Four weeks, four long weeks since our last outing with the camper. A long time for us to not use the camper. Finally, our time to get out with camper arrived and we made the trip to Sun Lakes State Park in Central Washington. This trip would be just Joanne, Cody, the dogs and myself for Friday night. Saturday, Scouts from our Troop would arrive and camp nearby. No Scouts there on Friday night meant I could have my barley pops, and I did.
Our site for the weekend was a no hookup site. I have water in the camper tank and plenty of solar to keep the batteries charged up. So, no problem at all. The site was modest in size but with it being an end site we had no one on one side of us. In fact, we ended up with a buffer around us as 2 other sites while reserved…were not used. Bonus for us.
It was great to be out again and relaxing by the campfire. The next morning while getting coffee going, I watched several deer nearby and a racoon scamper away. After coffee was ready, I went outside and watched a pretty sunrise.
The day was spent being lazy. Watching all the different birds flying around camp. I counted 8 different bird breeds while sitting in my chair and watching. Plenty of variety for sure.
We then played a game of dominoes while soaking up the sunshine. Winter has really been doing its best to hold on in the region and it was wonderful to have some warmth and sun for a change.
We also made the short walk to the little store to get a bag of ice. Taking a look at Park Lake and the wildlife along its shores.
Soon it was time for Joanne and Cody to be picked up by an adult attending the Scout camp out. The Scouts had arrived nearby at the visitors center for Dry Falls, up at the overlook. They would meet a Park Ranger who would talk about the area. They also picked up a bunch of trash along the road for a service project. I stayed at camp and hung out with the dogs. Taking a nap in the sunshine filled chair with the dogs nearby.
Eventually the Scouts and adults would arrive. The night was filled with Scouts doing Scout things while us adults shared conversations. Joanne and I went to bed earlier that night and soon we were nice and comfy in our camper for the night.
The next morning after breakfast we would be doing a 5-mile hike to the bottom of Dry Falls. We would do a loop trail around Umatilla Rock. A trail I have done before. In fact, some fellow TC’ers also did the hike with me a few years ago when we had a NATCOA rally at the nearby RV park.
I do my best to not post any pictures of the Scouts on this website. Simply for privacy issues. They asked for us to take a picture of them looking out at the lake and I thought that was perfect for posting here.
We made it back to camp and had lunch. It then was time to pack up and call this outing over.
It was four weeks since the last outing and it was great to be out again doing what we love. As we look forward, we have lots of short trips coming up. No, it won’t be four weeks until we get out again either, with or without the sun.
The TC Life 