Day One - We Survived!

The survived part is mostly about saying good bye to family for six weeks, sans tears,  as we head out on our first big journey to Arizona.  For those of you that have been asking, here are a few pictures taken just before we left Snohomish, WA yesterday morning at 8:51am.  Kim's getting quite good at backing out of the driveway, and I'm glad to say we hit no curbs, no paper or mail boxes, and no plants along the driveway were injured in the backing out process.

Kim and Betsy with Truck and 5th Wheel getting ready to depart for Phoenix.

Betsy with grandpuppy, Sonny, before backing out of the driveway

Betsy goofing off with Sonny while Kim waits somewhat patiently off camera

We made a quick stop at Camping World in Fife, WA to pick up some water/sediment filters, tire covers, a book on cooking in foil on the barbeque, and a game of Farkle.  (My facebook friends all play Farkle, and I guess I should learn how too - Although it looks alot like Yatzee to me).  By the way, Camping World is Fife is not easy to find.  You can see if from the freeway, but getting to it is another thing.  The cross street is Willow.  After that, just turn in the driveway with all the RVs.  A sign would be a good thing.

Next stop was the Toutle River Safety Rest Area at mile post 55.  As far as rest stops go, this one was very nice.  Restrooms clean and plenty of stalls on the women's side.  Kim used the head in the rig, so I cannot report on the Men's Room.  Nice place to picnic - lots of well maintained grassy areas.  If you are travelling with them, there is lots of room for the kids to run.

The leaves are all changing color, and it was a sunny day, so our ride was beautiful.  It was surprised to see how built up the area was around Kelso, WA.  This is where my grandparents lived when I was young.  There was nothing there, but a small town, in my recollection.  Now there is a mall!  My how things change in 40 years - go figure!

Going through Portland on I-5 is always interesting.  There is the big bridge across the Columbia River when you enter Oregon from the Washington side, and then there are bridges all around over the various tributaries.  For me, it's nerve wracking in a regular car, but towing a 33' fiver (I'm learning the lingo here) made me nervous.  Good thing I wasn't driving.  Kim did fine, however.

We crossed the 45th Parallel - halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.  It just makes me stop and think at how big Canada really is.

We pulled into the Phoenix RV Park about 3:30pm.  It was about a mile from the freeway off ramp.  The store and office were closed on Sunday, but there is a check in box, and our paperwork and map to our site was right there.  We had space 97, a large pull through lot.  Nice level, cement pad.  We didn't even extend the stablizers for our one night stay.  This park is lovely, when you consider it is not out in the country.  Each site has a grassy area with picnic table and barbeque stand.  We did a walk around the place, and were very impressed.  There appears to be a lot of full timers here, and I can see why.  The place is immaculate.  The restrooms and showers were clean with good water pressure.  In the lounge, there was a fairly new pool table, which got a 2 thumbs up from Kim.  Also, exercise equipment (treadmill, stair stepper and universal gym) along with a large TV, and a few tables with jig saw puzzles.  I didn't notice any traffic noise until I woke up this morning early, and even then it wasn't really loud.  There is a big Safeway store next door and strip mall with a fabric/crafts store, a clothing and shoe store, a post office, a European foods store with deli (mostly Russian/Slavic from what I could tell) which had a nice selection of very large porcelain dolls, and a teriyaki/sushi bar.  If I had reason to be in Salem for any length of time, I would definitely considering staying here.

Site 97 at Phoenix RV Park in Salem, Oregon

Today, we have a short drive day, only 160 miles to Canyonville, OR and the 7 Feathers RV Resort and Casino.