Checking Out The Area Around Mt Vernon, WA

First off, let me say that we actually live about 50 miles from where this Thousand Trails park is.  I'm pretty familiar with the area.  When we are close to home, we try to visit a few places we haven't been before, and as well as a few that we know and like.

Monday after we arrived, it became apparent we were going to miss our screened cabana (there are a good number of flies here), so we took a quick trip to the new WalMart in Mt Vernon, and then over to Camping World in search of a reasonably priced alternative.  We were looking at $150 + at both places, and as we had a perfectly good one at home, we decided just to tough in out.  A friend told me a to fill a plastic bag with water and then hang it on a tree or off the awning, and it will discourage flies, so we are giving it a try.

After the shopping failed - not exactly failed as WalMart here did have the "baby" Coronas that I like - little 7 oz size - that I can actually drink before it gets warm.  A regular bottle is a bit of a waste for me.  Anyway, I had never been to Big Lake which is just east of Mt Vernon, so we took a drive around it.  There were homes and property there that are pretty darn close to my dream homestead.  Homes with decks offering a sunrise view, with rolling grass hills down to the floating docks, on a lake big enough to allow motor boats.  They are probably out of my price range, but now I have a dream.  We did find an RV park on the lake.  I'm not sure if they offer daily or weekly rentals, but they do rent by the month.  There was no where really to pull over and take a picture, but I did have this older real estate listing that at least shows a picture.  I don't recall seeing any For Sale Signs, and that is why I think this is an old listing - but the picture will give you an idea.  I don't believe they have a website, but you can google the phone number and address if you are interested.  It looked very clean and nice.

Big Lake Resort and RV Park

Tuesday's drive took us up WA 11/Chuckanut Drive.  Do not drive your RV or pull a trailer here.  There is a weight restriction, and the lanes are very, very narrow.  However, there are plenty of places to stop and enjoy the view.

We also stopped in to check out Larrabee State Park.  I think I am a shirt tail relative by marriage to the Larrabee the park is named for.  I believe he was the brother or cousin of my paternal great aunt's husband.  Charles Xavier Larrabe donated the 20 acres in 1923 and it became Washington State's first state park.  There were a few FHU sites that would accommodate our 33' fifth wheel.  According to the website there are 26 utility sites with maximum site length of 60'.  This is a reservation park.  I was surprised at the cost per night - around $35 for the FHUs.  Pretty much what you would pay for a "resort" park in Western Washington.  However, it was a nice park with beach access. Here are a few pictures.  As you can tell, I'm going through "tree" thing, picture-wise.

I would have taken a picture of the camp sites but they were full and it seemed a little intrusive.

Wednesday's outing, took us back up to Bellingham for lunch with Kim's oldest son, Tim.  We ate at Avenue Bread and Deli on Railroad Avenue.  It was a great place for lunch with lots of options for sandwiches, salads, soup, and drinks.

Next we set out to cross off two things from my local bucket list.  I have always wanted to go see the Sculpture Park at Western Washington University.  It wasn't quite "hot" yet, so Kim agreed.  Unfortunately, we found that the sculptures were spread out around the campus.  I had surgery a few weeks ago, and wasn't up to a long walk.  We will have to put this off until spring or fall, when the weather cools down.

We did, however, get to check one thing off the list;  making the drive around Lake Samish.  Lots of nice homes scattered among old summer cottages.  We did cruise by a mobile home park (I believe it was called Park Terrace) where we saw some spots with RVs.  From the look of things, they appeared to be long term renters (large propane tanks and decks with potted plants plus there was no signage welcoming over-nighters.  It was clean and kept up, and they did have a lake access private park with a floating dock.

I saw a sign for a Whatcom County Park that looked like it had a swimming beach.  We will have to check that the next time we are up here.  It looked nice. The info for this park is below.  I believe it is day use only.

Lake Samish Park

Tomorrow, I'm think a day trip to Anacortes and maybe Whidbey Island is in order.

Thousand Trails Mount Vernon/Bow - At First Glance

We arrived at this TT preserve yesterday.  We had driven through the preserve a few weeks ago, and already had some camp sites picked out.  We found B39 open and found it to be a spacious site.

There are trees and shrubs between most all of the campsites here.

This is the amount of space be have behind our rig.

My only real complaint so far has been that there are an unduly number of horse flies.  We've talked with the management and it seems that they last for about 1-2 weeks and then disappear for the season.  Unfortunately, we picked "the" week to be here.  And also unfortunately, someone who will not be named (what the hell - KIM) forgot to pack the screened cabana.

There are a number of annual leased sites here.  Just as in Leavenworth, they are well maintained and people have done lots of upgrades in their sites - i.e. brought in gravel, potted plants, bird feeders, etc.  I think I would consider leasing a site as soon as I find "the" park that feels like home to me.  I'd have to love it to lease (with a slight nod to HGTV's show - Love It Or List It).

More of a review at the end of our stay.

An Alternative To Walmart Camping

Now this looks interesting....

Harvest Hosts

It offers free overnight camping for self contained rigs at wineries, farms, etc.  It looks like you must join "the club" for $40 a year, but the website does give you an idea of where the various spots are.  I'd much rather stay overnight at a winery than a Walmart parking lot.  We may give it a try.

Holiday Camping

I avoid it!  For me, this is one of the joys of being retired.  My "vacations" are not limited to those weeks where I can combine a paid holiday to my earned vacation time in order to get more time off.  When I was working full time, I always reserved the 3 days before Thanksgiving in order to have 9 days off in a row.

We are at home this 4th of July, as we usually are for the holidays.  There are enough people without any common sense when it comes to fireworks in our own area, I don't need to visit anywhere else to see them.

Actually, I have a split opinion about fireworks.  I grew up in Seattle, when the "Safe and Sane Fireworks" were allowed.  I saved my allowance for months waiting for the fireworks stands to open. We lived on a dead end street, and all the kids in the neighborhood would gather at the end of the road where there were no houses and we'd set off our fireworks, one at a time.  There was always at least two parents supervising, and lots of buckets of water.  Never once did any of us get hurt.  I loved it and consider it one of the joys of my childhood.

As an adult, I must admit I view it all a little differently.  For one thing, we now live closer to an Indian Reservation which sells all sorts of crazy things.  Frankly, I'm pretty tired of hearing all the M-80s go off.  What is so frigging cool about a loud boom?  Is it a guy thing?  I'm also now a home owner with small grandkids that visit.  I'm more worried about property damage and my babies being hurt than anything.  And I won't even get started on irresponsible pet owners that subject their poor animals to all these fireworks that scare the bejezzus about of those pets. (People, keep your pets inside, in a small enclosed small space where they feel safe - add some music turned up to calm them down.)

But back to camping....I'm hoping a number of people took the 4 days off before the holiday to extend their vacation, because we are leaving Monday for Thousand Trails Mt Vernon.  We scoped it out a few weeks ago, and I have a large selection of spots circled on my map.  Not many spots with sewer hook-ups, so I will have to be careful with my water use.  Our kitchen gray water tank holds 28 gallons, and I apparently use it up quickly, so my husband tells me.

Wishing everyone a lovely and safe 4th of July!  I'm off to devil some eggs and wait for the grandkids to arrive.

Mile Stone Reached

When we first bought our fifth wheel, the RV dealer was having a special on RV and Marine Toilet Paper. A 4 pack for 99 cents.  Every time we went into the dealer, we bought 20 packs.  How much TP I thought we were going to need is beyond me.  Here we are 4 ½ years later, and I'm opening my last package.  LOL - I don't know what to do.  Last time I was at Camping World, I think they were offering this same brand at $2.99 for a 4 pack.  Don't think I will be stocking up at this time.

Do you over buy when you find a good deal?  I go in cycles.  One time I think we had 10 jars of mayonnaise  in the pantry.  And I still have enough Q-tips to get us into the next decade!

Quilting

I don't, but apparently a number of RVers (women, anyway) do.  This is based on the number of RV blog posts I read about people stopping by quilting shops for fabrics, supplies and ideas.  You know how it is when you really having no awareness of something until it keeps coming up, and then you start noticing it everywhere?  Well, that is the whole quilting business for me.

I see quilting shops everywhere now.  I pin stuff about quilting on my Pinterest page.  I've never made a quilt, but I've started collecting pattern ideas.  I guess my biggest question is where the heck do you keep all the supplies, not to mention a sewing machine, in your rig?  Must you kick everyone out to have space to work?  Or is that what all those big rooms are for in the clubhouses at larger RV parks? How many quilts can you carry around with you?  Do you really need a quilt if you are heading south for the winter?

Oh Good Lord!  I've been working on writing a novel for quite some time now.  Do I really need another hobby to add to my procrastination list?  I think not.  But if you have a super easy, beginner's quilt idea/pattern, do let me know.

More Thousand Trails Previews

We took a day trip to check out some of the Thousand Trails RV Parks within 2 hours of our house on Tuesday of this week.  (I was having some minor surgery on Wednesday, and it was a great way to keep my mind off of it.)

First up was Grandy Creek Thousand Trails/KOA in Concrete, WA.  I have read mixed reviews on this park.  There are sites specifically for TT members, and then the public sites.  I personally thought the TT sites were better.  Be sure to follow the directions on the website.  We had one GPS that wanted to take us totally the wrong way - apparently there is a Grandy Creek National or State Campground a few miles away.  Look for the Thousand Trails/KOA signage on Highway 20.

This was not the park for me.  The sites did not appear to be kept up.  It could just be that it is early in the season, and they have not spruced things up.  There did not appear to be much space between the sites, and no privacy.  But that said, I think this would be a great campground for families with kids.  Although the park is fairly good sized, it is open enough that you could let your kids run around, and you could probably find them pretty quickly.  There was a great playground.  A bouncy jumpy castle type thing.  The pool looked small but it was open.  There was a hot tub.  They had just opened their new solar power restrooms and laundry building.  Kim checked it out and said it was pretty cool, and clean.  They had fairly new looking cabins for rent.  There were some annually leased spots that were a little junky looking, but not bad.  (I'm doing this comparison on what I saw in Leavenworth, which were annually leased sites that were very clean and well maintained.)  I had decent cell service in the park, and we saw people with satellite dishes out, but you are in a forest, so reception could be iffy.  The staff was very friendly.  I think it would be a great family campground, but so much for us old fogeys.

Next up was an Encore Park which was included in our Thousand Trails Zone Membership.  It was called Friday Creek in Burlington, WA.  Pictures I've seen were not what I experienced.  Again, it is early in the season so maybe they have yet to do their annual clean up.  I think big rigs would have some problems with low hanging branches, and tight campsites.  It is a small park.  There was no one around to ask questions.  Not one RV or tent camper in sight.  Just one RV by the welcome center, which I assume was the camp host.  There was a check in box - the type where you register your name and camp site and put your payment in the lock box.  I would not go back in our rig, but some of the camp sites on the creek were very peaceful looking.

We down the road a bit we came to the Thousand Trails Bow (Mt Vernon) Campground.  We have reservations here in a few weeks, so I wanted to check them out.  There are only a few FHU spots, in the A section, mostly near the restrooms and the rental cabins/yurts. They do have a dump station, and also personal pumping service for a fee. This is a large campground.  It borders on one side onto I-5, with a tree buffer zone.  We had out windows down as we drove through the park so see which spots we might try to get when we come back with the rig.  Most of the spots have some degree of privacy.  The spots in the B area were my favorite, but we also found a few in the G section.  They have a huge pool, which must be heated as we saw people swimming - of course they were much younger than we, and the sun was out, but I doubt it was warmer than 72 degrees outside at that time (early afternoon).

Heading south down I-5 to LaConner Thousand Trails.  We had visited this park before on a day pass when Kim's aunt and uncle were renting a cabin here.  It is huge, well kept with friendly staff and decent amenities.  No pool, but there is Puget Sound waterfront.  There is one section in this park that has FHUs, but most had water and electric only.  I love that on their map, the sites for good satellite reception are clearly marked.  Most of the sites offer some privacy.  I'm looking forward to our stay here at the end of July.  (Of note, if you are visiting this park during the summer, you may want to avoid the route that takes you through Conway.  The drive is pretty, but they are constructing a round-about at one intersection and we sat there for 30 minutes waiting for the flaggers to let us by.  Continue north, instead, and take the Anacortes exit.  It is a straight shot from there on decent roads.)

By the way, there is a nice little campground attached to the Swinomish Casino.  No privacy, but a great view, cement pads if I recall, and nice grass between the sites.