Lincoln Rock – Fun in the Sun and We’re Not Going Home!

First, a shout out and thank you to our friends, Bob & Carole, for the Lincoln Rock recommendation. Lincoln Rock State Park is an oasis of green about 8 miles outside of Wenatchee, WA on Lake Entiat (an impoundment on the Columbia River). It’s a very popular state park, especially with boaters, and was full almost every day of our stay. The campground has three loops, one with full hook-ups, another with water and electricity, and a third with no hook-ups. We stayed in the dry camping loop, so no air-conditioned splendor for Riley in spite of the 90° days, but the upside was we were just steps away from the water! We’re hoping this will be Riley’s kayaking debut.

Lake Entiat (Columbia River).

We can kayak almost to our doorstep!

The rock formation the park is named for.
It really does resemble Abraham Lincoln in profile.

We arrived on Sunday, 7/12, after setting up camp we explored the campground and reveled in 4-bars of Verizon 4G. There are lots of recreational options here so we decided to bike the 11-mile Apple Capital Loop Trail on Monday. There is a 5.5 mile spur (Rocky Reach Trail) that connects it to the campground, but I didn’t think my butt could handle 22 miles in the saddle. Gotta know your limitations! The Loop Trail parallels the east and west sides of the Columbia and winds through the very beautiful downtown Wenatchee Waterfront Park. I loved all the outdoor sculptures! We did the Rock Reach Trail on Thursday after my butt bones and I had a serious discussion, but it was a fun ride with a great view of the dam.

On the Apple Capitol Loop Trail.

Loved the sculptures in the Wenatchee Waterfront Park.

A grass fire on the outskirts of town.
Luckily, not near the campground.

Rocky Reach Dam viewed from the Rocky Reach Trail.

Monday evening we were treated to a good deal of unnecessary drama as domestic bliss imploded in the space adjacent to ours. It is really hard to know at what point it’s necessary to get into someone else’s business. The tipping point came when the parents sitting in the car started hitting each other and the 10 year old daughter was trying to intervene. Rog and I and campers from other nearby sites converged. I took the girl into our RV while Rog and the others talked to the parents. While the parents calmed down and settled their differences, I got an earful from the daughter. This certainly wasn’t their first rodeo. No matter how lovely the setting, people still are who they are. Sigh.

On Tuesday we broke out the kayak and started Riley’s training. Step #1, sit with mom on the bouncy rubber couch on dry land. We didn’t make it into the water since we got side-tracked with travel planning (more on that in a minute).

Step#1 - Get Riley comfortable in the kayak on solid ground.

Wednesday, Step#2 of Riley’s kayak training: sit on the bouncy rubber couch in the water. He did a great job getting in and then glued himself to me. We just had him sit there for a few minutes in the shallows. We want him to like the kayak so no “sink or swim” scenario for the boy. Especially since we’d likely be the ones swimming! Lol. When Rog and I took the kayak out for a paddle, Riley wasn’t invited. We’re all about those baby steps. Lol. If things work out, we might get a chance to try Step#3 (actually paddling!) before our trip is over.

Step#2 - Try Riley in the kayak in the shallows,
so nobody goes swimming if this turns out to be a bad idea. Lol. 

I must confess there was some serious spoiling going on this week. Hey that kayak was scary and brave boys must be rewarded (and mom isn’t above bribery!), so we made a few sojourns to the camp store for treats. An ice cream cone, shave ice (hold the syrup), playtime in the sprinklers, lots of water time with dad. This has been a great spot for Riley.

Whole lotta spoiling going on. 

Post-ice cream bonding. 

Ball time is the water is best!

Considering how busy the park was we had some fun, unexpected wildlife encounters. The resident Marmots took their job as the camp alarm clocks seriously. About 6am they would start a high-pitched trill that was guaranteed to bring you right out of a sound sleep. The locals are yellow-bellied marmots, the largest member of the squirrel family reaching 2 feet in length. Speaking of sleep, we also had a nighttime visitor. Before Riley’s tummy trouble finally resolved itself, I was taking him out for a 2am potty walk. As I groggily stepped out of the RV, a huge owl perched directly overhead loudly questioned my identity. The deep WWWHHOOOOO, WWWHHOOOOO nearly made me jump out of my skin. But the coolest thing we saw was on the Rocky Reach Trail. Rog spotted something near the bridge, so we paused to look. He thought it might have been a bobcat. We didn’t see anything in the brush and were about to leave when I looked down. There sat an adult bobcat about 3 feet away from me still under the bridge and looking up right at me. As soon as I saw him and made eye contact he ran off. He (or she) was beautiful, so bummed I didn’t get a picture!

Meet our furry alarm clock. Lol.

Early light on the water.
These three shots were all taken at 6am - thank the marmot. :) 

On Thursday we made a run to buy produce from the local farm stands. They ranged from a tweenager selling peaches in his front yard to the well-established year-round commercial endeavors. The fancy stands had fun displays, but you know who got our business. 😊 We also had a visit from friends, Jim and Kim May, who both retired from the Tacoma Fire Department several years before Rog. They are avid and adventurous travelers and it was great to catchup and exchange stories.

Gorgeous floral displays at the commercial farm stands, but we preferred the kid with the card table. 

We were supposed to head home on Friday, 7/17, but that has changed. Rog’s 96-year old Grandma Ardys is moving from her home in St. Helena, CA to an assisted living residence near his Mom’s in Redding, CA on July 27^th. Once Grandma moves in, the Covid rules restrict any in-person visits. Since it certainly doesn’t seem like the pandemic will be under control any time in the near future, we didn’t want to miss a chance to see her before she moves. Hence, several hours of internet research, maps, phone calls and texting to extend our travels. Our revised travel plan will have us trying out some new boondocking spots since any place that takes reservations was pretty much booked solid. We lucked out and have one night with hookups after we leave Lincoln Rock to get everything charged, filled, emptied, and fluffed and then we rough it. Lol.