Mother's Day

Preparations, Repairs, Check-ups, & Family

The past six weeks we have spent at the Burlington/Anacortes KOA have been incredibly busy!!  We have

Pacific Northwest Sunny Skies

spent our time preparing for our summer caravan to Alaska by first cleaning out and putting into a storage unit items we will not need on the trip – one, to clean up the clutter, two, to reduce the weight in the coach so it will better handle the rough roads crossing the tundra, and three, to improve our gas mileage.  We have gone from a full-timing mode to more of a camping mode.

 

We have also spent time working on repairs – principally replacing the windshields on both the RV and on the Jeep.  I really would have liked to wait until after the trip north but the ding in the RV windshield decided to open into a full-blown crack when we were in Yosemite due to the temperature changes between night (in the 20’s and 30’s) and the day (50’s to 60’s).  It took several weeks to get the replacement scheduled with our insurance company and installed due to the fairly constant rain the first couple of weeks we were here.  The Jeep windshield was 100% my doing.  I was cleaning the windshield and dropped the can of spray window cleaner hard enough to create a spider crack.  So, while we waited for the RV windshield, we contacted Safelite and they were able to come out to the campground and replace the Jeep windshield in a jiffy.  Jon got on top of all the other maintenance issues, so we hopefully have everything ready for the 6,000 mile trip north.

So many Rhodies!

Besides all of the prep and repairs, we also got all of our yearly doctors, dentist, and eye appointments completed so we are good for another year.  And if that were not enough to keep us running around like crazy, our daughter, Rebecca and her husband Jason, moved into their first home in Edmonds.  Having survived the arduous home buying experience they appreciated that we were able to help unpack boxes and to help work on the many home repair/upgrade projects they have on their schedule. 

When we weren’t running ragged on all of that, we really enjoyed the peace and quiet of the KOA.  It is nestled in the valley between the Cascades with lots of trees and excellent views.  This is one of the best KOA’s we have ever stayed at during our travels.  The facilities are kept immaculate by a friendly hard-working staff.  The owners take great pride in keeping this campground perfect for the families that crowd in on weekends and holidays.  The only downside to being north of Seattle in Burlington was that it was an hour to an hour and half drive to just about everything, so we put nearly 3000 miles on the Jeep in April & May!!!  So many trips south to Rebecca’s and doctor appointments in Seattle!

We only had a couple of excursions this last month.  First was to the Mt. Vernon Tulip Festival Street Fair.  It was wonderful to be able to get back out with people and not feel like we had to wear our masks all the time.

PLAYING WITH FIRE!

The second excursion was to Edmonds for Mother’s Day which we celebrated with Jason’s mom, Rebecca (yeah the number of Rebeccas in the family is really starting to get confusing as Alex’s girlfriend, Erin’s mom is also a Rebecca!)

Joanna, Rebecca, Rebecca P, & Jason on Mother’s Day

One of our shopping trips took down to a favorite haunt  – Pike Place Market!

We have pretty much decided the Pacific Northwest is where we will eventually hang up the keys so we spent some time viewing 55+ communities around Seattle.  We did not find the perfect community but at least we have a feel for what is in the area for when we are ready to settle down.

Though we didn’t play anywhere near as much as we would have liked due to our schedule, we did find a very nice set of Pickleball courts in Mt. Vernon at Hillcrest Park.  We played several times with a very friendly and welcoming group of pickleballers.  We even took a lesson with one of the local coaches to learn some drills we could be doing to improve our game.

Hillcrest Park

The highlight of this stay must be the visits we had with our kids.  Rebecca and Jason came up to the campground twice.  First, when Rebecca’s high school best friend, Monique, came to spend a weekend in a cabin with her husband and two kids.  Then over Memorial Day weekend Rebecca and Jason spent the weekend where they were able to relax and forget about all the work at the house.  The time we spend with family is so precious to us as we travel the country.

FOAM PARTY AT THE KOA ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

Well, with all the preparations completed, we are ready to head over to Idaho to met up with the other RVs that will be joining us on the caravan.  We will be on the Fantasy RV Tours Premier Alaska 60 Day Tour and will return the first week of August.  We do not know what our connectivity will be for the next two months, but we will try to post again along the way. 

Till then stay safe!!

I’m off to find a moose!!

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