JOURNAL OF TININTHEWIND

     Look closely in the distance of the above photo and you will see the 'colored stations' of the 'Croquet'  set that has been created for the Toutle River RV Resort.  There is a large open field area near the entry to the RV Resort and early on it was the inspiration of "the Charlie" (developer) to build a Croquet set and while they were at it to build one that may well be the largest set in the World.  The two Park Carpenters, Ron and Dennis created the set while Ray and a helper handled the painting.

     Since arriving here in the park last April we have seen a number of people enjoying the game.  You will see in the following pictures the mallets which in and of themselves are a work of art and very colorful.  The balls that are used are actually soccer balls.

     The large building undergoing remodeling that you see in the background of the pictures will become a very large open air pavilion for rent and use by quests and perhaps large RV Rallies that are sure to frequent this beautiful area of Washington.

     Anyone for a game of 'Croquet' ?  I will spot you two swings!

Posted by George at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

     There are a lot of things that could cause one to start smoking and the 'Toutle River RV Resort' is one of them. 

     Now before you think we went off the deep end.  Have a look below!

     I have blogged recently how 'Charlie' the owner/developer of the resort is cutting no corners in seeing that the guests of the Toutle River RV Resort find a first class experience when they come to stay.  The Smokehouse you see in the picture above is just another fine example. 

     Today most of us Workampers got together and each decided to contribute something to the Smokehouse experience.  I made a brine and prepared the Sturgeon Fillets that I cut in to four to five inch chunks.  An overnight soak in the brine had them ready to go when Marvin had the smoker heating up.  Marvin and Ethel did a Salmon that they purchased for a bargain at a market in Longview, WA.  Jim did oysters on the half shell.  Don did turkey breasts.  Howard and Leah did a chicken.  Linda and Ron did a batch of jerky and Dan did some Sea Bass Fillets.

     After several hours of "Smokin" the door was opened at 4:30.  Several of the hired park workers stopped to see the results as they were just getting off work.  Mouths were watering and lips were smakin as all I can tell you is everything looked delicious.  We all made a pact to try and gather at the smokehouse every Thursday and again take advantage of it being available.  The hired staff has also been invited to bring anything they would like to contribute.

     Every Monday night we workampers gather for a theme night for dinner with a dish to pass and it now looks like we may also gather Thursday evenings for the sampling of that days Smokehouse fare. 

Posted by George at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

     A fun thing to do in this retired life style of ours is to get out the Gazetteer Map, in this case for the State of Washington.  Find a road and direction that looks interesting and just drive and follow any road along your way that looks even more interesting.  One can even find some neat things to photo.  Now, when doing this one can get pretty lost.  Never fear, just simply ask "Charlott" (the womans voice inside our GPS) to take us home. (Home is where the RV is Parked).

     We are only about 75 miles from the Pacific Coast here at the 'Toutle River RV Resort'.  On this particular Exploration we traveled Hi way 4 out of Longview, WA to Ilwaco, WA and then on up the Coast to Long Beach.  A lot of this area on the Coast we are familiar with as we have spent time there in both 2007 and 2008.  One can never tire of this area as it is beautiful and the entire drive is spectacular.  A great deal of the route follows the Columbia River.  Remember Lewis and Clark?  They completed their journey in this area.

     We took our time and visited everything of interest.  One does not need a 'hot toddy' before hitting the hay for the night as an Exploratory trip like this tires you out but it is worth it for sure. 

Posted by George at 08:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

     This last winter at the RV Park in Lo De Marcos our neighbors, Gille and Diane (French Canadians) introduced us to the term and fun of Mystery Tours, organized for anyone who wanted to tag along.  They would come up with a destination that usually required four wheel drive vehicles and off they would go for the day.  Some of the trips were exciting to say the least and not something you would do alone with just one vehicle.  I blogged about the ones Kathleen and I participated in.

     Not wanting to steal Gille and Diane's term I will call our state side adventures, Mystery Trips.  Last evening six of us got together and went on a trip organized by Bill and Margaret.  Marvin, Ethel, Kathleen and I piled in the van and off we went.  The vehicle is Charlie's personal transportation and will eventually be used to take campers staying at the 'Toutle River RV Resort' on organized tours. 

     The initial purpose of this trip was for Bill to show me where friends of his from the area are catching Salmon.  We followed the Cowlitz River for quite a distance pulled up at the first dam that slowed down any Salmon headed for their spawning grounds.  There were several fisherman trying their luck and we got to visit with a young handicapped fellow who was fishing from a wheel chair and had access right to the waters edge.  He had caught a couple of fish this season from this spot, but had no luck today.

     From our visit to the Cowlitz River we continued on to the town of Morton which is where Bill and Margaret lived and raised a family.  Morton is located on Hi way 12 just West of the uphill climb in to the Cascade Mountains.  We left Morton in a driving rain storm and all of us hoped that our RV Park was getting some of the moisture, (It didn't).  We stopped on the way back to see a piece of property that Bill and Margaret are developing a short distance inland from exit 59 off Interstate 5 and then returned to the exit and a mom and pop drive-in for burgers and strawberry shakes.

     It was a fun trip with new friends and we hope to plan more as time will allow.

Posted by George at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

     My grandson Zak came to spend a couple days.  Zak is a "fishing nut", (wonder where he gets that)?  We loaded the Scooter, and with Zak hanging on to the tackle/bait bag off we went for the Cowlitz River.  I had been fishing the river on numerous occasions and hadn't caught a thing so I was concerned that young Zak's attention span and enthusiasm might be short lived, but I was mistaken. 

     We caught three fish on our first outing, a couple of squaw fish (a sucker type) and a nice River Sturgeon.  Not knowing what the squaw fish were had us calling them trout and to both of us that sounded pretty good.

     It became obvious that the lad was pretty well wore out from the days activities as he was willing to hit the hay a little early.  Made me happy as for sure I was exhausted.  Just before he fell asleep he asked if we could go in the morning.  I responded positively letting him know that we could if he was able to wake up early enough cause we wouldn't have much time before having to leave for a birthday party for Maddie.  I would have bet my next pay check that he would sleep late.  If I had a pay check I would have lost as at 5:30 a.m., with only one eye open, and it wanting to close, I was being shaken and it was "Grandpa Please---Pretty Please---Grandpa Wakeup---Lets go Fishing!

Posted by George at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)