Thanksgiving at the Martin's

Shannon and Christian did a fantastic job of hosting the family for Thanksgiving Dinner. Everyone brought their best potluck dish and the food was soooo yummy. I was grateful to spend the holiday with so much family. All of the kids except Christine and half of the grandkids. We even stopped at my brother Arnie's on the way over and got to see Arnie, Jean, Garrison, Heather, McKenzie. Alta & Snoopy were there with Stacy, Chris and Lydia. I am all filled up with warm and happy family holiday memories.

Thanksgiving - more pictures

Take me to the sunshine! More Camp Hosting pictures

What a fun surprise. The weather has been very cold at night, mid 20s. But on Friday we woke up to several inches of beautiful white snow. My sister and her husband were visiting, so she made the rounds with us in the snow. Great time!

Camp Hosting at LL Stub Stewart Oregon State Park

Did you ever wonder what it is like to be a camp host in a state park? Read on.

We are planning to spend the winter in Tucson enjoying the sun and the fun community of RVers at Desert Trails. Before we go we needed more family & friend time around the Portland area. So we thought we would give camp hosting a try. We sent in the applications and had an offer right away. Since we were looking for a position in November near Portland, we didn't have to fight a crowd of volunteers. Not too many people want to spend a month in the woods in the NW in November. So far we have been lucky though. Today is our 11th day and more than half the time the weather has been relatively nice. Some sun, very cold, and not much rain. The weather forecast says that is about to change though.

The job is pretty easy. Mostly we hang reserved tags at camp sites and then clean up the sights when campers leave. Cleaning the sites involves raking the gravel, cleaning the ashes out of the fire rings, and picking up any trash that is left. Luckily most campers are very responsible and leave the sites in good shape. In the evenings we sell firewood. Other than that, it is mostly talking with campers and giving them information to enjoy their stay. The only real drawback is that for 5 days a week someone has to be on site.

We have been lucky that the weather has been lovely on our days off. The first week we made a day trip over to Nehalem Bay, Cannon Beach and Fort Stevens to check out campgrounds for next summer. It was blue sky and sunny with no wind and we took several short walks and one nice long one. Most days in between chores, we walk the trails in the park. Stub Stewart has over 20 miles of trails, both paved and dirt. All the trails are multi use (hike, bike, horses). There is a beautiful horse camp here and two Frisbee golf courses. The park is less than 5 years old and the facilities are beautiful. Full hookups in all the RV sites, plus nice meeting rooms for groups. But come on a dry day because the fun is outside.

In May & June of 2012, we have another camp host job at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend. During that time, Benny will be going to the State tennis playoffs and graduates from high school so we had to be around to cheer him on. The job at Fort Worden is working in the Coast Artillery Museum. We will take admission, sell gift shop items, answer questions, and do research. It will be quite different from the Stub Stewart work and fun in its own way. We are at the museum 14 hours a week each and the rest of the time is our own which will mean more freedom to spend time with LeAnne and Benny. It will be fun to compare after the two assignments.

So far we like camp hosting. It gives us something to do for a couple hours a day, sometimes more. The other camp hosts are a lot of fun and we have even had a party already. I found a buddy to do yoga with and both John and I are getting lots of exercise between hiking and the work in the camp sites. Come see us, this is a great park!

Catching up in Vancouver

We left Port Townsend on a beautiful day and stopped to have lunch with Bob and Bergetta who we haven't seen in far too long. Then we had a terrific time at Alta (sister) & Snoopy's home in Centralia. Both girls and all the grandkids stopped by for a short visit. Dick came up for dinner so it was a fun sibling evening. The next morning Alta and I had a great sister walk and talk followed by burgers out with the guys.

This trip to Vancouver/Portland we decided to try a new RV park. The park we have stayed in before is clean and convenient but not much fun for an extended stay as it is basically a parking lot behind the Toyota dealership. Our new favorite place is the Columbia River RV Park on Marine Drive, right across the street from the river and just a short way from a great bike/walking trail. The spaces are big with grass and lights. It even has a rec room and an exercise room which is great on rainy days. It is centrally located for visiting family and friends in the area.

What a fun week we had catching up. We spent lots of time with Shannon, Chris, and Izzy just hanging out and seeing how fast a 7 month old changes. She is super cute and has a big smile for Nana every time I see her. We got to spend a little time with Erik, Arnie, Jean, Del, Joyce, Sue, Trina, Bonny, Kirsten, and Cline before heading out to Stub Stewart for our November Camp Host volunteer job. The best part of which is that it is less than an hour drive into town. More Izzy time!