entertained the neighbors by shrieking her head off.  Poor Joshua was crying because we wouldn't give him a bath.  (He got one before bed.)

The big excitement was horrible rubbing, then grinding/grating noises from our car tires.  First we though we were overloaded so we rearranged to level out the car. It didn't really go away though.  On the way home, it was so bad, I made Eric pull over and he called the Honda dealer.  They thought it was a rock caught in the brake rotor.  Sounds bad, but won't hurt anything. Well, very shortly after getting moving again, the rock fell out and all was quiet!  It was nerve wracking, but luckily minor.

Joe & Kim Frey's

June 30 - July 4, 2006
Joe & Kim Frey's house, Twisp

We went to Twisp to visit the Frey's - Mike and Bettilynn Clingmans joined us as Kim is Bettilynn's best friend.  They Frey's have 12 aces, so there was plenty of room to tuck our trailer inbetween the house and the shop.

Eric spent much of the trip trying to fix things on the trailer.  For every leak he fixed in teh water pipes, he found a new one further down the lines. He finally jury-rigged it together so it would work for this trip at least.  We never got the hot water working.  (Turns out both of us were trying to light it in the same, wrong, place!) Eric also tried fixing the drawer slides, but wasn't able to install them properly either.  Maybe by our next trip everything will work.

The weather was hot - upper 90's.  Luckily it cools off at night and we actually had to use the heater.

We spent our days playing at Pearrygin Lake State Park and the local pool - which had a great toddler area. 

Joshua also had a great time exploring the Frey's property - chasing chickens, jumping on the trampoline and playing with their toy dump truck.

There are free-range cows in the area and one day about 30-40 of them were grazing out back.

Monday night, there was a thunder and lightning storm.  It was raining so hard for awhile it was actually raining sideways.  Joshua was scared at first by the noise, but got over it and slept through the worst of it.

Deception Pass State Park

June 16-18, 2006
Site #43

Who: Eric, Dianne, Joshua, Nora - her 1st trip at 2 months old!

This was our first trip in our "new" 2000 Coleman tent trailer.  The trip was put together hastily as friends had a reservation they couldn't use.

We got a late start, but made good time and got set-up before dark.  Unfortunately, the water hoses leaked when Eric attached the water, so we couldn't use the water in the sink or try out the water heater.  The heater and the fridge worked great though.

We haven't bought a battery yet and somewhere on the trip lost the box that holds the battery.  Weird.

This trailer also has a port potti which is awesome.  No more walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Both kids did great.  Joshua loved playing with his dump truck and tractor, both at the beach and at the campsite.  We took Nora's swing which helped out too.

The weather was perfect.  Not too hot, or cold.

We took a long walk on Saturday night and came back on a trail.  It's a good thing we had the jogging stroller since any other stroller would have gotten stuck. (Eric loves the new stroller by the way.)

The campsite was nice and big with a pull-through.  Fairly secluded too which was nice when the kids were crying.

A great campground.  Would go again as there are many more trails to explore and swimming in the summer.