The First Outing

We had our first motorhome outing this past weekend. Where did we go? A nudist resort of course!

At first I was leaning toward driving us up near Sultan, to Lake Bronson. I was also considering Kaniksu Ranch, over by Chewelah, Washington. Weighing the 2-hour drive to Sultan for maybe 70° degrees tops, or a 6-hour drive for maybe 75° degrees? Well, the long drive to Kaniksu Ranch won. Temps are very important when it comes to enjoying a clothing-optional weekend!

The drive itself was, fortunately, uneventful as we drove to ourselves to Spokane, at which point we kicked the phone GPS into gear and let the Google maps robotic female tell us which way to go. The motorhome seemed fine, driving-wise, but it did tend to wander a bit if a gust of wind hit it. It also seemed to pick up a little "bumpiness" in it as we neared our destination, sorta like the wheels were a little out of balance. It was very nice to be able to have a fridge and bathroom while we were driving! When we got to the turnoff, we followed a road so small it was more like a continuous driveway that snaked along the shore. On the right was water, and on the left were all the homeowners' beach access stairways that snaked upward to their places. It was really slow going and curvy.

After leaving the lake and the shoreline homes behind us we eventually came to the gate. This was where we were supposed to call and get the combination. Guess what? No service! After playing with the phone for a while outside, I eventually got a couple bars of connectivity and called for the gate combo. About the time I got through on the phone a member couple came along and let us in without a fuss. It was funny--I was explaining the gate fiasco to the guy so he wouldn't think I was just somebody waiting for an opportunity to get inside their gate. He says, "You do realize this is nudist resort don't you?"
"Sure do, we've been driving all day to get here!"

The nice lady in the office gave us a great rate for our stay, and after another member gave us a tour by golf cart we selected our RV spot. They had several, most with water and electricity, and we chose a good one. Actually, they were all good ones--they just varied in size.

Saturday we headed out to do a little hiking. We were going to go easy, so we opted for a short trail that wasn't too far away. We followed that trail, taking other "side trips" when we saw something else that looked interesting. The weather was very good for hiking that day, so I just wore running shoes and socks. I carried my hoodie with me in case the trail got too shaded or cool, but I only ended up needed it for bug control as I waved it back and forth around me like a horse's tail. Brenda had to cover a bit more because of her sun allergy, so she had on a loose skirt and loose, long-sleeved blouse. Ruby enjoyed it too... so many smells!

The residents were super nice, and occasionally one of them would stop by and we'd talk for a while. While we were in conversation with one of them, he pointed behind us. There was a woman driving her golf cart at a pretty good clip with her little black Dachshund on a leash in front of her, just running for all he was worth! They stopped by on their way back and we visited briefly. She also had the cutest little Dachshund puppy with her. That whole event was pretty hilarious, and had us wishing we could take pictures.

Golf carts were the standard in transportation there, and it appeared that almost all the residents had them. When we first arrived, we laughed (to ourselves) when the neighbor across the road left his trailer on his golf cart, wearing only a hoodie. As time went by, we found that to be the "norm" around there. It was very common to see people wearing only a robe or hoodie when their upper body needed a little warmth. People even dressed that way for the meals when they were served. It was a very laid-back atmosphere. Throughout the weekend we kept talking about how much we loved the place, wondering what it would be like to actually live there ourselves for half the year (it snows heavily there during winter!)

There were the usual nudist activities there, like volleyball, shuffleboard, bocce ball, hot tubbing, and a beautiful wood-heated pool that was so warm! We didn't partake in any of them though, as we were more interested in naked wandering on the hiking trails and logging roads. Those were things that we could do that Ruby could also take part in, because dogs weren't allowed in the areas that people congregate in, like buildings, pool, etc. Dogs are fine on roads, trails, and campsites, so she got to go with us walking and hiking, which she loved.

We planned on leaving by noon, but for whatever reason, Sunday are apparently fairly social there at Kaniksu Ranch. We had a great little breakfast, enjoying conversation with other folks that wandered in wearing their versions of coverings to keep the morning chill off. In addition to breakfast, we decided to stay for lunch as well. When they rang the mealtime triangle quite a few folks showed up. Choice of burgers, dogs, chips, and ice cream meant there was something for most. As we all sat around at picnic tables yakking and eating, the skies darkened. When the food was gone, we bid them all well and scurried over to the motorhome and started stowing everything for our departure. By the time I was just finishing up, the drizzle began to fall. We took one last drive around the grounds on our way out as the drizzle turned to light rain.

Opting for a little different change of scenery, I decided to go a different way to Interstate 90 in lieu of going back through Spokane. We took the meandering, beautiful drive through open fields on rural roads, going through on the way toward Ritzville. We reached I-90 fine, but weren't on the freeway long when a rhythmic thumping suddenly started. "What the hell is that?" I asked, as Brenda got up and started moving toward the back of the motorhome. Just then the sound doubled, and Brenda said, "We blew a tire." It could have been a much worse place to have it happen, as we were just about on top of the rest stop that's halfway between Ritzville and Moses Lake. A few phone calls brought a nice fellow that changed it for us and sent us on our way. Oddly enough (or maybe not), most of the vibration we started experiencing on the way over was gone. I guess that tire was on borrowed time, and if that one was, so were the rest.

When we approached the Vantage area near the Columbia River, the wind took over, apparently trying to blow us completely off the road. I was white-knuckling it just trying to keep it between the lines, holding our speed to 50mph or so. Whew. We got home pretty late that night, so another day off from work was in order.

What a great weekend!