From our house to yours we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas

and a great New Years.

This is our Huge Christmas tree

Time do do a short catch up. we are still at Manchester state Park. It has been an interesting stay here. Park staff here are really great and fun to work with. Oh the work part. since we had that terrible wind storm the night of the 22nd we have been doing clean up in the park. 16 trees came down and so far we have had to take down one other tree. we finally got a chipper in here so we have been busy feeding the chipper. this is the tree that blocked the day use road.

We had a wonderful thanksgiving with Gene and Cindy. Turkey galore with all the trimmings and even oyster casserole.

We will be here until the end of the month, somewhere after Christmas and no later than new years we will head to southern Oregon. I will be working at the Gold Hill KOA. Our plan is to stay there all next year and into the spring of 2012. Plans have a way of being changed so these plans are set in Jello. Until later you all take care and God Bless.

we actually had about 6 campers last night, the most since we have been here. We are enjoying our stay here at manchester state park. The day use area is very popular with lots of walking paths and views of seattle accross the bay. I have been using a blower to remove leaves from roads and campsites, tons of leaves here and still more to come down.
we are also close to my brother Gene and have enjoyed visiting with him and his family. Looking forward to thanksgiving with them.
this is a short update but wanted to let you all know we are still alive and kicking.

I am adding a picture of our campsite here at Manchester State park. Seen 2 deer in the park today. Fun to watch the wildlife.

Getting close to the end of the month and time to move to a new park. We have now volunteered at 3 Washington State Parks and by far Dosewallips is our favorite. I think one of the reason is the park staff here, they work together as a team and promote the park in a positive manner. We will certainly miss everyone here as we move on to a new adventure. We will be at Manchester State Park Nov & Dec. We will be close to my brother Gene and his family, and will be able to visit some. I will let you all know how Manchester is after we get over there. Until then here is some pictures of staff and fall colors at Dosewallips.



 

more for your enjoyment, again not mine. first pic is Mt Rainier, next is Hood Canal

Again these are not my pictures, but to nice to not share.

I wish I could take credit for some pictures I am going to put on here, but I can't. a local person here in Brinnon is the person behind the camera. I don't even know his name, but I thank him for sharing. I will post one or two pictures as I can. Hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

Miss Dosewallips, a cantankerous old cow Elk with a reputation for not liking campers made an appearance in the park today, she meandered her way through the park and left without an incident. the herd was across the highway in the day use park.

thought I would share this picture, for some reason I like it, hope you all enjoy it. This was taken at Fort Flagler State Park.

A new month and a new adventure, we are back at Dosewallips State Park. We left Fort Flagler at crack of noon today, pulled into Dosewallips just before 1:00 pm. Long trip of 38 miles. It felt almost like coming home when we pulled into the park. We will be here for the month. then onto a new park, Manchester State Park. It is close to Port Orchard and Bremerton, so we will be close to my brother there.
We did enjoy our stay at Fort Flagler, I used up a 5 gal bucket of primer using a 3" brush on some cedar siding. So don't care if I see a paint brush for awhile. Vicki worked in the museum and she enjoyed doing that. We really enjoyed the deer in the park, they were always entertaining to watch. They really liked it when the apples started falling from the trees. We also enjoyed watching all the ship traffic on Admiralty Straight. Just about any type of boat or ship you can imagine sailed up and down the Straight. A real treat was to see a couple of submarines leaving and returning.
I will leave you with a couple of pictures.

Until later God bless you all and take care.

I know I said a few days, well as usual it is a few more than a few. we are still at
Fort Flagler State Park, it is a very nice park with lots of history. The deer roam the park from dawn till dawn, Ha! you thought I was going to say dusk didn't you. they are very entertaining to watch and we enjoy them a lot. We are not in the campground here and we are still missing the campers. There are lots of volunteers here in the park, There are 3 campground hosts plus 6 or 7 other volunteer couples here. There is also a local group called friends of Fort Flagler that are very involved in the preservation of the Park.
we do like it here but Vicki is working in the museum and has to do several stairs and it is really bothering her legs and knees, so doubt if we will return here unless we are in the campground.
Rick came over one day and visited, we had a great time and enjoyed catching up on whats been going on in our lives. Then a week later Gene and Cindy came up and spent the day with us, again we really enjoyed the visit. We also made plans to have thanksgiving together. so we are looking forward to that event even though it is still a ways off.
We are returning to Dosewallips State park next month and we are looking forward to returning there.
I will leave you with a couple more pics from the park here.

we left Nolte State Park around 11:30 this morning, arrived at Fort Flagler about 2:00. Have the trailer set up and we are enjoying the view. Had some deer in the field next to trailer. I will do another update in a few days to let you all know what we think of this park. It is a huge park, with 2 campgrounds a  museum and many of the old buildings from the Fort Era.

Nolte State Park on a busy day, I have never seen or picked up as much litter and garbage as I have at this park. I have decided that the people that use this park are a bunch of slobs. I spend 3 to 4 hours a day just picking up trash. And these same slobs wonder why parks are being closed.

Needless to say we will not return here, there is no park ranger on site to enforce rules and these people know that and take advantage of it. There are 2 park aides and one volunteer couple here to keep park open 12 to 13 hours every day. The ranger in charge of this park works at another park and is 30 minutes away from here.

Just so you all don't think that I have completely forgotten about this blog here  is a short update. as you know we spent 6 weeks at Dosewallips State Park, we thoroughly  enjoyed our stay there, the rangers and park aides were great to work with. We liked it so well we are returning there for the month of October. August finds us at Nolte State Park it is a day use park and not a campground. It is a real nice day use park with a setting on Deep Lake. We like it here but we do miss the interaction with the campers.

Before we came here we made a day trip to Port Orchard and Manchester State Park. outside of the park Vicki yelled out "there is a CAMEL" so after checking out the park I went back to see the Camel, sure enough it was a real Camel.

Now that I have seen a camel I will get out of here for now. Next month we will be at Fort Flagler State Park.

Its only been a month since I have been on here so don't be to hard on me. A lot has happened in the last month. We flew to Alaska for 2 weeks. visited family and friends and had a great time there. Momsy had a heart procedure done while we were there, she is doing good.

We returned to Washington on a Sunday and packed up the trailer and moved to Dosewallips State Park. It is in Hwy 101 just south of the community of Brinnon. It is a very nice park and all the Rangers and staff here are just super people. Our site is super nice with acres of lawn.

We went to Sequim last wednesday and visited with Charlie. He is doing good, has a new puppy named Cassy. We will be here through July and then move to another state park.

Until later god bless you all and take care.

Campsite at Dosewallips State Park

Hood Canal from Park

Heated Platform Tent in Park for rent

As most of you know we went to a Tim McGraw concert in Seattle last friday night. We had a great time and enjoyed all the bands that played there. Opening band was Love and Theft. Then we were entertained by Lady Antebellum. Great performers . The last to perform was Tim McGraw and his band. We had great seats and was able to see the performers up close. Here is a couple pictures.

Love and Theft

Lady Antebellum

And of course Tim Mcgraw

OK I know I am slow, We left Polson last friday morning and I jokingly said to Vicki its only 530 miles to Mount Vernon. She really surprised me by saying go for it. With just a couple short breaks on the trip over we arrived here friday evening. Long day of travel but the weather was nice and the trip over was a good one other than fuel prices in Leavenworth. Most expensive fuel on the entire trip from Louisiana. That is what happens when you stop in a tourist trap town for fuel.
We have been enjoying our visit here at my cousins place. Will be here until the 30th when we fly up to Alaska for 2 weeks. Upon returning from there we are off to Dosewallips State park for a volunteer position working in the park.
And of course I had better mention this friday is the Tim Mcgraw concert in Seattle. I will post after the concert. so until then take care all.

Had  great visit with Franny and her boyfriend Toby today. It was wonderful to see you again Franny, You have grown into a beautiful young lady.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

We left Deer Lodge this morning with just a breeze blowing, About thirty miles and the wind picked up, not as bad as it has been but still a wind. We arrived in Ronan about 12:30 (what planning on my part) so stopped at the pizza cafe for lunch. Still the best pizza we have ever had. After stuffing ourselves we ventured on to Polson Motorcoach and KOA. We will be here through the 13th and leave on the 14th.

View of our campsite

View from our campsite

We have a great view of the lake and the Mission Mountains and we are enjoying it. Until later you all take care and God bless.

We left Loveland, Co. and went north on I-25, again fighting headwinds, Our next stop for the evening was Buffalo, WY. We stayed at Deer Park Campground. It is a very nice park far enough off the Interstates to be nice and quite. The park was named aptly as we enjoyed the deer wandering through the park. The next morning found us once again fighting some high headwinds, We stopped at Little Big Horn Battlefield and I checked out some of the battlegrounds, This is a very interesting place that is full of history, I could have enjoyed it so much more if the wind and cold weather had been better.
We did run into Darrel and Susie friends of ours from working at Hickory Farms a couple years ago. We had a nice short visit with them before we headed north again. Through Billings, MT and on west on I-90 to Livingston, MT. We met up there with Ray and Janice some more workamping friends, went out to a real nice dinner with them. Woke up yesterday to high wind warnings with gusts up to 65 so decided to stay another day. Ray made a very good dinner for us, which we really enjoyed. This morning We went out for breakfast then said our goodbyes and see you down the roads somewhere. We continued west on I-90 bucking strong headwinds again all day, arrived at Deer Lodge. MT and when we pulled into the KOA campground Cass met us before we could get out of the truck and showed us to our site. This is a very nice small campground right on the Clark Fork River, nice and peaceful here.
We will be off to Polson, MT in the morning for a weeks stay there before we head on to Washington.

We spent 3 nights in Oakley, KS. at the High Plains campground. It is a very nice well run park. I did check out some local museums and enjoyed them a lot. There is a lot of history in the area, including Fort Wallace. There is nothing left of the fort but there is still the graveyard with some noted graves in it. Many legends of the old west who either stayed or served at Fort Wallace include Wild Bill Hickok, William Comstock and George Armstrong Custer along with his seventh cavalry. If ever in the area the Fort Wallace Museum is a very good stop to visit the past.

The city of oakley has erected a monument to Buffalo Bill, It is hard to miss as it sits alongside the highway on your way through oakley.

We left kansas and drove to Loveland, CO. Where we are still located until in the morning. We have visited with my nieces and nephew that live here, We grilled burgers last night and had a great visit.  Loveland has really grown since the last time we were here, but it is still a nice area to visit. Vicki's toe was giving her fits so took her to the foot Dr. nurse said they could cut it off and we could call her Stunpy, but they didn't, gave her a prescription for antibiotics and told her to soak it good in epsom salt water.

We have decided to bypass South Dakota and just head straight up to Montana.

If all goes well tomorrow should find us in Buffalo, WY.

I should mention that we are staying at the Riverview RV park and Campground just west of Loveland. It is a very nice park, we are backed up to the Big Thonpson River.

Until later you all take care and God Bless.

A very windy travel day, we left Stinnett, TX around 10:00 AM. Wind was blowing out of the Northwest, Oh good the direction we were headed. Wind speeds varied between 25 mph and 55 mph gusts. This was the worst fuel mileage that we have ever gotten towing. Arrived in Oakley, KS about 3:00 PM and checked into the High Plains Campground. This is a very nice park, nice and clean with long pull through sites. We will be here until tuesday morning. The wind is still howling outside and it is cooling off for the evening.

last night was a very fun and enjoyable night. We went to Amarillo for a Miranda Lambert concert. She puts on a really good show. I can't say the same for the opening group, Canadian Ragweed. I was very dissapointed in there performance. We went to dinner at a very nice Mexican restaurant called the Acapulco, food was good and service was good.

We arrived in Stinnett, TX last Monday late afternoon. We didn't even have the trailer set up when Donna showed up. We have been busy visiting with Vicki's old school mates. Went over to Rick and Donna's for dinner last night, thanks again for such a great meal.
Tonight we are going to Amarillo for a Miranda Lambert concert, looking forward to some good entertainment. I will let you all know how it was.
We are leaving here Saturday for Oakley, KS, then on to Loveland, CO for a couple of days.
We are staying in the City RV park here in Stinnett. no amenities but the first 3 nights are free, after 3 nights they charge $10.00 per night. Full hook up 30 amp level sites.
Here is some pictures of Rick and Donna's back yard. They have a wonderful pond full of koi and gold fish.
Until later god bless and take care everyone.