THE GETAWAY

THE GETAWAY ORDEAL

For various reasons, I had been working very hard physically of late, and as my knees seem to be rapidly getting worse, it really takes a lot out of me. So, sometimes I get the urge to “getaway” from it all, usually down to the ocean.

Well, a certain Blonde One that will remain anonymous, is beginning to fight taking Miss Dazy on shorter trips as it means dozens of trips out to pack up, cooking, dozens of trips unpacking and then the obligatory “clean up.” She has gotten in the mode of “going to a motel” as the ultimate getaway. So, she balked! I announced that MISI and I would go by our selves then, and she said FINE!

Saturday – 11/29 – The last Thanksgiving guests had departed on Friday and with nothing planned until the next Tuesday afternoon, I thought this was a good time to rest my tired body. Blondie had to run into town to return the wallet Barney had dropped under the corner of the guest room bed, prompting a multi-hour search, so while she was gone, I moved the RV behind a neighbor’s house and moved the Honda 110 out of the garage and hid it. While she was gone I put away the last of the firewood working tools, (the boys & Grandotters helped me cut down some huge alder branches that were hanging over the house plus cut, split and stack a nice stash of madronna I had procured) so I went on top of my new roof and blew off the very last, ever, billions of alder leaves and blew out the gutters. What a lovely machine a leaf blower is. Then I sprinkled laundry soap with bleach on all my rooflines to (supposedly) eliminate roof moss, and cleaned up the last of the branches taken down earlier. I was resting my tired bod in my garage recliner by the toasty wood stove, when the garage door started to open and I bolted for the woodworking shop where I had stashed MISI.

I waited for the reality of leaving my wife home alone had sunk in, feeling a little guilty, actually, when out she came looking for me. Seems I had forgotten the dog’s food dish AND my wallet, so after being initially really ticked, she realized I had scammed her. But, it proved that she would rather put up with the RV than stay at home alone.

By then it was late Saturday afternoon and I said, “I have a plan!” We’ll quickly pack The Dazy with minimal stuff, head for Port Orchard to see a movie and then go to the nearby Wall Mart to stay overnight. Then Sunday morning head up to Ft. Flagler State Park which is across the bay from Port Townsend. This is one of our favorite camp areas and only a couple hours away, and you can dry camp right on the beach with a magnificent night view of Port Townsend.

I didn’t give her time to object and started packing the rig, and we left about dark. The show we wanted to see, Australia, came on at 8:00 PM. What happens from this point is typical KenBrownism luck.

I got lost trying to find the theater so it is obvious we need a GPS, right? We finally got to the theater and there was no place to park, the lot was jammed with holiday moviegoers. So, I pulled into a closed muffler shop parking area nearby and in turning around, whacked their sign pole. Whew, nothing broke. Took the long walk to the theater and the ticket taker said, “Oh, I’m sorry, Australia started at 6:20!” Snort! Either the paper listed it wrong, OR, The Blonde read it wrong, wonder which?? So, we headed over to WallyWorld, got parked, did some shopping and read for a couple hours.

Sunday – It was pretty quiet for a WW overnight so got a decent night’s sleep, took the dog for a long, unsuccessful poop walk around the whole store, and then headed for a close by Wendy’s for breakfast. It was 8:30 and they didn’t open until 9:00 AM! Poot.

Headed into Port Orchard and found a pancake house open and had a lovely breakfast before pointing the Dazy Mobile towards Bremerton and the Hood Canal Bridge. Ft. Flagler is one of three major forts that protected the inland waterways of Puget Sound which never fired a shot in anger but the deterrent apparently was significant.

As we approached the area where we should have been turning off, there were no Ft. Flagler signs so we stopped at the next little community, Port Ludlow, and inquired. We were told to head back the way we came for a couple miles, and coming from the NORTH, there were several signs to the State Park! Again, poot!

It is a long, but pretty drive into the campground, usually worth the drive, but not this time. When we got there, the whole campground was shut down for construction! Triple poot! Worst of all, the sun had broken through the fog and it was beautiful. I ran across a Park Employee on the way out and gave her a piece of my mind, pleasantly suggesting perhaps a simple sign back at the main road would warn RV’rs that there was no camping. She agreed and said she would talk to the Head Ranger Bob

Next closest park was clear beyond Port Townsend, Fort Warden, where Officer and a Gentleman was filmed. We like the park, but it is farther away and there are only a handful of campsites right next to the ocean. At the park, you have to pre-register, and we found that they had shut down for lunch between 12 & 1:00 PM, and it was then 12:15. More poots. So, we drove the mile or so to the large campground and saw a “FULL” sign, but figured that was for the holiday weekend. We drove to the loop right next to the beach and lo and behold, ONE site was open with an ocean view. Since this park is heavily pre-reserved, I doubted this spot would be available, so, I jotted down several other spaces in the general area.

After placing several items in the spot we wanted, we headed back to register, and found a sheet on the door saying only a few sites were available for more than a single night. Was our site open?? YYEEEESSSSS! Finally something was going our way. It is a park with full amenities, meaning power water AND sewer, but costs $27 which seems a tad high for us’ns who try to find FREE spaces, but considerably less than the cheapest motels. I pleasantly pointed this out to my reluctant traveling companion.

Oh, forgot to mention, coming TO Fort Warden, they have signs everywhere directing campers to the park, except at ONE intersection. I had a 50-50 chance of guessing which route to take, and guessed wrong. You see some pretty interesting scenery when lost we have found. Oh, for a GPS!

Got our camp set up, awning out, TV hooked up (pretty good reception from both Seattle and Victoria) and while MISI and I hiked up the beach, Blondie prepared dinner of leftover turkey and dressing. Because of our quick departure from home, Blondie had gotten “rattled” she says, and forgot her gin, all soft drinks and breakfast stuff – milk, cereal and some leftover sausages she had cooked that morning. Oh well, we survived just fine, and the idea WAS, to get away and RELAX, which we did.

Fort Warden has a lovely beach with a red and white lighthouse on the point, and the huge concrete remnants of one of the three big forts protecting the waterway. What is amazing is that on this lovely stretch of beach, MISI and I were the only living organisms, besides kelp and water birds. I sat on a log for some time watching a couple big ships cruise by, two bald eagles fishing and one sea lion. When my white companion gets tired of exploring, she always sits down next to me and leans on me. Love it!

After a nice dinner and watching the evening news, we read awhile and then watched the first disc of Oliver Stone’s “Alexander Re-Visited” and when it finally got a little after 10:00 PM, a little early for me, we hit the sack, and I was really suffering from a lack of general energy. But, did I get a good night’s sleep, NO! I tossed and turned and had a dickens of a time getting back to sleep after a couple hours in bed. The next morning, I discovered why. The RV clocks were still on Daylight Savings Time and we had actually gone to bed at 9:00 PM. That problem was quickly corrected.

Monday – Another long poop-walk on the beach, again not another soul around, then a lazy, relaxing day of reading. I polished off all my back issues of Newsweek & AARP, and a couple months worth of accumulated comics. And, I even got The Blonde one outside for a slow amble a ways down the beach. I even finished my Louis Lamour book “Sitka.” Mavis has me really getting into reading this past year, a couple Bill Bryson books and a book about dog sledding, “The Quest.” This is the “real” story of tough sledding and not the Iditarod which is quite commercialized. Mavis loves the Iditarod but after reading the Quest, sees it in a different light.

This night we watched the second half of “Alexander” and I got to bed about 11:00 PM, my normal time, and slept like a million bucks.

Tuesday – for the first time this trip, it rained hard during the night, but was partly cloudy by the time we headed home. Mavis had to be back for a Historical Society meeting, and we hit the road about 7:30, getting home three hours before her meeting. It takes barely two hours for the drive which is really pleasant.

So, our getaway which started poorly, ended up with us both being well-rested and ready to resume our hectic retirement. I unloaded most of the RV so maybe she won’t balk as much the next time I get the wanderlust?
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