Next Trip

Shortly after getting back from our trip to Casa Grande, Arizona, the Grand Canyon and The Valley of Fire, I started thinking about our next trip.  I knew we wanted to get the house ready for the market as soon as possible, and going off in the Alfa for two or three weeks at a time was not the best way to accomplish that.  It seems every time we take a trip, many days are lost in preparing for departure, and then when we get home again, in getting settled and back to work.

So we decided to do as much as we can and look at somewhere to go in a few months.  We may take a short weekend trip in July, or do some driveway camping and sleep in the Alfa for a night or two, but our next multi-week jaunt will not be until mid-August. 

Looks like a cool place to visit in August (picture from web)

We will be going up to Olympic National Park in Washington.  

There are a number of  campgrounds operated by the park service, but none with hookups, and most of them have a 21' length limit for RVs. 

I did find one that did have hookups inside the park. It is run by the park's concession company much like the ones we stayed at in Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.  It is at Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort.  There are only 17 RV sites.  I actually made the reservations in April, and at that time there was only one spot available big enough for our 35' Alfa for the week I wanted. I'm glad I looked into it then and didn't wait. There are other RV parks we could stay at in the area, but they are outside the park and we would have to drive in each day.

Although we are not averse to boondocking for a night or two when we are traveling from place to place, we do like to stay at established campgrounds with hookups when we want to settle in for several days. I think it's good practice for full timing when we will probably plan our stays for weeks in one place. We dry camped in Yosemite for five nights last fall, and I found it disturbing that we had to run the generator for several hours every day.  I respect the people who are tent camping and want to enjoy a quiet, clean air environment.  I know if I was a tent camper I would not appreciate a big Class A running a smelly diesel generator at any time of the day. So, until we get solar, I guess we had best stick to places with power. Water and sewer are less essential.

I suspect we will drive up there in two days, stopping overnight at a Walmart or Lowe's.  I'll be looking into other interesting destinations on our way back south, but leave the plans very open.  If all goes well, the house will be on the market by then and we will be free to take our time getting back.  Or better yet, we will get an offer while there and have to hurry back to finish getting rid of stuff before a closing!

Well, we can dream can't we?