Offut Lake Resort, Tenino, Wa

Monday, February 13th -  Well, we've finally made it onto the road. On Monday, we left the safety and boredom of Larkspur Landing Hotel in Factoria, WA and headed for the RV dealer in Sumner. It took awhile to leave the hotel because we had managed to, somehow, collect even more stuff while there. Once we got it loaded into the truck, we were off. We arrive in Sumner a little before noon and prepped the trailer for departure. We got a little bit of help from the dealer, but not all that much. Anyway, after hooking up and getting a little bit of guidance from the dealer we headed out with only a little over 50 miles to go to Offutt Lake. We didn't get more than a couple miles when we found that the trailer was swaying all over the place. So, Sue called the dealer and got them to come and give us some roadside assistance. Turns out that a couple of bolts on the hitch assembly weren't tightened down. Got that fixed and off we went again. 

The drive to Tenino wasn't too bad, although, the traffic was heavier than I had hoped for on my first attempt pulling the new trailer. It's about 1500 pounds heavier than the old one and 4 feet longer. I could tell too because the truck was working a lot harder. I did find that pulling it wasn't all that bad, just had to start getting used to it. Like I saw in a YouTube video, it's a lot more comfortable driving on two lane highways than on the interstate. Less worry about changing lanes and merging traffic. Traffic circles, though, are not fun. The only place along the way that was a little scary was when we had to go under a narrow railroad bridge that was 12'6", while our trailer is 11'7". We made it under OK and only had a couple miles to go to the campground. Once we got here, the owners helped us get into our site which, fortunately, is a pullthru. It took a good hour to get the trailer in the right position,  leveled, stabilized, water, sewer and power hookups and finally, the truck disconnected. 

Leveling the trailer was more challenging than expected because the one side was a bit higher than the other. I managed to do it completely backwards the first time and had to do it again. Also, the campsite slopes slightly from front to back and I found that the tongue jack wasn't long enough to get disconnected from the truck. So, now I know why rv'ers carry big wooden blocks around with them. In the end it all worked out fine and we were actually stationed at the first of many campgrounds on our long trip to Florida. We plan to stay here for a least a week, maybe two, depending on the weather. All the comforts of home except no cell service, minimal WiFi and minimal TV. I think Sue is going through withdrawal. 

Tuesday, February 14th, valentine's day - spent the morning getting organized in the trailer. Trying to figure out where to put clothes, medicine, cooking supplies, making up the bed (which was a bit of a challenge due to the tight confines) and just figuring out how to work the appliances on the trailer and figuring out where the light switches are. Had valentine's dinner at Lady of the Lake restaurant next to the campground. Lobster for both of us, very well prepared, nice environment. We may go back on Wednesday because they have $5 fish and chips. Sounds like a good deal. 

Wednesday, February 15 - woke up to rain and light wind. I can't figure out how to use the awning when it's windy and raining. I'd like to have it out a bit to keep the rain off the kitchen slideout, but I'm a little concerned about the wind whipping it around.