Tacoma (September 4-5) - We got back to our friend Alec's apartment (after Olympic National Park) in Tacoma and parked out front for the night. While Sam and I met someone outside to purchase a generator off craigslist Alec went to grab us all burgers and shakes from Frisco Freeze. They got all of our burger orders wrong, but it was still delicious. In the morning when Sam woke up, he noticed the electric was out. Didn't take him long to notice the issue...someone had stolen one of our batteries! Some guard dog Nelly is...she was exhausted from swimming in the ocean and a river all day so we give her a pass. Our electric runs off of two 6V golf batteries rather than one 12V for a few reasons. Why? Don`t ask me, that's a question for Sam if you care to know. Regardless, only one 6V battery is useless to us and we couldn`t just get one to replace the stolen, we had to get two new ones so they're at the same lifespan. Our canoe motor battery is a 12V, so we hooked that up for the time being. There is a positive in the situation! Our truck bed was unlocked, so they could have taken A LOT more. It was raining ash from the forest fires nearby which was pretty scary. We got an oil change and stocked up at the grocery store before heading over to island life for a few days! Fox Island (September 5-7) - This island is 35 minutes from Tacoma, across the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge. It is a wealthy exurb of Tacoma, largely because of the amount of waterfront properties. Many of which offer views of Mt. Rainier and the Olympic Mountains. We stayed with Jerry & Kathy ('Boondocker's Welcome' hosts), parked on the side of their driveway. They had a great spot on the water right in the Hale Passage with a yard that we could let Nelly run around in, it was great. We used this time to relax from the previous busy weekend in the Olympic National Park. Finally used the ice we grabbed from a glacier lake up in Alaska and made some strawberry daiquiris! We took a walk through the island over to a different sandy shore, played Farkle, and drank wine by the water with Jerry. It was a much needed break.
Cle Elum (September 8-11) - We grabbed some drive-thru food on the way to our next home base, Doug & Dogs ('Boondockers Welcome' host), which was about 2 hours east. It was dark when we arrived so Doug met us out on the main road on his ATV with Ana, his German Shepherd, running along his side as they lead us to his property. That's where we met Leo, his Bernese Mountain Dog. This was awesome, so much pup love! He wasn't sure how Ana would do with another female dog so we decided to let her and Nelly meet in the morning when it was light. You never know. Thankfully everything was great and the dogs all loved each other! During our time here we enjoyed getting to know Doug over coffee on the porch and dinner in our camper. Nelly fell in love with him, like she does anyone who will give her attention, and he felt the same! We enjoyed a short walk in town one of the days and also got to cheer on the Packers in Seahawks territory, which was uneventful. It was the first game of the season so we showed up to Keg Cellar Tavern a half hour early, which would be late if we were in WI, but we were 2 of just 6 people... We enjoyed the first half there and streamed it back in the camper for the second. The day we left it was really smoky due to the fires nearby. Leavensworth (September 11) - This Bavarian themed town is a must stop if you're anywhere close by. Beer, wine, brats, big pretzels, and cheese! What more could you want? Everything is themed, even the McDonalds. Orondo (September 11-13) - We decided to sign up for another membership...Harvest Hosts. It's similar to Boondocker's Welcome but the host sites are farms, breweries, wineries, distilleries, etc. rather than someone's personal home (although sometimes their business is at their home). Cider Works, an apple orchard, was our first host and we were greeted by Sharon and her chocolate lab, Theo, that evening as we arrived. The next day we met her husband Chuck and he gave us some insight on the orchard and what it takes to keep it going. We each got a free apple :) and he told us it was just an easy hike down to the Columbia River and that he and Sharon hang there each evening for a swim. It sounded great since we hadn't showered in a few days and it was hot. We packed our bag and started walking. The river didn't look so far away from the top of the hill but every step we took it felt like we were getting further and further. There were no paths and the bushes were getting bigger and sharper. We use Nelly as our leader in these situations but when she turned around and looked at us like "now where?!" we knew there really was no way down to the river... It was sad to go as far as we did only to turn around. Mead (September 13-14) - We really enjoyed living on an orchard so decided to do it again! This time at Walters Fruit Stand which offers fruit picking, hay rides, and a cute market/gift shop. We were parked out in the field next to their sheep. We sat outside sipping a Moscow mule as the sun went down watching Nelly have a staring contest with the sheep. We made the first meal in our InstaPot (Mongolian beef) - so good!! Before leaving the next day we enjoyed a ride around and picked some apples and peaches. This was our first time picking peaches!
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