Week One - Lake Pleasant, Bothell, WA

Our first week has flown by! Lake Pleasant was a wonderful place to spend our first week out of the driveway. Only 15 minutes from our sticks-and-bricks, it was a baby step, but we are feeling much more confident now as we begin to pack up for our first REAL leg of the journey, to a place none of us have ever been. Thus far, we've still been driving familiar roads, shopping at the same stores, etc., but tomorrow the adventure into the unknown begins! I think it's a keen coincidence that this adventure begins on the anniversary of my beginning DGD 

(11th anniversary of the dolls tomorrow!)

Lake Pleasant RV Park - we'd definitely come back here again. We've heard that 

some RV parks are uptight and have a lot of rules, but this place was delightful, clean, and really laid-back.

Right in our front yard was a brand new playground, at which the kids spent a ridiculous amount of time. They were more exhausted each day, but just. could. NOT. stop.

We set up a shade room at the front of our space; here we are playing Angry Birds.

And Rhanna enjoyed learning a couple of new songs outside, too. 

Big News: Gwynnie learned to pump herself on the swings 

our first day here! Milestone!

Some awesome person left a bag of blocks at the park, so a lot of towers and fairy houses were constructed.

On the 8th, Rhanna and Abe shared their experiences on a panel about Unschooling over on Bainbridge Island. This required a ferry ride -  a first for Rhanna and Thane!

Meanwhile, Gwynnie, Emrys and I checked out the 

local water wheel, planted an herb garden, did yoga, 

and played more Angry Birds.

It's got a handle - portable garden!

Cat-Cow (which is which??) ;)

Other highlights include football, grilling, and geocaching :)

This is me with my first on-the-road friend Cynthia, whom I met at the laundromat. I so enjoyed talking with this woman from Florida (on her way to Alaska!), and look forward to meeting many more people during our adventures.

Personal goal for next week: to figure out how to incorporate some sewing into my schedule. I had some hiccups this week with missing sewing machine parts and just literally no time, not to mention such a lack of space to set everything up for a short time (sewing projects are generally longer than an hour or two, and everything here has to be disassembled and put away so we can use the space for other things). I did get a few potholders made, but didn't sew one stitch of the curtains I thought I'd have finished by the end of this week. Gah! 

I tried; I really tried.

Some posts by Abe, to remember:
* June 4
Managed through a few kinks in our system these first few days:

- Didn't know the measurements of our slide-out when we parked, so ended up parking a bit farther away from the hookups than necessary (our 15 ft sewage hose was a bit short for the 40 feet away our black tank was)

-The water connections for our washer/dryer combo were stuck in the off position. A bit too much brute force finally moved the knobs but also cracked one.

-Once the washer was mid cycle, we noticed water dripping out the front of the RV. We assumed the leak was from the washer but couldn't find it. Once the washer was shut off, the leak stopped. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the story.

-After the kids took a bath today, the water once again started leaking out the front. After an hour of crawling underneath the rig and taking apart a fair amount of the underbelly to trace all the pipes, we finally solved our mystery. When our grey tank over-filled, instead of overflowing into our tub like it's supposed to, the water found its way up the washer pipe which turned out not to have a leak but was completely disconnected and the water was flowing straight out of the pipe under the bed.

literally no pipe there!

The good news is we have truly learned the ins and outs of the RV. The pipes are fixed, the grey tank is drained and can now stay open, most of the water is out of the RV...we have some more drying to do tomorrow.

While I may have preferred everything to go flawlessly our first week, I have much more confidence as we go forward. Everything can be fixed with a little patience and perseverance! 

On the plus side, our TV air tuner worked like a charm and I got to see Game 1 of the Stanley Cup tonight in HD for free. :)

* June 7th

One week in-

Well, we learned a lot about the plumbing and have developed some new daily routines. In an RV, you have to be conscious of things you take for granted in S&B, like water, electricity and sewer.

We have made some appliance/furniture adjustments: teeny tiny washer/dryer combo out and sold to RVing neighbors. Portable Freezer in. Groovy Bean Bags also gone. Just too space-hoggy.

On the lifestyle front, patience and order are becoming clear topics. You need to constantly manage your space. Things must be put away before new projects begin. And that always takes a bit more time than you think.

The kids love it so far. However, Gwynnie and Emrys (to a lesser degree) seem to be suffering Disneyland-syndrome - they are exhausted from playing but can't seem to stop and rest. The older kids will be getting RV 101 lessons today now that I have figured it all out.

We are looking forward to our next destination mid-week and my nervousness about driving seems to be gone. Backing up is a whole other story though.

Stay tuned...

-
Bothell: 
Friends encountered: Tamarah, Katelyn, Mike and Roxanne
Animals observed: ospreys, herons, owls (heard only), rabbits