Washburne State Park, 2019

It’s been too long since those warm days in southern California last fall. We finally got out this past weekend to kick of the 2019 camping season. But first, the big news since then is that we traded in the old camper for a newer one! I don’t know the exact year the old Four Wheel Camper that we acquired in 2015 was manufactured, but it was built in the mid 1990’s. It was starting to show it’s age in a few areas. Although it served us well and was holding together just fine we were starting to look at a few major replacements to keep everything weather tight and functional. I wasn’t really looking in earnest, but then along came an ad for something pretty close to a perfect replacement. So, we pounced on it, placed the old camper up for sale and in a matter of days the switch was made.

The new 2012 Eagle (Silver Spur Edition)!!

Ever since then we’ve been ready to hit the road and give it a Maiden Voyage. Due to extensive snow in most of the state we decided we’d make our way over to the coast to take advantage of some better, non snowy weather. We found a bit of spring as we hit the other side of the Cascades. Daffodils were blooming!

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Dog Days, 2018

Labor Day is approaching and the long hot smoky days of summer draw are drawing to a close.  Fire season necessitates sticking close to home over the summer but there have been some chances to escape to a nearby lake or two, and even a couple of days on the coast.  Here’s a couple of shots from the last month or two of adventures.

Paulina Lake never disappoints with its blue water and beautiful sunsets.  The kokanee are pretty tasty too.

Sunset over Paulina

 

Before fires completely filled the sky with smoke later in August we were treated to a few nice color filled sunsets, including this one spotted on the way back from an evening trip to Paulina.

 

Smoky Sunset

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Southeast Alaska, 2018, Part 2

Days in Alaska in May are long, even in southeast.  All those hours of light leave you wanting to seize each hour you are given.  With that in mind we didn’t waste too much time before we were up and ready to explore, and headed out on a hike.  There are definitely places with worse plants (I’m talking about you, southwest Oregon, and your poison oak), but after being reintroduced to devils club I can say I didn’t miss it one bit.

Devils Club, even the leaves have thorns

 

There was a nice spruce and hemlock forest that was dense enough it made getting around pretty easy.

 

 

Mossy Understory

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