Coddiwomple Adventures

This is the morning of our seventh day! (nine since departure from Texas. Daniel is making great progress on his journey. God has favored him several times, meeting his needs for places to stay in such a timely manner.)

Yesterday, we had a choice of making a very long day of ten or so hours of driving to visit relatives.... or camp another night between. Becky had friends to meet, so we decided to camp about 2/3 of the way along.

 I found a campground that was amazingly open (plenty of available spaces) and reserved us a tent and an RV spot in Sycamore Grove Red Bluff campgrounds. We got set up quickly... the cooperation is improving daily! Becky took Kimber and Ruby to meet her friend, then to buy groceries. We try to plan/ buy for several days ahead... but the kids eat like ravenous beasts... We are constantly needing to resupply. The park gates close at 10pm. We had a gate code. Two things we didn't know...The gate closing is EASTERN Time. And.. the gates closed means the gates are CLOSED. The code does NOT open the gates after hours. There is no entrance during closed hours. Becky, Ruby,and Kimber were locked outside of the gates. The campgrounds are a mile or so inside of the gates. There was no Camp Host to implore. The girls walked the mile+ to camp, leaving the van and groceries locked in the parking lot outside of the park. (It was a midnight fog walk, without the fog!) They arrived back at camp safely.

  Meanwhile... I had kids at camp! I sent Tyrel to shower while the beans for supper cooked in the instant pot. It was a pay shower. I was back to scrounging for quarters. Ty was once again sent to shower. Two of the bigger girls had showered that morning. I took the four youngest cousins to the showers, with four quarters. I put Jasher in a stall, showed him how to operate the shower. Took the three girls into a second stall and did the quickest three showers you can imagine. Get one wet, move aside and while the second got wet, shampooed the first. Third got wet while second shampooed, then first rinsed off. Quick, quick, quick. Three clean girls and one boy... fifty cents. We even had water time left. 

Just as dark fell, the campers I. the tent across from us arrived back. They were seriously sketchy. Looks can often be deceiving... but in this case we're spot on. The male had numerous loud, angry phone calls. I took the kids inside the trailer and let them watch videos on their devices, lest they learn many new "vocabulary words". I sat outside the door reading and stargazing. Eventually, one of the younger kids came out and asked if they could PLEASE go to bed. (At that point, we didn't know about the gate situation.) I got the younger half of the tribe tucked into the tent. I moved my chair closer to the tent, but where I could still see the door of the camper. They were not far apart, mere yards. The angry couple in the tent across from us continued loud, vulgar phone calls. Ironically, when another group of campers arrived across the campground and used their headlights to set up their camp, the Sketchies complained loudly about the lights, and how some people have no respect for others! We locked the trailer with those sleeping inside.  The tent campers were farther from the neighbors.... and "not defenseless."

I was the first one up this morning, so hiked the mile to the van and brought it back to  camp. I didn't  feel the slightest urge to shush children as we packed up camp this morning.  Grumbling was heard the Sketchies camp.  Hmmm.  Maybe "respect " ought to be a two way street?

 The drive had been through beautiful mountains.. but smoke from wildfire made it a bit of an apprehensive time. When we did break free from the smoke, WOW! Such mountains! One of the kids had commented the day before that California mountains were not Real mountains... like the Rocky mountains in Colorado, where they had gone on Trek last week. His opinion was based on the "lack of peaks" he was observing in the very northern areas of California. I had said, just wait.

Travel lunch was beans, cheese, and tortilla chips in an empty lot that was where our GPS had indicated a park. I THOUGHT I had made enough  beans to have some for lunch and leave enough for  supper.  I tremendously underestimated the love of beans in the tribe. Two kids were left crying when  there were no more beans at lunch. I took time to get a  second pot started soaking before  we got back on the road. Supper  was beans and franks. Today may prove... fragrant.

I hope you enjoying our trip!

Redwoods!

After a wonderfully beautiful journey down the Oregon coast, we arrived in northernmost California about 9 pm, to set up the trailer and separate tent camp after dark. We awakened in the redwood forest. Let me go back to the journey down! One grand (3.1) needed to have an ingrown toenail looked at. An antibiotic was given. Walgreens took more than 3 hours to get it prepared! We took advantage of being in a coastal town, and took the kids to the beach. 63* and windy was not my cup of tea, so I sat in the van while Becky and Ruby took the kids to the beach. I was ready with dry towels and water to clean sandy feet when they returned. We set off down the coast. The Oregon coast has GOT to be a bucket list destination. I saw a whale breach! That got the kids attention. We pulled into the next scenic overlook. God blessed us with a homeschooling family already there. The dad told us how to watch for whales spouting! ( got to love otter cracked. it changed " whales spouting" to " wholesale spouting "! We never got to laundry... and we were beyond needing to do it! So first thing on our day 5 adventure... Granny did laundry. Our beautiful Ruby cleaned the trailer. Becky oversaw showers. Ruby found Althea's missing shoes! They had mysteriously been put into a cupboard with trash bags and laundry soap! I don't know how to describe all the clean. It was wonderful. Everyone was showered. Wearing clean clothes. The van and trailer were sorted out and cleansed. ( cue the heavenly harps!) It was noon when we were done and set out to hike the redwoods. But first? Lunch! We got sandwich makings from a tiny grocery/ picnic supplies store. (Debated a restaurant... but the long, long line and $20 burgers sent us away!) We found a beautiful picnic table near Ladybird Johnson Redwood Grove. The kids had a wonderful time playing there. Then, we hiked to Ladybird Grove. (more harp music please!) Other than bickering among cousins about who "discovered" each and every redwood, and those other hikers who nastily remarked about "staying on the trails", it was a fantastic hike. ( We did stay on established trails. Not all were the main, broad trail. But all were obviously maintained side trails to examine each redwood up close.) Supper was hotdogs, ranch beans, and marshmallows around the campfire. Becky played her guitar. We talked about our favorite and least favorite parts of the day. (the kids hated the drive. The adults loved the drive!) Teeth were brushed, and we had a first! All the kids awake to be tucked in. It was a blessed day! *My apologies for the unstructured appearance of the posts. I put in paragraphs that disappear when it is posted. *

MID- DAY update

I have been told by a couple of people that the comments were severely hard to use. I have changed the settings...or tried to! We devoured roasted chicken, potato salad, green salad for lunch. We pulled out a folding table while parked at a Walmart store. We are once again delayed several hours. (A stop at a quick-care center, followed by a three hour-to-fill prescription for an infected toe.) We killed time at another beautiful beach, where the "I'm freezing" at 70* kids all frolicked through the waves in the 63* weather... not counting the brisk sea breeze! Our original goal had us going 300 miles today. That's not happening!

Fun and "Adventures"

We had our first "break camp and travel" day. I think the packing up and going went reasonably well. My kids say they hated traveling with me growing up, because it makes me grouchy. And yet, here is Crabby Granny with eight grands on a trip. Yes... I have had grouchy moments. A person can usually count on a grumpy Granny moment when any given child has been told to do something more than once. Granny doesn't "count". (My stance is that children should obey the first time. Counting to three, five, ten?.... That's giving the message that the child need not obey you until you are completely fed up.) When the baggage is loaded, all amenities disconnected and stowed, and Granny discovers you're barefoot after she's told you several times to put your shoes on... you will probably get crabbed at. When you "can't find" the shoes that you were supposed to put on... and the place(s) you think you put them turn out to be wrong (after unloading half the stowed bags)... Granny is definitely annoyed. (Same child lost the replacement shoes in the restaurant, and we were flagged down by a waitress as we were leaving. Then mislaid them twice more during the same day!) (Statistically among our group, there is a 3 out of 4 chance that this was a girl.) We hiked to see one of the lighthouses at Cape Disappointment. Chinese food for lunch. Then down the highway for such amazing scenery! Tall trees, mountains, valleys, and then the broad Pacific began to run along side. We stopped at a scenic turnout... and had our first? "adventure". When my kids were growing up, any minor mishap along a journey was called an "adventure". This was just one of those uh-oh, Nooo! moments. The key was on the seat, and got locked in the van. The nearest locksmith was almost an hour away. But hey, what better place than a scenic overlook above a Pacific coast beach to wait? We let the kids go down to see the beach. For the second time in the same day, at least one was soaked from head to toe before anyone could say, stay out of the water. Apparently, grandkids who wear winter coats when the weather hits 65* are completely impervious to the chill of the cold ocean waves. Granny closed her eyes as daredevil children scaled huge rock formations just touching the shore. We were scheduled to make an RV park that offered laundry rooms and showers... but the lock- out and subsequent time drying and removing sand from children kept us from reaching our goal. At dark, we found a small RV park that had one slot left. We had paid our fee before they saw all the kids pour out of the van! Camp hosts were a kind couple who allowed we could set up a tent next to the trailer, though they normally don't allow tent camping. Set up went... so-so. Not the well oiled effort we are striving for...yet. I cooked supper, while Becky set up the trailer. Ruby organized the tent set up brigade. The girls frequently asked what they could next do to help. (A few played and hiked so hard today, they fell asleep before we stopped and slept right through). After supper clean-up was quickly accomplished, and no one had to be urged to go to bed! Another day under our belts. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers as we journey. The van has a Saturday morning appointment for maintenance and dealer service.

PORTLAND...

I believe their motto is "Keep Portland Weird". We had to get the van looked at. The diagnosis was: "Probably safe to drive, but get it to a (brand) dealer soon." I got to meet a cousin that I haven't seen since I was a pre-schooler. We all had lunch at a delicious Chicken Biscuit place. Ruby got to visit a friend. Then we hiked to a waterfall. Originally, the voice on the map said it was five minutes away. But Apple maps butted in... and we wound up in Washington state at a tiny city park that had a small fall. it was a beautiful drive, a fun hike. But never trust Apple! Supper was tacos, where we discovered my cumin was missing from the spice box. There was much lamenting. Cold water showers were taken in the camper, as all that the camp shower did was eat quarters for zero water. Ty very carefully examined every breaker and fuse... but was unable to "fix" the water heater. As we packed to leave this morning, Nickole and Kimber were closing the trailer slide out... and saw the main power panel switches clearly labeled "Water Heater". Feel free to laugh as hard as we did!

First Camp!

After our night in the parking lot, we drove on to the designated departure point for Daniel. He rode away from us, looking to make 100 miles before dark. It was too early for us to check in to our campground, so we found a National Park to explore. The kids really enjoyed learning about Lewis and Clark. We hiked an easy trail, then a challenging trail. While one didn't need to be a mountain goat on it, We spread out a bit so the person ahead of us didn't clip us in the head with their heels. (Only slightly exaggerating). After we left the park, our intention was to set up and organize camp, then hit the grocery store. We got camp set up, and decided that we could dine creatively on what we had on hand. Lettuce and lunch meat roll-ups, tomatoes, sweet peppers, trail mix, and popcorn. The kids played. We are within sight of the RV park playground, but kept the kids in camp until adults could accompany them. Becky played her guitar for a bit. Ruby remembered to have us start reading one of our "Campfire Kids" books. We got six chapters read aloud before it got too dark. Kids were fall

ing asleep in their chairs by dark, and no one argued about an early bedtime. (We didn't have a campfire!) Teeth were brushed, faces washed, and it was lights out! I awakened early with an urgent desire to visit the camper... and discovered we are experiencing a light rain this morning. The smaller cousins that slept in the big tent with Becky and I are stirring. They are happily chatting as they make their beds and dress. Day Two starting !

SOOooo close!

We drove about 800 miles Saturday. We made it to within an hour of our goal destination. It's two hours earlier here, so we took advantage of the extra daylight. We didn't have a good estimate of how far we would get before we got here, so we didn't have advance reservations anywhere. This was an opportunity to prove our mettle! We divided duties, Granny exercised the wiggles out of the kids in an empty parking lot, while Becky and Daniel both called every motel/ hotel/ RV park in the town where we had stopped for supper. They found two rooms, and we headed to the motel. Oh. My. Word. If you looked up "seedy" in a dictionary, I'm pretty sure this place will have its picture by the definition. We had to pull around back to park our long van/ trailer combo. Cart people were going through the trash in the cans behind the building. We decided that maybe sleeping in a Walmart parking lot was a better option. It proved to be a step up, anyway. We proved ou r assertion that we can sleep everyone between the van and camper if we must. Yesterday's drive didn't inspire the wonder and excitement of the previous day. The kids endured well. Lunch was sandwiches in a grocery store parking lot in Boise. Supper was a small town fresh seafood, at a place where the boss had JUST sent most of his staff home. So getting our food took longer than we had intended. But it was fantastic. Dan starts his ride this morning. Our adventures will start with setting up our first base camp. We have necessities to attend, and local attractions to explore. (And yes, we do have reservations for an RV park!)