Mishaps and Memories

We’ve had our Rialta just over a month now and we’ve named her Ramona.  We’ve even ordered a vanity plate for her with her name on it.  Can’t wait to get it!  Although the weather is definitely getting rainy and cool here in western Washington state, we’ve taken her out on a few short trips.

Our first trip was on October 30.  We spent a night at my mother and dad’s house in Shoreline, WA because my brother was passing through on his way to Nicaragua.  When we left there we headed further north to spend one night at Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island.

Driving up through Skagit County was beautiful.  We stopped at a farm stand and bought some cheese and then again briefly in LaConner for a few photos before continuing on to the bridge that crosses Deception Pass.  There are some awesome views from the bridge, so we parked Ramona and walked across and hiked around under the bridge as well.  The state park is not far from the bridge, so we got set-up by about 3 in the afternoon.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking the beach trail and exploring the public beach.  There is a small lake here that would be great for kayaking, so next time maybe we’ll consider bringing our boats.  Bikes would also be nice for riding on the local roads.

Our next trip was sort of a business trip.  We had a photography seminar to attend in Vancouver, WA on the November 6th and an investment seminar in Portland, OR on the 8th, so we decided to make a camping trip out of it.  We left home on the 5th to spend 2 nights at Battleground State Park, just outside of Vancouver.  On the morning of the 6th we packed up and headed to the photo seminar.  We noticed that our neighbors were also packing up and leaving but didn’t think anything of it until low and behold, we met them again at the photo seminar.  Small world, isn’t it!!  They had driven down from Poulsbo and camped in the same campsite for the same reason.

On the 7th we had a free day so we explored the Columbia River Gorge on the Oregon side of the border.  I had a chance to photograph several waterfalls, including Multnoma Falls.  We went east to Hood River and drove over Government Pass with a stop at Timberline Lodge.  It was snowing and blowing up there, so after a couple quick photos of the parking lot we continued back to Troutdale where we parked for the night in the Walmart parking lot.  The next morning we left Ramona behind and took the city bus to our investment seminar in downtown Portland.  The bus was a good choice since parking would be near impossible with an RV and very expensive even if you could find a spot.  Once the event was over we took the bus back to Walmart, picked up Ramona and headed home.  All in all, it was a very successful extended weekend.

The best part of both these first trips in Ramona is that we found everything to be working just fine.  We had power for most nights, but used the generator for the first night at Battleground since no powered sites were available.  Even that worked out fine.  We’re so happy we found such a great Rialta so close to home.  We’ve heard of many people who fly across the country to buy one sight unseen.  Our Ramona is just what we were looking for and we found her just 15 minutes from home.

Here are some photos from both these trips: