Hidden deer

Yesterday was rainy on and off but the sun finally came out for the full day today… always a welcome sight. Even got to sit outside for a while today, had to wear a coat but I’m not complaining!

The park (Thousand Trails Chehalis) is probably as full as it’s been since arriving a couple weeks ago. Maybe 12 - 14 RV’s here right now. They still haven’t opened up all of the sections yet, no need to with so few people here.

When Cheye and I were out on a walk yesterday we saw some deer. Seems like there aren’t as many deer as when we were here last summer, so it is exciting when we do see them. One was trotting across the road ahead of us so I took photos (of course). It wasn’t until I got back, put the shots on the computer and cropped them that I saw there were 2 deer in the pictures! Those critters really blend into the landscape well.

Photos
Top: taken while on a walk with Cheye this morning
Below: the photos I thought was of just one deer...

This and that....

It started raining last night about 8:00 p.m. and finally slowed down about noon today. Not a hard rain, but very steady. Oh well, I guess all that rain is why it stays so green and beautiful in this park.

Laundry was on the list of things to do yesterday. I packed everything up to drive to the laundry room (we are on the opposite end of the park) and the pickup had trouble starting. So after laundry was done we made a trip over to Jim & Kathy’s to figure out the problem. One of the repairs Dave and Jim did to the pickup the other day was to replace the fuel filter and evidently something on that wasn’t quite right. They got it figured out and the pickup seems fine now. We certainly do a lot more maintenance on this pickup than we ever did on our cars, but then the cars didn’t haul our home around!

Since it was so rainy out today we didn’t do much…just a relaxing day. Did some reading, computing, stitching, cleaning (house and pickup), vacuuming, watched some TV, did the dishes, took Cheye for walks... actually, I guess we did do a fair amount. :o)

Photos
Both taken a couple days ago while walking through Thousand Trails Chehalis, WA
Video: Today in the park

Daisy

First let me say, no we did not get a cat. Today we spent the day over at Jim & Kathy’s (Dave’s brother & sister-in-law) and Daisy is Kathy’s new kitten. She is a Red Point Siamese and great fun to watch when she is out playing, so I made a short video of her that I posted below.

Dave and Jim spent the vast majority of the day working on our pickup. They replaced injectors, fixed the air brake, and cleaned the air filter. Kathy and I watched TV (The Tutors on Showtime) chatted and ran to Dairy Queen to get burgers for lunch. Hmmmm…kinda a girls afternoon off! :o) After the guys got the pickup back together we had a bbq’d dinner. We had a terrific visit and a fun day!


Photos
Top: Daisy the cat
Bottom: tonight's beautiful sunset here at Thousand Trails Chehalis, WA
Video: More of Daisy

Windows

We took care of a few errands today, grocery shopping and a stop a Home Depot. Kinda funny, Home Depot used to be a frequent stop to get home and yard improvement stuff for our house in Benton City, but it's not a place we usually stop at anymore. However we’ve been thinking about warm summer weather and wanted to see if they carried foil insulation for windows. Sure enough they sell rolls of it so we picked some up. We love our lovely big windows but when the sun is beating through them it heats up this trailer quickly! We will be able to put it in the windows or take it out easily, like the covers people use for their car windshields, so it will only block our view when really needed. The windows are tinted but since this insulation will completely block the sun it will really help out.

We also visited with Dave’s brother at his trailer sales lot. We walked through a few of the trailers, he had some real nice ones. Always fun to look at new RV’s, and fun to chat with Jim.

Photos:
Top: Clouds yesterday here in Chehalis, WA
Bottom: Cheye on a walk through the park

Nearly Empty Park

It surprises me how empty this beautiful park is. Since Tuesday there have been about 7 RV’s here, and I think 3 of those are coaches or trailers of people that work in the park. Over the weekend there were a few more campers, maybe another 6 to 8 rigs, so still not many. I’m not complaining at all I just expected to see more people here, after all Thousand Trails Chehalis has over 300 campsites. I imagine it will change drastically after Memorial Day.

The weather really cooled off yesterday here in Chehalis - back to long jeans and jackets. On the up side we still see the sun peek out between the clouds throughout the day. I took Cheye for a walk over to the dog run this morning and met a couple of ladies whose husbands work here at the park. I found out one of the reasons the new dog run area is so big is that the fencing was formerly around the pool area, which is good sized. They upgraded the pool fencing from chain-link to PVC fencing. They then decided to put the chain-link to use by creating a dog run…which I, and Cheyenne, definitely approve of!

Photos
Top: Our "patio" area
Middle: The new dog run here at TT Chehalis
Below: views around the park

A little move

The weather has been amazing the the last couple days. Unfortunately the weatherman is telling us it won’t last, but at least we’ve had a few nice days.

We went into Chehalis (WA) yesterday for a few things and picked up lunch at Quizno's. The rest of our time has been spent enjoying the park and weather...both were quite easy to do!

While out on a walk around the park today we decided to move. A couple of coaches had left and one of the sites was quite nice, great view out the back, in an area with a few more trees, sewer hookup and enough of a clearing overhead to get satellite. Sounded like a winning combination so we moved over a “street”. Our last site had satellite but not as good a view or sewer hookup. It’s fun being able to move like that.

Oooooo pretty sunset….I’ll go take a few photos and share!

Photos
Top: our new site
Bottom: tonight's fabulous sunset
Video: Views around the Lodge at Thousand Trails Chehalis

Fabulous Sunday

Wow…what a fabulous day! Made it up to 81 according to our thermometer. Dave and I were able to sit outside and really enjoy the day, plus we took a few walks around the park. The views of Mount St. Helens were striking, so photos were called for. You can see another mountain in the distance, I think it is Mt. Adams but I’m not real good at identifying mountains.

We did take care of a few things, a couple of the curtain tie-backs had pulled away from the wall so Dave fixed that. I caught up the checkbook…yep pretty strenuous day. :o)


Photos:
Top: Mount St. Helens
Middle: Mt. Adams??? - Not sure about that
Bottom: The sky line
Video: In yesterday’s blog I mentioned the gully washer we had the other day, I have a little video showing the end of the downpour, the rest is of Thousand Trails Chehalis.

Some rain and some visiting

We had an errand day yesterday, nothing really noteworthy except some weather. Rain was predicted but what we got was a real gully washer! After picking up the mail and a few groceries we were driving back to the park and the rain hit…hard! With wipers on full and truck slowed down it was still hard to see. There was some hail mixed in the rain so that added to the fun. It’s a very short distance between the pickup and the trailer but we still got drenched running to the trailer with the bags of groceries.

By morning the weather had cleared up and today was lovely. It was also Kathy’s (Dave’s sister-in-law) birthday. We were invited over for birthday dinner and had a fun time with Jim & Kathy and Kathy’s family. Good food and lots of fun, always a nice combination.


Photos
Top: Deer by the trailer
Middle: Recon, Jim's dog
Bottom: Kathy's horses

Full-time RVer day

Today was a true full-timer day, no schedule, no commitments, just a day of total relaxation in a beautiful setting...ahhhhhhh……. BTW Dave was kind enough to photo the sun coming up so I could see it too…. I’ve included the photos in the slide show. ;o)

Photo: When we were at Jim & Kathy’s yesterday Cheye pestered Kathy for a raw potato, so Kathy obliged and Cheye was so pleased.
Video: Scenes from today at Thousand Trails Chehalis.

Thousand Trails Chehalis, WA

We traveled about 80 miles this morning from Vancouver to the Thousand Trails Chehalis Preserve. They have done a lot of pruning and some cleaning up around the park since we were here last summer. Looks good.

After finding a site and getting set up we took Cheye for a walk. The park is pretty empty, Chehalis closes down over the winter and has only been open a few weeks. It really is a lovely park, lots of deer and nice sized sites.

This afternoon we visited with Dave’s Brother and Sister-in-law, Jim & Kathy. We had a nice visit and Kathy prepared a yummy dinner for us. I think it’s been almost 3 weeks since I have cooked dinner…I imagine that run will end very soon, like tomorrow!



Photos
Our site at Thousand Trails Chehalis and a visit from the deer.

Van Mall RV Park

The park we are staying at, Van Mall RV Park, is a good park. It is very clean, as are the bathrooms and the people are friendly, but it is what we would refer to as a “parking lot“ park - just a nice place to park. In a very handy location for us, about 5 - 10 minutes from Mom’s so I’m sure we will stay here again.

A quieter day today…I took Mom grocery shopping. She is getting around pretty well but is still unable to drive. Later I used Mom’s sewing machine to take care of a couple little projects I had. We made a spaghetti dinner and that was about it for the day!

I had forgot that a couple days ago we found a Dog Park here in Vancouver, not far from Mom’s. We took Cheye there and she seemed to enjoy it…she was a little nervous but I think she got into it before we left. I took a little bit of video there so I’ve included it in my video below.



Photos:
Views of Van Mall RV Park, Vancouver, WA
Video:
Dog park and dog walk

Happy Easter

Yesterday my Brother and Wife came down from Moses Lake, WA. We visited for a while and then they went to visit my Sister-in-law’s Dad. While they were out my Sister came by Mom’s and we had a chance to chat for a while. Later my Mom, Brother & Wife along with Dave & I squished into Mom’s little Pontiac and went to dinner at Shari’s. We had a good time eating and chatting.

I prepared a little slide show for them of a few places we have been on our travels. I didn’t want to make it too long, it was difficult to decide which photos made the cut and which didn’t, but it was fun to go through all the photos.

Today for Easter Mom, my Brother & Wife and Dave & I went out to a 1:00 lunch/dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Quite tasty! It’s been a very pleasant Easter… hope you all had a great holiday too.

Photos
Mom's house and some pretty trees/flowers in the neighborhood

In Vancouver, WA

Our visit back home to the Yakima Valley was really great. Still not enough time to see everyone, but we will be back!

We traveled down to Vancouver, WA yesterday for a week to visit with some of my family. My Mom lives in Vancouver and my sister & her husband live nearby. My brother and his wife are going to come down from their home in Moses Lake to visit this weekend for Easter, so it should be fun. Yesterday we had a good visit with Mom and today I took her around shopping and for a few errands. Mom broke her kneecap a few weeks ago and can’t drive. My sis has been running Mom around and helping out, so while I’m in town I’m trying to give her a break!

The weather has been pretty nice so far. It rained most of the night but yesterday and today has gone back and forth between clouds and sun so I‘m not going to complain.

Photos
Top: Cheye enjoying the grass in Prosser, WA
Bottom: Mt. Hood over the bridge from Maryhill State Park
Video: Our trip through the Columbia River Gorge yesterday.

Beautiful Start

Since we have been up here Dave has been getting up early and going into coffee. Consequently I’ve been waking up earlier and this morning it paid off…what a beautiful sunrise! It was just the beginning of another day of fabulous weather.

Today I went visiting at the place where I used to work. It was good to see some people I worked with for so long. Later in the day a friend stopped by and we had a glass of wine and talked for a while.

Just as a note, Cheye’s fur-cut was a little shorter than expected…yes, she looks a bit funny but it will grow back...and she is still as sweet as ever!

Photos
Top: this morning's sunrise
Bottom: A funny looking Cheyenne

Really close shave

This morning I took Cheye for a walk around the park. It was crisp, sunny and the smell of cut grass was in the air…it was absolutely beautiful. This was the kind of morning I always loved here in the Yakima Valley. The day went on to be in the 70’s, it was fabulous weather.

We went up to Yakima today and visited with Dave’s sister and brother-in-law again. We had another nice visit. Today was also the day for Cheye’s spa visit; fur cut, shampoo, nails done…the fur cut is her summer cut…as you can see by the photos it’s really short! Later our niece Sarah came by and the three of us had dinner. It was a good time, lots of chatting and catching up.

But I guess I got ahead of myself…yesterday we ran one last load up to the storage unit plus some bags of stuff to Goodwill. We have open storage space in the trailer again… yeah! In the afternoon I went to a local winery with a couple of friends and did some catching up with them. We had a good time talking and tasting some wine. Another great couple of days here in Prosser, WA!

Busy couple of days

We’re still having a great time here in the Yakima Valley in Washington state. If you didn’t realize, we used to live here, just about 10 miles from the park we are at in Prosser, WA.

Friday we helped our friends Chad & Robin move. They sold their house and needed a hand with the heavy stuff and we were happy to help out. A few others came over too, good thing as there was lots of heavy stuff! Robin and I packed up the kitchen but at 9:30 I had to run because of my hair appointment that day. I made the appointment about 2 months ago and have been looking forward to having the hair stylist I’ve gone to for years cut and color my hair. It turned out great! By the time I got back to Chad & Robin’s all of the stuff they needed help with was moved so we went back to the trailer and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Today, after Dave got back from coffee with the guys, I went up to Tri-Cities to get a few groceries. I also did a little shopping at the Mall, found some jeans and a couple tops. This evening we went out to dinner and ran into a couple other people we know and visited with them a bit. Now it’s time to turn in for the night…maybe a little TV before sleep.

Photos:
Top: Our site here at Wine Country RV in Prosser, Wa
Below:
1. Chad hamming it up a bit while we are helping move them out of their old home
2. Moving the freezer
3. Packing up the kitchen