Whimz

New adventures RV'ing

March 2020 Seattle Trip!

For years the boy had talked about wanting to take a train trip that included sleeping on the train. In January of this year, we decided that Spring Break 2020 would be a great time to embark on a journey that focused on the train ride, with a little sightseeing thrown in for good measure. We scheduled the trip in January, little did we know what was coming our way. COVID 19.

We planned for a car to pick us up and bring us to the train station for our Thursday night departure from St. Paul. We would travel to Seattle in our sleeper car, spend a couple of nights seeing the sights and return via the Empire Builder. The goal in packing was to reduce the bags we had with us in the room and check a bag for clothes transfer in Seattle. We wanted it to be as stress free as possible, so having transportation both to and from the station in St. Paul was part of the plan.

We dropped the Bug off at his doggie daycare on Thursday, knowing that he would both miss us and have the time of his life with daily walks and exercise planned. Thursday evening found us all watching the clock and waiting for the time the car would arrive. Of course, dinner would be in the interim, so delivery was chosen. We had dinner and watched a movie. All of us watching the clock for the time the car would arrive.

Eventually the time came, and we sprang into action. I love that the hubby is a planner. He had our bags staged in the truck waiting for the driver to arrive. This made things super easy as we only had to transfer the bags from one car to the next. Of course, things never go as planned. Earlier in the day the internet decided it was time to reboot and reconfigure the whole system, so none of the Alexa’s were set up to respond to any commands to turn off lights, so we had to improvise. As usual, the hubby stepped up to the occasion. We were all packed up and ready to roll to St. Paul.

Given that it was a Thursday evening, during Spring Break, traffic was pretty light, and we made it to the rail station without issue. We found the staging area for the light rail and proceeded to wait. To keep the boy occupied, the hubs and the boy decided to do some exploring of the old railway building. That’s when we discovered…. we needed to the check our bag three flights down! And off on a run they went, bag in tow to the baggage check in area. They returned in time to hear the gate attendees call for boarders of the sleeper cars and we all checked in. The train was, of course, a little late arriving at the station. But we eventually boarded and got settled.

The boy was so ecstatic. The rooms aren’t what one would call roomy, but they are sufficient. He was so excited at having his own bunk bed to sleep in, windows to look out…. It was hard to imagine getting him to bed for the evening. The car attendant came by and made sure we had everything we needed (beds were set up and ready for sleeping when we arrived), we asked for ice and prepared a martini in anticipation of too much excitement to sleep for a little bit.

The boy eventually settled down in his bunk and fell asleep, Troy and I not far behind him. It is hard to get used to sleeping on a moving car. We stayed awake and enjoyed our martinis while the train worked its way through the Minneapolis area as well as the Northern suburbs. It was wild seeing my bus stop from the train windows as we headed out on our adventure.

Eventually we all headed to sleep for the night, after setting an alarm for breakfast in the morning. Schedules become important on a train as it runs through the country and the various time zones, knowing when food is available becomes crucial when you have a growing 9-year-old. The next morning found us in North Dakota with an overcast sky and our first breakfast aboard. This coincided with our first big stop of the train. The boy would find himself rapt by the passing landscape through the rest of the trip. We talked of how train tracks often went along the backyards of people’s houses, making it so we were not always seeing the best of the towns.

Breakfast was had. The boy was doing well (so far) with the motion of the train. We returned to our quarters to watch the world go by. Montana was amazing. Crossing into the state was rather breathtaking. The sandstone cliffs were amazing as they seemed to appear out of nowhere with their colorful layers. I gave the boy the handheld camera and he became our photographer for the rest of the trip. It was interesting to watch it from his perspective.

Troy had music playing as we watched the country fly by us. I found myself moving my hand in conjunction to the music. Much in the way my dad used to move his hand up and down to keep time while we were dancing during some cousin’s wedding or another. It brought tears to my eyes thinking of my dad and that he is no longer with us. Those dances that we did, at every cousin’s wedding or event eventually ended when Dad and I had our final dance at my wedding. Simpler times. I think Dad would have loved the idea of our trip. But I digress.

Montana – I understand why it is called Big Sky Country. I was struck by the expansiveness of Montana. Everything looked so wide open. At least until the snow squalls hit and visibility was reduced. While it was still interesting country, I couldn’t help but think… didn’t we leave winter behind?

We enjoyed the rest of the day, watching the country fly by us. Making the occasional stop at some small town or another. We enjoyed the service that Amtrak provided us. Friday evening and we all hit the sack. Tired from a day of watching the world travel by us and meeting new people at each mealtime. We all hit the sack for a good night’s sleep. It was a long day and the night before was short.

Friday, March 13th and Troy and I awoke with to a huge jerk and crash! What was happening? Why isn’t the train moving! We saw no one walking about, though we could smell an acid like smoke in our cabin. We could see a roadway that was crossing the railroad tracks. It was clearly obstructed by the train as we could see cars drive up and turn around when they realized the train was definitely not moving. But we didn’t know what was going on. Then, the fans stopped. Air circulation was clearly off. This is not good! But as we couldn’t find anyone to ask, we finally just gave up and went back to sleep.

We found out the next morning that the train hit a tree that was across the tracks. They had to call for a replacement engine and replaced it in the night. This would make us three hours late arriving in Seattle. This would end up being a good thing since we couldn’t get into the hotel room right away and wondered how we would spend that time. We were also quite glad that we didn’t pre-book the airplane ride we planned to take that day since we would not have made it on time. Seattle was very windy on arrival, making me believe it would have been cancelled regardless.

Checking into the hotel, it was clearly not busy. We got a free upgrade to a city view room on the 22nd floor which was pretty amazing. We had booked a suite so there was a separate sleeping and living area which was also awesome and made for plenty of play space for the boy and a desk for Troy to set up (and a wet bar!) My boys were happy, I was happy.

We unloaded our bags and went to the bar for a late lunch of smoked salmon with goat cheese and capers on naan bread followed by tacos. We also took a little bit of a walk around the area and were able to visit the Gold Rush National Park Museum. We looked around a little and picked up a booklet for Dylan to complete so he could earn his junior ranger badge for that park. We figured we could do it in the morning and return on Sunday. We were all pretty beat and given the delay hadn’t been fed lunch on the train, so I think there was a little hangriness going on too. The time changes were also doing a bit of a number on us. Showers, some play time, downloading of photos and finally bed followed.

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful. Since we had picked up the Junior Ranger booklet from the Gold Rush Museum, we figured we could have our continental breakfast and the boys could work on that while I took a look at what we could do with the day. We knew we wanted to go back to the Museum and get the boy his badge, we also had been considering things like Underground Seattle, the Lock Tour and the Duck Boats. Of course, the boy had seen the Great Wheel from our room and was begging us to go for a ride.

The boys dug into the Ranger book and I set to work on research. As luck would have it, many things were already closing including Seattle Underground and the Locks Tours. We deemed it a bit cool for the Duck Boats and decided we would head to the Museum and wander over to Miners Landing and the Great Wheel, planning to check out the shops there, especially the Pirates Plunder and find somewhere for lunch. The previous day, Troy had placed a Target order for pick up so we could have an easier time with luggage for the trip back, so we knew we also had a Target run to do that day. A busy day ahead planned.

We headed to the Museum and the boy completed his booklet, took his pledge and got his Junior Ranger Badge. He was pretty proud to have another badge. After ward we wandered over to Miners Landing, taking our time walking and getting some good photos of the unique architecture of the area. The boy, of course, was very excited about the idea of taking his first Ferris wheel ride. We wandered through the shops, stopping along the way to keep a keepsake or two, with Dylan’s proudest item being a pocketknife with his name on it. It was nearly his birthday after all. We all boarded the Great Wheel, with the boy in charge of the camera and off it went. I am, of course, very afraid of heights, but the boy absolutely loved it. I have to admit that it provided some pretty awesome views of the city including a nice view of the Space Needle (which was also closed). After the ride, we made our way to the Crab Pot for a late lunch. Earlier in the day, I had told the boy about it and he was pretty excited by the idea. If you have never been, I absolutely recommend visiting. They provide each person their own mallet (bonus according to the boy) and a bib and dump your food out on the table for you to eat. We had a variety of shellfish including shrimp, muscles and clams as well as three variety of crab, red potatoes and corn on the cob. It was absolutely delicious! And such a feast. I have never seen the boy eat with such joy before. Being able to hammer open his own food definitely had something to do with it. He ate everything! I think they only thing he didn’t eat much of was the red potatoes, but honestly that is no surprise to me since he is such an adventurous eater.

From there we Uber’d to Target to pick up our order and back to the hotel. We did some unwinding and Dylan unpacked his new toy and started on the process of packing up. We had picked up a large, hard sided suitcase to make it easier to check things and protect the computer we found we really didn’t use in the train. It would be a lot easier to move our bags around in the cabin for the trip back.

We had a nice meal of fish and fruit for dinner (can’t believe anyone was hungry) before heading up to the room for an early night. The time zone changes were affecting us, for sure.

The next morning we planned to go out for breakfast instead of hitting up the continental provided by the hotel as Troy and I wanted to indulge in a mimosa, but were greeted by the announcement that the restaurant was now closed for indoor eating. Looking further, the Great Wheel was now closed as was most of the city. Good thing we were planning to head home. Given that the boys school had closed, we considered staying longer, but with the entire city shutting down, it really didn’t make sense.

We checked our bag at the rail station and made sure the train was on time. We had planned to check out bags and find somewhere for lunch, but at $10 per carry on bag (for a few hours’ time), we quickly changed our plans. The boys ran out to find somewhere for sandwiches and I was on bag guarding duty. The boys found a local market that did excellent sandwiches and brought them back the station. Sandwiches, drinks and a few cribbage games later and we were ready for the announcement that the train was ready to head out.

Only it wasn’t.

They announced a delay instead. Worse, a delay with no idea of timing on how long the delay would be. That means we would be trapped in the station waiting for word on when we could board. Would it arrive before the dinner hour? Should we risk it and send someone to find sandwiches? How long would the delay be? (we had a car ready for the return in St Paul, would we make it?)

Luckily, it was only about forty minutes late.

We eventually boarded and got very lucky in that the entire lower half of our train car was empty save for one couple that apparently boarded the wrong car. Luckily, they would be departing part way through the return trip. Our car attendant, Tashi, was so nice and took such good care of us. He offered to let us use any of the other rooms for sitting or playing cards if we wanted.

The return trip was quite beautiful and fairly uneventful. There were no snowstorms to mar the view or the photos we could take. We met some very lovely people at each meal. And Troy got an opportunity to talk with Tashi more about his history and his family. Tashi even sent us some vintage Amtrak posters after we returned home and shared with Troy his history growing up in a Buddhist monastery. Probably the best gift of all was that he shared a set of Buddhist Prayer Flags with Troy. I am amazed by the generosity of people and humbled to know Tashi. A truly awesome person.

We returned home without issue, the car waiting for our return to St. Paul. It is a new world we live in now with everyone under the Stay at Home Order. We wondered if it were wise to head to Seattle at the beginning of this, but I am very glad we did. The people we met along the way were amazing.

Would I recommend this trip to others? Absolutely.

We arrived at the campground at dusk, rather surprised by the lack of trees. There were a few campsites occupied, including, of course, the one next to ours. Given that it was halfway through October, the water and most of the bathrooms were winterized already already. Had it been earlier in the season, the site would have been perfect for its proximity to the head. But it was closed. There was, however, an open head at the nature center.

The next day we checked in, since they were closed when we arrived, and asked about a new site. Alas, they were fully booked for the entire weekend. We shouldn't be surprised, I guess, it was MEA weekend after all.

So, we returned to our site and got re-set-up. The site next to us had a fifth wheel, truck and trailer with ATVs. Quite a full site. We were surprised to see them parking in the adjacent campsite, but thought maybe they had thought ahead and rented two spots.

They eventually headed out with their ATVs and we pulled down the bikes to explore. It was a nice park, however, the sites were far too close together and there just weren't enough trees to block out the other sites.

The boy and I played the ladder game, and we were swarmed by ladybugs! They were everywhere. I absolutely need another vacuum for the RV. As it was, I didn't even have a broom. More things for the purchase list.

The park began to fill up, including the spot our neighbors were parking their ATV trailer in. I guess they didn't rent two spaces after all. So, when they returned they had to find another spot for their trailer. They took another site and went about fixing one of their ATvs. Luckily, they were able to finish before the person that actually rented that site showed up and they had to move once again. It became a bit of a game to watch.

In the meantime, the boy was busy making friends and running around the park. They played a game with flashlights in the growing dusk. Ghost in the graveyard I think they called it. It seemed to consist of them screaming and running about. But he was having a blast, clearly.

Another new camper and the neighbor is once again kicked out of the spot they were squatting in. They finally resigned themselves to using their own campsite, storing the ATV trailer and truck there instead. I guess our entertainment is finished.

Another night of kids running about in the dark, screeching and suddenly another adventure is over and we were packing for home.

Willow River Campground

We were all packed up and ready to head out for a nice RV weekend at the Willow River Campground. Close enough to home that holiday traffic won't affect us much, far enough that it would be an adventure.

And suddenly it strikes us, we won't have a power hook up! What to do? Of course we must pick up solar panels, that will get us through. We did try to switch to an electrical site, to no avail.

We got to the site and were all set up fairly quickly.

Saturday we set up the solar panels without issue and got the frig turned on. Afterwards, we decided to go on an excursion to the nature center. Little did we know, it would be quite a trip. The trail to the Nature Center (via bike) was quite hilly with some trips down hill being a little scary even!

The Willow River area without the damn was wild, to say the least. Large blocks of stone that appear to be dropped willy nilly in the riverbed. Overgrown with weeds yet abutting what was clearly a swimming beach.

The return trip to the RV was particularly hard, given it was completely up hill. There were multiple times the boy gave up and just walked his bike uphill. I can't say I blame him. We likely covered a good four miles on our bikes.

We had dinner made over the fire. Very relaxing after a taxing day. Dylan did pull out his new lawn game and we played a couple of times. Of course, he won.

Sunday we decided to hike to the falls themselves. The path down was exceedingly steep. We were disappointed by the amount of garbage along the trail, but the boy was quite the trooper and did a great job picking up garbage along the way to the river.

We did stop at the old gravesite along the way and saw their view of the river. The machinery strewn along the riverbed was quite the sight to see.

The falls themselves were quite remarkable. The way the water fought the stone to make its way to ground, so amazing. The only negative being the garbage of those that came to visit and that they left behind. Disgraceful really.

The trip back up the hill was much harder then the trip down. I barely made it, despite multiple stops along the way. But up the hill we made it and back to the RV we were.

The boy also discovered the playground and how much he enjoyed it. So many kids, so much fun. We woke early on Monday and packed up while the boy played. Back home early enough that he's ready for his first day of school.

Friday evening and we were ready to leave as soon as I arrived home from work. By 5:30 we had checked in at the headquarters, gotten ice and firewood and were at our campsite. A different location from last week with woods behind us.

Troy started a fire and just as it got going rain came in. It put the fire out so we retreated to the RV where Dylan had been content to watch a movie. Given the rain a change in dinner was in order so we went with stew instead. After dinner all of us piled onto the couch and watched some Firefly (great program!) which Dylan clearly enjoyed.

Saturday morning. Perhaps Dylan is becoming more familiar with the RV, or maybe the Firefly we watched the night before, but Dylan actually slept until 8:30! Nice to sleep in a bit for all of us.

Cinnamon rolls and coffee for breakfast and a beautiful day ahead of us. We were treated to a visit from some deer in the woods behind us. We did some bird watching as well. We decided to explore the park a bit with a bike ride, visiting the park headquarters where Dylan finally got to purchase a little lantern he had his eye on from our last visit. Afterward a trip to the playground and a ride around to look at the riding stables. We kept riding for a bit though I eventually headed back to the RV to let out Bug while the boys kept going.

The boys kept going with their ride and eventually came upon a hill high enough that there was a warning for bike's about the grade of the hill heading down, so they returned to the RV as well. More visits from the deer in the woods, some Frisbee throwing for Bug and a fire would round out the day.

We pulled out the gazebo and rug, table and chairs and we had an outdoor living room. We had hot dogs and smores for dinner. A little more Firefly and we were all tucked into the RV for the night.

Sunday morning would find us packing up between rain squalls. Home quickly. Another good weekend in the books.

Though some could argue the weekend started on Friday, it really began much, much earlier. So much preparation into getting the RV set up to be our new home away from home. Where should the plates go? What about the food, the dogs dishes, heck, what should we plan to make for dinners? I am so grateful that Troy is a planner and our years of experience on WhimSea has helped to shape this new adventure.

So, we spent the week getting ready, with me on the inside and Troy out. I am astounded by the amount of space in the 'basement' and what we can bring with us! We were amazed by the amount of space.

Friday evening would be our maiden voyage away from the driveway. The boy arrived home from school and immediately packed his toys and jumped into his seat, announcing he was ready to go. Nothing like the stress of someone asking every five minutes if we could leave to help move you along with you're trying to pack on food and clothes.

Eventually we finished loading up and headed out. We needed to get gas on the way and discovered we have no gas cap so that's annoying, but everything else is working well.

I was a bit nervous with the drive. With Bug cowering at my feet. I'm not sure if I was projecting to him or vice versa. Hopefully for both of us it will only get better in time.

Given Bunker Hills is so close to home, we arrived at our destination in no time. We checked in and purchased ice and firewood and headed for our site.

Troy had me direct him into the spot though he really didn't need it. Given his practice with our first boat, Bucephalus, he backed it in like quite the pro. Five minutes later, we were set up. I have to admit it was pretty sweet, it was really no effort at all! Loving the RV thing. The boy and Bug were both pretty excited to check out the camp. Dylan took his bike and ride around, making sure to meet all the neighbors.

Dinner would be hot dogs and smores on the fire. We were up late enough we felt the chill from the evening before heading in to bed. The heater on the RV worked great and everyone was quite cozy.

Saturday morning and it is quite cool in the morning. We enjoyed our couples with cinnamon rolls (yeah oven!) I also had an opportunity to do a bit of bird watching. With the leaf cover not yet in, they were pretty easy to spot.

Before we knew it, the boy was hungry for lunch (breakfast pizza) and we were able to get in a bit of a nap. Since it was overcast and dreary it seemed fitting.

Magically when we awoke from our nap the sun was shining and it was a completely different day. So we all went on a bike ride and explored the park a bit, ending at the headquarters for ice and firewood for the evenings' fire.

Dylan had the camera and spent time taking loads of pictures and selfies around the site.

Since we were able to see how close the playground really was, we let Dylan take Bug for a walk as far as the playground and back. He returned and traded Bug for his bike so he could play with the other kids in the campground. Clearly we will need radios for the next visit to the campground.

Troy made a fire and we relaxed in front of it for much of the evening. The smell of smoke and chill in the air was magical. We ended up staying out far later then intended. Being chased in by the cold I think we saw 35 degrees that evening, but everyone was cozy in the RV.

Sunday and its time to pack up while we have our coffee. It was a short, but memorable trip, especially for the inaugural run. We'll be back to Bunker Hills for sure.

Whimz

04/10/20

10:22:44 pm March 2020 Seattle Trip!

10/16/19

05:38:22 pm October 16, MEA weekend, Wild River Campground

08/30/19

05:25:49 pm Labor Day weekend, 2019

05/11/19

06:34:37 pm May 3-6, 2019 Another Bunker Hills Adventure

04/28/19

02:31:16 pm April 26-28, 2019 Bunker Hills