We've returned home; our last words for this trip

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Yesterday was our day to break camp and return home. I wanted to leave by 9:00, and Natalie aimed at 10:00, so we compromised at 10:50. Natalie thought that perfectly fair. Of course, a couple people stopped by for a chat, and the final cleanup, packing and disconnecting took a bit longer than planned. I had been a bit concerned about getting out of our campsite without damaging either the coach or the site, but it proved pretty easy. (Until we did it, it was a bit of concern and it probably should always be at least enough concern to be careful.)

Our drive home took 3 hours, then half an hour to unload into the house and we were off to fill the gas tank. The first part of that puzzle was to choose a gas station we could get into and out of with relative ease. It just isn't the same with as with my Kia minivan, but that, too proved fairly simple after Natalie suggested a gas station that made it easy. Now, loading 33 gallons of gas is a new experience, but that was about what we expected.

After we turned it in, they checked to be sure we didn't break anything and heard about our water problems, and we were headed home via the post office for mail and Applebee's for takeout and fine dining back home.

It was very nice to be home, and we were quite happy for the whole experience.

The campground was particularly pleasant, maybe a bit surprising because we haven't done any kind of camping in years, and Natalie never did really enjoy it when we lived out of a tent or our bigger van with a fold-down couch. This time, we had our own bathroom - tiny but ours for the week, a stove, a refrigerator, a table inside and another outside, a bed, and a heater. The better term for this kind of camping is "glamping" but it was nice. It was really kind of amazing how quiet it was in a campground with something on the order of 75 campsites and mostly full. We were also very fortunate we didn't have any rain until Monday night, so we were very happy to be outside until we felt the chill and had to go inside for the heat.

It was a very nice, relaxing week. Walking the beach, taking laps around the park, noticing the nifty little things the owners have done and noticing the camping setups were very interesting, peaceful and pleasant. One of the true pleasures of our time at the KOA was meeting people from all over, though most we met were from the three west coast states who came to Willapa Bay to escape the smoke and flames near home, or out for the elk or bow hunting season. Their stories were all interesting and they were all very nice and friendly. We also came to the conclusion you have to have a dog to go camping, although we won't be following that rule.

The most important reason for this particular RV trip was to learn what we think about RVing in general. The jury has not reached a final conclusion just yet, but if we're able, we will do this again. We really did have a very good time, we learned a whole lot about what we liked and what we would like different. For example, this bed was hard as a rock and we'd prefer a softer bed. Other things are up for consideration, but we now know enough to notice things instead of just being awed by the showroom appearance. I sure hope we can attend an RV show next year, where we'll be somewhat more informed about what we'll see.

Thank you for following along with us this trip; it's nice having friends along. We'll be sure to let you know about our next adventure.

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