The Kappler Family Adventure

We had a few RV issues to resolve (the water pump wasn’t working at first and the jacks were giving us a problem) but once they were taken care of, we were on the road and less than 200 miles from Vegas.

The kids were excited to get there and kept asking when we would arrive. 

Finally, not too far off on the horizon, we saw the hazy outline of downtown Vegas.  As we got closer, we could see the names on many of the hotels – Ballys, Harrahs, The Rio, Circus Circus…

Having never been to Vegas, the kids didn’t really know what to expect.   Nathaniel tried to describe a Vegas scene from Percy and the Lightening Bolt but he wasn’t quite sure what he was describing.

We started our adventure at Circus Circus where we met up with Shane and Sarah.   We somehow managed to avoid the carnival rides and made it to the floor with all of the games and the circus acts.  Gene is a Skee Ball wizard and showed off his skill by winning the first two games he played – his prize?  A big green stuffed lizard, picked by Nathaniel.

We played several games and watched two interesting circus acts with a lady “net dancing” artist and a superb juggler (two different people/two different acts).

Then we headed over to the Sahara hotel to find the Nascar Restaurant and Man vs. Foods’  Big A** Burrito – a 24 inch, six pound masterpiece that even Adam Richman couldn’t finish.  Like we had done with the Kitchen Sink Sundae, we planned to share the burrito among the whole family.

Well, we quickly found out that the only way to GET the burrito was to enter the competition - and have someone try to eat the whole thing in 90 minutes or less.  Who would think of doing such a thing?

Josh. 

The restaurant made a big deal about Josh trying to eat the burrito in 90 minutes – he was called to the front of the restaurant and was seated next to another man who was VERY SLOWLY eating his way through his own six pound monstrosity.

Josh's moment of fame - Can he eat the Bad A** Burrito in 90 minutes or less?

Amidst our cheers, Josh settled in and went right to work, quickly devoring a small portion of the burrito.  After about 20 minutes and 1/6 of the burrito, he decided he was done – he actually said this was the only time he felt like hurling while he was eating food.  Hmmm….

Josh eating the Bad A** Burrito

Josh is giving it his all!

Anyway, for his efforts, Josh received a t-shirt that proclaimed him a Weenie because he couldn’t finish the burrito and he and Nate got a picture taken to add to the Weenie wall.  What an honor!

Now it was our turn – we got the leftovers, despite a few groans from the siblings.  They had made sure Josh knew he had to start on one end work his over.  And no drooling on the food!

We all pretty much decided that the burrito was only okay.  None of us cared for the brown sauce on the top of it or the many jalapeno peppers mixed into the meat.  Well, perhaps that’s why so few people have finished the challenge. 

When we finished, we were totally full and there was still 1/3 of the burrito on the plate.  We tried!

We checked into our hotel room at The Rio. It was a nice room with two queen beds and a sofa that slept at least two.  The kids were happy to be out of the RV and very pleased with the room.  Thank you Shane, for arranging it for us.

We caught the shutle from The Rio to Ballys and then walked to the Bellagio for the water show.  It was breathtaking. Words cannot do it justice. The shoots of water were set to the music Proud To Be An American and the show  was superb.

The beginning of the Belagio water show

Afterwards, we went inside to the see the Bellagio gardens, and then wandered through Harrahs and Ballys, and checked out the replica of the Eiffel Tower.  Sorry Ms. Nicky, we didn’t make it to the Treasure Island/Pirates show…

When we straggled back into our hotel room at midnight, everyone was pooped and ready for bed.  Morning would be here before we knew it.  Nate sat down on the bed and out he went!

Nate couldn't keep his eyes open and fell fast asleep...

We left New Meadow at 7:30 a.m. – yep, in the morning!

That’s a new record for us on this trip as we’ve been doing a lot of sleeping in.  Well, some of us have. 

What usually happens is that I wake up and then Nathaniel hears me moving around and he quickly wakes up.   He and I get to spend a little time together – taking a walk, going for a swim, playing at the playground – and then Kassi usually gets up.  She and Nate often watch a movie while I update the the blog.  By then, Gene rolls out of  bed and while his coffee is perking, we roll Josh, Ben and Sam out of bed, and they either get dressed and sit groggily on the RV couch or they go to the back of the RV and fall into our bed. 

Gene and I then get the RV ready to travel – bring in the slide out, detach the power cord, water supply and sewer, bring up the jacks, make sure everything is picked up outside, secure the kids, check the map one more time and then — head out for the day.

We saw three deer on the drive out of the hills.  It was a quiet Sunday morning and we saw very little activity - at the houses we passed or in the little towns we drove through. There were a few other cars on the road but not many.   

One deer was standing on the side of the road.  When we slowed down, it walked casually across the road in front of us and bounded up a hill on the other side. 

It took us about three and a half hours to get to Boise. We’d decided to meet Pat (Dr. Caplinger) in the parking lot of an outlet mall and since we got there first, we all hopped out of the van and played catch with Nate’s rubber ball.  It was great to see Pat when she arrived and to meet her son.  We talked to Pat and the boys talked to her son.

We were all a bit hungry and we mentioned that we had hoped to go to Big Judd’s (another Man vs. Food place in Boise) but didn’t think we’d make it. Well, turns out her son Grayson is a Big Judd’s fan and he knew where it was — not more than ten minutes away from where we were.

We caravaned over and were totally bummed to see that it was closed on Sunday.  Oh well…

So we chatted a bit longer and then got back in the RV to continue on our way to Las Vegas.

Based on input from several people, we changed our plan from going to Twin Falls, Salt Lake City and then Las Vegas to taking the shorter more direct route from Twin Falls down a two lane road to Vegas.  There wasn’t much on the road and it was nearly a 600 mile drive but we were up for it.

It turned out to be 600 miles of wide open, flat, dry, hot driving.  There was virtually nothing on the way except for the ocassional house or very small town.  We drove all day and finally stopped around midnight at an RV park in Caliente, Nevada. It was one of the few RV parks on the whole route!

 By the time we got in and got parked, it was nearly 12:30 in the morning. Bed time for everyone!

Tomorrow’s Destination: Las Vegas

A slow start this morning as we drove late last night and everyone slept in.   We’re still in Oregon though the scenery has changed dramatically.  We are no longer driving along the Columbia River.  Gone are the dark green hills covered with tall, Douglas fir trees and green groundcover.  It’s been replaced by rolling hills covered with dry, brown grass and short, stubby trees and bushes.  The lush greenness of the coastal area is gone

It’s mostly a driving day – we’re on the homeward stretch.  Heading to Boise, then to meet Sarah and Shane in Las Vegas for a night and then home to Tucson.

We were suppoed to meet Kassi’s friend Zoe at Big Judd’s (another Man vs. Food place) in Boise but our RV troubles put us there when Zoe is in the mountains at a place called New Meadow. Well, if we can’t find her in Boise, we can find her in the hills!

The drive to New Meadow was long, windy and a little nerve racking at times.   When you’re driving a 34 foot RV that sways back and forth all on its own, seeing signs like “severe winds”, “steep grades”, “curves ahead”, “watch for rocks” and “sink holes” (yes! sink holes!),  can make you just a  bit nervous. When you see all of those signs on the SAME road within a few miles of each other, you can get REALLY nervous.

Despite the signs, the drive was really nice and uneventful.  We drove through several small towns — population 343…population 435…very small towns!

And through a lot of farm land – looked like many people raised steers as we saw a lot of them on the way.

We found an RV park right next to where Zoe and her family were staying and Kassi and Zoe got to hangout.  Kassi, Sam and Zoe went with Zoe’s family to a hot springs in the town of Meadows.  It was a large pool-like area where they could swim in warm and/or hot water.  They enjoyed it.

The rest of us hung out at the RV, eating Gene’s delicious omelettes, making ice cream sundaes, watching the action movie Taken, and once again, doing laundry.

It was a nice evening.

Off to bed and then we’re driving again – Boise and as close to Las Vegas as we can get.

In Boise, we’re going to meet up with our very favorite Obstetrician ever – Dr. Patricia Caplinger.  She delivered Ben and was standing by Gene’s side when he delivered Kassi.  We love her!  She left Phoenix right after Kassi was born and has lived in Boise ever since.  We called her today and she and her 12-year old son have time to meet us as we scoot through Boise tomorrow.  Hooray!

Tomorrow’s Destination: Boise and beyond

Today was our 13″ pancake (mancake) day! 

Well, it was our day to visit Portland and one of our reasons for being there was to visit another of Ben’s Man vs. Food eateries – the Stepping Stone Café – where we could partake in the same 13” pancakes that Adam Richman ate when he was there.

Also on our itinerary was a stop at VooDoo donuts, another Man vs. Food choice, and Powell Books, a block-long used bookstore with more than one million titles in stock.

As it turned out, and very luckily for us, the pancakes were only about two miles from the center of town where we would find Powell’s and VooDoo donuts.  I had called ahead to these places to inquire about where we might park our RV – we didn’t want another repeat of our parking adventures in Walnut Creek when we went to eat the Kitchen Sink Sundae.   The Stepping Stone person told me there was no RV parking…oh oh!

After doing some searching online, we realized the Portland has a superb and free transportation system all around the downtown area.  We called the Portland Visitor Information center to find out where we might park the RV so we could take advantage of the system.  I’m sure there’s no surprise that we called first before deciding where to park – we definitely did not want a repeat of the 4^th of July!

We were told to park at the Lloyd Center which was easy for us to find and easy for us to park in. From there, we walked a short distance to catch the tram. We then had to switch to the streetcar and then walked about fifteen minutes from where we got off to the Stepping Stone Café. 

Ben, of course, ordered the 13” mancakes – a stack of three humongous pancakes.  Nathaniel and I decided to order them too, but we chose to share a plate and to have blueberries in ours.   Everyone else wanted a taste but chose something more to their liking as their meal.

The pancakes were huge, as promised.  Ben couldn’t even eat one whole one.  Nate, Kassi and I managed to put down one of ours, but that was it.   You know what we’ll be eating for dinner tonight!

We then trudged back to the streetcar pickup and went to Powell Books. It was totally awesome.  We split up and let everyone go off in their own direction (Gene took Nate and Josh went with Ben).  We agreed to meet up 45 minutes later.  When we did, everyone said they could use more time – just to look.

On the shelves, you could find just about anything.  Most books were used and had discounted prices but some were new and full price.  Books were organized by category – family, business, religion, etc. – and each big category was in its own room and the room was painted a specific color.  Books were sorted by more specific categories within each room.  To be surrounded by so many different books at one time was something!

The store covered an entire city block and was four stories tall – imagine a store ten times the size of Bookman’s filled with shelves from floor to ceiling and all the shelves completely filled with books – sometimes three books deep.   How we ever managed to find each other at the appointed time is beyond me but we did.

Throughout the store, adults, teens and young children sat – in chairs, on the ground, leaning against the wall – transported by the words on the pages they were reading to faraway places, exciting adventures and knowledge they didn’t know existed.

We paid for the treasures we had found and then ventured out to find VooDoo donuts.  It wasn’t far away but the walk there was, well, interesting.  On one block, we found ourselves surrounded by triple x-rated adult shops with signs warning minors to stay out and pictures in their windows that shouldn’t be seen by young eyes.  We passed a magnificent walkway leading to China Town, found the Burnside Bridge taking traffic across the Columbia River and then finally found the dungy little building that housed VooDoo Donuts. 

From the outside, it didn’t look like much but there was a line of at least ten people waiting to choose donuts.  Inside we found donuts of every possible color, with every possible topping.  Some donuts seemed quite appropriate for the adult neighborhood the shop was in!  We chose the ones we wanted and left the store, thinking with great  anticipation about our soon-to-be-eaten donut snack.

We followed our map to the tram stop and caught a ride back to Lloyd Center where we had started the day some six hours before.  It was hot – very hot – and you could tell the RV had been sitting in the sun all day.  It was hot too.

One of the benefits of an RV is a working freezer so we cooled off by happily eating otter pops. 

For the last several days, we’ve been trying to find a place to watch the movie Grown Ups.  Not 35 feet from where we parked our RV was a theater showing it and the next showing was only 20 minutes away.  We debated – get on the freeway at 4:20 on a Friday afternoon and play in slow traffic for who knows how long, or wait and watch the movie and then get on the freeway after the worst of the traffic is gone.  We picked the movie, wouldn’t you?

Grown Ups was fun – it has some great one liners and Adam Sandler does a good job of delivering many of them.  Josh, Nate, Gene and Ben especially liked it.  Kassi thought it was okay – she was the one who really wanted to see it – and Sam and I were on the fence.  Good one liners? Yes.  Rest of the plot? Interesting…

After the movie, we got back in the RV and headed out of town – east on I-84 towards Boise, Idaho.   Sad to say but our journey home has begun…

After wandering around the downtown Portland area, we did have some thoughts and comments about the different people we’d seen.  We saw many strangely dressed people – some hobos probably living on the street, some delirious within their own thoughts.  We encountered everyone from business men and women heading off for a day’s work, to parents out walking with their children, teenagers and college-aged people hanging out and tourists just like us. 

The downtown area had many businesses – some large like Powell’s books and others small like VooDoo donuts.  On many streets, we found food vendors selling lunch to  people who seemed to know them well and probably made it a habit to eat from these outdoor vendors.

There was a lot of traffic – but the streets were narrow and very crowded. The tram, streetcars and city busses mixed with the traffic as all drove hurriedly from place to place, moving people from one location to another.

Kassi had trouble figuring out where the people live – there were very few houses where we were but still people milling around who looked like they lived nearby (most of the small businesses had apartments/houses built above them).  Ben commented about how glad he was he lives in Tucson.  It seems we aren’t ready for or interested in the hustle and bustle we found today.

Tomorrow’s Destination – Boise or beyond, with a hook up somewhere north of Boise with Kassi’s friend Zoie.

Today we ventured to Mt. St. Helens.  It was an eye-opening experience – somewhat frightening and definitely hard to comprehend.

We took route 504 which led us up to the north side of the mountain, the side the actually “blew its top” and changed the landscape in the area forever.

The road to the visitor center was harmless – no winding roads, no sharp curves, low elevation…it was quite pleasant.  Every once in awhile, we would catch a glimpse of the snow peaked Mt. St. Helens but then it would disappear from sight.
We immediately noticed a difference between the cone-toped Mt. Rainier and the concave shaped top of Mt. St. Helens.  It was clear that the top of the mountain was gone.

In the visitor center we learned about the volcanic history of the mountain and its activity in the months and days leading up to the May 18, 1980 explosion that made it famous.

While those of us who remember when Mt. St. Helens exploded remember it as being a huge ordeal, in comparison to other volcanic activity, the eruption was relatively small.  But its impact was huge for those who lived nearby and those who were unfortunate enough to be on the mountain the day it blew its top. 

Nate, Josh and Kassi participated in the Junior Ranger program and completed a series of activities that showed they understood what volcanoes are, what causes them to explode and what happens when they do.  When they finished, they shared their knowledge with a park ranger and passed with flying colors.  They recited the Junior Ranger pledge and then proudly wore their Junior Ranger badges as we left the center.

Now that we knew what Mt. St. Helens was all about, we decided to follow the road and get closer to its base.  As we drove, the road became steeper and more curvy.  We rose 2,000 feet in elevation in no time.  Steep cliffs stood out on either side of us.  Sometimes they seemed to surround us, at other times we seemed to be above them looking down.

At one point, we crossed a bridge that took us over an extremely deep gorge – so deep, in fact, that we could barely see to the bottom.

When we passed a sign that said Blast Zone – and knew we were within reach of the volcano’s angry hands, we got a bit uncomfortable.

About 30 miles up the road, we came to another visitor center with an excellent view of the mountain.  We decided we were close enough – not that we expected anything to happen but just the thought of the volcanic activity churning within the mountain was enough to be somewhat disconcerting.  Time to head back down…

On the way down, we stopped for an early dinner at a family-owned business and tasted their berry and rhubarb cobblers. Yum!  We were entertained by three teenage boys doing backflips off a nearby bridge.  Crazy!

We headed towards Portland and found an RV park in Fairfield, Oregon, just 15 minutes from downtown Portland.

Tomorrow’s destination – Portland for 13” mancakes, VooDoo donuts and Powell’s Bookstore.

Today was a driving day – from Anacortas down to Mt. St. Helens.  It was only a 17o mile or so drive so we didn’t think it would take too long (uhm, did we forget we driving an RV?).

So, we lounged around at the campsite, did another load of laundry, played around on the Internet – you know, those things you do when you have all the time in the world and nowhere to go… 

We tooled back into town to go to the delicious Japaneses restaurant we found the night before – Teriyaki Time.   When you’ve been on a whale boat and haven’t eaten for hours and your HUNGRY, everything tastes good, even Teriyaki Time food.  Well, fortunately for us, our second meal there when we weren’t quite so hungry and were a little more discerning in our food tastes was just as good. 

The waitresses loved Nate and Josh and gave them special treats and a big hug when we left.  Guess it pays to be young and cute!

A quick run into Safeway – have to eat on the road – and a trip to the gas station and we were off.

Why is it that major freeways always run right through major cities and have lots of traffic during rush hour? 

We made great time getting to Seattle and then – BAM!  Came to a crawl which ended about two and a half hours later.  It wsa no fun! 

We crawled our way through Seatlle and just when we thought traffic might lighten up, we hit Tacoma and just when we thought traffic might lighten up we hit Olympia – good grief.

Our advice?  Stay off I-5 from Seattle to Olympia between 4 and 6:30 p.m.

And, once again, we learned an important RV rule: Do not leave food on the counter when you’re driving.  If you stop fast, it won’t stay there. 

Wish we’d have figured this out before putting seven styrofoam containers full of left over Japanese food there. 

And rule number two remembered today: Most styrofoam packages do no stay closed when they hit the ground hard.

Oh well!

Since we had all decided not to return to Seattle after our 4th of July experience (it just wasn’t friendly!), we didn’t stop. But we did take a couple of pictures of what we might have seen up close if we had stopped:

The Space Needle (a bit on the blurry side)Downtown Seatlle, Washington

As we drove, we marveled at the snow covered Mt. Ranier that kept appearing and disappearing in front of us,  Hard to see on the camera as you drive but here’s a shot:

Look at the peak on Mt. Rainier - WOW!

The mountain is really huge!

We picked a campsite near the 504 which is the road we’ll take to learn more about Mt. St. Helen.  We’d promised Josh a campfire so had to be sure to pick a place that allowed campfires.

We spend the evening walking around the grounds, waving to the engineers on the train that ran just a few hundred feet from our trailer (many times – over and over and over!), and then when it finally got dark, we made a campfire.  We forgot our skewers so we used small tree branches to cook our hot dogs and marshmallows – gotta have s’mores.

It was a fun, outdoor evening – much like the kind we have when we’re really camping, out in the woods, with our tent trailer.   We were all a little goofy…

Josh and the campfire

Ben and Gene lighting the campfire

Samantha at the Campfire?

Kassi hiding from the smoke

Hmmm...what's Nate doing?

Joah planting "thank you" kiss on Cindy's head

It’s whale day!

For only the second time on our trip, we had to wake everyone up early to get moving.  It wasn’t too hard – today we were going to find whales!

Since we’d done our practice run yesterday, we knew exactly where to go and thankfully, where to park to catch the ferry to Friday Harbor and the San Juan Islands.  We left at 8:05, almost on schedule and had parked, walked down a LONG hill to the ferry and purchased our tickets by 8:35 a.m.

We watched the ferry dock and unload passengers from Friday Harbor and then it was finally our turn to get on.  It’s very different riding the ferry as a passenger without a vehicle – you just walk right on and are free to roam about on one of three different decks.  Given the security we have in airports, there is very little (almost no) security visible on the ferries.

The 60 minute ride went quickly as we spent our time walking around the outer deck, taking pictures, watching the many small islands go by and thinking about the afternoon’s adventure.

Riding the ferry to Friday Harbor

When we arrived in Friday Harbor, we checked in with Western Prince Whale and Wildlife Tours (great company, by the way, if you’re ever in Washington and want to go whale watching, truly A+++).  No reports of whales yet (it was about 10:30) but we weren’t leaving until 2 so were very optimistic.

For Christmas, Grandma bought Kassi a membership at the Whale Museum and she and Aunt Pam both gave Kassi an adopted whale for a year.  The whale tour was, of course, Kassi’s choice and the Whale Museum is what actually brought us to Friday Harbor.  One of Kassi’s whales – K22 – lives in a resident pod in this area and the adoption was sponsored by the Whale Museum.

We trekked over to the Whale Museum – one thing we’ve noticed here in Washington is that everything goes uphill – sometimes, up a steep hill.  The good news is that we always get to come down but going up can be a bit of a hike…that was the case with the Whale Museum, located at the top of hill.

Kassi at the Whale Museum, Friday Harbor Washington

The museum was a great place for us to prepare for our afternoon adventure.  We watched a short video and then learned about the three resident whales pods here – J, K and L.  We saw a picture of K22 – Sekiu is her name – and learned about her family.  We also learned a lot about the J pod – Granny is the oldest known whale in the pod, going on her 99th year.  Her son Ruffles, is the oldest male in the pod coming in at 55 years.  The average lifespan for a female whale here is 60 years and for a male it’s 30 years so both of these whales are quite old for their species.

Whale Geaneology Chart, K-22 Seiku is here

We learned that the whales in the San Juan Island area have a diet of 95-98% salmon, which is very unusual for whales but the consistant food source is what has made them residents of the area.

We also learned that the three pods interact with each other during certain times of the year and breed between the pods.  The whales are in the San Juan area from April until October.

The gestation period for a whale is 16 months, and once a baby whale is born, it must survive for one year before it is given a name (the letter of the pod, a number and a real name). It then becomes part of the research being done in the Washington area to learn more about whales and how their interaction with humans benefits/hurts them.

After touring the museum and keeping a close eye on the clock, we had a quick lunch and then headed down to the boat.

We climbed aboard with 10 other passengers, two naturalists (guides) and our captain.  All of the tour boats in the San Juan Island area share information so when whales were seen in the early afternoon, everyone knew.

We headed out to sea (yes, Mom, both Nate and Josh wore life jackets, much to their annoyance…).

Josh and Nate with their life jackets

We were in Puget Sound and would be traveling in the San Juan Strait and other area waters.  We were reminded that while we were here to see whales, not to forget the many other wildlife and beauty of the area.  As if to confirm what had just been said, a bald eagle flew overhead at that moment!

Our boat could hold up to 32 people so with only 20, we had plenty of space to move around.  And, we were one of the smaller tour boats.

We learned even more about whales, their habits and their lifestyle as we headed out.  We were allowed to move around the boat and spent most of our time on the front deck with the wind blowing in our faces — watching… and waiting…

Sam, Ben and Kassi looking for Orca whales

The Captain pointed out sites as we moved along and then finally, came the word, that the whales were close.

Our first glimpse was Ruffles – we saw his dorsal fin rise above the water and then disaapppear. Close by to him, was Granny – her fin was much smaller than his and not as easy to see.  When we first saw them they were about 600 yards away and could best be seen with binoculars.  We slowly moved closer and soon could predict their somewhat rhythmic appearances above the water.

Our first siting of Ruffles

Our captain determined the whales were swimming along an island to a reef area up ahead so he took us to about the half way point of their anticipated journey – boats have to stay 100 yards away from the whales and can’t get in and amongst the whales – so we were basically parallel to where we thought they would be going.

Kassi looking for Orca whales

It seemd like we were moving away from them but our guides assured us we were would soon be seeing whales up close.

And they were right!

In total, we probably saw 10 or 12 different whales.  We actually saw several whales breech (jump out of the water and land on their side), a few smack their tails on the water and one come straight up with her nose and then go straight back down.  It wsa just amazing!

Our best Orca picture, Granny

We watched a group of young whales splashing around and playing with each other.

You can’t even describe the the moment when you see a whale appear – our oohs and ahhs probably said it all. Nate was so escited he was calling out everytime he saw a fin or whale-like motion in the water.  His enthusiasm was felt by all.

Picture-wise, we didn’t get much with our little camera but one of the guides was taking pictures and got some great ones.  He’s going to email them to us and we’ll share them when he does.

At one point, Granny came toward our bost and got a little closer than our 100 yard perimeter so we actually had to back slowly up.

The time sped by and before we were ready, it was time to head back to Friday Harbor.  On the way, we saw three more bald eagles, three seals – including two little pups,  two herds of deer and a herd of deer-like, sheep-like critters whose name we didn’t quite catch.

For all of us, it was a truly superb experience.  Whales are beautiful animals and watching them swim and play in the wide open waters is something we will always remember.

Kassi got her dream – to see an Orca whale in its natural habitat.  And we all got to come along for the adventure!

After our whale watching ride

We woke up to more rain – that’s Washington for you!

We backtracked down to Anacortas in anticipation of catching the ferry to Friday Harbor and our whale watching excursion on Tuesday.  We were all hungry and Gene was eager to find a campsite.  After the escapades of last night, we were ready for a calm, quiet day.

We’d decided to stay in Anacortas for two days – tonight so we wouldn’t miss our ferry in the morning and Tuesday night because it would be late when we got back.

When we arrived in Anacortas we had three goals – find food, find a campsite and find the ferry.

Finding the ferry came first – there are actually several ferry locations in Anacortas – one goes to Friday Harbor, another to an unknown place in Washington and another to somewhere in Canada.  We found the correct ferry and then looked for the parking area where we could park the RV.  Luck would have it that the signs we followed led us right into a “cars only” parking lot – no sign telling us that but once we got down the little hill and in to the lot, the only spaces in it were for cars and there was no way to go out but the way we’d just come. 

Not a good place for an RV to be – since when you can’t go forward and there’s no space to turn around, you’re only choice is to back up – hill or no hill.

For the umpteenth time, I got out and went to the back of the RV to back Gene up.  The way backing up works with us is that I simply put my body where I want the rear end of the driver’s side of the RV to go.  Then, as Gene backs the RV up, I back up too – trying always to stay more backed up then the RV.  So far, it’s worked.

We backed our way up the hill and had to stop traffic on the two lane road so we could back out onto the road – with a 34 foot vehicle, you can’t go forward until you’re all the way backed out.   And backing out is NOT a quick process… other cars or not.

We asked directions to the RV lot and tried again – this time, the lot was a little bigger but it still wasn’t an RV lot…we only had to back up once to maneuver around a long car…

We asked directions to the RV lot one more time, and this time we found it.  But, it was the last day of the holiday weekend and the lot was full – over full as cars were parked on the ends of each row in what normally would have been an open lane.  Of course, we couldn’t get around them so once again, we backed up so we could escape the parking lot and keep moving.

Ferry found, parking verified – not it was time to find a campsite.  As we left the ferry area, we immediately saw a sign to the state park we were interested in camping in – the road to the park was a little questionable but we made it okay.  We watched with excitement as two deer ambled slowly through the parking area and then we continued to follow the signs to the camping area.

The road got narrower and narrower, and steeper and steeper and yet – no campers anywhere.  Just as I was trying to imagine how on earth we could back out of here (it would not have been pretty), we turned a corner and saw a few trailers set up for camping. 

We assessed the area – steep, tight, crowded, nerve-wracking – and decided to get out.  No camping here for us!

We drove passed an RV park on one of the beaches, and sight unseen made a reservation. 

Now, finally, food time!

The sign for Applebees indicated it was nearby – just down the road, or so it seemed.   But as we know, nothing is ever as it seems.  J

15 miles later, still no Applebees so we turned around and went back to the family restaurant we had passed 15 miles earlier…

After eating, we checked into the RV park and set up camp.  It was only 2:30 and we were done!

We all spent the day doing our own relaxing things – for the kids, that meant playing Spore on the computer and watching videos.  For Gene, that meant a nap.  For me, that meant taking my paperwork and sitting on a picnic bench near a fifty foot tall pine tree listening to the little waves from Puget Sound splash on the rocks and reveling in the fact that I was sitting in the sun, in July, and I was NOT hot.  What more could a person ask for?

It was just what we all needed.

Tomorrow’s destination?  Friday Harbor and whales.

… at least for the Kappler Family.

Ahh, Sarah – wo couldn’t have said it better.  But first, the rest of the story…

We ended up in Forks, Washingon, home of the Twilight trilogy on the 4th of July.   We had initially planned to be in Seattle to see one of the Nation’s top five fireworks displays but as luck would have it (along with two days of delay due to RV problems), our highly flexible itinerary had us in Forks – vampire and werewolf capitol of the world! 

We intended to look around Forks for part of the day and then drive to Port Townsend in northeast Washington, watch fireworks and spend the night, and then catch the ferry to Keystone in the morning so we could continue on to Anacortas in preparation for our whale watching excursion.

When we checked into our RV park for the night, the owners told us we’d have to either leave before 10:30 in the morning or stay until after 1:00 because the 101 going through town would be closed for the annual 4th of July parade and the RV park was right on the 101.  Believe it or not, the kids have never seen a live parade so we decided to stay and watch it.  We also found out they’d be having a demolition derby and that sounded like fun too.

So, we tweaked the highly flexible itinerary and stuck around in Forks.

When we woke up, it was raining and cold – bummer weather for a parade.  But the weather didn’t stop anyone – not even us!

The parade started right in front of the RV park so all we had to do to have front row seats was walk across the street and take up our piece of the sidewalk.  Bundled up in long pants, jackets and hats, we stood with everyone else waiting for the parade to start.  We then watched each entry go by.

Hanging out in the rain waiting for the 4th of July parade to start

Yes, Cindy was getting wet too!

Here comes the parade!

They even had royalty. What troopers! It was wet and cold.

Forks has a tradition of handing out candy during the parade – really, people throw candy at you as they go by, then you look and makes sure no entries (mostly cars) are coming and then run out and pick up the wet, cracked and sometimes open pieces of candy.  Oh yum! 

We learned the drill quickly and were acting like old pros in no time.  We stuck out the whole parade, even the ten minute delay when one of the five people on horseback got thrown from their horse.

We had pizza after the parade and then went to check out the demolition derby – another “new” event for us.  It was entertaining and sometimes kind of exciting.  We did conclude that the round with female drivers, though tough and not something we’d want to do, was not quite as aggressive as the many rounds with male drivers.  No offense to anyone, but there was a noticeable difference.

Early in the first round...

Kassi, Sam and I watched for an hour or so and then we went out to check out Forks and see the things Sam had come to see.  Afterall, this was her pick and we were here as Twilight fans…

Sam in Forks, WA - Twilight Capitol!

You can see it's really a Twilight town

By 5 p.m., when the demolition derby was over, we’d explored Forks and after several calls to the Washington Ferry system, we had given up on the idea of catching a ferry from Port Townsend – there was only one boat and the town was apparently packed for the holiday weekend.  We decided to drive a little farther and catch the ferry in Kingston.  This would save us about a 100 miles of driving – go down south and all the way around Seattle or take the ferry across the water – we were all for the ferry. 

Given the horror stories we’d heard about lines at the ferry and heavy traffic, we expected a long drive to Kingston and then to sit in line until the first ferry at 4:30 in the morning.  No big deal – we have a house on wheels.

There was almost no traffic and much to our surprise, we found ourselves in Kingston at 8:10 and at the front of the line to catch the 9:15 p.m. ferry that night!  Yahoo.

While we waited for the ferry, we hung out at the Kingston Marina 4th of July celebration.  Lots of rock ‘n roll, kids running around and fireworks.  Yes, in Washington, it’s legal to shoot fireworks – apparently just about anywhere and anytime.  They were going off all around us – ALL around us. 

The 4th in Kingston

We were excited about riding the ferry but a little apprehensive about taking our 17,500 pound RV on a boat across a large expanse of water.  Other people were doing it so we knew we could but just the idea…

Finally, it was time to board.

The ferry we are about to get on

Out of the RV and up on deck to see what's going on

The ferry ride was fun – amazing what can go on and make it across the water – but fun to do and a great alternative to driving…

We arrived in Edmonds about 9:40 and I’d already figured out that we were only 15 minutes from Lake Union, the site of Seattle’s infamous fireworks display.  Gene wasn’t too excited about the idea of driving the opposite way from where we needed to go and right into 50,000 people but he gave in to our cajoling.  So, we hopped on I-5 and headed south.

Using Ben’s GPS system on his phone (the 12 volt receptors in the RV quit working when we got stuck in CA – our real GPS system couldn’t be plugged in so were relying on Ben and his phone), we navigated our way to within a couple of miles of the lake.

Now, everyone knows that huge fireworks shows get huge amounts of traffic and the closer you go to the source of the show, the more traffic you’ll find.  Well, two miles from the show – there’s a lot of traffic.  And here we were with our HUGE RV trying to find a place to park.  Seattle is full of tall trees and lots of hills so even though we could hear the fireworks, we couldn’t see them from where we were.  We had to park and go downhill.

We pulled into a gas station and I consulted with the six police officers sitting on their motorcycles waiting to direct traffic after the show (that’s how close we were).  No parking in the area – all the side streets were full.    I asked about the empty parking lot at the Jiffy Lube across the street and one police officer said (and I almost can quote him), “It’s a private lot and it’s posted.  But there are so many cars illegally parked tonight, I’d roll the dice if it was me.  What towing company is going to want to mess with an RV when they have so many smaller vehicles to choose from.”   Yea, what towing company…?

Sounded like good advice to me.  (Did I mention that we NEVER win in Vegas?)

We parked the RV in the Jiffy Lube lot and then hustled downhill toward the water.  It was already 10:15 by the time we got out of the RV but the fireworks were still exploding around us.  We’d catch a glimpse of one every minute or s0 but it wasn’t until we got to the bottom of the road (about six tenths of a mile away per Ben’s GPS) that we could really see.  We sat in the middle of the closed road with about 50 other people and oohed and aahed as the fireworks boomed and banged in front of us.

The fifteen minutes or so that we saw were great – we had made it to one of the best fireworks shows in the Nation. 

When it was over, we turned around and trudged back up the hill.  Gene said something about getting back to the RV quickly and he,  Ben and Kassi took off.  Sam and I brought up the rear pulling Josh and Nathaniel behind us.

Gene ran all the way back to the RV – he had spent the time watching the fireworks envisioning our illegally parked RV being towed away…Kassi thought he was just trying to show her and Ben up so she did her best to keep up.  Ben couldn’t figure out what Gene’s hurry was but he was surprised to see his Dad running several steps ahead of him.

Well, they rounded the corner to the street where we had parked and a half block away saw a very big tow truck with a very big RV waiting to turn onto the road.

It looked something like this:

This is something like what Gene saw when he rounded the corner. (Where is a camera when you need one?)

All Gene could think about was how to stop the truck from moving any farther – imagine being stuck in the middle of Seattle with five kids late at night with no transportation and nothing but the clothes on your back.  It wasn’t going to happen to him.

The kids said he nearly flew down the block, waving his arms and yelling, STOP! STOP! (A sight I would have paid a million dollars to see.  Where IS the camera when you need it?)

Thankfully, the tow truck driver did stop. 

The long and the short of it?  

We were gone not quite 35 minutes.  The tow truck driver got a call from the owner almost as soon as we parked.  Per the tow truck man, there are a lot of bars in the neighborhood and people often park in the lots, go drinking and then come back and trash the parking lots.  He said the owner probably lived across the street in one of the apartments or had a person who watched out for his lot who lived there – they likely called us in as soon as we drove into the lot.

And apparently it didn’t matter to them that we were a nice, wholesome looking family (although a bit ragged after 11 days in an RV)  who probably wanted to watch fireworks at the Nation’s best fireworks display –  where was their spirit?  Their sense of community? 

The tow truck driver was kind enough to unhook our RV – though he charged us a hefty $370 to do so (make that $410.54, can’t forget the tax).  We had pay him first, of course.  He told us were lucky we caught him as it would have cost us another $300 or so if we’d had to be released from an impound lot.  Weren’t we fortunate!

Gene didn’t say much and the kids were smart enought to just get into the RV and buckle up.   He made sure the RV was still in one piece and then got behind the wheel and with just a lick of sarcasm said, “Well, you got to see the fireworks and you should be happy that I ran all the way back or who knows where the RV would be now.”  Then he turned on the RV and off we went.

And that, my friends, is how the Nation’s best fireworks became the Nation’s most expensive fireworks, at least for the Kappler family.

Tomorrow’s destination: Anacortes