I took a week off work. My initial plan for that week was to join a trail work crew that was scheduled Wednesday through the following Monday. As the week approached, I realized my name wasn’t on the crew list. I really needed some time away from work so I had zero intention to cancel my vacation. We decided to take advantage of the mid-week availability of campsites and take our trailer when there’s less vacationer traffic.

I reserved a campsite at Lake Wenatchee State Park for Wednesday & Thursday night. There are a fair number of non-reservable Forest Service campsites in the area, so I figured we’d look around on Thursday. If we found a spot we liked, we’d take the trailer there Friday mornings. If not, we could head home. There’s a wildfire northwest of Lake Wenatchee, but the air quality near the campground looked good. And then it went from “good” to “unhealthy” overnight.

I checked the air quality maps and found a campground that looked good & had spots available and was not in a smoky area. We spent the first couple nights at Lewis & Clark State Park near Winlock. We’ve never been there and we were delighted to discover it’s a gem. We’ve camped at nearby Ike Kinswa State Park – it’s bigger, has a large lake, and is more popular. Lewis & Clark State Park has one of the few remaining low elevation stands of old growth forest in Western Washington, and there are lots of trails. Lots of trails means plenty of places to walk with the pup.

We were pretty late getting on the road, and that meant we got to campground later than we would have preferred. The campsite I chose had a pull-through instead of a spot to back the trailer into the site. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a level spot in the pull-through. We futz for a while and got the trailer level~ish, but at the cost of squishing one of our wheel chocks to support one of the wheels.

Because of the late arrival we got to bed late. I didn’t sleep much Wednesday evening. Jim slept in the dinette – there’s a 12v plug there, and he needs to plug in a CPAP machine – and the dog & I slept on the sofa bed at the front of the trailer. Trooper was anxious, so he didn’t sleep much. Him not sleeping much meant I didn’t sleep much.

Traveling with the dog is a lot like traveling with a toddler, except that our ability to communicate intentions & expectations to Trooper is even more limited than it is with most toddlers. (On one of his first camping trips I ended up sleeping in the truck with him because he wasn’t used to not having a roof over his head.) He’s grown accustomed to camping in a tent; the trailer is a new thing. He’s been in the trailer several times at home, and we let him sniff all over it and get up on the seats. He’s very bonded to us and he trusts us a great deal, but the trailer is different, and different is kind of scary.

We drove up into the Olympic Peninsula on Thursday to look at non-reservable campsites. We found another gem – Big Creek campground in the Olympic National Forest. This campground has a nearby creek and a trail system – perfect for the dog! All of the sites we looked at are nicely shaded, and almost all of them would work for a trailer as small as ours. (There are also a lot of sites big enough for a very long trailer.) It was perfect for us.

We moved the trailer there on Friday. Jim had hopes of making it out to the coast on Friday as well — Trooper loves playing on sandy beaches — but I was still extremely tired. (I slept a little better each night because the dog slept a little better each night, but I never got quite enough sleep — the cushions are a bit too rigid for me and I’ll need to add mattress pad to my trailer travel kit.) We made Friday a leisurely day and it was what we all needed. Once we got the site set up, Trooper got a bunch of walks.

We were a bit more ambitious on Sunday. We headed out to Ocean Shores to visit the beach and to visit one of Jim’s cousins. We weren’t prepared for how windy it was at the beach, so the pup only got the briefest of romps. (I waited in the truck because I was really cold.) Once we got back to the east side of the peninsula we explored the area a bit more. We were back at our camp early enough that Trooper got a few walks in before bedtime. He slept the best on Sunday night, meaning I got the most sleep that night as well.

The pup and I got in a good long walk first thing Monday morning. We knew we were headed home that day, but we weren’t in a rush. We got to take our time packing up, and we planned to make a few stops along the drive home so the dog could burn off some energy.

We stopped at the day use area at La Wis Wis campground for a picnic lunch. There are some fabulous old growth trees here. One was cut down and its rings are visible — Jim estimated its age at about 700 years.

“By proclamation of the President of the United States this forest is named the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Dedicated to the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run. On October 15, 1949, members of the society of American Foresters and of the United States Department of Agriculture – Forest Service met here in tribute to the memory of Gifford Pichot- foremost forester, conservationist, and world citizen, co-founder of the Society of American Foresters – first chief of the Forest Service. Society of American Foresters, Clyde S Martin, President. U.S. Department of Agriculture – Forest Service, Charles F. Brannan – Secretary of Agriculture, Lyle F, Watts – Chief of the Forest Service”

Once we got home we emptied the trailer & rolled out the awning to give it a chance to dry. (We were rained on several times at Big Creek, and everything over there is so damp.) The cat was very happy to see us, and the dog was ecstatic to doze on our bed. Trooper insisted on his nightly routine – cookies at 5:30, 8 p.m., and when Jim takes off his collar, and his pupsicle at 7:30 p.m. – and he happily got into his crate when Jim went to bed. Cheeto demanded and received cuddles throughout the night.

We learned a lot on this trip. The trailer’s batteries were at about 50% when we left the house, and using the lights in the trailer and the CPAP each night only dropped that to about 30%. We used the propane to run the refrigerator, and it kept frozen things frozen & everything else was plenty cold. We didn’t try using the microwave as the previous owner told us it uses a lot of battery. We didn’t use the water system or the toilet but we did one batch of dishes in the sink, so there’s some water in grey water tank. (The manual says not to try to drain the tank until it’s 75% full, and there’s probably only about a gallon of water in there. I intend to let it sit there until our next outing because the tank capacity is 15 gallons. One gallon is not enough to impact gas mileage. If we end up not using the trailer in the next month or so, I’ll fill the tank and take it somewhere I can drain it.)

We are looking forward to some fall adventures!