Camping: Lake Wenatchee

When I think back on the memories of this trip, the part that will stick in my mind all happened before we even left home! This will forever be called "The Little Trip that Could". In the lead up to our camping trip we had to get the Westy insured. (We only keep it on storage insurance during the year when we don't drive it.) The first few tries to get insurance, Josh went back and forth because of things like lost registration papers and confusion about whether the papers were actually needed. Finally that was settled and he was told that the van was due for air care testing. So again, off he goes. This time, not so good news. It didn't pass! I thought the trip was doomed. You can't get insurance without passing air care. I almost called the Lows and Van Dops to cancel. Josh found a loop hole where you can get a 3 months temporary coverage, so yay! The trip was back on.

The fact that the van didn't pass air care bugged Josh and he thought that perhaps it was due to the fuel stabilizer that he put into the van for the long storage. He decided to change the oil just in case. Unfortunately, while doing so the thread to the oil plugged was stripped and so it would just leak oil everywhere. Again, trip cancelled? I thought so, for sure. Josh spent that night on the computer researching, went to Lordco to get all he needed and then woke at 6 am the next day to fix it. He got back home from work on Thursday evening and checked for any leaks. Yay! The trip was back on. That night he took the van for a long drive, he even drove up 'the cut' in North Vancouver to make sure everything was running smoothly. It was all good.

Friday morning: The kids are super excited, Josh is exhausted and I am just wanting to get going to beat the border line ups. We pack the van up and head out around 10:15. All was good until we tried to drive up Patterson hill. We were in first gear and going about 20 km/hr. NOT GOOD. This time I'm thinking we are definitely doomed and I even call the Lows to tell them the bad news. We get the car back home and Josh has a feeling it's the muffler, but it's too hot for him to take it off to check. The kids, (ever the optimists) decide that dad can for sure fix it and opt to stay buckled in their car seats. After about 30 mins. I suggest we walk to a nearby restaurant to get lunch. On the walk there, I prepare the kids for the fact that we may not be able to go. I told them the 3 scenarios:

1. Papa can fix it in the next couple of hours and we can still go.
2. Papa can fix it today/tonight and we can go tomorrow.
3. Papa can't fix it and we stay home, but have some super awesome, super-fun 'family days'.

Turns out we were super lucky it was scenario #1. The catalytic converter had disintegrated (that's why it didn't pass air care) and was blocking the muffler. He thinks that after the long drive the night before, more of it had crumbled. He had to take the muffler off and removed what was remaining of the catalytic converter. We were back on the road by about 1:30pm. CRAZY!!! The good news was the mid-day border traffic was way better and we only had a 1/2 hour wait.

The rest of the camping trip was smooth sailing. Poor Josh had to work his @ss off to get us there, but he got us there and back with no problems. You're the best babe!!!

Here are some pics of our trip.

 The Low/Blommestein site

 This trip I grabbed a journal to keep in the van. Here is Ethan writing his name in it.

 Beautiful Lake Wenatchee. It was super windy on this day, but the kids didn't care.

 Sophia liked spending so much time in her tent that the other kids wanted to check it out. They spent quite a bit of time hanging out in there.

 The girls

 

 On Sunday we made a trip to Leavenworth. Here we are at lunch. Lucky for us it started to rain on this day. I was

so happy to be inside eating yummy tacos instead in the rain at the campsite.

 Josh and Ed up to no good as they dare each other to taste the hottest hot sauce on Earth.

 Ice cream break, right after a visit to the Taffy shop. Treat all around!!!

Despite all the drama of getting there, the trip was a lot of fun. It's always great to get away and hang out with friends. Thanks to the Lows and Van Dops for another great camping trip!