Epic RVing with the Gradys - Day 7 - Thousand Trails

Today started late! Nobody stirred until 7:00 local (Pacific) time, which was 8:00 in the time our bodies were used to. We grabbed a quick shower, got some chai teas and burritos, then headed out on the open road in hopes of making it to the Seattle area early!

The first 40 minutes of driving were much like the last hour of driving the previous day - very windy!!! The temperature wasn’t quite so bad, though, and the light of day made things much more positive and the driver much more optimistic. Once we got into the Cascades about an hour later, the wind had died down, and we started to remember how amazing the views were here in Washington!!!

We got into the Puget Sound area quite early, probably 11:00. We couldn’t pick up our rental car until 2:00, and we didn’t want to check into our campsite until after we had picked up the car, so we needed something to do. Jenny found a state park nearby that looked interesting, so we decided to stop there for some lunch and to stretch our legs. When we checked into the park, they told us that they happened to have a Beer Garden right there on site!!! Well - vacation is lookup up!!!

We did some hiking around the park first, then circled back to the beer garden where we had a beer and got various appetizer type things for lunch before heading back out on the road to rent our car and ultimately get checked in.

Jenny picked up the car - the kids and I headed inland from Chehalis, WA to our destination for the next 4 days, the Thousand Islands resort. It was a rural, hilly drive to get to the campsite. Once we got there, Jenny still hadn’t arrived, so I had to count on my copilot, Quinton, to help me position the vehicle and get setup. One weird thing about this campsite, we got to choose our own site! So we drove around for about 10 minutes before we found a suitable site with water and electricity, and one that we thought we could actually get into. Quinton directed me like a pro into the spot, and by the time Jenny arrived, we had Harvee positioned and hooked up with the grill out and chairs setup!

The rest of the day has been mainly exploring the campground. It’s pretty big, but somewhat dated. Jenny and I both have commented that it definitely feels more like the camping that we knew growing up, moreso than Montana, which was pretty dry and flat. This campsite has tons of trees and lots of mosquitos!

They do have a nice basketball court and pool, though, so the kids spent some time over there while I caught up on these blog posts. As I was watching them on the court and on the playground, I had to marvel at how well they mingled with other kids. Each of them individually picked out another kid that was just hanging around and started interacting with them. Now, I don’t think they ever found out their names or anything like that, but for about an hour, the just hung out and talked with other kids. Being a cripling introvert myself, it was nothing less than amazing to watch it unfold - these two kids, who I have raised and live in my house, could be so different from me!!! Thank goodness…

We had Chicken Fetuccini Alfredo for dinner, then a couple of beers, now we’re sitting in the RV without internet and cascading towards sleep. Tomorrow we go back to Seattle for the first time in 24 years!!!