Archives for September 2014

Knowing the drive wasn't too terribly long today, we let ourselves sleep in a bit, still recovering from our busy month. Still managed to get out by 10:00 or so, for an uneventful drive to the Olympic National Forest, with one stop to dump at a rest area on I-5. Had no trouble finding where the horse camp was, and most of the road was tarmac except for a short section of gravel, until we crossed the second bridge where it not only went to gravel, it became a serious, winding grade, so much so I was a bit worried I wouldn't be able to make it up. I let Hubby go up first to confirm that, indeed, that was where the horse camp was, and to find the best spot for us, while I waited down below for his report. Meanwhile, four horse rigs came down the road, and one woman stopped and chatted with me, warning me about closed trails and how to get around them. Eventually, Hubby called the all clear and I headed up, though unfortunately, another rig came down at the same time, and the road was narrow enough where I felt compelled to slow down a bit, and then I really was afraid I was going to get in trouble, so I kept going. The other rig stopped for me, thank goodness, and I managed to spin my way up the hill to the top. I turned in where Hubby told me, and wound my way through some pretty narrow twists until I came to the site he had picked, which was probably the biggest one, but still quite small and narrow for a rig our size. We were barely able to get both vehicles in the pull-through site, and only by pushing ourselves into bushes that made getting around and between the vehicles almost impossible. Nevertheless, we managed to get set up, and get the horses out on a cable highline that was already in place. While it made it easier for us, it's not really the way we like to tie them, as they can't run back and forth up their line on their pulleys, the way we do. In any event, they were very quiet all evening, and apparently quite happy, at least, once I got them some water. Water became the challenge. We didn't find any water at the campground (despite a couple of websites telling me it was there), but I had been told by the office that they had water in the Brown campground back down the hill. So I got out the water barrels, and on a hunch, the sump pump, and drove the horse trailer down to the campground looking for water. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered the only water was a hand pump!! Yuck! There was no way I was going to pump 100+ gallons of water with a hand pump, so instead, I found a campsite near the river I could get into, though it was a bit steep, but it got me close enough to be able to put the sump pump in the creek and run power from the generator for an hour, filling the two barrels about half way full, as well as two big buckets and the tank in the horse trailer, before I finally made my way back to camp. Hubby, meanwhile, figuring out that I had run into some challenges, did most of the setup on his own, so by the time I got back there wasn't much else to do, thank goodness. After finally watering the horses, we settled down for the evening, which was wonderfully quiet. Of course, we are in deep woods, so no chance for a satellite dish, so we started watching a bunch of programs that we recorded while we were in Alaska. Started to wind down from all the activity!

Since we didn't have an early flight (or anything early, for that matter), we slept as late as breakfast times would allow, then did our final packing and headed out to hang out by the pool, truly the only day of the cruise where the temps allowed it (though we had seen a few diehard adults in the hot tub and a few kids in the pool occasionally)! We enjoyed the sunshine until it was time to disembark. We claimed out luggage and caught a cab to the Amtrak station, where we learned that yes, they did have a luggage service, but it would be $6 per bag to store for a few hours! We didn't really want to do that, but we couldn't very well carry them around with us all day, and we did want to see a few sites in Vancouver. Finally we checked the bags, then after some struggles, managed to get an all day pass for their Sky train, and rode around on that all day, stopping once in an ethnic oriental area for a decent lunch, but where it was obvious the locals resented us being there. The waitress fairly threw the food on the table, and the only time she was remotely cordial was when she said "good-bye." Not a very pleasant experience, I'm afraid. We rode the Sky train around the entire city and through downtown, before finally heading back to the Amtrak station. The line for the southbound train had already formed, and though we were an hour early, we were way back in the line. Fortunately, someone came by after a while and asked if anyone was in business class, and since we were, we were taken to a much shorter line, thank goodness. We still had to stand a long time, but we finally made it onto the train. Hubby bought a couple of drinks, and we relaxed on the way home. The trip wasn't what I though it would be, it was pretty much along the coast and through towns, with no real views or anything. When we arrived, it was beginning to rain, and our town car was waiting for us. Wasn't sure he would be, but he was, and we had a pleasant trip back to the barn, arriving just as dusk was slipping away. Were I to do it again, I would have found a different way home than the train, only because it was a long wait for a short trip, and our day in Vancouver wasn't very inspiring. We were so exhausted by this point, we barely had the energy to put our bags in the van before greeting the dogs, who, of course, were beside themselves with excitement to see us (once they woke up and realized it), especially Billy, who was yelping and wriggling himself inside out! It was too dark to go check on the horses, so we dragged ourselves into the RV. We immediately noticed one of the paddle fan blades sitting by the door, and discovered it had been broken at the bracket, rather than the wooden blade (which I myself had broken more than once when I pulled in the slides with less care than needed), and that another blade was also missing from the fan. I finally found it behind Hubby's recliner, also broken at the bracket, at a loss to explain it other than someone tried to pull in the slide room while the fan was still running (which it was when we arrived). Nonetheless, we were happy to be home, happy to inhale the thick dog smell that pervaded the place, happy to watch our own TV, happy to be going to bed in our own bed tonight. But what a trip! Lived up to all our expectations and then some! Worth every penny! Check off State #50 for us, and #49 for horseback riding! Yahooooo!