Fall Has Arrived; Winter Around The Corner, Heading South

Welcome September. We can see in the leaves of the trees that Fall is just around the corner and the weather is starting to change. Ordinarily we would be starting to pack to head south, but we are going to be camp hosts at Potlatch State Park starting on the 7^th until the 24^rd. Looking forward to it except the weather is supposed to be wet for a few days. That should be fun!!! Not! We have our raincoats and boots so no worries. It's not like we will melt or anything! Ha!!

The 3^rd, Dave took our new truck in for a maintenance check and he stopped by the canopy place where we ordered a new canopy for the truck. It will be nice to have that so we don't have to worry about any of our stuff getting wet or beaten down by the sun. We should be getting it sometime this week. That is great since we will be gone for most of the month. After we leave Potlatch we will join friends at Dosewallip State park. That will be the end of our vacation in the trailer. The Elk are supposed to be out and about so that will be awesome. We haven't been to Dosewallips before so it should be fun and to have good friends to share it with.

Dave had a treadmill stress test on the 21^st of last month. He has a small heart murmur but the doctors aren't worried about it. He had a chest pain in Mexico last year so Dave thought it might be good to mention that. The thing is it never came back. So they wanted to get his heart rate up to see if they could pinpoint why. Well they couldn't. They could only guess. So on the 4^th he went in for another test and they saw a little something but not something that rang bells and whistles. So Friday he goes in to talk to the cardiologist. So we shall see. They put him on a couple medications last month and then he had to stop 2 days prior to the test on the 4^th so it wouldn't interfere with the test results.

Wednesday we got a call from the canopy people saying our canopy was in. Since Dave had a doctor appointment, they scheduled us to get it on the next day, Thursday. The doctor visit on the 4^th didn't take that long so we called the canopy place to see if we could get it put on that afternoon, but they were booked. So tomorrow we will have our new canopy!! Yay!

Here is our new canopy!!! Looks pretty cool!

Jonathan, my son, wanted us to come over to see his house. It is a 100 year old house and needs lots of work. He and a buddy from work tore out all the dry rot along the lower part of the house and replaced the boards. We saw Jon and the house when he first started working on it. So after we got the canopy on the truck we headed for Jon's place. It was Jonathan Jr. first day of school, but we couldn't be there to see him, so I called him last night to wish him well. Cameron was in daycare and Susannah at work. Jon wanted to take a couple days off to finish painting the house before the rain came. It looks good and they did a great job. He has been painting all morning. We visited for awhile and he showed us what he did and he is trying to make it look presentable so in a year they can sell. He has done a great job and he will get a lot done without the boys under his feet. He is leaving the lower part of the house for them to paint as they want to help so bad. I think that is really neat. Jon is proud of his work and so relieved to get the house done so they can start looking for another house and sell this one. It is a cute house and 100 years old and they have outgrown it. The boys need their own space so I hope they find something they can afford. Time will tell.

Dave had his talk with the cardiologist this morning and he said there isn't anything present at this time to be worried about or do anything about. Maybe in 10 years he may need a stint in one of his valves, but for now he just needs to keep taking the medication. So it was good news. I am relieved and I am sure Dave is too. He doesn't like having to take the extra medication, but he knows it is important.

After his appointment Dave went down to the Brownsville Marina to help a friend with her boat. Then when he returns it is grocery shopping time. I was going to climb on the roof of the trailer and sweep the pine needles and leaves off, but I will do that before we leave tomorrow morning.

Today is the day we report for duty as Camp Hosts at Potlatch State Park. Before leaving Ron and Noreen's place, Dave went and had air pressure added to the tires on the truck. While he was gone I put things away in the trailer and climbed on the roof of the trailer to clear off the bump outs and roof. Then I cleaned around the bump outs to clear all spiders and webs and debris. After that Dave was back and we started hooking up the trailer. Everything was in working order so we said goodbye to Noreen and Ron. We will see them at Dosewallip State Park later this month. The tire pressure in the trailer tires appeared to be under pressure but we figured once we got underway and they started heating up we would have the right pressure in them. We headed out with a forecast of thunder and lightning in the afternoon. We are hoping we will beat it and get settled in our camp site before that happens. It's not that I don't like rain, I just don't want to get soaked and cold. At least the temperature is in the low 70's so it isn't so bad. As suspected, the trailer tire pressure camp up so all is good.

We arrived at the park and went to check in but there wasn't anyone at the office. We took the opportunity to walk around to see where they wanted to put us. They told us site 1 which is a pull through with hookups. But they weren't sure so we have to wait until the Ranger gets in. We did meet one of the assistant park helpers and she told us to go to site 3. We talked a little bit and she mentioned there was going to be a talk on an owl tonight at the amphitheater at 7:00pm. That sounded interesting. It wasn't long before the Ranger showed up and introduced himself to us. We had just walked back to our trailer that was parked by the office. He told us to go ahead and get settled and he would see us tomorrow. So we were off to find site number 3. We found it and thought it would be easy to back into as the site across from ours was empty and looked like there was plenty of space to maneuver for backing in to our site. Because of the way the camp sites are positioned and rocks are everywhere, it took us quite a long while to get the trailer in position. They don't give you much space and when you have to look out for rocks it makes it harder. Dave was doing the backing up and I was trying to guide him. It is so hard when you aren't used to backing up a trailer or a boat on a trailer. I suck at it, where Dave does so much better. He struggled with this one, but we finally did it. The site ground is not flat so it also made a challenge getting the trailer level. It wasn't perfect but it will work for the 2 weeks we are here. We have full hookups and the bathroom is close by if we want to use it.

Those thunder showers I told you were supposed to come in the afternoon??? Never showed up. It was beautiful weather. It was warm enough to sit outside and yes it was mostly cloudy with sun breaks so I consider that great!! After we got hooked up, leveled and things put back in order inside the trailer, we walked to meet the other camp host which was just up the road from us. The ranger said since there were things that needed done since this was the end of the summer camping season, it would be good to have 2 hosts. We walked up and met a man named Laurie, who is Canadian. He has been hosting camps all around Washington and Oregon for 20 years. Very interesting and fun person. He told us that this job is pretty laid back. He is bored as he doesn't have contact with checking people in or anything like that, as he is a people person, but he is looking at maybe retiring from hosting and just travel around. So he and Dave clicked right away. Laurie is missing a leg so he can't walk a lot but his other complaint is he can't use the golf cart except on Monday's and Tuesdays. He is in charge of cleaning out the fire pits when people leave. Later on Laurie came by the trailer and picked Dave up to show him how to clean the fire pits and were to dump the stuff. I was a little jealous, but I will get my chance to ride in it and maybe drive it too. That is pretty much all Laurie does. Sometimes he helps the lady park assistant clean the bathrooms. After visiting with Laurie, we walked back to our camp and just enjoyed. At 7:00pm we walked to the amphitheater to listen to the presentation. A lady from Bainbridge Island rescue sanctuary brought a screech owl and gave a talk about it. 

She had us guess why that owl couldn't live in the wild. It turns out it was blind in one eye. One eye was black and the good eye was yellow. We also found out that it was a female and she was bigger than the male. She weighs only a ½ ounce and eats all kinds of different bugs, and small rodents. Close to 8:00pm it was starting to get a little dark and we heard the owl make some clicking noises. That told us she was fully awake and ready to hunt. She turned her head around about 260 degrees to see what was around her. It was pretty cool. I am glad we went. Next week, there is going to be a tour along the creek and someone to talk about the Salmon migration. That will be fun too!!

This morning I got up, had my coffee, and Dave said it is supposed to rain this afternoon and all day tomorrow. The ranger is due in around noon, so it gave me a chance to make a nice breakfast and get my exercises out of the way. Laurie came by and took Dave to check out the campsites which are emptying out. 

I decided to go for a walk and see how big the park was. I ran into the guys on my walk. They continued on and so did I. When I got back Dave was at the trailer so we walked across the street to the day use park so I could check out the beach. It started to sprinkle a little so we headed back to the trailer.

A little before noon, Dave walked over to the ranger station to get our gear. Then he was to go with Laurie to check all the campsites again to make sure no one left anything behind and clean the fire pits. Dave will be picking up gloves, garbage bags, and a pincher for picking things up. He brought us our hats, a pin, and a vest that says in big bold letters----VOLUNTEER! Cool. 

 

Here is a picture of our camp site.

The ranger is supposed to stop by later to talk to me about what he wants me to do. Dave said I will get to use the leaf blower!!!! Yahoo!!! I thought he was going to tell me I could clean the bathrooms!!! I don't mind just as long as I am busy!! I want to learn different things and I have never operated a leaf blower so I think it will be a blast!! Well it finally started raining. We are prepared though as we have our rain gear we had from the boat so we will be able to work in the rain with no problems. Next year I need to buy a pair of hiking/work boots. Right now I just have my tennis shoes and fit over boots to keep my feet dry. So volunteer life here we come!!! We also have to keep track of our hours. I think we both have to put in 28 hours. No sweat! It was lightly raining starting this morning but it wasn't enough to keep us inside. We donned our rain gear and boots and walked over to the office to see about picking up some disposable gloves, bags and a pincher for picking up stuff. They were in the work shop. One of the park gals was on duty in the office so she gave us a key to the work shop. The park ranger was out weed eating along the side of the road in front of the park. He had no rain gear on and was soaked. Thank goodness it was warm! He had his uniform on with a reflective vest, safety goggles and ear plugs in his ears. He didn't see us walking across the street as he was busy watching out for the passing cars and trucks and cutting the tall grass when it was clear. Once we arrived at the work shop, Dave unlocked the door and we went in to look for the bags and gloves. They have everything they need in that workshop!! Pretty cool. There was a small room next to the door where we found what we needed. We got the box of gloves and the bags and left. We walked back to look for the pincher and found a little one in the back of the rangers truck but it was broken. So I checked in the back of the golf cart and sure enough there was one. I took that and the other stuff back to our trailer. Later on, the rain had stopped and I had been sitting all day so I decided to walk around so I donned my vest and hat, grabbed the pincher and a bag and went looking for garbage to pick up left over from people who had left the camp sites. It wasn't too bad but you find, beer and water bottle caps, paper, rubber bands, wire tie wraps and plastic tags that are used on loaves of bread to keep the air out. Someone left a piece of twine tied between two trees so that was cut down. Of course cigarette butts. I walked around the park and was almost done when the ranger caught up with me and apologized for not getting around to coming over to talk to me. He also thanked me for picking up around the park. He asked if I would be interested in using the leaf blower sometime to help get the fallen maple leaves off the camp sites and road. I told him absolutely. I also told him I had never used one before and he said that maybe Friday we would get together at the sites he wants cleaned and go through the steps to running it. So I am stoked! I am hoping to learn to do a lot of different things while hosting camps. I enjoy the outdoors and love to be busy so this is a great life. Plus you don't work everyday. You have time to enjoy your surroundings and take in nature. Time passes by quickly when you are busy!

The weather forecast for the next couple of days is rain and possible thunderstorms. Oh yay!! It started raining last night late and continued through the next day. I sleep with ear plugs because someone snores, but it was raining so hard Dave needed a pair. We knew we wouldn't be doing anything this day as it was raining hard at times. I do hope it stops for a while so I can get out and walk and maybe take some pictures of the moss covered trees. Later in the morning Dave and I wanted to get out and go somewhere so since we didn't have peanut butter, that was an excuse to go in search of some. We didn't have to go far to a grocery store. It had pretty much everything you would need. So we decided to get the peanut butter and jam, along with fixings for spaghetti tomorrow night. We are going to ask Laurie to join us for dinner. We are back at the trailer and Dave ventured out to seek out someone to communicate with other than me. I was reading and he got done with what he was doing on the computer so he wanted to get some fresh air. Looks like it has stopped raining so I think I will venture out. Hate sitting so much!!! If I was doing my crafts I wouldn't have a problem, but I can only read so much.

It turned out to be a nice day and I was able to get some pictures taken.  First picture is of the Hood Canal.

As people walk by our camp site we say hi and sometimes strike up a conversation. There is one trailer that keeps trying to sneak in and not pay to stay. The rangers are on it and have evicted this person before. It is a young man and woman. The trailer is old and leaks gallons of water out from their water tank and they still hook up to water. Laurie, the other camp host walked over and turned off the water as there was a huge puddle forming not to mention the waste of water. Later as Dave and I are sitting inside our trailer, we notice that same camper mentioned earlier has moved to 2 sites from us!! Hmm! Then we see the woman going across the street from their site to another persons for a few minutes. Then we see the Ranger sitting up by the bathrooms in full sight of what is going on. Pretty soon we see that camper that just got backed into the site close to us drive away, but not before he has to jump the battery to get it to run. They also have a van that they cut down to look like a truck so that is what got the camper started. Later we met the Ranger who not only helps with this park but Dosewallips and another one when needed. She told us about the story with the camper and lady in the cut van. They are scammers trying to stay here for free and think they aren't being watched. They didn't have cash but thought they could pay with gift cards----. We think the only reason they went over to the other campers was to give them a sob story so they could get money. The Ranger told them unless they have cash they cannot stay. So they were told to leave. This is a beautiful park but it is known for getting not so great people in the winter. We have been warned to wear gloves and never push garbage down with the hands or feet as their may be needles in them. The disabled veterans are allowed, if they have a pass, to stay in a State Park for a while and then have to move on to another state park. I think that is nice. At least these guys and gals have a place to stay and many have either motor homes or trailers which are old but still in running condition.

It was a beautiful day yesterday, the 12^th, and I walked all over the park camp sites picking up liter, then walked down to the day park and did the same thing. Then, since the other camp host is off for a couple days, Dave and I have had a chance to drive the gator (golf cart) around and check the fire pits for any left over wood, or anything else and clean them out. I got to drive yesterday. I actually told Dave it was my turn since he has had enough times driving it around. 

 

It is fun to drive but doesn't go very fast. No horn but a yellow blinking light on top to use when needed especially crossing the highway; going to the shop, or when it is dark and raining. The weather forecast called for rain starting around 6:00pm. It was warm and pleasant outside so Dave and I took our cocktails outside and I was thinking it would be nice to have a camp fire before it rained. Too late. I went in to check the time and it was after 6:00pm and no sooner got in the trailer it started raining. It poured all night and we had thunder and lightning as well. A motor home came in during this down pour trying to get into his spot which he had already reserved. We saw he was having trouble so Dave donned his rain gear and went over to help. They were able to back into their site with some difficulty but at least they were in.

Woke to sunshine this morning. Not going to last but we will enjoy it while we can. Happy Friday the 13^th. Not superstitious so, to me, it is just another day. Did my tour of the day park and the camp sites where people have left. There are quite a few people arriving today for the weekend. Dave gets the departure and arrival list in the morning so we know which sites to check and make sure they are clean for the next campers. We feel happy to be able to help to keep the park clean. I have a totally new respect for Rangers and their aids. Their jobs are many and that is why they love having camp hosts to take some of the burden off them. I can't imagine how busy they are in the summer. It is almost non stop then. At least this time of year, the camping is diminishing and a lot of the upper camp sites here close for the winter. The winter is when they try to get all their maintenance jobs done to be ready for spring and summer. We have heard that each park has their own set of rules and chores for the hosts to do. Some parks ask the hosts to do a lot, others parks, not too much. Here there isn't a lot for the hosts to do as the aids and Ranger clean the bathrooms, use the mower, weed eater, leaf blower and collects the money and answers questions. So each camp is different and we are looking forward to that adventure next year. We get to see what is available for next year and choose where we want to go. When we go to Dosewallips to meet up with friends in 2 weeks, we will talk to the ranger there and see what openings they may have for next year.

I got to meet with the Ranger to get my lesson on the leaf blower. He has been so busy he hadn't been able to do it sooner. Pretty simple stuff.

The sunshine didn't last long but the rain held off until just before noon. Now we are inside reading and blogging and whatever else we can keep ourselves entertained with. Ha! It is supposed to be rainy all this weekend. It is that time of year!!! Looking forward to Mexico soon!!! Sunshine and warm temperatures.

We found out that the camp host, Laurie isn't much help at all to the Ranger and assistants. He cleans the fire pits because he gets to use the gator. But to do anything else he doesn't!!! They are not impressed and it is a good thing that Laurie is thinking of giving up hosting because he sucks at it. We found out he really isn't a people person and you hardly see him out. He leaves all the time to go to town as he is bored. We have been told by the aids and Ranger how grateful they are to have us there helping. The jobs are not glorious but they need to be done.

We had been asked by the Ranger to lock the gate here to the camp site and also to the day park. So just before 8:00pm, I went out and did that and it was raining pretty good. When I got back I thought it a good idea to hang my wet coat on the faucets of the shower. Boy was that a dumb idea. The handles of the shower turn down to get water flow. Guess what my coat did? Ha! Ha! Just the hot water side. It wasn't on full blast but it ran for 2-1/2 hours without us hearing anything. So when I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed the shower bottom was filled with water and was overflowing. What a mess. I had to go out and drain the gray water tank so the shower would drain, and then it was mop up time. That was not fun at all. Couldn't believe I did that. Well it won't happen again that is for sure. Then 2 days later we noticed water had been coming in by the bump out for the living room. It was pretty wet. It had rained really hard the night before so Dave had to borrow a ladder to see if there was debris and water that had collected in that corner. He cleaned off the leaves and the water that was there and then I used my towels to soak up all the water. We have rug right there all in front of the couch and cabinet with the TV on top. The bump out slides over the rug. We don't want it to mildew so we have to get heat on it as much as possible.

The next day I had a dermatology appointment in Tacoma so we decided we would take our dirty clothes to the laundry mat and do that first. There was a Walmart right across the street from the laundry mat so I stayed behind and did the laundry and Dave scouted for a little heater to use to dry the carpet in the trailer. When laundry was done and Dave was back with a small heater we went to lunch at McDonalds as we wouldn't have time later to eat before my appointment. Then we headed for Kaiser Permanente in Tacoma. I had a different doctor this time and really liked her. Instead of freezing my problem spots on my face, she said it would be better to use a cream. She said I had lots of sun damage on my face and she thought by using the cream, it would clear up these spots. I told her I had been trying for years to get my doctor to send me to a dermatologist as preventative medicine, but they wouldn't do it. They would just freeze the spots that were a problem. My nose was the biggest problem and even then they just froze away. Unfortunately new areas would pop up or the same ones came back. This time when I talked to my doctor and told him the dermatologist he sent me to last year was a joke and did nothing, he was OK with referring me to another dermatologist. Unfortunately the dermatologist he referred me to wasn't taking anymore patients so they came up with one in Tacoma. Now I know I will be able to be seen every year. Anyway---back to this cream. She warned me that my face would get knarly. Meaning ugly. She showed a picture to me of a severe case on the chest and it was not a pretty sight. What happens is this cream finds the pre-cancerous and cancerous cells and starts to attack them. When it finds them they turn red, can itch, burn, become a sore and be tender, but in the end all that bad skin will be gotten rid of and new skin will replace it. So the doctor wanted me to give it a try. I figure if it can get rid of these sores reoccurring over and over again, that would be wonderful. She wanted to see me in 3 months but I told her I would be in Mexico until May or June. So she told me what to do and if there were any problems let her know. We went down to the pharmacy to pick up the cream but they didn't have it. We would need to go to Olympia Kaiser Permanente pharmacy. It was on our way back to Potlatch State Park so we didn't have to go out of our way to get it. When we got there we had to wait a little bit as it wasn't ready but I finally got it and we headed back to the trailer. I will start the treatment tomorrow.

After washing my face and letting it dry, I applied the cream. I also put it on my ears. The cream is to be applied 2x's a day for 2 weeks.

It has been 3 days on this cream and there hasn't been much happening. Every once in a while I will have a spot itch or tingle, but nothing much. When I looked in the mirror this morning I thought my skin looked better but there isn't any red spots or nastiness going on yet. It does say it takes a while sometimes for it to work. I am not looking forward to a blotchy red ugly face, but I just want to kill whatever is going on with my skin. This cream is a type of chemotherapy for the skin so it is pretty nasty stuff. I have to use a different towel than Dave and wash my hands well after application. So we will see what happens. Good thoughts.

I walked over 15 thousand steps yesterday. That is the most I have ever walked. I picked up garbage in the camp sites and also the day camp too. After a short break I went and got the leaf blower so I could do the road that goes around our part of the campsite. I was able to start it on my own, which when I tried when the Ranger was giving me instructions, had difficulty. But I figured it out. The only problem was getting it on. It is a small leaf blower so the straps are close together. I managed to work it out and get it on and do that job. Then I took it to the day park and really started getting the hang of working it. Of course the wind was blowing in the opposite direction from where I was blowing, so I figured out how I was to make it work with the blower pushing the leaves the direction the wind would blow them. Duh?! Hey—sometimes it takes me a little bit to make things click! At least I figured it out and made it all work in my favor. It was a huge job but I finished it. I was done for the day so I returned all the equipment and headed to the trailer. I took off my vest and hat and grabbed a beer and enjoyed. I was dripping wet from sweat. It was fun and I felt good being able to do that job. Later I developed a sinus headache as I blew up some dust. 

I still had the headache when I woke this morning and was wondering if it was maybe a side effect of the cream, so I read the side effect list and headaches weren't one of them, so it is just sinus. Today I am tired so I'm not going to do much. I over did it yesterday but I'm not sore. I thought for sure I would be in the shoulders but glad I'm not. I did my exercises and then took a quick walk around the camp sites and picked up some liter. I wasn't going to walk the day use park. I will do that tomorrow. I am hoping to blow the leaves off the roadway in front of the shop as it is really covered. It is a dry day today and supposed to be tomorrow so everything should be drier.

The little heater Dave bought is working great. We have been blowing heat on the wet spots and it is starting to dry. We figured out what happened. The trailer wasn't level enough so we had to do a little adjusting and now it is much better and water won't collect on the bump out anymore. Thank goodness for that. Not much going on today so we are kind of taking it easy.

The headache I had was sinus/allergy related and had nothing to do with the medicated cream. So thank goodness for that.

It rained all day today so neither Dave or I had much to do. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice so we will be back cleaning up. There aren't a lot of campers during the week but get a few on the weekends. Check out is at 1:00pm so after they leave either Dave and Laurie go and clean the fire pits or Dave and I go. If it is just a couple Dave goes by himself.

I have been religiously applying the medicated cream to my face, ears and a spot on my arm, now for 5 days and other than a little burning from time to time and itching just a little, there hasn't been much difference to my face. I don't know if I should be disappointed or thankful. I should be thankful as that means I don't have as much damage to my face as thought by the doctor. The cream will clean up the trouble spots so that is really great. I have until the first of October to continue the cream and then after that just wear a hat and sunscreen.

Did my garbage picking up walk through at the day use park, then Dave helped me pick up some branches that fell from a tree. They were lightweight. He came over with the gator and as I was picking up garbage he was checking the garbage cans and such. When I was done, I had Dave take a picture of me with my garbage garb on. Gotta be bright for people to see me ya know!!! Ha!

Then Dave and I got the equipment to wear and the leaf blower to clear some of the upper camp sites the ranger wanted done. I was more than happy to do that. Odessa, the park assistant, had gotten to the leaves in front of the shop that I was planning to do---but that is part of her job. There are about 4 camp sites in the upper park that are loaded with leaves so it will be fun. Dave drove me up the hill and I donned my gear then asked him to take a picture. Got to document this stuff you know!! Once in a lifetime stuff! Plus an adventure for me as I never got to do this kind of stuff before. I am loving it. 

Dave left me to do my job and later came back for me. My shoulder was beginning to hurt because of the awkwardness of the pack on my back and shoulders but I was proud of my job and it looked good. It will save the Ranger and assistant some work. They will have enough to do this winter in repairing things and keeping things running. It is a lot of work and they don't just have one park they have 3 to maintain. I am glad we were able to do this now in the lull of the season as opposed to during the summer. We are hear for another day then we move on to see our friends at Dosewallip State Park and I am hoping to walk the 2 trails they have and see some Elk!!! A couple of the days we will be there should allow some walking. On the 27^th we head back to Bremerton to start the process of cleaning the trailer and packing. I have enjoyed our trailer but glad we won't be here during the winter. Too cold, wet and gloomy.

There was a tropical storm headed to our part of Mexico for a while but has turned away and there will be some rain but I don't think it will be bad. Thank goodness for that. The temperatures in Bahia are starting to drop during the daytime and at night so that is good news. Hope it stays that way.

Today it is pouring down rain and there isn't anything we can do so it is a day of crocheting, reading, and playing computer games. Oh yeah!!!! Maybe by 3:00pm when the weather report says it is supposed to stop raining, we can get outside just to stretch our legs.

Had our evaluation from the ranger this afternoon. Good reviews and he thanked us for helping out. We get to keep the vest and hat because they can be used in all the state parks. We are looking forward to doing this again next year in other state parks.

The rain stopped this afternoon around 3:00pm and so Dave and I got a chance to walk around and we talked to a couple who also live in Mexico but on the mainland side and they travel the states in the summer. It was fun talking to them. I was sitting at the dining table and the sun was shining and everything was sparkling from it just finishing raining and I spotted a spider making a web. I took a video of it making the web and then I took the end picture. It was utterly amazing to watch. They do it so fast too. Here is the end picture.

Woke to no rain but the forecast is calling for it later. I fixed Dave and I breakfast, and Laurie came by to get Dave to check out the empty camp sites and check the fire pits. When Dave came back I was ready to start my garbage pickup patrol. I walked the camp sites and the day park. I was about half done with the day park when it started to sprinkle. I kept going as you can't let rain stop you from doing a job. I didn't have a rain coat on, just my sweatshirt and vest and visor. But it didn't down pour so I didn't get real wet. Since it rained all day yesterday there wasn't a lot of garbage around so my trip was only a couple hours. Good enough for me to get some steps in. I had planned on leaf blowing a couple places in the camp ground and day park but now it is raining more so I can't do that now. Hopefully later on I will. This is our last day to host and it has been fun. We have met interesting people from all walks of life. I wouldn't mind coming back here again. I never did get more leaf blowing in as it rained hard all day long. We went to see the park ranger to give him an early wedding gift. I made a sign that said, 'Live, Laugh, Love' and had a sunrise for live, a clown for laugh and a couple sitting on a bench looking at the stars and moon. The ranger saw us the next day and thanked us for the gift and said his fiance couldn't wait to open it at the wedding. Today we cleaned up and put things away getting ready to leave tomorrow for Dosewallips State Park.

We turned in the keys we had and were able to keep the vests and hats as that is the attire for all state parks. I climbed on top of the trailer and swept off the leaves and then we were able to bring in the slide outs without having any debris on them. We couldn't check into Dosewallips until around 2:00pm and the checkout at Potlatch was at 1:00pm so that worked out good. We had a nice sunny dry day of travel, and we didn't have far to go. We checked in at Dosewallips and then found our camp site. We were close to our friends and Ron and Noreen came by car and rented a cabin. Not everyone that said they were coming came as things changed but there were 3 couples plus us. The camp sites at Dosewallips are flat and paved!!! Oh how nice it was just to be able to back up pretty straight and not have to worry about rocks. 

The park is beautiful although we didn't walk around much to check it all out. The reason we all wanted to go there is because this is the time the Elk show up. This is rutting season so they are usually all over the place. So we shall see. That night we all walked to the Goeduck Tavern for dinner and drinks 

and when we got back to camp we all sat around the camp fire getting reacquainted!! Then it was bed time.

The second day our friend Bob took all who wanted to go, on a hike in Quilcene . All together it was about 5 miles. It was a beautiful hike which started out pretty brisk in the morning but great hiking weather and it was all pretty flat. No big hills to climb. I wouldn't have made it if that was the case. Here are some of the pictures.

 Name of the hike Bob took us on!

 The trees were watching!!!!!  Can you see the face?

Small water fall.

After we finished the hike, Bob asked if we wanted to see the Dosewallips Fall. Of course we did. But everyone was tired from our hike and didn't want to hike much more. Bob reassured us we would have far to walk so we got into our cars and drove a short distance to were the fall was. He was right about it being a short walk and boy did we ever see a waterfall!!! Bob and the others said they have never seen it running so fast and full this time of year. We we had some thunder storms come through a couple times that dumped a ton of water so the Fall was beautiful.

 

After we returned to our vehicles, we went to lunch at Eagle Creek Saloon on the Hood Canal.  Fun place with dollar bills hanging all over the place with names and whatnot on them.

When we got back to camp we were all tired and I think some of us took naps. I just relaxed and read my book. I didn't think we were going to see any elk, but as Dave and I were relaxing, Dave looked out the trailer window and said there was an elk outside. It was a lone female eating the grass so I took that opportunity to take some pictures. She wasn't bothered at all by my presence. So beautiful and big!!!  

That evening we got together for appetizers and that turned out to be dinner. Then a camp fire was started and we all sat around sharing stories, laughing and having a great time. Tomorrow we are visiting 2 wineries on the Hood Canal.

Next morning I made breakfast and got everything cleaned up. We met late morning with the others to caravan to the wineries. The first winery we tasted about 6 different wines. We ended up buying a couple we liked. Then we went to the next winery but it was closed, but as we were in the first winery, the owner said we should try the Distillery. So it was just walking distance away from the unopened wine shop. We tried a couple whiskeys and Dave bought one.

We returned to camp and everyone did their own thing. Dave and I walked to the river to see the Salmon heading back to spawn. I have never witnessed that before on a river. I went to Seattle one time and watched them climb the salmon ladder but this was the true picture of how they end up. There were some dead ones and they were pretty beaten up and then there were those still moving about trying to lay their eggs. 
 

Yesterday was the only day we saw an elk. I was disappointed as Noreen, was walking to the bathroom early in the morning and it was still dark, and found herself in the middle of the elk herd. She didn't go any further. She peed among the trees by the cabin. Ha!! She shared the whole thing with us later.

Today was put things away, pack up and go back to our homes. We were going back to Ron and Noreen's backyard. We will be closing up the trailer for the winter. We said goodbye to our friends and low and behold before we left the park, we saw a herd of elk grazing on the grass. There were a couple males among many females and we saw the female elk again. We knew it was her because she had the number 54 tag hanging from her ear. I was thrilled we got to see more than one.

We got back to Ron and Noreen's house and decided we would stay in a hotel for a couple nights while we got the trailer ready for winter. We couldn't wash the trailer as it was in the afternoon and it was supposed to rain, but the next day was to be a good one for that so we would do that tomorrow. We went through the trailer and packed up all the things we were taking back to Bahia with us. I sealed the food items I was leaving in the trailer and packed all my clothes. I had cleaned the kitchen and bathroom so all the cleaning was done. We had to go out to a marine store to buy a heater that had a thermostat and temperature and shut off control on it plus two dehumidifiers. By the time we were done with that and getting them plugged in and temperature set on the heater, it was late afternoon. We found a reasonably priced hotel with a nice room and checked in. We were tired and hungry but I had some kielbasa and rice dish to make and since our room had a small kitchenette I was able to make dinner and eat in. After dinner and cleanup we relaxed!!

Next morning we had breakfast then headed back to the trailer. Today, Saturday, was a nice sunny day and it is supposed to be like that again the next day so we decided to go through the trailer and get things packed up and take the things we were taking back to Bahia put in the truck so we could take it all to storage until we were ready to pack the truck. We would wash the trailer on Sunday. Dave Did the winterizing of the water and heating systems in the trailer, while I cleaned out the trailer and packed. When I was done with everything, I loaded the truck with it all. Dave still had to pack but that was all that was left to do. When he was done packing, we pulled in the slide outs and locked it up. Tomorrow is washing and covering the trailer. We took all our stuff to storage and would come back Sunday after getting the trailer covered and pack the truck. We went back to the hotel and for dinner had leftovers.

Today was trailer washing day and putting the cover on. Our last day in Washington. While Dave was getting the new cover out, I was on top of the trailer sweeping off the debris. Then Dave hooked the hose up and handed it to me to start rinsing down the top. Ron tried to find his soft brush so we could scrub it, but couldn't so we just hosed it down and wiped the excess water off. Once it was dry we started the process of unfolding the cover. What a pain in the batooie!!!! We thought it was going to be easy to unfold as we went along. Well we shirley didn't think this through all the way. It was stuck together like saran wrap when it folds onto itself. We started in the morning and by late afternoon we were still trying to fit the darn thing on. Ron and Noreen went shopping, and when they got back we were still at it. They asked if they could help. I said PLEASE!!! By this time my back was done even though I was wearing my support belt. The cover did not go on straight, and through all the tugging to get it straight, found out it was a little too small. The right size was printed on the box but that wasn't what was in the box. So we were stuck with it. There are 3 zippers on one side and we couldn't get one to zip so there is about a foot gap. The trailer is covered except for that gap. It will be alright for this winter but next year we will get one that is a little bigger and give Ernie the one we have now. His trailer is smaller so it will fit. We were soooo exhausted and had planned to leave the next day to head south. So here it is about 5 and we still have to go to storage to get our stuff out of there and load the truck with it. I told Dave my back was done and I couldn't lift anything anymore today. He said he would do it all. Well he was really tired too, so I mentioned wanting to stay one more day so we could pack without rushing. Dave called the hotel to see if we could get a day extension and we did so that was so awesome. So we thanked Ron and Noreen for their help asked if they wanted to go to dinner with us the next night. They said yes and we let them choose the restaurant. We went back to the hotel had a cocktail then walked to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Afterward we headed back to our room to relax. Whew what a day!!!!!

What a difference a day makes. My back felt much better and we got a good rest so we felt better to pack the truck. We were able to get our hair cut and take a leisurely time emptying the storage unit of the stuff we were taking back to Bahia and packing the truck. NOW we were ready to head south in the morning. We drove to Ron and Noreen's so we could ride together for dinner. We went to Anthony's downtown Bremerton and had a wonderful meal and a nice last dinner together. After dinner we went back to their house and said our goodbyes and we headed back to the hotel. We will be on the road tomorrow, heading south. First stop, my niece in Sheridan, Oregon.