Washougal, WA family get-together

Friday August 7- Monday August 11  (Days 442-445)

 

Harris's youngest brother, Rick, arranged a Thomas family get together at his house in Washougal, WA, over the weekend. Everyone had a great time....once we got there. It took us over 6 hours to drive from Lake Stevens on Friday. There weren't any major traffic jams, or even major construction, just too much traffic.

But once we arrived at his house in the woods, the good times started. Teresa is an extraordinary hostess and cook, and made some fantastic meals for the 20 of us. We slept  in Howie in the driveway, which was a good thing since every bedroom and spare room was full!

On Saturday morning most of us went off for a short hike to a viewpoint overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. We told everyone to go ahead of us, since they were on a timeline to do more fun things in the afternoon, and we knew we wouldn't keep up with their young legs. Luckily, Christine hung back with us and made the up hill slog  go by so much faster by keeping us entertained with stories of her travels around the world. Thanks, Christine!

The group reached the top before we did, and we met them on their way back down. Harris snapped a quick picture of them before they trotted down and we continued to trudge up.

The view from the top of the trail. That is a fire there on the left side of the picture that started a few days ago.

We were hot and tired, but we made it.

Harris had to try out the panoramic mode on his camera!

A picture of breakfast quiche.  Just one of the delicious meals Teresa made.

While we were hiking, she stayed home to make this fabulous birthday cake for Judy and Al.

Ewan brought a fun game called spike ball, and challenged the gang to a few rounds.

Yolanda checking in on what's cooking (Arroz con pollo) for dinner.

The younger set spent some time playing pictionary on the back deck.

Arroz con pollo and barbequed salmon...wow.

We left on Sunday, and stopped by Judy's brother's for dinner and a spot to park Howie for the night. Ralph barbecued a great salmon on his grill, which has a table all the way around it.

 

On Monday, we did a quick stop by the Anderson Lodge Hilltop House, where Keith and Theresa are going to be married on September 5th...just a few weeks away! It is a gorgeous spot for a wedding, and we're hoping the weather will be sunny and warm. :)

 

 

Ocean City State Park

Tuesday July 28- Thursday July 30th  (Days 439-441)

 

 Seems like the summer is flying by, and we haven't been out in a while. So we jumped at the chance to join Marilyn and Gene again. This time we camped at Ocean City State Park, on the Washington coast. The weather in Seattle has been incredibly hot so far this summer, so we welcomed a chance to find some cooler days. The joke was on us! Definitely cooler at the ocean, what with the wind blowing! We didn't pack our warm blankets and sweatshirts....and decided that we had to always have them in Howie in the future, no matter what.

We took a lot of walks along the beach. The first 2 days were so foggy and misty that we had to follow our footprints in the sand to find our way back to the campground. Hardly saw the ocean waves until the very last day.

 

Our first camping spot. Since we didn't make reservations, we ended up moving for the next night, but that's not hard in Howie...especially when you're not plugged in. Just pick up the camp chairs and drive!

Marilyn and Gene had 2 of their granddaughters along, and wanted to do some fun things with them. So on Wednesday we went into the town of Ocean City and Harris joined the girls driving go-carts around and around and around.

Then they all had fun running into each other in the bumper cars.

Gene drove Marilyn and Judy to a quilt shop, and Harris took Natalie and Maddie geocaching. Natalie had done this a few years ago with us, but it was Maddie's first time. Natalie now has her own Geocaching handle and account!

Our last night and the weather was finally clearing up...no wind, no fog...beautiful sunset!

 Family pic before we said goodbye. We stopped in Shelton to visit a good friend for the afternoon, and missed most of the traffic coming home. 
A short trip, but fun!