We have had a tradition of taking the camper out for New Years for a while now. I cannot remember how long we have been doing that but it has been several years now. We really enjoy closing out the year and starting off a new year with the use of our camper.
This year one thing was different though…our camper did not have the water system winterized yet. We keep the camper plugged in and a heater on low when at home. With an exception of a couple days, we have had a very mild winter. Something that will change after this trip and we would get the water system winterized. But up to New Years is kind of crazy to not winterize. We still use the camper, just not the water system during the winter.
We would be camping at an established campground provided by the Corps of Engineers upriver from Little Goose Dam on the Snake River. It is a free place to camp and during our off season visit, we were the only ones there. The campground has a few sites with firepits at most of them. There is a boat ramp, dock and even a pit bathroom that was clean and stocked with TP. We had no cell coverage for Verizon and that was perfectly fine with us. Temperatures on this outing would be highs around 40F and lows a little above freezing. Winds were pretty mild to nothing most of the time. A couple times a wind would come up but they did not last long.
We also brought along our kayaks on this trip since it was mild. Why not? Crazy to be not dealing with ice and snow. Even in this area where it is milder than back home, it simply was very mild.
We got everything set up and soon was in relax mode. I got a fire started up and we listened to the sounds of nature around us. Soon coyotes where howling nearby as they passed through. The clouds parted for some of the night revealing a bunch of stars until the near full moon rose with its brightness. It was a great night.
We had a very peaceful nights sleep. The next morning after breakfast we got out on the water with the kayaks. We paddled up river a bit over a mile. There was even a barge heading downriver to the locks. There was low clouds and fog but the weather was not bad, around mid to high 30s. We ended up paddling about 3 miles.
We eventually returned to camp and hung out there the rest of the day. Taking little strolls around camp but mostly just hanging out.
Another very quite night at camp and a good nights sleep. The next morning the fog was gone and we even had a good amount of sunshine for the first half of the day. We took advantage of it and after breakfast we went out with the kayaks again. This time downriver a short distance before passing camp going back up the river.
We spent the rest of New Years Eve at camp listening to music and sitting around the fire with a beverage of choice. We even made it to midnight…mountain time. Yes, we are in pacific time. Well, I did anyway, Joanne made it mostly in spirit. Although she was in her chair at the fire.
New Years day. Fog would return that day and it was fairly chilly as no sun was getting through the thick fog. We had our propane fire going that morning to make things comfy. We had our mimosas celebrating the start of new year.
Something I talked about doing was a polar plunge. I eventually got enough nerve after a mimosa or two and decided if I was going to do it, I better get it done. It was 35F Ambiant air temperature and the water was slightly under 42F. If you have the volume up there might have been a curse word.
After that shocking experience we eventually got things cleaned and picked up and put away. Soon we would be leaving, making our way back home. We did stop for a few geocache of course. One was at the dam overlook.
We would stop in Starbuck not too far from camp to top of some fuel. Not much for any towns of size for a while and better safe than sorry.
So another great way for us to end the year and start another one. We still did end up with about 80 nights out with the camper in 2023 all while working fulltime. I did not do trip reports on all of our trips but most are posted. That is a lot of nights out. Even less time spent at home when you consider our outings to hotels and our week long trip to Branson Missouri last February too. We just do not stay at home much. Our camper outing are some of my favorites. Even if it is just hanging around camp.
We hope you had a great 2023 and really hope you get out and enjoy 2024!
Cheers!
The TC Life 