4-13-2022

4-13-2022 Grayland State Park

Spring break.  We were supposed to camp starting on the weekend, but work was a little chaotic and I had to stay behind.  Lorena took the boys and got a Yurt instead.  I stuck around at work a couple days to make sure everyone’s head was screwed on straight and came out Tuesday afternoon.  Mom and Dad, Jenny and KC and their kids are here too.  It snowed on the drive over Tuesday between Olympia and the coast.  Not just a little bit either.  It’s damned cold.  The yurt has electric heat, and I plugged the camper into power to run the space heater I brought.  The space heater was a great idea.  

Also, We did a thing…. We bought a new truck.  Brand new 2022 Ram 3500.  My 2021 performance bonus at work came through finally.  Between that and a bit of our savings we put 50% down and financed the rest.  It seems like a fancy truck to me, but it’s just the entry level Tradesman. I put frame mounted tie downs on it, and cut a couple horse stall mats to size to put under the camper.  It’s a good setup.  The camper is less than half the cargo capacity of the truck so the truck handles it quite nicely.  It’s 4 wheel drive too so we may be able to extend our camping season a bit.  

The driver front anchor point on the camper is pulling through.  With some investigation I’ve found that the whole side is soft.  Something bad is going on with that and it’s probably not worth the effort or the cost to repair it properly.  I’ll just fit a piece of angle iron to that edge between the jack mounts, move the anchors, weld or screw it in place and seal it as best as I can.  The camper is nearing the end it’s serviceable life.  It’s been real good to us and we will be sad to see it go.

4-16-2022 Ocean City State Park

We were not able to make reservations for the whole week at Grayland so we reserved the weekend at Ocean City. It used to be we could count on rolling in when ever we liked and there would always be an open spot for us.  These days if we don’t make reservations there’s a good chance we won’t be able to find a spot.  Sure are a lot of people camping these days.   The cold and rain (and snow!) kept Grayland fairly empty.  We could have just stayed there.  It’s a good excuse for us to explore another campground.  This place feels old and neglected.  The sites are dirt pads, which is fine, but it feels like there have never been any attempt to make them level.  A lot of them in the loop we are in are literal mud pits.  Even in the summer when things are dry I have no idea where a person is expected to park, much less set up a tent in half the sites.  They are also pretty open to everyone else.  I’ll explore the loops closer to the ocean and see if they are any different.

Put 35 gallons of gas in the truck on the drive here.  $160 (ouch). I wonder if I’ll get laughed at in 30 years for complaining about that being expensive.  Averaging 10.5-11 MPG.  

4-17-2022

Time to go home.  We explored the other loops here.  Not a lot of good sites.  Small, open to all the neighbors, muddy, next to a bog, not level, the list goes on and on.  It really feels like this place has never seen improvements.  

We stopped in at Lake Sylvia to have a look.  You really don’t want anything over 20 feet long here.  The street is narrow, sites are small, maneuverability is limited.  Pretty much no privacy either.  The lake is spectacular though.  We drove around the camp and had lunch in the day use area.  I think we are booked in May for this place.  We will see if the lake and exploring options outweigh the tiny spots.