Olympic Peninsula Tour (Part 2)

Falls View Campground

 

After disembarking from the Seattle-Bremerton Ferry we drove across the Hood Canal bridge, catching hwy 101 about fifteen miles north of where we wanted to camp.  The campground at the end of the south-bound back tracking was well worth the miles.

 

Falls View Campground is excellent.  It is a forest service campground so it has fire rings, tables and vault toilets.  No hook-ups of course, but it is heavily forested and lives up to its name regarding the view.  The little loop trail from the back of the campground overlooks a pretty waterfall, but the amazing spot is down the half mile steep, steep descent to the river.  I’ve seen many pretty river/waterfall/streams with ferns spots in my day, but this one is in the top five for sure! 

 

The only bummer is that steep climb back up.  Of course I forgot my camera when we hiked down and we were itching to get back on the road the next morning so we didn’t make another trip down the trail.  Sorry about the lack of pictures, but if you ever find yourself just south of the Hood Canal bridge on hwy 101, be sure to spend at least one night at Falls View Campground.  Oh, and bring the bug spray!

Olympic Peninsula Tour Part 1

Olympic Peninsula Tour Part 1,

The Ferry Ride

 

 

Welcome to our Olympic Peninsula Tour.  We had a week to kill between stays in our membership campgrounds, so in order to avoid the heat in Wenatchee, we decided to see the sights along hwy 101 on the Peninsula in Washington state.

The first leg of our Olympic Rain Forest journey included a ferry ride from downtown Seattle to Bremerton.  We were a little concerned about getting the giant motor home on a crowded ferry so we decided to try a Thursday thinking it would be much less congested than a weekend day.

 We were right!  It was a breeze.  The traffic and construction on the mountain passes from Wenatchee even cooperated.  We drove straight to Seattle and were on board a mostly empty ferry within twenty minutes of our arrival!

Driving on and parking the motor home was no problem and the hour boat ride was a welcome break from being behind the wheel.  The kiddos and Aunt Jo spent most of the time leaning over the deck rails watching the jelly fish go by.  We took some great pictures and landed in Bremerton ready to do a little more driving and find a campsite for the night. 

 Our final destination on this Peninsula Tour is our membership campground at Ocean Shores.  We are definitely taking the long way there, but it is after all about the journey and not the destination. 

 Come back and read about the great discoveries we made on our “long way around” expedition to the beach.

p.s. To you friends and family keeping up with us through this blog, I apologize for being behind and out of order, but promise that I am trying to get caught up this week while we have an internet connection!

 

Mushroom Madness

Mushroom Madness

Entiat Falls actually looks like a waterfall early in the season! 
Who knew?

This week’s trip to the Entiat River marks our second trip to the mountains and third trip out this season.  We braved the road all the way to the end and stayed at Cottonwood Campground.  It was beautiful as always.  The river is still running like mad, so the kids had to stay in the little inlets near our campsite. 

North Fork trail cross-roads we passed on our
way to the mushroom covered hillside

 The highlight of this campout was the mushroom picking. 

 

We discovered a hillside where a small burn had occurred last summer, so the morel mushrooms where thick.  The sight of thick stands of wild mushrooms is not something that you see very often.

 The hike into the mushroom sight was very pleasant.  We drove to a trailhead and then hiked about a mile and half over several creek crossings and through some beautiful country.

 We are looking forward to at least one more trip to these mountains this year, but first we have many miles to cover all across Washington state.  

 

We love to read your comments, so please keep them coming!

 

 

I Spy!  Can you see them?

 

 

 Power Predicament

Much to the kiddos great dissatisfaction we have actually been home for almost a whole week and are not headed out again for four more days.  Being home for a stretch did, however, give me a chance to get the power problem in the RV fixed. 
 

Learning The States While On the Road

It appears the capacitor in the converter was bad.  That sentence makes me sound like I know what I’m talking about!  Ha!  And no, I did not say Flux-Capacitor.  Wouldn’t that be neat…a time traveling RV!  Sign me up!! Seriously, what it came down to though, was a part that was still under warranty from some work we had done last year.   Good News!!

 

The unknown at this point is rather or not the generator caused the problem.  To determine the culprit I am waiting to take it to my dad who is brave enough to stick a volt-meter into the generator’s 30 amp outlet.  In the meantime, however, the batteries are charging and all systems (except the generator) are a go.

 

Our next trip is going to be another excursion into the mountains.  My brother and his kids are going to caravan with us and at this point it looks like the vote is leaning toward the Entiat river valley again.  I guess my kiddos want their cousins to see the waterfall and explore the woods and water they experienced a few weeks ago. 

 

If we can just get through one more week of school we will be ready to REALLY get this show on the road!  We are always looking for suggestions and info on new spots.  Leave us a comment and tell us about your favorite camping location.

 

 

 

 

Healing Waters for Memorial Day

 

Last minute Memorial Day weekend trips are not the easiest journey to plan.  Add a geographical restriction and it gets harder.  Then on top of that make electricity a requirement and you find your self at Soap Lake City RV Park.   

 

Not that there is anything really wrong with Soap Lake City Park, it was just not at the top of the want to visit list. 

 

In case you don’t know the facts on Soap Lake, it is full of minerals so the water feels very “soapy” (thus the name) and is reputed to be extremely healthful and healing.

 

We pulled into the Lake’s first come first serve park on Thursday evening and got two really great spots. (Traveling with my brother and his 3 kids) We could see the playground from the sites and they backed right up to the lake, so it was great for the kids. 

 

In order to have power (see previous post about battery breakdown) I jerry-rigged a system to run off extension cords and a trickle charger.  Mike and I backed the campers in so our doors opened toward each other and we were set for our little get away.

The kids thought it was great to be able to walk right into town.  I guess when you live in the country, camping in town is a great idea?!

 

On Saturday, the town of Soap Lake held a soap box derby racing tournament.  They closed down Main street and boys and girls raced their “cars” down the street all day in order to qualify for nationals in Ohio.  Our kids thoroughly enjoyed watching the races and Papa is ready to build one after watching the fun.

 

The weather was perfect for Soap Lake, I would not want to camp here during the heat of summer, but this early in the season it was just right.  The lake is so shallow that it was even warm enough for swimming even though it was only in the 70s and partly sunny outside.

I guess the lesson learned this weekend was that even last minute, last resort ( pun intended :) trips can be fun!

 

Battery Breakdown

Battery Breakdown

 

Well today we woke to pouring down rain and dead coach batteries.  I love the rain.  I just wish it hadn’t arrived on the same day the battery and generator are both dead.  I think this is my own fault, but until I get home and test it for sure, it is just a theory.

What the back-side of a waterfall looks like

It started yesterday while I was running the generator. We were getting a.c. power but the battery didn’t seem to be charging very efficiently.  So, instead of believing the gauge and just letting the generator run longer I decided it must be the gauge with the problem and turned the generator off thinking our batteries were fine.  Wrong.  I now think (more like know for sure since the lights and water pump won’t work) that the gauge is fine and the batteries are the problem.  What I don’t know for sure yet is if the generator was ever charging the battery or if it was but I just wasn’t letting it run long enough. It is loud and obnoxious after all.

 

 But wait, it gets better.  To charge the batteries you need a generator right? Got it.  To start the generator you need spark (like an engine) which comes from a battery.  Yep. You guessed it.  No battery life, no generator, no generator, no battery life. How dumb is that?  Needless to say, I need a spare battery or at the very least a car jumper battery pack thingy. 

 

On the bright side, the battery that starts the motor home engine is working great so we aren’t stuck! And the kids are getting some really good journaling and reading time in while we wait for this rain to let up long enough to load outside stuff and head home. 

 

It is a great day to be camping in an RV instead of a tent!

 

Lunch behind the waterfall

Lunch behind the waterfall

 

May 19, 2013

Today the kiddos and I packed a lunch and headed to the top of the waterfall trail.  After stopping and reading the map at the ranger cabin we realized it was only a .75 mile hike.  Sounds easy, right? 

 

Behind Silver Falls, Entiat Washington

Well, here’s the catch; it’s a 600+ foot elevation gain in that three quarter mile.  Lots and lots of stairs!  The trail actually forks off and you can take the switchback type trail or the one with all the steps.  The step side stays alongside the water and is, in our opinion, much prettier.   Either way, the hike is not too bad.  It’s a lot like going to the gym and getting on the step machine for 30 minutes of uphill.

 

Along the way we identified several types of conifer trees, saw multiple chipmunks and admired an abundance of early wild flowers.  When we reached the top we climbed over the fence (do they really think a two rail fence will deter people?) and stood behind the waterfall.  Very cool!  (literally). 

 

Our picnic was devoured as we sat on a rock ledge that ran sort of behind and beside the waterfall.  (Still on the naughty side of the fence, of course) Isn’t it amazing how good a simple bagel sandwich tastes in a new setting?!

 

On the way back down the trail we were continually amazed at the sheer volume of water coming down the mountain.  It is especially awe-inspiring as you cross the bridges.  What a great way to spend an afternoon.  No boring recess for us!

First Trip Out for 2013: Silver Falls, Entiat

 

May 17, 2013

 

For our first trip out in the RV this year we were quite ambitious.  6 days in the forest with no hook-ups isn’t exactly a test run, but I guess we are beginning to have some faith in our trusty old RV.  For this trip it was just me and the two smallest munchkins, another display of confidence in our camping equipment and abilities. 

 

Emma and Jonathan at bottom of creek that
comes out of Silver Falls

All disclaimers aside, we are having a great trip.  The academic focus of this excursion is trees and leaves.  The kiddos are learning to follow a dichotomy key to find the species of trees based on their leaves.  They also learned that in the confer family of trees only three types of leaves (needles, scale-like and awl) exist.  Our various hikes easily led to finding examples of each for their collections.  

 

The campground at Silver Falls is gorgeous this time of year.   It is not one of my favorites later in the season because it gets crowded, but for an early season expedition it is just perfect.  The river is running swiftly so we looked for and found a site that had a small inlet where the water was safe and quiet. 

 

 

A note to self here: Campsite number two is just the right size for the motorhome and has great water access.

 

 

Emma has decided to make a digital display of the flora and fauna she discovers this year. She is at this very minute baiting and stalking a chipmunk in order to capture him with her camera.

When her get her blog up and running I will let you know so you can check it out. 

Welcome

WELCOME

May 2013

It seems that my family and friends are having some difficulty keeping track of where the kids and I are during the summer. So, I've decided to start this blog in order to let everyone know where we are and what we are doing. I am also thinking that if I have a half decent record of our road school comings and goings I will some day be able to label all the pictures we take. (Or at least label the boxes and digital folders they are stored in). Perhaps there are a few of you out there who will be interested in reading about our journeys.

 

I guess I will begin by introducing the cast in this traveling troupe. I am Michele. Mom, home-school teacher, driver, gardener, goat herder and now a beginner blogger. Because dad works a lot of hours at a very demanding job we are often on the road without him. He prefers to save much of his time off for hunting trips. No thanks!

Whale Watching on a Road School Adventure

The munchkins are six, ten and sixteen (not so munchkin in the case of the oldest). boy, girl, boy. "Little Guy", is Jonathan. Emma is the "Girl in the Middle," and ...hmmm.... working on a nice nickname for the sixteen year old hormone over loaded teenage boy. (Daniel) Let me know if you have any suggestions!

 

 

The munchkins and I have this dream of traveling all the way around the perimeter of the USA. We would love to spend a whole school year on the road. Ahhhh... dream big, right! So many obstacles stand between us hitting the road on THAT trip, but we haven't let them slow us down when it comes to shorter and more seasonal wanderings.

 

We are getting ready to head out on our first short journey this week. We are headed to the mountains nearby where we can complete our leaf and tree identification study. The munchkins are so excited for travel season to begin they have been sleeping in RV for the last week.

 

If you have stopped by the read this blog, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you. Anyone else out there spicing up their home school by adding more than a fair share of travel? Tell us about your journey!