Our Annual Christmas Trip--2007/2008

Our trip this year was extended a bit due to New Years falling on Tuesday. It seemed a waste to go back to work on Wednesday, when we could be camping for a few extra days! Follow along as we depart on the 26th of December and return home on the 5th of January;

Our trip started at 9:30 on Wednesday, December 26^th. We were packed, in the truck, and on the road to Charlie & Arlene’s (Char’s folks). Since we couldn’t’ seem to catch up with the Jensen’s any other way, we met them at her folks in Tenino Washington. It was a nice drive up—traffic wasn’t too bad. We stopped for gas, and had a short rest stop of about 10 minutes at a road side rest. We arrived at the Sommer’s around 1:15—so almost 4 hours door to door. The kids new DVD players made for a quiet ride!

We enjoyed Christmas with the Sommer’s/Jensen family. Their “White Elephant” gift exchange was also that day. We had a great dinner of ham, potatoes, and veggies. Everyone came away with a gift. Ryan received pop corn bowls, Kristin received body butter, Bill a finger football game, and Shawnna, well, I must say, the kitchen sink….yep, the kitchen sink!! When the Jensen’s say something used, that is still useful…they take that to the limit. So…not only do we have wood in the back of our truck…we have a kitchen sink too. Wow…we will be more careful next time! The night was fun with visiting and catching up. It seems we pick up right where we left off….the kids too!

We had a slight snag when we went to bed, and the battery to the trailer was dead and we walked into a trailer that was only 60 degrees and dropping as it was below 30 outside! We were stumped as to why the electricity wasn’t working, but figured the battery had something to do with it. We called it a night, and decided to troubleshoot the next morning. Thankfully the electric heater with the cord in the kitchen window kept us warm enough (although the kids thought they would freeze!) with the extra sleeping bags we pulled out. We woke to a balmy 55 degrees.

December 27^th, Thursday—We visit the new Cabela’s in Olympia and spend about an hour or more in there. On the way home the guys go one direction and the gals another. Char & I stop to pick up a new trailer battery, and head back to hook it up. Ahhh…..heat! The electricity seems fine, so we head in to visit, enjoy lunch, and play some games. It’s not until dark that we find that the battery is not charging, and the inverter is not running. Bill spends an hour in the belly of the 5^th wheel and tests the inverter…nothing. SO the next morning we are heading to a trailer place, and praying they have the part we need.

December 28^th, Friday—After a few hours of work, and $250.00 later, we are fixed, and back on the road. We head south and west toward the coast. We call friends Pat & Ray, and find out they will be just a few miles over the Washington border, so we decide to camp at Ft Stevens & meet them for dinner the following day.

December 29^th, Saturday—we start the day with dog walks, and coffee. A leisurely morning where everyone slept until 8:30—wow for us! We have lunch and head to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria. We had great fun there….and we all enjoyed the Columbia ship we were able to tour as well as explore the museum of nautical items, and it was a great learning experience for the kids & Shawnna, and a blast of memory for Bill from his Navy days. The kids had tons of questions for Daddy—who was happy to answer all of them. The kids learn how to make rope, and forgive the pictures as we forgot the camera, and made due with our cell phones. We meet up for dinner with Pat & Ray at Ships Inn….GREAT food…and all English—right down to Pasty’s and Bangers….however, it wasn’t “banger’s” day, as everything is made fresh that day…and the “English Specialty” menu only has one item made daily since it is all made from scratch. We will be heading back here again.

December 30^th, Sunday—another late morning…8:30 before anyone stirs again. Bill & Shawnna take coffee on a morning walk with the dogs. We even have sunshine on our walk, just before it clouds over and hails on us! We have breakfast in Seaside with Pat & Ray, and then hit the outlets. We relax for the rest of the day (nap included) and then play some games before bed with the kids.

December 31^st, Monday—we wake to ice—and decide to depart later than planned. We have a leisurely morning, and then head south at noon. We hit the cheese factory in Tillamook, and have lunch before heading further south. We chat by phone with Flo at Washburne who tells us there are two other campers in camp…so it’s clear for a straight shot there. We head farther south, and arrive at camp at 5:30. We set up, and head out to visit Harry & Flo, and then head to town for our usual 1^st night camping at Washburne meal…Taco Bell!

January 1^st, Tuesday—Happy New Year! We didn’t make midnight….only 11:40 before falling asleep. We slept until 8:00 and woke to beautiful sunshine. Harry was out cleaning fire pits already, and the kids were outside playing as soon as they were finished with breakfast. Bill & I spent the morning cleaning out our outside storage—it was just so nice to be outside enjoying the weather. Flo came up for a visit, and we decided that after lunch we’d head to the beach. We enjoyed a nice walk, and let the dogs run. Being that Flo is a campground host we promised to plead that we didn’t know her if we were caught without the dogs on their leashes! She is great about it with us, and knows that we usually keep our dogs in check!

January 2, Wednesday-- It poured rain all night, and needless to say, we didn’t sleep well. Bill & I slept until 9:15 when we were stirred by giggling kids. We headed into Newport to go to the Hatfield Science Center. Twice now we’ve taken the kids and found it closed. What a bummer. We bummed around Newport, and then decided to head into Florence to take Kristin to the dollar tree, as she had some $ from Christmas to spend. We dropped Bill off at the trailer since he was suffering a migraine, and gave him a few hours of peace while the kids & I headed to Florence to bum around. We headed back for dinner, and a nice evening of Cribbage. Kristin has joined the ranks of cribbage players, and has done great for only playing 3 days! We let the dogs out to go pottie before bed, and Chelsea & JayDee disappeared into the dark. We heard barking in the distance, followed by yips (Chelsea) and snarls. JayDee came right after we called her, but Chelsea was far off, and we weren’t sure if she was hurt, or chasing something. At any rate, Bill (after telling me to calm down or stay in the trailer—he’s great at keeping me in check in panic situations) and I put on raincoats, got flashlights and headed out. She had crossed the river and we weren’t sure where she was, or how to get to her. We could hear her occasionally yip or bark, but with the wind and rain it was hard to tell where she was. After about 15 minutes, we heard her closer, and found her in the river, about 5 ft below us on a steep drop off, peering up through the branches…..yet she would not come up the bank. I went farther upstream, trying to coax her to come to a place where she could walk up the bank, but she wouldn’t come, even with me on the bank. Bill ended up having to jump into the river and found it was deeper than he thought, going waist deep, and his feet nearly being swept from under him. Praise God, there was a branch there he was able to grab, until he gained his footing. He found that Chelsea had come under the bank to a higher spot, and wasn’t able to get up or out without getting back into the water, and with it rushing as it was, she was afraid…and we still didn’t know if she was injured. Bill lifted her up until I could grab her, and then I helped him the best I could to get him up. Thankfully, Bill was OK, the dog was OK (although after finding out she was OK, we could have killed her!) and we’re thanking God for keeping us all safe in a situation that could have been bad. Thank You Lord!!!!

January 3^rd & 4^th, Thursday & Friday—We spent these days relaxing and visiting with Harry & Flo, playing cards, games, and working on the Tycoon Zoo! It was very rainy & windy, and we were thankful that we got to the beach on Tuesday, as it was the only trip to the beach we were blessed with. We do enjoy the rain time inside as much as the outside time. It's great family time, and good down time for all of us. We enjoyed dinner with Flo & Harry on Thursday night, during a windstorm. Thankfully, we were in a protected area, and we heard more wind than we felt. We woke to Bailey crawling in our bed at 5am due to a heavy thunderstorm. I got up with her, and sat in the livingroom of the trailer until the storm passed, as she would have been in bed with us otherwise. Things cleared up by 11 and we were able to get torn down and head home. We said our goodbyes, sad to leave, as we had the campground pretty much to ourselves. There were only a few overnighters all week. We stopped for lunch on the way home, and arrived in Sweet Home at 4:15—it starting to snow as we pulled into the narrows. As I write, we have 3 inches on the ground, and again, have seen how well God has taken care of us, as they say we are expecting 3-6 more inches depending where you are in the foothills of the Cascades. Hoping to go to church in the morning, and enjoy one last day of a nice 17 day vacation with the whole family. (PS Be sure to check out the snow pictures!)