We made it into Washington where we stopped for gas at the Costco.  In Canada just before the border there was fuel for 1.33 per liter; at the Costco across the border (10 miles in) fuel was $3.44 a gallon.  We bought 50 gallons of fuel and spent $172.00.  In Canada, 14 miles away the same fuel would have cost us $251.00!  Quite a savings.  I guess that is why most of the cars in the Costco line were from British Columbia and they all had this…

Maximum 6 gallons in portable containers!

Amazing, everyone was filling cans and putting them in the back of their vehicle. Paul says that is like driving with a bomb in your car if you get in an accident.

Ay!  We are off to Canada for about 4 weeks and I won’t have any cell service and very limited Internet, What will I do?

Picture for today:

That’s genius!

Our last stop is in Anacortes, WA for an overnight near the ferry building and restocking the cupboards cause Paul says we can’t afford both fuel and food while in Canada.  Hmm, maybe we will lose weight?

Our home on wheels is located where the black arrow is.

That’s home for tonight.  We visited this vista park for some very nice sunset views.

Looking East to Mt. Baker

The weather has been spectacular while we have been in northwest Washington.  70’s during the day and 60 at night with very few clouds and no wind.

Be posting when I can.

Found this great place to park the RV for the weekend.  We have plenty of water, electric and WiFi as well as great meals, a campfire each night where we roasted sausages over the open fire and had s’mores.  The place is very private in a beautiful grove of cedar and pine trees, a paved pad and hardly any rules!  We are parked at Roy & Teresa’s home near Stanwood, WA.  Roy and Teresa are friends from our Square Dancing days.  They retired here a few years ago and now we get to visit.

Almost perfect!

Paul has been busy learning about Roy’s passion, metal yard art using recycled items.  He makes some really interesting animals out of pieces of metal and then sells them in a local gallery as well as different craft shows around Washington.  He also makes simple things like hot dog forks from golf clubs and used forks.

Paul makes us a fork

welding just because

On his knees?

Roy makes really amazing dragon flies from ordinary stuff and frogs, dogs, chickens, ants, flying pigs,….  But this is my favorite!

Meet Bender and Marilyn

If you ever make it to Stanwood, stop in the Art Guilds Gallery and check Roys things out!

I seem to get asked often “Is it really always that perfect?”  Of course it is!  Thursday for example was another one of those perfect days!  We woke up to rain which I love to hear hitting our roof.  Listening to the sound of rain on the roof is an amazing sound however RV’s and water don’t really mix and the moisture can be a problem if you are not careful.  I keep the windows open when we are in these damp climates so that things air out but then there is the issue with Duke needing to go out.

You have to find a raincoat and real shoes, leash him up and venture into mother nature.  That part is fun cause I actually enjoy walking in the rain, but then when you come back you have this dog that is pretty wet himself (Duke doesn’t have a raincoat!). He has learned that when it is raining or muddy outside he has to stand patiently while we attempt to dry him off.  Did I mention yesterday we had to bath him because he decided to swim in the sound and smelled like dead fish, I think he may also have rolled in some!  Once we get Duke pretty dry we have to let him inside the RV; he isn’t really dry so he proceeds to spread his nice wet dog smell all over the RV.  Washington is beautiful but it is really damp, so chances of this all drying out is pretty slim considering we are camped in a nice dense forest.  And then there is the towel from drying him that has to hang inside because it is raining!   That just adds more moisture to the inside of the RV.

Did I mention we are camped in a really small State Park?  State Parks tend to not have any utilities and this one does not.  Normally that is ok with us, we can go most of the day in camping mode and run the generator only to charge batteries but that means we would have to run the generator exhaust right into our neighbors whose picnic table is only about 2 feet from our exhaust pipe – that wouldn’t be very neighborly.  When we have no electric hookups we may as well be in a tent except for the lights, warm bed, running water!  I can’t dry my hair, watch TV, keep my Ipad charged, etc.

So right after I attempted to dry Duke, I came inside and I have nothing to do because I forgot to charge my Ipad the last time the generator was running, I had already taken a warm shower so I had to sit in my recliner and watch the Washington Drizzle!

Puget Sound

Enjoying some sunshine after the rain

As with most days there is usually something to write about that is positive.  The rain finally subsided and I was able to get out and take a short walk.

We are moving at a pretty fast pace so that we can get to Edmonton, Alberta Canada and back before the winter starts!  We spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the Saltwater SP on Puget Sound.  A very tiny park with not the most private sites but our neighbors are a very cute family of 4, mom, dad, a 4 yr old and an almost 2 year old who live in the van, cargo trailer and a pop up tent!  Full time as far as we can tell.  The sell leather items to the cruise ship tourists.  Watching them prepare meals on the picnic table and then it rained this morning makes me feel way too spoiled!  The look happy so I don’t feel too bad watching them from my  RV that is toasty warm and dry.

Last night we were invited to some old friends, back from preschool days for Amy, to a Salmon dinner at their place in Covington, WA.  Geri & Brian had caught the salmon out on the coast a few weeks ago.  It was wonderful.  We had a great evening catching up and their son Trevor stopped by for dinner.  That was a treat.  Thanks Geri for having us, you will definitely see us again!

And just for you Geri, I will write about some of the weird, creepy things we see along the way, just as soon as one happens!