#WYFF - Fishing @ Lake Pleasant

This week's #WYFF proves one can find, and enjoy, nature in the middle of a fancy RV Park.  Note how close they are to the back of a big ole Mother Home. LOL  While you can barely see feet in this photo - I assure you they each have wet, cold feet.

Stacia got up EARY this morning and sat down beside me on the couch. She didn't seem extremely motivated to have breakfast, go to the shower-house, or to start school. She wasn't complaining of a bad dream or feeling ill. I finally asked why she was up so early.  It seems Dad told them last night if they got up early, he'd take them fishing before we moved. Big time Daddy Points!

At 0 Dark Thirty, Michael, Alex and Stacia headed out to the Lake- in the drizzly mist.

Alex dropped his line and immediately caught a fish.

 

He then had a dry spell, while everyone else caught fish. Fishing at Lake Pleasant RV Park is catch and release. He eventually caught six more fish.

Nothing screams "back to nature" like a lake ringed by 40ft motorhomes ::snort::

 

In the end they caught 21 fish, enjoyed a beautiful morning, and made a zillion memories.

Yuuki and I checked in on them during our morning walk. We decided it was too cold and wet to stay and watch.  Three hours after leaving the Caboose, they returned with stories - fish stories.

Stacia retells her glory-filled exploits. She caught "almost 11," and she's sticking by the story and has no idea why we all think it's cute. Michael says she's a natural fisherman - her determination, she set and reeled them all in, her MATH, as well as her cute stories. Alex caught 7.  Both were happy!

The above photo also serves to illustrate an upcoming repair project. Our "WOOD" is buckling and peeling. We've been too busy to take a heat gun to it yet - but we're diligent to tear off the hanging, peeling sheets of "white wood."  We'll paint it one of these days....still pondering the color question.

Oh yes, we relocated from Bothell to Tacoma (Fort Lewis Travel Camp) today. We saw one of the first chaplains Michael worked with at the BX, went shopping for Baby D - this is boy week - though I may have found a couple of girl things too; never know if I'll be around stores next week -  and enjoyed an evening of movies in the Caboose.

#WYFF is sponsored by Fulltime Families. View more of our Friday exploits by clicking the #WYFF tab above.

 

 

It's GRAND - We're having a Grandbaby!

I'm going to be  Gemma, Granna, Grammie or whatever the little darlin wants to call me. Michael is going to be Grandpa. ::wink::  In fact, I have an electronic Grandbaby count down and it tells me that Baby D is due in 194 days.

For this child (we) prayed; and the LORD has given (us our) petition which (we) asked of him: Therefore also (we) have (given) him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be (given) to the LORD. And (they) worshipped the LORD there.

I Samuel 1:27, 28

Many of you know Izaak and BreAnne's journey towards parenthood. Many have been praying God would grant them their desire for a child. Months longer than we would have liked to wait - but in His perfect timing - HE HAS GRANTED THEM THEIR HEART'S DESIRE.  We are so excited to announce BreAnne is now 12 weeks pregnant and Baby D is slated to arrive in April 2016.

Those of you who have faithfully prayed for this day - thank you. You're the advance prayer team. Please continue to pray for this little life.

Here are some photos Bre has texted over the past weeks....enjoy the journey to date in photos.

Bre has the most creative ways to share news with Izaak!

1 August - and we're just a wee bit excited to hear that Bre is just pregnant!  Yes, with each Skype request we told ourselves not to expect a pregnancy announcement but this time there WAS ONE. Michael and I in the upper right corner.

We happened to be in Eugene for Bre's first OB appointment. It was a fantastic day when Bre saw a little heart beating.

It's been wonderful fun as Bre texts weekly photos of herself and Baby D. She has been charting growth and development on a chalkboard. We've used these as prayer prompts and the kids have been excited to know what is growing each week.  Here are a few of the weekly shots.
  

A Day in the Trailerhood

Today was a "down day," or as Stacia says, "A day in the trailerhood. Get it?"

We find about every 7 - 10 days we need a down day. We did have to move our spot for the  night....but we also did laundry, Michael ran errands (hair cut), relaxed, and completed a "mega school day."  (This allows us to have history/science/field trip days for 2 - 3 days a week).

In the relaxing category would be FISHING. Lake Pleasant is a Wildlife Sanctuary. Guests are allowed to fish for big mouth bass, but must release them. It's on private property so no license is needed. Stacia and Michael went fishing in the a.m. and caught TWO fish.  They all went fishing this evening and caught one more. Michael hooked it and Stacia brought it in.

 We finally made it to the Lynnwood Chick Fil A. I believe, and I AM being unbiased, this is the nicest Chick Fil A I've been in. I'd be curious to see if the other two in this region (Bellevue and Tacoma) are the same design. There were many things which I could tell were a nod to the local area.  They made me a VEGAN wrap - wrap minus the chicken and cheese, and added in roasted corn. It was YUMMY. Did you know you can BUY the CFA sauce - 8 oz for under $2? You can at Lynnwood. I hear from a birdie that Kale Super Salads will be out "soon." I seriously wish we lived closer to CFAs so I could EAT there. Before today, I took the kids to ate but didn't eat myself. LOL

 

Debra, the night manager, saw that Josiah was going to give us a back stage tour and asked if she could do it instead.  She did a good job. It was fun to see the behind the scenes story. I especially loved that they cut and make their own salads and fruit salads....that they filet and bread their own chicken....it's FRESH and real food.

 

 

 

It was fun to see Josiah settled in his new job at the new restaurant.

Hiouchi RV Resort

I committed to review the campgrounds we stay in - and I haven't reviewed Hiouchi yet.  IF you'd like to see more photos of Hiouchi and area, our latest stay was 13 Sept - 25 Sept. You can click through the blog archive.

Hiouchi RV Resort is located off Hwy 199 in a park-like setting.  It is about 9 miles from Crescent City, CA. We have come to learn the full-hook up RV spots are SPACIOUS by RV standards. The A, B and D loops all border nice fields.

The space behind our site on D Loop

The park has wifi (which we found was on a couple of hours a day), a fish-cleaning station, a water lily/duck pond complete with ducks, a clubhouse, propane, horseshoe pits,  newly remodeled laundry house, level pull-throughs, basketball court, a big concrete fire ring for campfires and a friendly staff. The restrooms and showers are spacious and clean - though you do have to use token for them. Our experimenting shows it to be .25 for 3.5 minutes. We have NEVER stayed here where Hiouchi was 100% full - but it could happen at the height of fishing (Smith River) or Summer (Right in the Redwoods).

In easy walking distance you can reach the Hiouchi Hamlet (gas station and small grocery store) and Hiouchi Cafe (historical cafe with an awesome breakfast). A bit further and you can visit the Redwood Park  Information Center and Jed Smith Park. We found a family bike ride to Jed Smith State Park to be delightful.

We stayed during the "peak season," but by paying the weekly rate it was $31 a night.  Hiouchi RV Resort offers 10% discounts for AAA, Good Sam's, AARP and Escapees (though there seems to be some extra hoops to get this discount?). We have been given a military discount of 10% in the past, though it isn't listed.  They do list a fee for extra people (kid tax) but we've never been charged this fee.

In all honesty, I wouldn't call this a "resort" over a park. I'm still not quite sure what distinguishes the two but this doesn't seem fancier than the parks we've stayed in. I think a hot tub or pool makes it a resort. ::snort::  WE LOVE THIS PARK/RESORT. Michael's mother lives across the river. The area is full of hikes, bike-rides, Redwoods, Smith River fun, AND the Pacific Ocean with all the fun it provides is only 9 miles away.

 

 

RATES:

Charge per person limited to 2 additional charges.

DAILY  

 30 amp camp site $37.00 (Non-Peak) and $43.00 (Peak)

 30/50 amp camp site $39.00 (Non-Peak) and $46.00 (Peak)

*Charge after first two people at $3 per person 

*Charge per extra vehicle/boat/cargo trailer at $2

 

WEEKLY

 30 amp camp site $205.00 (Non-Peak) and $220.00  (Peak)

 30/50 amp camp site $215.00 (Non-Peak) and $240.00  (Peak)

*Charge after first two people at $8 per person

*Charge per extra vehicle/boat/cargo trailer at $5

MONTHLY 

 30 amp camp site $340.00 + electric (Non-Peak) and $390.00 + electric (Peak)

 30/50 amp camp site $340.00 + electric (Non-Peak) and $390.00 + electric (Peak)

*Additional charge after first two people at $15.00 per person. 

**Charge per extra vehicle/boat/cargo trailer at $10 

OTHER RATES 

TENTS Daily at $22.00 

TENTS Daily W/ electric at $25.00 

STORAGE FEES at $55.00/month OR $2.00/day 

DUMP/WATER REFILL at $20.00

Steve and Ginger -Salmon and Waterfalls...

First, today is our one month nomadiversary.

The kids and I got up early and got our "table school" done this morning. My thought is on field trip days (or weeks) we are getting lots of history and science, so when time is limited we'll focus on math and language arts.  

Michael and I searched online and called a LOT of private parks and state parks as we need to be out of here 2 Oct. I actually called each private park listed in many of the cities north of Seattle. Each place told me they were full. Amazing. Finally, we gave up and called Fort Lewis. We'll be staying at their Travel camp (Fam Camp).

I have known Ginger for years and years. Today, we met for the first time. I had fun explaining that to Stacia.  Ginger is a dear online friend. Steve, her husband joined us - and that made this much more enjoyable for Michael. We all had a great time. We met in Issaquah at the Triple XXX Rootbeer Drive In.  Steve and Ginger waited inside. We waited outside. ::snort:: This is a great spot to eat! We had a table right by the fireplace - loved the decor. The food was tasty and PLENTIFUL - the rootbeer amazing!  While we were eating a man came in and asked if we owned the 15 pass van with the AK license plate and the stick figures. Um - yes. I thought he was going to rant at us...but he was excited to find out we had 9 children. His wife is expected their 7th and they've been debating which type vehicle to buy. He texted her a photo and they both loved it all - our plate, our figures, the van - and so he came in to see if we wanted to sell the van. ::snort::

With fully satisfied tummies, we left to find the Issaquah Fish Hatchery.   It was GREAT fun to watch the salmon spawn, jump the ladders and such.  This was free. I don't think I'd seen so many salmon swimming upstream since we moved from Alaska.

 

Don't these smiles just REFRESH your soul? They did mine.

 

Ginger was FANTASTIC with Princess Chatterbox!

Yuuki wanted to get close and personal with the salmon

Big Fish in Issaquah

 Our final stop was Snoqualmie Falls. The falls were breathtaking and Steve and Ginger say the falls are low this year.  We enjoyed the view from the upper lot. The kids, Ginger and I hiked down to the lower level. Steve and Michael drove down and met us. We saw more Salmon spawning down here. Another free site to enjoy in the area.

We were so happy to see some of the more "natural" sites Washington has to offer. We left Steve and Ginger feeling refreshed; as if we'd made new family friends.

Steve, Ginger, Stacia, Me, Nolan, Alex

Some wild water slides?

We met up with Josiah at his apartment. I love this apartment; it's bright and sunny. We like his choice in furniture too. ::wink:: He took our living room and kitchen furniture when we down-sized.