GRANT: Well, the vacation didn't exactly start as we expected. We took a week to finish preparing and doing a late but thorough Spring cleaning of the house. We put together a great packing system for the van without looking too much like the Beverly Hillbillies.
As soon as we got underway on Friday, June 25, we noticed that between the low tow package and the weight in the back, the trailer hitch only had a few inches of clearance off the ground! We drove to the coast and hung out with our friends Liz and Dorian in Brookings while we waited on the delivery of adjustable airbags for the suspension coils. We camped on their lovely property by the Winchuck River for almost a week -- hiking, beach combing, tide pooling, river wading, cycling, fishing, playing music and having some great meals. We also had a chance to visit my friend and guitar builder, Les Stansell, and his wife Mary in Pistol River.
The airbags arrived and did a great job of lifting up the back end of the van. We left the coast on Saturday, July 3 to visit or friends Greg and Mariko in Corvallis. Gabe had a great time hanging out with their son Aaron, who has become quite the robotics expert. After that we made a quick trip up to Portland to visit my college friend Tricia and her family for July 4. We had a traditional American meal (Tricia's British husband Steve wore his "God Save the Queen" t-shirt), then we blew things up. Gabe and Anna, who are very close in age, had a lot of fun together.
Because of our late start, I regret to say we'll have to miss out on visiting our friends in the Seattle area. We're going to head straight for Spokane, visit some of Patti's family, then go directly to the area around Glacier National Park. We're debating whether to take the faster interstate route or meander through the more northerly byways. Gabe's pretty itchy to get camping, and I don't blame him!
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