I was a bit apprehensive about my trip, it was going to be one of the longest trips I’ve made and I was traveling with two co-workers whom I’ve never traveled with before.  Technically I wasn’t supposed to be up for the trip, earlier in the year I made four trips back to back while my partner who I go every other trip with,  was either on vacation or tied up with other trips that require security credentials.  But he kindly passed on the second leg of the trip and I was up to go. We met early the day of our departure and took a company taxi to the airport. We cut it kind of close time wise and security had huge lines, but we made it through in time and happily our wait for the plane was short. We flew Delta Airlines, boarding an older 757 (now many years out of production) for Detroit.

I changed my seat just before boarding to a window seat and I’m glad I did. I sat next to a college student on her way to New Orleans and the aisle seat was occupied by a friendly young bartender on his way to watch a football game with friends in Detroit. I love looking at the familiar Puget Sound area from the air, we took off to the north and headed east into the clear sky. I recognized all the familiar landmarks of Eastern Washington; I could clearly see Sunland and Vantage where my work friend Scott and his wife Kris own vacation property, further north was Banks Lake where my best friend Mark and Belinda sail their boat occasionally. Then in the Spokane area and I could even see the golf course Sandy’s uncle built at Lake Coeur d’Alene with the floating green. 

I wasn’t sure about what parts of Montana I was seeing at first, but later I knew for a fact I was looking down at the Ranch in Roy of Sandy’s cousins, Rod McClure, his wife Doreen and their four kids. I knew their ranch is on the Missouri Breaks and I spotted the highway that comes south out of Malta and crosses the river just to the east of their property. I was too high to see the house, but I know it was their huge spread I was looking down on. Further east of them the huge reservoir of Fort Peck looked like it was full to the top, a site I haven’t seen in many years. As long as I can remember the Corp has used the water from that lake to help barges navigate the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and that policy left the folks of Montana with a mostly empty lake.

I noticed all across the Dakota’s that lakes and reservoirs were very full, and things looked green from way high in the sky. I’m not sure of our flight path to Detroit, but somewhere over the Dakota’s I’m guessing we turned slightly south and then east again, because I don’t think we flew over Minnesota  or Wisconsin, I sure didn’t see any of the great lakes.  Once in Detroit we had two hours between flights and we all ordered lunch since we were all hungry.

The flight from Detroit to Baltimore was a bit fun at one point when we encountered some turbulence, and even the flight attendants had to sit down and buckle up. Again I had a window seat, my preference, and I enjoyed looking out the window and reading my novel. It was a short flight and we were landing in a city I’ve never been in.

I had reserved a car with Alamo and we followed the signs to ground transportation. We had to take a short bus ride to the rental car terminal which is off site from the airport. Checking out went fast since I had done all the pre-trip information on the computer and just used a kiosk to get the rental agreement. Even though I rented the car I was happy to turn the wheel over to my partner Chad once we got out of the garage. We still had an hour of daylight and I wanted to look around a bit and enjoy the new scenery.

My trusty GPS took us right to the hotel where we checked in. The program people invited us out for an evening of entertainment, but after a long day with very little sleep I was only interested in getting some dinner and going to bed. It felt later than it really was since we had lost three hours of our day to the time zone changes. I enjoyed a great steak dinner just down the road before returning to my home away from home, the always predictable Hampton Inn.

Friday morning we met the Boeing guys, Jason, Adam and Trevor at eight in the lobby. Pierce and Dan had flown home the previous morning. We followed them down to Webster Field where we picked up our rigs and they drove the rental car back to the airport for their flights home. Right away the Suburban needed fuel. Chad and I wanted some snacks for the trip and I used my own cash, but Chad used his corporate card and it was denied because the store is identified to the credit card company as a liquor store and we all learned from this experience we can’t buy booze with our corporate cards, not that any us would with the exception of a drink with a meal. I followed my trusted GPS to take us back to the highway and soon we were skirting Washington DC. So many historical sites and we didn’t see a thing as we took the outer belt around the city and west out of Maryland.

We had briefly talked about routes out of town, and I preferred to avoid toll roads all together. It’s fairly easy to do with a GPS, but it hurts not to have a good knowledge of the roads you are actually driving on. We knew we were mostly taking I-70 west, but to avoid tolls first we would have to stay in Maryland until we reached the state line on the west side of the state. But against what the GPS was telling me I followed the highway signs leading us directly to I-70 and before I knew it we were in Pennsylvania and on the turnpike which requires cash to exit. And you would think that a toll road would at least be in good repair, but it was one rough road all the way until we exited it into West Virginia. Ten dollars cash, I should have followed my GPS. 

The weather wasn’t very nice at all first day on the road, but still we made a lot of miles our first day, in fact it was our longest driving day we would have. We made it through four states before spending our second night of the trip in Columbus Ohio. After checking in Chad and I took off on foot looking for a place to eat. The Red Lobster next to the hotel was packed and people were waiting with pagers for dinner. We walked on, saw a Japanese place but I’m not a big fan of that so we continued walking in the dark further down the road. At the end of a strip mall we found an all you can eat Chinese buffet and this suited us both. In addition to Chinese food they also had pot roast and salmon, and I loved every bite of my meal. How nice to walk in and eat right away and then get back to our rooms. 

We rolled out of Columbus the next morning west bound for Davenport Iowa with the sun coming up just after we hit the road. The miles and farmland rolled by, the truck I was driving got less than half the economy of the other two vehicles so I had to stop frequently for fuel and I also had to relieve myself more than my partners. I was happy to be away from the busy traffic of the east coast and the driving got downright easy as things flattened and straightened out in Iowa. It got warm out also and I enjoyed traveling with the sun roof open. We ended up in an area they call the quad cities because four good size cities are pretty much interconnected there. We also crossed a major landmark, the Mississippi River which basically separates east from west when you’re thinking continental United States. 

The hotel in Davenport was surrounded by multiple restaurants and we had our pick. My partners were hoping for Italian, and normally I would be accommodating, but when I’m on road trips what I eat and what my body can tolerate have to be the same. I’m scared to eat too much cheese and most sauces have cream in them and that makes me ill. So my partners were gracious and offered to join me at Chili’s instead. There we all found something we liked and I enjoyed my one good meal of the day. On most road trips I usually eat a light breakfast at the hotel, skip a real lunch and then enjoy a sit down dinner in a restaurant. After dinner I don’t usually socialize or go out either, I’m content to have a little quiet time in my room, call home and plan the next day’s leg of the journey.

We left Davenport the following morning for Grand Isle Nebraska. I’m not real sure why I chose this route, we could have gone north from Ohio to Chicago and through Minneapolis into North Dakota, but we didn’t really have the luxury of stopping and visiting people since we are on business and there are three of us. South Dakota is very beautiful, but even contemplating seeing something like Mt Rushmore with three rigs like we are driving seemed problematic, so I chose a route that would give us two options for crossing the continental divide if for some chance the great weather we enjoyed so far would turn to winter conditions. From Grand Isle we could continue on I-70 into Utah or we could take I-25 south to north through Wyoming and see some real state we hadn’t seen before. And truthfully, though it sounds corny, I just like the way Grand Isle sounds when I’m looking at a map.

The picture above was taken through the rear view mirror of the pickup as we left Davenport early in the morning heading west. The driving was so easy and with the higher speed limit of 75mph we passed through what I thought would be our destination and went a bit further to North Platte. What a treat to drive such a powerful pickup truck that feels comfortable towing a 12000lb trailer at those speeds. I think I see a new truck in our future, I always used to think our 454 Vortec Suburban was so powerful, these new diesels are in a whole new league.

Oh my goodness, we scored another great meal in Nebraska at a restaurant just across the parking lot from our hotel. Chad and I ordered appetizers, something we don’t normally do and it was so good. They had these Mexican egg rolls, stuffed with beans, meat and a little cheese, and you dipped them in salsa or chipotle sauce. Then fresh bread and a Caesar salad and I barely had room for steak and fries. But I enjoyed it all. I worked some of it off by polishing my truck even though I knew I was going to hit rain in the Rockies before the trip was over. It was just so nice to be outside in the warm weather, we all knew back home it was already cold and wet so we savored every minute outside. Below you see some wild turkeys on the shoulder in Nebraska just before entering Wyoming.  

The following morning I was missing my I-pod, having accidently left it in the charging stand at home. I let the FM stereo do its search and I found a local Nebraska station and listening to that station just brought back a flood of memories from my youth. What set that off was the two DJ’s were going down the local school list naming each school and what was on the menu for lunch at each school. It’s been forty years since I heard that on the radio. Then they were reading ads for local garage sales or estate sales, and they listed all the items that would be for available at each sale. I’m ready to move to Nebraska, small town life sure has its appeals to me.

The day went quickly and before we knew it we were in Sheridan Wyoming. The Hampton Inn did not have adequate parking for all our rigs and the manager was concerned that my truck and trailer were taking up ten spaces and they were expecting many vehicles that night and some of their guest would have to park on the street. So I offered to park on a vacant lot next door, and I could see the truck and trailer from my room there also. But just to back that heavy trailer up a sight incline in the dirt required me to shift the truck into four wheel drive. Back in my room I did an online search of dining establishments and presented what I considered the two best picks to my partners, and this time we drove downtown since it would have been a mile and half walk. Another great meal, and back to our hotel for much needed sleep. I look forward to the day Sandy and I can explore these places we have passed through but have only seen fleetingly from the highway. Wyoming has much to offer and I want to go back. Below is sunrise in Sheridan Wyoming from my hotel window.

Tuesday morning we rolled out after our usual hotel breakfast and made our way north to Montana. For many miles the highway in Wyoming is chip sealed with a very red colored stone, and the coloration of the road bed is such a nice contrast in comparison to the usual black or gray of asphalt. I saw so many pronghorn antelope it was unreal. I saw quite a few deer also. A pheasant bolted out of the grass on the left side of the road and flew across in front of me, another neat thing to see. We stopped for fuel three times that day before arriving in Missoula. Chad’s in-laws met us at the fuel stop in town and then later picked him up and took him home for some home cooking. Rather than dine with my other co-worker at the hotel I walked uptown by myself and enjoyed a fish and chips dinner at a little mom and pop diner in the city.

I’d reserved rooms at the Double Tree Inn, which is river side on the Clark Fork River right in town. There they have a lounge and fine dining, but after looking at the menu I just wasn’t in the mood for a $40 dinner. I was amazed at how bike friendly the town of Missoula is. Everywhere there are bike lanes, bike paths and bike racks, and so many people riding bikes. I wonder how many people keep riding in the dead of winter, but no matter, this time of year they were still riding.

When I reserved our rooms we were supposed to have river views from our rooms. But what we got were parking lot views. I told the front desk clerk I was disappointed after having been told we had good views at the time of making reservations. She offered to change my room, but since I’d already set up in my room, I didn’t feel like moving. And as late in the evening as it was, really it was just a good place to sleep and nothing more. But the front desk clerk must have felt bad because I found three tickets for free breakfast and letter of apology tucked under my door later in the evening.

We were supposed to meet for breakfast at 6:00am but my phone rang at 5:20 and my partners wanted to know if we could get an early start for home and skip breakfast. I’d already been up since 4:00 when I set my alarm and had brewed my own coffee in the room so I was ready to roll early even though a free breakfast would have been nice. But our last leg of the journey was still 500 miles to Seattle and everyone including myself just wanted to get home. So our first hour and half was spent driving in the dark, something I’m not fond of. I know the scenery is pretty through that stretch, but I’ve seen it before. Daylight was on us as we started up Lookout Pass on our way over the divide. I used the manual mode on the transmission going down the pass; I always like to see if I can avoid using the foot brake to keep my speed in check. Then we climbed 4^th of July pass in Idaho.

I called my sister Johanne as I drove by her in Spokane and we talked for a few moments. As we left Spokane I again reflected on how many times I have traveled that stretch of road. Both my sisters live in Spokane. I also thought of my dad, and the many times he and mom traveled that road to spend time with my sisters or just for vacations towing their travel trailer.

I wished dad could see me now, still driving the Scan Eagle equipment 9 years after the program started. My dad never wanted any of his kids to work for Boeing; he hated the cyclical nature of the business. My dad made it through the biggest down turn Boeing ever experienced back in 1970 when there was a famous bill board proclaiming the last person to leave Seattle please turn out the lights. I experienced similar feelings when in the early 90’s I was responsible for handing out layoff notices to well over a 100 drivers I worked with personally. I’ll never forget the tears I shared with grown men and women in that dark period. But over the years the airplane and military side of the company have prospered and I’m so thankful my dad pulled strings to get me in the door and doing what I so enjoy makes my living.

We rolled into Seattle early in the afternoon, and washed the rigs. Though I enjoyed my partners company on the trip, when it comes to cleaning vehicles I’ve only ever run with one person who could clean a vehicle to my satisfaction. And when I say clean I don’ mean just a car wash on the outside. I am anal retentive, yes I admit it, when it comes to detailing vehicles. After looking at what my partners thought was clean to them I knew I had to come in the next morning and finish what we couldn't do without proper equipment. So Thursday morning at 4:00am I showed up with some cleaning supplies from home and even our shop-vacuum for cleaning the insides of the rigs. The Suburban was in bad shape, soda had been spilled on the carpet and sand and mud tracked everywhere from the exercise on the navy base. I shampooed the carpet and cleaned everything, even using a paint brush to clean AC vents.

Six hours later the program people came out to the parking lot to get the keys from me and they were sure impressed with the condition of the vehicles. Both crew-cabs, the Suburban and all three trailers looked like new. Chad had made sure they were all serviced overnight and the equipment would be ready to be deployed on the next assignment at any time. For nine years Dennis and I have made that our trademark, to always deliver the equipment either on a mission or home in the very best condition we can. I look forward to the next trip when I can do this again. Thanks Dan, Pierce, Trevor, Adam and Jason for the opportunity to work with you again. Till the next road trip…Hans (And the reason I write these journals, so my kids will know what I did when I’m not with them, Love Dad.)

10-14-2011 Fort Flagler Weekend

When a person drives cross country they have a lot of time to think. I’d just returned home from another Scan Eagle mission for work, summer was officially over and our family had not enjoyed an annual vacation as we had for all of the previous years our kids were growing up. There were a multitude of reasons, none of which individually precluded us from taking a vacation, but all lumped together we had stayed home most of the summer. While our family has not suffered by any means compared to millions of people out of work, we have been impacted. Sandy was laid off from her work with the school district as a para-educator and her loss of income came at a time when we were just getting Colton started at community college and Nora was entering her junior year at high school and also driving. All of these things add up to thousands of dollars, and our budget had been strained by having to put a new roof and all new floors throughout our modest little home. I used much of my free time at home to get things done on the farm that didn’t cost money in as much as they require time for labor. Pleased with the results, I was only too happy to escape for a long weekend with Sandy and the kids to our favorite local State Park, Fort Flagler on Marrowstone Island.

I’ve come to terms (I think) that the kids no longer will be making every trip with us in our travel trailer. Nora has many interests outside of camping, she’s spent 16 years being an avid camper, and in fact she was less than a month old when she first camped at Fort Flagler. Colton has his own interest and though many of his peers have left home to pursue college full time I’m thankful he’s still at home for purely selfish reasons, I like seeing my only son everyday and being around him. But on this trip I still got the best of both worlds. Sandy and I would leave Friday right after work and head out just the two of us. The kids would join us Saturday for one night and then return home Sunday afternoon since they both had school on Monday. I mentioned to mom that there would be empty bunk beds in our trailer if she and a friend would like to come out for a night on Sunday and enjoy a campfire.

Dad has been gone for four years now. He and mom were avid RV’ers as well, they enjoyed well over fifty years of camping together and I know mom misses that part of her life as much as she misses dad. Mom has done well without dad; I never worried about her being able to take care of everything, but even mom will admit that driving isn’t her strongest attribute. While she’s perfectly comfortable driving in Shelton and to Olympia the nearest big town, freeway driving and long distance takes her out of her comfort zone. So I offered to her the chance to bring a friend out, and though she didn’t have anyone who could join her I was totally surprised when she accepted the offer and made plans to come out by herself. Its 90 miles of two lane road from Shelton to the park. Much of it is along the Hood Canal.

Sandy had made commitments to substitute the Friday we planned to leave, and I have been working a fair amount of overtime and Fridays are always busy days for me at work, my vendors always want to get all their freight picked up at the end of the week so they can bill Boeing for their work. So I reluctantly put aside any plans for an early departure, though I did do everything in my power to ensure we were ready to go as soon as we both got home. Sandy had shopped early in the week and stocked the trailer with all kinds of good food. I packed all the toys, bikes, scooters, boat and motor. I packed extra firewood and brought our outdoor propane heater along. I hooked the Suburban up to the trailer the previous night and got dad’s old Travelall out of the equipment shed to drive to work. (All our vehicles but our 51 pickup were being used.)

Sandy drove the Jetta, Nora drove the pickup to school, and Colton had his Camaro so that left me the International or my bike. I love driving that old Travelall; it brings back so many wonderful memories of my youth and all the wonderful places we traveled together as a family. And I always feel close to my dad when I’m behind the wheel. They last made International Travelall’s and Pickups back in 1975 so there are almost two generations now that have no idea who made these great vehicles legendary for being long lasting towing machines. There is a fair amount of rust on the underside of our Travelall, but from the outside it still looks pretty good so I’ll just continue to drive it and enjoy it for what it’s worth while I can.

When I got home from work I pulled the trailer out of the carport into the driveway and parked the Travelall in the carport where normally the trailer sits. Since most people wouldn’t know we even have a vehicle like that I like to keep anyone who might be thinking of something dishonest (like robbing us) from having to second guess who might be home with another vehicle parked in our carport. Sandy and I always try to keep our vehicles in our garages and the doors shut so no one can really know our routines if they were casing us for a robbery. Sandy got home from school just after I arrived home and we made our departure for Fort Flagler saying goodbye to our kids for one night. Though we are trusting parents, there are still rules when we are gone and one of those rules is no friends over unless we know about it.

The drive out to Marrowstone Island was easy and relaxing. When I’m pulling our trailer I try to be nice to our old Suburban, many of its actual miles are pulling our trailer and it’s a big load. We crossed the new Nalley Valley viaduct for the first time, I’m not sure when it was opened, but traffic sure flows good all the way from there to Gig Harbor now. I set cruise just a mile or two under the legal limit and let all the evening rush hour traffic go around me as we make our way to Bremerton and out to the Hood Canal bridge. I thought of our old camping friends the Lowell’s as we pass by near where they live, I thought of my childhood friend who lives in Bremerton, and our old neighbors, the Hays, who have retired in Port Townsend. I’m a lucky man I get to spend a fun weekend with my wife and family and the forecast was for wonderful weather the whole weekend with near summertime temperatures in the afternoons.

We arrived at Fort Flagler just as the sun was setting and we were treated to an incredible sunset behind the Olympic Mountains. The entire sky turned bright red as I was setting up the trailer and un-coupling the Suburban. All the waterfront sites were taken but we found a nice site (#95) right next to one of the campground host that would give us a good view of Port Townsend and the entire bay. In Port Townsend we could see the stadium lights were on and we could hear the announcer and the crowds from the local high school football game carry all the way across the water. Sandy fixed an easy supper for us, a noodle dish and french dip. Not sure where the roast beef came from, but it was the best I’ve had in a long time. Of course I was hungry, and I’ve often said “the measure of good food is how hungry you really are”. I set the TV up to scan for all the digital channels and it came up with a few. We were able to watch the news from Vancouver B.C., always a treat to get a different perspective than just your local news from back home. I had the bed heater on since we left home so when we finally went to bed it was nice and cozy.

I look forward to Friday nights, home or away, because I have to get up so early every day during the week and I always feel this pressure to be in bed before 9:00pm or I won’t get my 6 hours of sleep before I get up for work. But the problem is even when I have the luxury of staying up later and sleeping in a bit, as soon as I get in bed and pick up a novel I can barely get two or three pages read and I can’t keep my eyes open. It’s very rare that I ever have trouble sleeping. When Sandy and I did turn out the lights we opened the blinds and the windows in our bedroom, the fresh “salt air” was nice to breath all night.

Saturday morning it was overcast when we got up, but I could see it was going to burn off and be a nice day. The base of the Olympic Mountains was clearly visible and the steam from the paper mill across the bay was going straight up in the air. After breakfast Sandy helped me launch the boat. I wanted so badly to get out in the bay and catch a salmon. I’m not a fisherman, I know very little about fishing and I have only a few things in my tackle box. But I figured if I put something on that flashed while I trolled I might get lucky. In the past Colton and I have had “fish on” while sailing slowly in Puget Sound not even trying to catch fish. I put one of those real heavy banana shaped lead weights, then a long leader and spinning lure with a spoon that flashed in the water. I was trolling 300’ off shore but all I was getting was sea weed stuck to my lure. Still it was nice to be out there.

Our little boat is not comfortable if you have to hang onto the outboard tiller though. I need those fishing seats you clamp onto the boat seat to offer a little back support. After a couple hours and trolling all the way out into Admiralty Inlet, which is big water and big waves for a ten foot aluminum boat I packed up my fishing gear and motored back to the State Park. Colton knows this also, but if you are alone in the boat and you put your weight forward in the boat, the little 4 horse Evinrude outboard Mom and Dad gave us has just enough power to get the boat up on a plane and really move out. Two people in the boat and it will never get up on a plane. I crossed between the island and the sand spit and brought the boat into the sheltered side of the water. Since I just repainted the boat I’m trying to be real careful not to scratch the hull up on the rocky shore. I laid logs down across the beach and pulled the boat up above the high tide mark and even then still tied it off in case of a rogue wave or tsunami. Mind you, Fort Flagler would not be a good place to be in the event of a tsunami, the entire camping area is only a couple feet above sea level.

Colton brought his friend Nate out for the overnight. Colton had to do all the driving because Nora has not had her license for the required six months before she can drive non-family passengers according to Washington State law. They followed the GPS straight out to the park in our Jetta. When they first arrived they took off on their bikes for a ride on the “Root Trail” as our family calls it. I had hauled Nate’s bike out with ours and it is a nice dual suspension bike that is very light with a carbon fiber frame. When they got back Nate went one more time by himself on the trail while the rest of us were happy to be around camp and enjoy a fire. The sun was out, but being right on the water the air was crisp and autumn like so the warmth from the fire was welcomed. I also got out my Coleman stove and set it up on the picnic table to boil hot dogs for lunch and fry up some Bratwurst for me. I’d run out of white gas and I had heard that unleaded gas is so close to white gas in purity that it burns just fine in Coleman stoves, so I tried it at home and now was going to show the family. Sandy was sure the stove would blow up, but really it lights and performs the same as it always does. Nate was brave and tried a Bratwurst with me, but I have to admit to myself I preferred them well BBQ’ed over pan fried.

As I write this I’m not sure how the rest of the day went, we were all busy until the sun went down. I know we got out the kites; it was a bit too windy for Nora to fly the big kite and there were para gliders flying off the bluff above the campground. One landed right in the campground after losing lift. Nora and Sandy enjoyed flying the small Sky Tiger. The boys went to beach to play on the sand cliffs, and I know this because I observed them returning with shoes full of sand, some of which ended in the carpet of the trailer.

Sandy made Taco salad for dinner and Nate enjoyed the dinner as much as Colton. Normally there are leftovers for lunch the next day but not this time. Nice to see meals appreciated. Nate was introduced to Dominoes Mexican Train for evening entertainment. I showered first and went to bed to read, and I’m sure I was the first one to close my eyes. I don’t remember even hearing the others go through the shower before bed which is only 12 inches from the foot of our bed.

Sunday morning we started our day with pancakes and followed that with a car ride to the west side of the fort where all the beautiful old buildings from WWI and WWII are, and a couple gun installments that have old guns similar to what was originally posted there. We hiked along the bunkers and made our way down to the light house and the beach that collects lots of drift wood. We got real close to a doe deer until Nate scared it away, what was that boy thinking! We posed at what remains of the men’s bathroom in the old fort. Now the whole fort is open to the public, but I remember as a child camping here how many parts were off limits to the public and how scared we were when we snuck into the restricted areas. I recall seeing signs that there were unexploded ordinance, and I remember thinking why would there be land mines in a state park? It sure added to the thrill of going into the restricted areas.     

 When we got back to the campsite we left again for a bike ride. This time we all took the root trail and rode back out to where we had just been earlier in the day. From there we rode out the main entrance road and followed the perimeter road back down to the upper campground which is closed after Labor Day and back to the lower loop. What seemed like a long bike ride many years ago with small children now only takes minutes with healthy teenagers who can outrace us adults on the nice bike and hiking paths throughout the fort.  No one but me was interested in the boat so after the kids left for home in the early afternoon I went back out fishing by myself.

Olive was very sad to watch the kids leave in the car, I can’t really know how much she comprehends but I’m convinced she picks up on things like human interaction. She observed us saying goodbye, she knows the sound of our diesel car and she tracked them visually pulling hard on her leash as they exited the campground heading for home. Being a herd dog she doesn’t like her flock scattered. I enjoyed my afternoon out on the water, this time after I got out in the bay I killed the motor and tilted it out of the water. I put on a different lure than what I had the previous day and I didn’t use the big heavy ounce and a half weight, instead used some big smash on weights (as you can see by my description, I’m not a fisherman). I had the lure about five feet behind the weights and I rowed slowly, this time about 1000 feet off shore to avoid the kelp and sea weed.

I rowed out to a buoy that the navy maintains just off the shore of the campground. The neighboring island, Indian Island, is a Navy site used to load naval ships. They also store and load all the munitions on out going war ships so security in the bay is rather tight. As I rowed up to and around this particular buoy I could see it was loaded with all kinds of high tech observation gear. Infrared motion sensors, high intensity multi directional spot lights, and surveillance cameras, either remote or auto tracking. It’s obvious to me they are watching who comes in and goes out of this port, and now they have a picture of a guy in a ten foot rowboat slowly circling their buoy pretending to be a fisherman. I also read somewhere that they still have submarine detectors throughout Puget Sound even though it’s hard to imagine anyone would want to enter these waters for malicious purposes.

I had company the whole time I was out rowing our small boat off shore of the campground. The local seal population is strong and abundant. They shadowed me the whole time I was out there. You can hear them breath most times before you see them. These are not small mammals, and though I’ve never heard of any one being harassed by one, you feel vunerable when you are rowing a small ten foot boat and one of these big creatures comes right up to your boat and looks you in the eye. I’m guessing had I been lucky enough to actually catch a fish with my new friends following my every move they no doubt would have helped themselves to my catch before I could have even reeled one up to the boat for netting. As it was I never had even a hint of anything on my line. And after rowing for a couple hours my hands were getting red in the palms like I might get a blister so I fired up the outboard and returned to the trailer for dinner.

Monday we awoke to a spectacular sunrise and clear skies. It was going to be another fine day. Sandy and I launched the boat after breakfast and with Olive wearing her “outbound hound” life vest we motored in the bay towards Nordland along the shore line. You have to be careful with any motorized boat, this bay is crazy shallow and it would be real easy to foul the outboard cooling system by plowing into the sandy bottom with the outdrive. We observed that this bay is home to billions of sand dollars. They grow in the sand not lying flat, but on edge all stacked against one another, like Oreo cookies in a package, and appearing black on the bottom. The black is hair that falls off when they die and the brown color bleaches white when they are exposed to sunlight. When we got into the harbor at Nordland we motored around some of the beautiful yachts anchored there. Most were well kept boats; it’s obvious there is some wealth living on the island. We then motored back to the park at the highest rate of speed our little four horse outboard could muster. A truly glorious morning to be out on the water. (Thank you dad and mom for giving us that outboard motor, though I had one myself I’m not sure I would have afforded a new one and the years of reliable and safe motoring we have enjoyed can’t be measured.)

Mom arrived late in the morning, I was so proud of her coming out by herself. Our old neighbors also made time to come out and visit us while we were there. I was concerned Jim and Pat would have to pay the daily use fee of $10.00 just to visit but Jim told me he had his permit that comes with his fishing license that works for state parks through this year. I did pay the extra ten dollars twice for mom and the kids to park at our site. I also pay an extra $100 per year that helps the state parks directly when I license all our vehicles (ten vehicles, and I add $10 to each plate fee). We all enjoyed a campfire up until it was almost dinner time when the Hay’s went home. I snapped more pictures of a great sunset. It was nice to spend the evening talking with mom. Our trailer is always a warm and happy place to be. Mom slept on Colton’s bed in the back, it’s a really big bed and I doubled the mattress so it is very comfortable as well.

Tuesday morning we hiked after breakfast and enjoyed the morning being lazy. I had loaded the kid’s bikes and the boat with the help of Jim the previous day so there wasn’t much to do before leaving. Mom said goodbye and left for home after ten o’clock and Sandy and I went for one last bike ride up to the old fort and back along the bluff trail since we hadn’t had the chance to ride that in the four days were camped. We rolled out of Fort Flaggler right at checkout time, one o’clock, heading for home. In two hours we were pulling into our driveway at home. I wanted to stay a few more days, the campground was almost full when we left, I think a lot of people appreciate that campground and it closes at the end of October so everyone was getting one last camp in while they could. I won’t wish away the years as mom always says, but I also look forward to the day when Sandy and I don’t have to come home for work or kids. I’m not sure I can count on joining family at sunny destinations in the retirement years, but the lure of RV travel is still as strong as it’s ever been. Till the next trip, Love Dad ( Hans).