Sunday, June 21, 2020
Oh my word, going camping sure feels good! Can’t hardly wait to tell you all about it.
But first, just a reminder … please do go back and read comments made on prior blog posts, as some readers don’t post their comments until a few days after the blog post has been published. Don’t miss out on some great comments and information.
Ok, ‘nuf said … let’s get on with this camping trip, which is what all of us have been waiting for! 🙂
First of all, on day #1, I needed to get the trailer hitched to the truck and then get that trailer out of the fenced storage area. No sweat. The photo below is of the trailer hitched to the truck and the whole rig is parked outside the fenced storage area (the fenced storage area is to the right, out of the photo). The trailer is fully stocked, the door to my home is locked, and we’re ready to roll except I need to close and lock the gate to the fenced storage lot.
I closed/locked the gate to the storage area and made sure all was secure there, then I walked back towards the truck. It was at that moment that it finally became a reality that I was “gone camping”! Hooray!
I jumped in that truck, started that engine, released the brake, and off I went!
Ah, but, you may ask … where did I go? I went to Friends Landing Campground near Montesano, WA. I hadn’t been camping there before, but two friends of mine and I had driven through the campground several months ago. During that drive-through, I decided I liked campsite #17 the best. For this camping trip, I was able to reserve #17 for this entire week of camping.
Here are three Google Earth images below showing where Friends Landing is, just in case you’re in the area and wish to go there.
My “HOME” is in the lower part of the image above … “Montesano” is to the left. Friends Landing was about a 90-minute drive from my home, down the I-5 freeway a short bit, then off onto highway 101 for a short jaunt until it turned into highway 8/12, and then to Friends Landing just past Montesano. Ordinarily, it would be a 60-minute drive with just my truck, but I putter along a bit more slowly and carefully with Towhee the Trailer in tow.
In the photo above, the small town of Montesano is in the upper right corner, with the main highway running right to left (or left to right) on the edge of town. The large red arrow is pointing at Friends Landing Campground, accessed via small, paved back roads. The Chehalis River runs along the south side of the campground, and Lake Quigg almost surrounds the rest of the campground. It was so pretty!
The red arrow in the Google Earth photo above points to campsite #17. Obviously, my trailer and truck are not in the photo above, but this photo will show you how small the Friends Landing campground is and where I was camped. It was delightful.
And here I am (below) … in campsite #17!
The sky was so blue. The lake was right behind me. My seating/living area inside my trailer is at the back end of the trailer so I had an unobstructed view of the lake, the trees, the birds … and the sunset (more about that here in just a bit).
You can see there were other campers here, and one was sort of close to me (that dark truck that shows in the photo above in between my truck and trailer). But everyone was quiet and courteous. It seemed like everyone was so appreciative about being able to go camping that everyone was extra nice. Or maybe all the folks here were just nice folks. I like to think that.
My view of Lake Quigg (above and below).
I walked around the campground before supper, chatting very briefly with a few of the other people who were camping there. Then I enjoyed my view of the lake while I ate my supper.
I started reading my book after supper, but looked up at one point to see the sunset below … right outside my window. I grabbed my camera and walked the few feet from my trailer to the lake, as close as I could get. I didn’t think the world could get any more beautiful.
I took those photos then turned around to walk back to my little trailer home.
The sign there on the left in the photo above warns people that the shore around the edge of the lake is steep and asks people not to go there. I understood that and I obeyed, but I was so much more taken with how beautiful the entire area was, how perfect this particular campsite was, and …
… how warm and welcoming my trailer seemed to be to me in the evening glow of that sunset.
Life is good. And tomorrow I’ll go exploring!
Gone camping! I like that Ann. Your rig looks so clean and snappy, must make you proud. Ha, makes ME proud! Proud to know you. So glad you are finally out there! Thanks for taking the time to include us in the journey.
I like that word “snappy”. 🙂 Thanks Tim.
Some camping has opened up here in Canada too and we are planning a trip. It is so wonderful to know you are already out there and loving it. It is quite the incentive for us. We are packing madly. When the border opens, we will be checking out Friends Landing. Hope to see you in spot #17!
When that Canada-USA border opens up I will likely be heading north. I miss Canada. But meeting you folks around campsite #17 at Friends Landing one day would be great. Let me know if/when you’re anywhere around the greater Olympia, WA, area and maybe we can meet, that would be terrific. Hope the trip you folks are planning works out perfectly.
I’d never heard of Lake Quigg. Love the journeys you share with us.
Thanks Kristin. I suspect Quigg was a person, maybe built the first cabin near that lake. I bet she was extraordinary. 🙂
What a sunset! With that lake and the trees and sunsets like that one right outside my window, if it were me I’m not sure I would ever go home, just rent that campsite forever. Great photos.
Nebraska, that’s exactly how I felt! I was so happy there. If I could have kept campsite #18 empty, or at least controlled who used that campsite right next to mine (#17), I really did think about simply living out there in my little trailer. But a cold, dreary winter would likely have driven me back to my warm, spacious home. Thanks for the compliment about the photos, much appreciated. 🙂
I love the photo where the side of your trailer is on the left side of the photo and the side of your trailer reflects the lake. It is so peaceful and so beautiful.
I love that photo too, Ruth. 🙂
What a stunning setting, it must have been sooo hard to leave!
You were so smart to scout it out ahead of time. The best site for sure.
It was almost impossible to leave. If I had been in a cabin with a little more space and a few more amenities than my trailer, I think I might have simply stayed there forever.