March 6th

I left Sequim today. Spent some time in the library to finish up my blog and figure out where I was going to stay tonight. There was not a lot of great options for winter time in Northern Washington but I found a few place on the Olympic Peninsula.

It was a long drive on winding roads. I even ended up on some private logging roads and national forest roads. I went up a pretty snowy one and decided to turn around as it looked to only get worse. I had to back up for about 1/4 mile to get to a place I could turn myself around. I am continually amazed at how well Milou does in the snow. Plowing through snow banks and rolling through mud, she just keeps going and she has yet to slip!

After about an hour down some back forrest service roads, with no cell service the road came to an end. Closed for the winter to protect the Elk. Being late I turned around and pulled over and headed to bed. I turned on the heat, made a delicious dinner and settled into the evening of sharpening my scissors?

Once night falls and the window shades are up, its very very easy to completely forget where you are. A very strange, yet delightful feeling.

Goodnight

March 7th

I woke up early, early to bed, early to rise! I also woke up to about 3 inches of new snow! It was beautiful, in the middle of an evergreen forest with a fresh layer snow. The trees were heavy and the road was untracked. I made some pancakes for the first time in Milou. They actually went pretty quick, had some coffee and was heading out by 8:30. Fresh tracks as Milou plowed through the untouched road for about a half hour. It was probably an hour before I saw a single car. I was headed for the coast.

I arrived at Ocean City at about 10 am. It was sleeting sideways as I drove out onto the beach. Many parts of the Washington coast allow driving on the beach and it is considered a State Highway. I drove a couple miles down the beach and hung out as the weather started to clear. By 11am the sun was out.

I continued south to Fort Stevens State Park. The drive was beautiful, I loved coming to Astoria and the mouth of the Colombia river. Pretty wild to think of Louis and Clark and the gang being here and trying to make their way to the Pacific. It must have been pretty rough for them, given they where not accustom to the conditions and the weather here.

From Fort Stevens, I headed further south to Tillamook, OR. Famous for its cheese just like the moon. I stopped by a creamery that I saw offered free camping. I pulled in next to an old British double decker bus and I was home for the night. I got some Brie and bread at the store and had a delicious snack.

March 8th

Slow morning today. Woke up to rain that quickly turned to sun and then back to rain. I am starting to get a taste of Pacific North West weather. I cleaned up Milou and packed up my ski gear. Next stop was Portland to my Cousin’s family’s house. The drive was over the Tillamook State Forest and then down into Portland. A beautiful state forrest full of lots of what I imagine would be pretty hikes. It was snowy up high and the roads wound through the beautiful forest.

Once on the outskirts of Portland, I stopped at a Jo-Ann Fabrics to get some cloth to black out my window inserts. It makes the windows look just plained tinted and cuts down on the camper look. I will post a picture once I get it sorted.

Made it to Ethan and Gusty’s house. Went to pick up Ethan and Gusty’s new sprinter van from the shop. Got to drive the Tesla home! Very speedy!! Hung out for a bit with everyone and helped pack up the sprinter to head to Hood River for the weekend. We all loaded up and we were off to Ethan and Gusty’s super cool house on Hood River! So happy to be here 🙂

March 9th

Today we woke up early and headed to Mount Hood for an ALS fundraiser. It was called Ski To Defeat ALS a great event. We had scavenger hunts all over the mountain. A dual GS race with a fun competitive vibe 🙂 The day was gorgeous and it was really fun to be back at Mount Hood, ripping it up! I had not been back to that area since going to snowboard camp when I was maybe 13. I had a great time skiing with my cousin Ethan, his wife Gusty and their kids Thatcher, Cameron and Amelia. We finished the day with some yummy food at the lodge and were all practically asleep by 7pm 😉

March 10th

Did I really go to bed @ 9 pm and wake up at 7:30am. I was very confused in the morning until I was reminded we had daylight savings! Happy spring!

We had a pretty relaxed day today, hung out in the morning and played lots of games around the house. Then in the afternoon Thatcher, Cam, Ethan, myself and their friends Chris and his son Beckett all went to the local bowling alley! We had a great time then headed back to the hood river house for some delicious tacos before loading up in the van to head back to Portland. All but the adults were asleep as we rolled into the driveway!

Unfortunately we came home to Milou bleeding a bit of a antifreeze… I am going to find a shop tomorrow and see about getting this fixed. 🙁

March 11th

First thing I did today was go outside to check on Milou’s leak situation. It leaked a little overnight but not a lot. I figured I would call some shops and see what I can do. I found a decent diesel shop in Portland, a bit pricy but could get the job done and it would be one less thing that could go wrong. If I did not do it now, I knew it would bite me later.

So I left Milou at the shop and caught a curtesy ride back to Ethan and Gusty’s, hung out for the afternoon and then helped Ethan coach the kids lacrosse practice. It was fun to pick up a stick and throw the ball around, probably the first time since High school! Then back for a delicious dinner from Gusty and off to bed.

March 12th

Pretty relaxed day today. Cam and Thatcher were sick so stayed around the house and hung out with them in the am. Then headed off with Ethan to get some parts for the Sprinters stereo. Started in on the wiring harness in the afternoon before getting picked up by the repair shop to pick up Milou. Expensive all said and done. The shop did good work but not sure I would go there again. Happy to have the new water pump on board, I might need to do one more flush in the near future just to make sure things are really clean, as during there flush they said it was very dirty!

Got back to the Beck house finished soldering up the wiring harness for the Sprinter before dinner. Ate a lovely dinner with the gang and then popped the new head unit in with Ethans help. Dropped a wrench inside the dash and spend a good 15 mins trying to get it out other then that all went well… On the bright side I think I know how to remove every panel on a Sprinter dash 🙂

Goodnight