September 14, 2022
I camped at the Yakima Sportsman State Park in 2019, and I loved it. So I came back to this same campground for another visit in 2022. I’ve been camping for 6 or 7 years now and have found lots of favorite campgrounds and campsites. I may start returning to campgrounds quite a bit. But have no fear, I will also be exploring new places to camp … whether state parks or private campgrounds or “Boondockers Welcome” sites or people’s driveways (with permission of course), etc. For this trip, I went back to one of my favorite state parks.
I found lots of new things, different things, on this trip … things I hadn’t seen when I was here in 2019. The 2019 camping trip was in May, in the spring. This year, 2022, I was here in September, autumn.
So let’s get going! 🙂
Washington State is divided by the Cascade Mountains (the pink squiggly line in the image below). Western Washington is west of the Cascades, and eastern Washington is east of the Cascades. My home is in western Washington. Yakima is in eastern Washington. So, over the mountains I went with my big white truck and with Towhee the Trailer (and Little Towhee along too, of course). It was an easy four-hour drive with one lunch stop and then one rest/walk stop.
The Google Earth image below shows a RED circle around the campsite I was in when I was here in 2019. And it shows a YELLOW circle around the campsite I was in on this trip. Both campsites were great. The RED one had full hookups (water/elec) and an almost level, paved campsite, but it had neighbors, not too close and all of them were quiet, but neighbors none-the-less, and it was more expensive. The YELLOW campsite had no hookups (I carry plenty of water and have solar for elec, tho I used my propane for heat and for the fridge), the campsite was almost level (no problem), but it was gravel (not paved) so I had to pay a bit more attention so I didn’t track gravel and dirt into the trailer, and yet this campsite had only one neighbor and they weren’t very close at all and there was shrubbery in between us that blocked most of the view and they were quiet too. And the YELLOW site was less expensive than the RED site. I could hear a TINY bit of freeway noise in the YELLOW campsite (hardly anything at all); I heard nothing in the RED campsite. Both campsites were great.
On this trip, I backed into the YELLOW site, leveled up, chocked the wheels, unhitched … and there I was. 🙂 Home.
The neighbors I could see were off to the left, in the photos here, maybe 70 feet away. In the photo below, you can just see an RV that’s about 100 feet away on another road entirely. I never heard them at all.
Pretty nice, huh. 🙂
After I got settled, I took my usual walk around the campground just to check things out, and to settle my freeway-driving nerves. On that walkabout, I found three MORE campsites here that I really liked … #51 below … no neighbors except for one about 60 feet to the right of that campsite.
#37 below … no neighbors. This spot was closer to the entrance of the campground so there might be more traffic passing by … and it had less greenery between it and the little road … but still it was delightful.
And then there was #74. When I really like a particular campsite, and there’s already a rig in that campsite, I just take a photo of the number. If I really, really like the campsite, I’ll take two photos, sometimes three photos. I took three photos of #74! Guess I better check it out online and head back to #74.
But … I also found this area below, with campsites along just one side of that long green area, so you would have someone a bit in front of you, and/or behind you, but no one at all next to you. That looked nice to me too.
Unless you head out onto wide open BLM land (federal Bureau of Land Management) or such like that, there will almost always be neighbors camping near you. So you pick the best spot and be courteous. 99% of the people out here are very courteous.
And look at the sunshine here today. The weather was like this all week. Will share lots more, stay tuned. 🙂
I have favorite campgrounds too, and usually favorite sites within those campgrounds. I need to branch out more, but I’m sort of picky. Being in a tent I hear EVERYTHING with neighbors close so I try to find campgrounds with some bushes or trees and space between sites. If I had a big 5th wheel I’d be stuck in a lot of places in central area sites that are all lined up tight against each other. At least with a tent sometimes I get a good site that isn’t appropriate for trailers. That always makes me smile. The further away I can be from trailers the better. Nothing worse on a cold night than listening to your neighbors run their furnace. 🙂
Oh wow, yes in a tent. No wonder you are picky, Dawn. I would be too! The noise of other people can be so disturbing. Not that people are bad, but just, well, it’s not what we might want to listen to! And we’re all out there in the open so I’ve never understood why so many people don’t understand and why they don’t just shut up! Ok, that was direct. 🙂
Ah, yes, generators, but even just a diesel or gasoline furnace … they are noisy! Even inside my trailer at night, I’ve had to listen to a neighbor’s furnace all night long. My propane furnace is quiet. Or I’ve topped off my batteries using my remote solar panel so I can run absolutely quiet electric heat all night. I just don’t understand why some people don’t understand that the noise they make is offensive, and that there are options.
Dawn, if you ever come over here to camp, or if ever I get back to Michigan to camp, you come set up your rig by me and it will be absolutely quiet. 🙂
Or their generator!
We were camping last month and the rv across the road from us ran his engine engine for a couple of hours in the evening while we were sitting around our campfire.
Thank you, Ann, for being so considerate and using solar. 😊👍
You are welcome, Fritzi. If we go camping together (hope you and Anne and I do one of these days), you will have a quiet neighbor.
More camping! Gorgeous weather, great campsite, more peace and quiet and more fun. You always find the best stuff.
Thanks Joe. 🙂
Another adventure. As you say, let’s go! 🙂
Thanks, Henry. Will share more fun stuff here soon. Let’s go! 🙂
Amen on the generator issue, Fritzi. I have solar as well, and no generator. With the amount of trees where I often camp, sometimes solar doesn’t provide as much electricity as I might want. I have an extra set of batteries installed in my trailer to store that electricity, and I have three remote Jackery batteries that I can connect to give my “house” batteries extra few days of power without needing to charge the batteries. There’s no maintenance of these batteries (they are sealed), no fuel, no noise. Partly I want to be considerate of my neighbors … partly I want to be consider of me, quiet for me too, no generator to lug around, no fuel to carry (and spill), no cost to buy a generator or do tuneups, no smell, no noise, and yes no glaring neighbors. 🙂
All my reasons too, Susan. Well said!
I like that nice long roadway where people can park their trailers next to the grass and so not be beside each other. Looking forward to your adventures. 🙂
Ah, that was such a nice spot where I hope to park my trailer for a future visit. Thanks Emily. 🙂
We went camping in our 38 foot motorhome only twice this year. Life just sort of got in the way. We sure miss it. We don’t use a generator either, there was one in the motorhome and we had it taken out, installed a mess more 6V batteries hardwired in to make a huge 12V system, and then we carry two 2000W Jackery batteries as well. Quiet and clean, no maintenance. When we move the motorhome, we simply plug those Jackerys into an outlet inside the motorhome and they charge up just like the onboard batteries do. Mostly we don’t need the Jackerys, but they are great when we do want them.
Jim
Oh gosh, Jim, life does that, eh? Good on you for switching to solar and Jackery batteries. I have two 1000W Jackerys and sometimes wish I had opted for the 2000W, but the ones I have fill the bill for me just fine, and they are lighter weight so easier to move around. Mostly, I don’t need them either, just like you, but they sure are great when I do want their electricity. And they are so easy to charge up again either from being plugged in to home or to “shore” power or from charging while driving, and they are absolutely quiet!
We used a generator for most of our young RVing years (we are not young anymore). Back when we had a generator, it seemed like everyone had one. There wasn’t any such thing as solar panels back then, at least not on RVs. And either the remote solid state batteries didn’t exist yet either or we didn’t know about them. Our last motor home had NO generator. It had four huge solar panels on top and tons (literally!) of 6v/12v batteries on board. Once we got comfortable with the solar, we loved not having a generator! There is no reason to have a generator these days, or play your TV or music outside your rig (a huge pet peeve of mine).
I love that black cat in the header photo, what a sparkle in his eye! 🙂
Ha! Nope, Marge, I’m not younger anymore either. It’s sure fun to share information and stories. I’m sure glad you folks are here. Good info from you on what it used to be like, when pretty much everyone ran a generator in the evening, and in the morning, and in the early afternoon. When I was a boater, I had friends who did that too. So many people did! But today, there’s no reason for it, as you say, there are excellent QUIET options. And yes, in the 6-7 years I’ve been camping, I’ve experienced one camper who had a large screen TV set up outside their rig, blaring loudly! A visit and chat with the camp host fixed that.
Ah, Shadow the cat! He’s super. 🙂
I love that cat too. And I love the adventures of Ann! AOA!
Books, didn’t get to post my comment there in time. I just finished reading a partial autobiography (hopefully he’ll live LOTS more years) of an Hispanic man who got into the USA space program as a very pivotal engineer/technician for the MARS 2020 landing. The Boy Who Reached for the Stars … that’s the book’s name.
Some folks don’t like this computer age. But it’s where we are. The author, Elio Morillo, was born in Ecuador, and became an amazing scientist and engineer and contributor to the USA’s helicopter (yes helicopter) and crane landing of the recent 2020 MARS expedition. He comes from a dirt poor family, his mother deserves gold medals for getting him through school, and he knows that and takes care of her. The book could be more “personal” and yet at the end it does become that.
But I remember that Ann is an MCSE (a certified Microsoft systems engineer) and understands what it means to be so dedicated to a goal that includes computers and engineering and math. So I liked that book. And I really liked how this man is now helping other young Hispanic students find their way in the world.
Ok, enough. 🙂 Love that black cat. Love this new camping adventure. Onward! ¡Adelante!
Jamie, you and I are on the same track. I just finished The Boy Who Reached for the Stars, too. I really liked that book. I didn’t know anything about the crane and helicopter part of the MARS 2020 landing until I read this book. Fascinating!
One online criticism of the book is that it’s too technical or mathematical or engineering oriented. I found it wasn’t enough of that! Yes, I have an MCSE certification. And a spatial and mathematical brain. Just this evening, I had a wonderful conversation with friends who taught me about “tracker action” on pipe organs. How this world works is so fascinating.
¡Adelante!