Around The Puget Sound

This past Friday we moved to La Conner TT (Thousand Trails) Preserve. We only stayed one night. Not a great park. It seems that they are in the process of making 35 sites "permanent" monthly sites and of course most of those 35 are "choice" sites. The site we finally managed to squeeze into was narrow and very hard to maneuver the MS into as the roads are very narrow with a lot of brush that needs trimmed really bad. Once we got parked, we discovered that even though we had a hole in the trees, we could not get either TV or Internet signal. We also could only get 2 channels with the TV antenna! Well, this wasn't going to work. When I signed on to go fulltime, part of the deal was that I had all the amenities of "home" such as water, electric, TV and Internet. One night without is OK, but not 4 or more!

Saturday we drove around Anacortes looking for another park to move to. We found a nice park at the Northern Lights Casino that offered full hook-ups and free cable and wi-fi. We went back to the TT park, hitched up and moved. Dean will be writing a letter to TT about the La Conner park. After getting parked, we drove to Burlington to do some much needed shopping. That evening I went to Bingo at the Casino, but alas, didn't win. Oh well, it was fun and I met a very nice lady from Mt. Vernon that I sat with.

Sunday morning dawned a very overcast, drizzly day. We decided to go to church then do some driving around in spite of the weather. Hah! We got to the church at 10:30 am and the service was half over. Seems that they went to a summer schedule and forgot to change the hours on their web site and on the sign in front of the church. I just hate it when web sites are not kept up to date!

We drove around Anacortes and out to where the Washington State Ferry docks. At the terminal we talked to a employee about taking the ferry around the San Juan Islands. She also told us not to miss driving through Washington State Park and down to Deception Bay.

The drive through Washington State Park was nice. There is a loop road that drives along the waterfront, but high up so you can really see the islands. What she failed to tell us is that this road is a very narrow one with a couple of very tight turns. If we were in a standard vehicle there would have been no problem, but with the dully, well suffice to say we made it, but with a lot a backing up at these turns. It was worth the drive though as the sights were pretty and we saw a deer about 50 feet from the road, just standing there looking at us like we were aliens!

Driving to Deception Pass was nice, but not really scenic. The clouds were getting heavier and darker and it looked like the heavens were going to open up and dump tons of rain at any moment. We were lucky, it held off till we got to the pass, took a couple of pictures and continued on south. Looking back we could see the rain, but we didn't get any - whew! Turned out to be quite a storm we were told, with lots of lightning and thunder and rain!

Whidbey Naval Air Station was our next destination. We wanted to check out their FamCamp (campground on a military base). Wow! They have a small, but really nice FamCamp right on base and right along the sound with views that won't stop! We may have to come here for a couple of nights after our cruise - we'll see.

That was our Sunday.

Monday morning we took the truck in to have the oil changed. That is always a real exciting time for me - LOL! In the afternoon, we took the ferry, as walk on passengers, to San Juan Island and Friday Harbor. The day had started mostly cloudy, but by the time we board the ferry it was beginning to clear with lots of sunshine, yea! The cruise over was nice, but being a ferry, there was no narrative about the islands that you were passing so we just enjoyed the view. We had two hours to spend in Friday Harbor before the returning ferry back to Anacortes so we walked around town, did a little shopping and went to the Downrigger for a bite to eat. The Downrigger sits right at the harbor and the view is great as was the food. Dean had cream of asparagus soup and I had a small Cesar salad. We then split a half pound hamburger - good decision. I had decided that I didn't want dessert, but Dean asked what they had and he heard "bread pudding" that made his mind change quick. So...I had to have the white chocolate cheesecake, of course! Yummy to both! I recommend the Downrigger if you ever get to Friday Harbor - great views, great service and good food!

On the ride back to Anacortes, the sky had cleared and the snow capped mountains were totally visible. The late afternoon sun shinning on the snow made it even more beautiful. Came home tired but happy with our days adventure.

Today we are on the move again, this time to Blaine, WA. We are staying at a Passport America park for two weeks. Of course one of those weeks we will be on THE Alaska Cruise. I don't know if I'll get back to posting here until we return from the cruise. The rest of this week will be spent doing prep work, like getting a perm, having some dry cleaning done, cat to vet's, etc. So, in case I don't get back with another post we hope that you have a very HAPPY FORTH OF JULY!

Pictures from the last couple of days will be available to view at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/SchultzTravelPhotos