Ahhhhh summer!

What better place to enjoy a last pre-departure get away than Lake Chelan? Snuck out of town Friday for a quick 2-nights at the Lakeshore RV Park. The park is much better than the web site alludes to - at least in terms of proximity to the lake, playground and other recreational options (skateboard park, tennis court, watercraft rentals, putt-putt golf). Free wireless internet was a nice surprise as well.

Had we stayed longer, it would have been fun to rent a boat or jet ski but it wasn't on the agenda this weekend. We basically took an all-round "quiet before the storm" approach, warmed up and soaked in some sun. Despite the cold water, the kids were happy to splash around and play in a bit of sand we found. The weather was fantastic - perfect for clearing out the Seattle webbing between my toes.

After quick clean up and getting things ready to pull out of the RV, we headed homeward Sunday. Leavenworth provided a nice place to stop and stretch our legs. It was hot out, making ice cream the order of the day. Sophia made it about half way through her bowl of sherbert when she finally asked (in her high-pitched little girl voice), "why you eating my ice cream, mom?"

Best change this trip was the addition of a memory foam mattress pad. It was no small feat to unfold the king-sized foam pad that had been double vacuum sealed (admittedly easier than trying to wrangle a new king sized mattress into the RV). After 2 days, it still has a little expanding to do on the sides. It made a very bad mattress feel pretty good for a fraction of the cost to replace the mattress.

Focus for the immediate future:

• Finalize the arrival port for the RV (most likely will be Bremenhaven, Germany)
• Few additions to the RV - including a ceiling vent in the master bedroom.
• 4th of July party - the last in our house?
• Dan's cross-country drive to get the RV to Baltimore by 16.July
• Get rid of or store anything we're not taking with us
• Supply drop for our friends who are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) via Lady of the Lake ferry

Itinerary status: In progress. Someone should have warned us that the youngest in the family have difficulties making decisions. We spent a fair amount of time trying to decide how to structure our travels to make the most of mileage (gas is expensive), experience, potential visa issues, and meeting common goals.

In this week's version, we're looking at heading straight for Norway, Sweden, Finland - trying to slip in a tourist excursion to St. Petersburg from Helinski... then follow the sunshine for the winter. Looks like Oktoberfest may have to wait a year.

Stay tuned.