We love life on the road, but sometimes we miss friends and family. Fortunately, our two-month stay at Spencer Spit State Park has given us the wonderful opportunity to reconnect.

As soon as we locked in our volunteer camp-hosting assignment, we put out the call to action: Come visit!

The open invite isn’t exactly a breeze, with Washington’s busy ferry system to figure out. Weekend reservations are strongly advised during summer months, but here’s a hot tip: Weekdays are much more chill.

That’s what we discovered when we returned on a Wednesday from a quick mainland getaway and pulled to the front of the line, no problem. And, woo-hoo, right next to us in line was our friend Ann Osborne Peavey, pulling her stylish InTech Sol Horizon trailer. She and her pal Carol were coming to see us at Spencer Spit for a couple days and we were all looking forward to meeting up with another friend, Laurie, who was tent camping on the beach.

We hadn’t made any firm plans – and sometimes the best plan is no plan at all.

Happy hour: On that first evening, Leslie threw out an invite to friends and fellow camp hosts, Dave and Peggy, and then – hey, wanna join us, park crew? It ended up being a fun party, with people bringing snacks to add to Leslie’s charcuterie board. And to top it off, our friend Zane was also part of this fantastic visit.

Zane, a Spokane native we’ve known for all of his 19 years, was back in the Northwest after completing his freshman year at Middlebury College in Vermont. When he was growing up, his family used to camp at Spencer Spit – so it was a sweet return visit to the park.

Pushing us out of our comfort zone: Being parked for a while, it’s easy to slip into a routine: Work chores, beach time, dinner, cribbage, hit play on a DVD.

Having guests enter our comfortable orbit puts us into a different kind of space. Playing host to friends, taking them to our favorite spots helps us deepen our appreciation for the RV lifestyle and for this lovely corner of the San Juan Islands.

One afternoon while Zane was visiting, we ventured south of Weymouth Bay and took a hike that was a piece of cake for some and a treacherous rock scramble for Leslie. “Where the #*@* do I put my foot?” But she lived to tell and was elated when John led the crew to a secret tree swing at the hike’s high point. Who doesn’t love a good dangle?

We really enjoyed the social time, and the visit with Anjou, Ann’s social-media famous pug, Miss y’all already!

New friends:  On a recent Saturday, Leslie was flagged down as she walked into the Lopez Island farmers market by Barbara Ifft, who is a regular reader of Going Mobile. She was on Lopez with a group of girlfriends, and her husband Bill told her to keep an eye out for us.

Bill is the former publisher of the Cheney Free Press, which the couple recently sold. Guess what their retirement is going to include? Some RV travel!

Barbara and Bill just booked sites for an upcoming trip to Minnesota to visit the grandkids, including a stop at a Harvest Host that’s a brewpub. Very cool and happy travels, you two!

Going anywhere? We have just one more week at Spencer Spit before moving to Fort Casey Historical State Park on Whidbey Island to volunteer at Admiralty Head Lighthouse. We’d love to hear about your road trips. Please share stories and photos on our new Facebook page: facebook.com/goingmobiletravel. Swapping tales from our journeys is what we love about this ongoing adventure.

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