We are well into the 2012 camping season. No big plans for July 4th, just a stay at home day since it's in the middle of the work week. Updates - We used the Blazer for one camping trip this spring, then it went off to the mechanic for a diesel engine swap. In the meantime, we've had to rent a Ford F-150 for one trip. That went fairly well, but I can't wait to get the Blazer back into commission!

A new camping season has begun!

Well, we're starting the new season! Despite a long list of minor issues and some not so minor, we are scheduled to head out to Fort Stevens, Astoria this afternoon. Hopefully all that is left to do is an oil change for the diesel truck, and we're out'a here!

Unfortunately, the fridge decided to stop working over the winter, hopefully it's something minor. We also did not get around to putting the diesel engine into the Blazer, so it looks like we'll be towing with the big white Kahuna again one more season. Oh well, at least it makes it easy to bring the motorcycle.

More pics to follow.

Updates!

Lots of stuff to do. We haven't stopped camping, we just haven't updated for a while. We'll be heading out to Detroit Lake in a week or so, that should be a blast. We've temporarily changed tow vehicles to a 1993 K3500 extended cab long bed truck with the turbo diesel 6.5 v8 and a 5 speed manual transmission. I'm not particularly fond of the truck, it's way to long to jockey around in tight spaces, but the engine and transmission are a nice upgrade from the gas 350 in the Blazer. More power and 50% better mileage! If everything goes as planned, the diesel engine will be transplanted into the Blazer over the winter.

July 25-27 Barlow Creek campsite

Well, we decided to go camping with some of our friends up around Timothy Lake, about 20 miles south of Mt. Hood, OR, and about an hour east of Portland. While it was a scenic drive, all of the campgrounds were full around the lake, and the surrounding areas. Leslie grew up camping in the area, so we followed her around until we found a beautiful spot next to Barlow Creek. We had a great time, and spent the next couple of days exploring Clear Lake and even made a tourist run up to Timberline Lodge. Sean & Sharon & family, Leslie & Jonathan & family, Aaron & Susan & family, Irene & family plus various other guest kids.



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4th of July at Longbeach WA (repeat!)

Well, here we are again at Longbeach again. Actually, we are in Ilwaco, which is about 5 minutes south of Longbeach, staying at the KOA. Things are going well, except for a few ants that decided to hitch a ride in our trailer. Our good friends Aaron and Susan have joined us, and are trying out their new (to them) classic 1973 Apache hard sided pop up trailer. Very cool unit. My sister and her husband Peter will be showing up shortly for some tent camping alongside. It should be a beautiful fireworks display on the beach tonight. Kyle tested out his new wetsuit a couple of times in the surf, said it worked pretty well!

Memorial Day 2008

Now this was a nice get away. We hooked up the trailer and headed for the coast. We had reserved a spot on the beach at the Cape Lookout state park. Mild weather, a huge beach to explore, and camping next to the muted rumble of the surf. We camped next to our friends, the Bauders. This was the first time towing with the truck, and it did very well. A little different to drive with the stick, and I think the mileage is a little worse, but overall it was fun. We even saw a huge California Barracuda (We think) laying on the beach, not to mention Bald Eagles, Osprey, etc.

Whirlwind tour of Tucson and San Diego!

Now this was a trip! We planned this last year, but airfare prices doubled in the meantime. The budget being what it was, we just threw everything in the ol' PT Cruiser and headed south. We drove for about 12 hours, stopped near Sacramento, then drove another 12 hours to Tucson. We took a quick break in Phoenix to visit with our friend Jeff Marcille and his lovely family. Yep, he's still a tech geek. Great dog too. Hopefully next time we can meet up with the rest of our old friends. We spent 3 days in Tucson visiting family, hiking the Sabino Canyon, and visiting the Desert Museum. While we were at it, we setup Carol with a Macbook so she could begin her big adventure on the web. Then, we hightailed it over to San Diego. That's a nice little trip, the scenery is nice around the dunes west of Yuma, and the rocky foothills going into California. Seaworld was cool, and the Electric Flyers of San Diego were showing off their planes at a nearby park. Very cool. Seaworld was seaworld, recommended, as was the San Diego Zoo. Next time we will plan an extra day to hit all the museums in the area around Balboa Park. So, here we are, back at home and recovering from our sunburns. Woo!