Days 1 and 2

Potholes State Park

We were itching to get out with the FJ and the RTT, so the day after the tent arrived and was installed, we headed east to meet my mom and dad at Potholes State Park for a couple days. Surprise #1 - The FJ gets only 11 miles per gallon when we're all packed up and pulling the boat. Good to know for those long ventures in the future where fill-ups between long stretches of road will be super important. Here we are out in front of the house, all packed up and ready to hit the road.

Knowing it would probably be late when we cooked our outdoor supper that night, we decided to stop in Ephrata for a bite to eat before getting to the lake. We found a nice, long parking spot right downtown and started walking around. After a quick stop and a vacation beer at Big Daddy's Sports Bar, we were directed to a bistro around the corner called Uggie Boo's. Not only did they have a fun atmosphere (lots of oddities, which we appreciate), yummy $2 tacos, and refreshing beverages, but the owner recognized Jeff and turned out to be a cousin of one of his high school friends. Small world. 

Yes, this is a group of Barbie dolls, wrapped around a pole, hanging from the ceiling, and holding onto a dollar bill. 😊

We arrived at Moses Lake about 2:30 p.m., with plenty of time to get out in the water for a quick jot in the boat. The Potholes Reservoir is HUGE...and full of different areas to explore. It was a bit windy that first time out, so we didn't go for long. This is my favorite picture. Two significant men in my life, and both loving life at the moment captured here.

I got Mom to crawl up in the tent to check it out. I am obviously tickled pink to spend our first night in our new quarters in this picture. The ladder is something to get used to, but we love the fact that it is above the ground and away from rain, mud, snakes, and other critters. And, Jeff set the whole thing up in 7 minutes and 45 seconds when I timed him on night two.

We had an easy camp stove dinner of chicken kebabs and Mom's homemade potato salad. I was going to ask her to make it, but I didn't even have to. She had made it and packed it in their RV before I even asked. 

Next Day

So, how was the first night sleeping in the RTT? Not bad. Not wonderful. Our tiny backpacking sleeping bags were not enough to fill the king sized bed space, so I ended up rolling out of the sleeping bag pretty early on and slept most of the night on the pad. We've already bought two king-sized flat sheets to figure out a way to have a more natural bedding situation for next time. The setup is pretty sweet though. We have windows all around, two sunroof windows for watching the stars, and lots of little pockets inside for holding stuff. There was even plenty of room for our shared suitcase and there's a shoe bag hanging at the entryway for those dirty days.

We hit the water pretty soon after our croissant and egg sammies. The water was much calmer, and Mom caught a nice 19 inch Rainbow Trout, which we cooked up that evening to go with our brats, peppers and onions on a bun. Mom loves to fish, but she refused to hold the fish for a picture, so Dad did it for her.

We also saw a couple cool birds. I don't often see Terns, so I'm not exactly positive, but to my best identification, I'd say this one is a Forster's Tern.

And then, there was this one...just floating around with a bunch of seagulls. My first thought was that it was a Phalarope, but no. I'm wondering if it is just a juvenile tern. It's a mystery bird. I'll have to reach out to some bird friends for help on this one. 

Things got busy that night. Being Father's Day weekend and Friday, lots of RVs and people started rolling in, and before long we were surrounded in lots of happy campers. It might be because of the year of being empty-nesters, or maybe just the fact that we have barely finished up a year of teaching a couple hunderd little darlings ourselves, but the kid-chaos was a little over-the-top...at least until the batteries ran out. Here's what I'm talking about...

...and bikes!!! I love that these kids got to get out and ride their little hearts out, but these things go FAST!!! And the parents were not watching their kids anymore at this point. They were catching up with friends and having a great-ole-time, but since we were camped out on a circular road, I saw plenty. I even witnessed a girl literally fly over her handlebars and do a nose dive while chasing little siblings/cousins/friends on her bike. I ran over to help her, but she just got up, brushed off her shirt and went to share the fall with her unknowing parents. She was back in the circular convoy within minutes. So yeah, like I said, the batteries did finally run out. 

We had a little fire, roasted marshmallows (because who has a fire without marshmallows?) and hit the hay for night two in the RTT. Ahhhh....a full and fun day.

Quick Recap of Days 1 and 2

Potholes State Park: More people than we prefer to camp around, but the RV sites were nice. Lots to do on the water. The downside was that there was no boat mooring, so with the RTT, we had to pack it up each time we needed to go put the boat in the water or get it back out. 

Lessons Learned: Have lots of gas in the rig when traveling, get new sheets for the bed, and make sure to pee right before climbing up that ladder for the night.