Thanksgiving Day

We’re always a little nervous heading out to liberate Scoopy from her storage. We’re never quite sure how she’s fared during our time away from her. We hadn’t seen her in six weeks, since our trip to Cape Disappointment, so this is about the longest we’ve gone without checking on her.

Packing up was a serious challenge for us this time, since we now have to fit everything into our teeny tiny Toadie Hopper instead of the big ass Ace Yukon. We didn’t pare down our stuff, and we still had to stop for groceries. In the end, the pumpkin pie had to go on Steven’s lap, but other than that, we somehow managed to get it all there.

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Packed to the gills! Toadie Hopper struggled with our load.

The first thing we noticed when we saw Scoopy was that she was sitting very low. The airbags had slowly deflated, but this was to be expected given the length of time she had been sitting. A quick visual check all around showed the tires were fine. It was 39 degrees inside Scoopy, but she fired right up. Then we started the generator and turned on the heat. So far, so good. The Pressure Pro let us know that three tires needed a bit of air, so I drove Scoopy out of her spot and into the large parking area to give Steven some working room.

Toadie Hopper does not yet have the base plate necessary to be attached to Scoopy, but I parked her behind anyway so I could see what we will eventually look like when we travel. Toadie Hopper looks so little behind Scoopy! This trip, she’ll be staying behind at the storage facility. I got her secured in the spot while Steven finished airing up the tires.

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Teeny Tiny Toadie Hopper looks like a little popcorn snack to Scoopy!

Just before Noon, we were on our way. We didn’t have far to go, about an hour’s drive to Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothell. We have a beautiful back-in spot right on the little lake. At first I was disappointed, because the view out the front isn’t much, but then I noticed the great view out of the side windows, and I was happy.

As soon as Steven got the electricity hooked up, I began my inside set up routine. I put out the big slide, and that was as far as we got before everything went to hell. The entire process of setting up inside and out usually takes just a few minutes, but today, it took nearly an hour and a half.

As soon as Steven tried to hook up the water and sewer, he noticed water was flowing in places where it shouldn’t, like onto the ground. Turns out that hard plastic does not fare well in cold weather. Our attachment, the one we just bought prior to my trip with the girls, was cracked in a zillion places. Oh dear. We had no back up. Or so we thought.

Turns out in the recesses of the bay, there sat a cheapie attachment and the accompanying cheapie hoses. It was something we’ve never used, but we were about to give it whirl. It worked! Whew! We finished setting up and turned our attention to the preparation of our Thanksgiving dinner.

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Backup hose. McGyver would have been proud!

Zoe, Zac and Tara arrived at our campsite and we shared our first Thanksgiving together in Scoopy. On the menu was grilled tenderloin, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad and rolls. Zoe made her famous pudding cake and we had pumpkin pie. It was quite delicious. The kids headed out soon after dinner, as both Zoe and Tara work in retail and were scheduled for Black Friday. Zoe worked overnight from 11:30pm to 4:30 am and Tara is working an eight hour shift on Friday. At least they are well-fed. Zac has a leisurely day off.

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Scoopy is thankful for a nice level site.                           The pretty view from behind our rig.

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Lake Pleasant is teeming with familiar waterfowl. Brought back memories of Pine Lake.

Steven and I will be at Lake Pleasant until Sunday. Our goal this trip is to prepare a detailed list of remodel projects and small fixes. We’re turning Scoopy over to a shop as soon as we get some bids and make our final decisions on what we want to get done. We’re not sure exactly what the remodel will entail, but we plan to have fun putting together our wish list!

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Best part about the holidays? Pie for breakfast the next day!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!


UP NEXT: Scoopy gets road-ready.


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