Jeez, It’s really been a while. To be fair, the RV doesn’t have wifi. 🙂
Yet.
Summertime has killed my writing habit 🙂
A lot has been going on. So, it’s time for a series of blog posts so that I can remember and save forever all of the summertime fun and happenings from this year. I guess it’s when the weather is bad that I have the ability to offer the introspective that this blog has become known for.
Since it’s still summer. The next few posts are going to be all fluff. Get out your popcorn and a fizzy drink, you’re going to want them.
We spent a lot of time this summer living the RV life, it’s been fun. It’s exactly like having a tiny apartment that you can drive around. I’m planning on filling this post with links to all of the wonderful places we’ve visited and stayed. That alone will make this post slightly commercial.
We went to Hood Canal multiple times for the weekend this summer. When we head to Hoodsport, we always stay at the Rest-Awhile RV Park. It’s owned and run by friends of ours. It offers beautiful vistas, friendly people, and full hook ups (including cable!) for $50 a night. It even has two three bedroom houses that rent out nightly, as well as a few tent sites.
Rest-Awhile also owns a commercial oyster bed, guests are free to harvest to their heart’s content while at the park. If you are fortunate enough to have a boat to bring, there is crabbing galore (Thursday through Sunday), and at least four days a year there is shrimping to be done.
They have a newly revamped boat house as well, thanks to my Rooster! He spent the better part of two weeks drywalling, repairing and painting it. Rumor has it there will be an oyster bar there this time next year, as well as a marine repair shop. Whichever happens, I just wanted to congratulate my Rooster on a job well done!
One of our most favorite activities when we stay in Hoodsport is riding on the Hood Canal. We will often bring the trailer with bikes with the RV so that we can cruise the 101 and discover new places.
Rest A While RV Park! Here is a link to their facebook page.
For years one of our (well mostly mine) favorite summertime activities is going to the Packwood Flea Market (click here to visit the event website). If you have never been, you are missing out! This two mile long (at least a half mile deep on either side of the main drag) flea market has everything you could ever imagine. You want engine parts? Fudge? Yard Art? Plants? Spurs? Clothes? Dog Toys? Vintage Signs? Do you want to let your kid roll around in a giant inflatable bubble? Then the Packwood Flea Market is the place for you. It’s extraordinarily difficult to see it all in one day, and be forewarned, it’s always either extremely hot out, or it’s raining. The Packwood Fleamarket takes place on Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend every year.
This is what I got this year.
Usually this is just a day trip for us on bikes, but this year we took the RV and stayed at a beautiful property in Randall, courtesy of our friend Brian. Thanks Brian! It was a gorgeous 74 acre ranch/farm property. Here is a link to the property, it’s for sale!
Now before you ask, and you will, this is not an RV camping site, although RV parks do exist in Packwood. It was a favor to us that we were allowed to stay on that property. And that was mostly so that we could attend Brian’s annual big fire. The pictures below don’t do it justice. He is clearing a property of his way up on the hill and needed to get rid of all the brush. That fire was taller than you and I standing on each others shoulders!
Next up on the adventure circuit this summer was Dune Fest! Dune fest is an annual event in the sand dunes at Winchester Bay, Oregon. There was sand camping (RV with no hook ups) and much riding of quads, razors and sand rails. There were a few four wheel drive jeeps and specially converted cars/trucks with sand tires too, but the majority of people drove Razrs. Click here to view the Dune Fest website.
We attended this event specifically for my Rooster to get some use out of his Sand Rail. Purchased in Arizona a year ago, he has been having a hard time finding somewhere to run it. While it does have street tires, it comes with sand paddles too. It was a lot of fun racing that around the dunes. He even took a shot at short track racing and did pretty well!
The best thing that happened at Dune Fest was my Rooster winning “Best in Show” at the Show and Shine event! He’s got a plaque and everything. It also happens to be for sale, although not desperately, since Dune Fest he’s toying with the idea of souping it up and keeping it for more of the same.
Here’s the For Sale Flyer in case you are interested.
This weekend will likely be our final RV trip of the summer. We are headed to the George, Washington area for a weekend of camping and boating, capped off by the Guns and Roses concert at the Gorge. If you have never been to the Gorge, you are truly missing out. It is one of the the most beautiful amphitheaters in the US, second only to Colorado’s Red Rock Amphitheater (so I hear).
I am looking forward to the concert for sure, but what I’m really looking forward to is being on the water, in a boat, during whatever concert is the night before. I understand that both the sound and the laser shows are tough to beat from the water at dusk.
Let’s just add one final link, to the linkiest post ever. Event lineup at the Gorge.
Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! I hope that you all enjoyed your summer as much as we did!
I sure do love summertime, but it pales in comparison to the best season of the year. FALL!