On Sunday, my daughter, Alana, and granddaughter, Gabi, visited us at the WalMart lot. We locked up the coach and Alana drove us up Lakewood Road to preview our next stop. I wanted to see the entrance and sites at the Lake Goodwin RV Resort. It’s always nice to know what you’re getting into. I’m glad we did. Then we drove to her house in Arlington. We visited for awhile, then drove around to see the area. We stopped and shopped at a great market called Haggen’s.

We shopped there when we visited the area last year and found many gourmet foods as well as a nice beer and wine selection. Haggen’s lost their lease and the store is closing at the end of this week. Everything is heavily discounted. Donna found some great deals – like sherry vinegar for $3.75 (she paid $16 for her last bottle) and black truffle salt for $3.75 (normally about $50 a pound, marked down to half price).

On Monday morning, Alana dropped Gabi off with us on her way to work at Providence Hospital in Everett. Alana is a nurse in the emergency room there. We invited Gabi to take a ride in the coach and spend the day with us at Lake Goodwin.

After some more shopping at WalMart, we pulled out around 11:30am and drove five miles to the Lake Goodwin Resort. The name is misleading. While it is on Lake Goodwin, it’s a stretch to call it a resort. It’s an RV park with tight quarters.

I had reserved a large 50-am pull through site. The site is long – about 70 feet. But it’s narrow and it isn’t 50-amp service – it’s 30-amp. Additionally, they don’t allow cargo trailers in the sites. I don’t understand the reasoning behind this. No mention was made of this when I reserved the site and told them my overall length with the trailer. I had to drop the trailer when we entered the park. A maintenance guy hooked it up to a tractor and pulled it into their storage yard. Getting set up required a few trips to the trailer to retrieve items.

There are several rigs in the park that haven’t moved in a long time. Some people are using the park as a long-term residence. We’ve found this in a few places. I guess it’s cheaper than the local rental market.

Donna and Gabi went for a swim in the lake. Gabi could have spent the whole day in the water. The water was warm and the air temperature was in the mid-80s. Donna was a trouper and allowed three hours in the lake. Then they went to the playground.

Gabi and Donna on the swing set

Earlier in the day, Gabi and Donna made a spinach dip. Gabi sat at Donna’s laptop station and read the recipe out loud to Donna. You’ll find the recipe at the end of this post.

Gabi at the laptop

Donna in the kitchen

While we were at Alana’s house, she gave us garlic scapes. She has locally grown organic vegetables delivered. They deliver a mix of vegetables and her last delivery included scapes. We found garlic scapes for the first time two weeks ago at the farmers’ market in Hayden, Idaho. Now we have them again!

Garlic scapes with black truffle salt

Alana and our other granddaughter, Lainey, joined us after Alana got off work. I grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs marinated with honey-maple dressing. Donna served it with a green salad and a delicious homemade red potato salad. After dinner, we had a campfire and roasted s’mores.

Lainey, Alana Gabi and Donna having s’mores at the camp fire

We rolled out the hide-a-bed and Gabi stayed the night with us. The forecast is calling for a few more warm days before the temperature drops back into the 70s.

The north end of Lake Goodwin from the RV park

Donna’s Spinach Dip

1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thoroughly drained and squeezed dry
1/2 package dried vegetable soup mix
1/2 cup jarred roasted peppers, chopped

Mix together and refrigerate 2 hours. Serve with raw vegetables.