New Year Aspirations

It's been way too long since the Scamp has been out of the garage but that's changing real soon now.

But first, there's the 9th Annual Friends of Helen trip over MLK weekend, assuming the weather cooperates. I assume it will be another big group, but always fun.

We'll head to Quartzsite on January 19th or 20th for the famous 'Big Tent' RV Show. We've attended before, but our son is interested in attending with us because he likes to hear our reaction to RV floorplans and features. It's as much excuse as I need to attend. We'll likely camp north of town at Plomosa Road while we're there.

While we're there, I want to attend the 2nd Annual Quartzsite Blogger Gathering. I missed last year by just a couple days. It will be a nice chance to meet bloggers that I regularly read. They'll be meeting on Saturday, January 23rd somewhere in the Plomosa Road BLM short term area.

As long as we're in Southwest Arizona, I'm looking forward to attending a large geocaching event in Yuma the following weekend. South West Arizona Geocachers are presenting their 13th Annual MEGA event which draws cachers from around the world. We'll likely stay at Mittry Lake or possibly Fortuna Pond. Still debating about taking the canoe along.

The Quartzsite Fiberglass Gathering continues to grow and attract folks from a very wide area. While the event is technically just three days - February 12th to 14th, lots of folks (including us) show up early to enjoy time with folks that we typically only see once each year. We're planning to join the Early Birds at Dome Rock no later than Tuesday, February 9th.

We're also planning some time in Flagstaff in late February. Could be cold and snowy or cool and dry. Only time will tell.

I have two friends that have landed invitations for private Grand Canyon river trips. Izzy is launching with a group on March 13th, and Helen and her dory are launching with a group that is all dories two days later. Both of them were on the trip that I joined two years ago. I'm planning on spending a few days at Lee's Ferry to see them and help (or get in the way) with launch preparations.

The only other reservations we currently have are for 6 days at Waterloo County Park in Waterloo, Oregon starting April 20th. This will be the second time we've attended the Spring Northern Oregon Gathering (NOG). Last time we attended before continuing our trip to Alaska in 2013 and were credited with bringing sunshine with us. I don't know if we'll be able to do it again, but we'll try. ;-) I'm not sure what route we'll take north.

After the NOG we'll spend some time wandering around the Northwest. I've asked Ellen at Glory Farm what might be on their project list, I understand my brother in Spokane may have some projects, and I'd love to visit friends in Three Hills, Alberta. If I'm really lucky, we'll work in a factory visit in Chilliwack and maybe a visit to Kellogg, Idaho. With lots of family and friends in the Northwest, we'll see who wants us to stop by.

After that (or before that,) who knows what our future may hold? The only other thing that's starting to percolate is plans for our annual Green River trip in late September. We'll be making shuttle reservations for that one real soon now.