Day One (9/15/2010)

(Not too sure about how to do this whole blog thing, but here goes; guess I'll just make it kinda like a daily log, which'll be boring as heck, but then I'm not too clever, anyway, so if you don't like it, go find something else to read) 

Finally got out of the driveway at about noon, after taking way too much time, packing.  Then, after traveling about 100 feet, we passed a rowdy-looking kid on a bike, who was cycling along the road, toward our driveway.  So, we turned around, and went back, making sure that he had gone way past our house.  And, no we're not suffering from paranoia; it was all because, about four days earlier, it was reported that a kid on a bike had tried to gain entrance to the neighbor's house.  When he discovered they were home, he hopped on his bike and took off. 

So, at this point, a little cloudy thought passes through my mind, "I hope this isn't a indication of how things are going to go, on this trip."  Oh well.

Next stop: Marysville, for a little last-minute shopping, getting some cash at the bank, gas for the RV, and a couple of Whoppers at Burger King. 

Finally, at about 2:00, we're on the road for our very-first-ever long-distance RV trip.  The RV is old and we're even older, but we're on the way.  We'll see if either the RV or we give out, before it's all said and done.  Maybe both.  Hopefully, neither one.

Next five hours: Good ol' I-5, trucks, cars, other RV's, with the only scenery being strip malls and pastureland, until hitting Longview, where we exit, and decide to give the new gps unit a try.  We type in "Astoria," and it says that we will arrive in something like 19 hours.  Figuring that's a little strange, we discover that it's set for "pedestrian."  Still learning how to use this crazy thing.

We finally arrive at the Fort Stevens State Campground at around 7:30, in the dusk.  It's rainy, cloudy, and not looking too good.  But if the state campgrounds are all like this one, then they're great.  The campsites are all separated from each other with a good amount of space, brush, and beautiful conifers.  You can hear the roar of the surf, off in the distance, as the beach is only about a mile away. 

But the rain.  It was coming down from the overhanging trees onto the RV roof in huge drops that pounded the top of the RV...waaay loud.  At first, it sounded pretty nice.  However, "at first" turned into "okay, that's nice, but enough, already."  Neither of us got much sleep, because of it.  Kinda like having the little drummer boy beating tattoos on his snare drum two feet away from your head all night long.  We learned a hard lesson: When it's raining and you're in an RV, don't camp under the trees, unless you're either deaf or have earplugs. 


First night, cooking supper