Manchester State Park, Washington

Friday night we got home from work, packed the RV, nuked leftovers, then left for the park. It's nice to drive across the Narrows Bridge and see the progress on the 2nd bridge. It's going up incredibly fast. It will be strange to have 2 Narrows Bridges. All my life it's been The Bridge.

Anyway, we were camped by 7:45. It drizzled on the way over so we decided to skip a fire. Dave plugged us in and we got caught up on magazine reading. A nice thing about this campground is the occasional sound of barking seals. Funny to hear it in the middle of the woods though. Then we started to watch Hostage.

Saturday morning we ate cereal and finished watching Hostage. Good Bruce Willis movie.

Then we walked through the campground down to the water. We saw the old torpedo warehouse and the gun battery. The trail meanders around the point and beside the water. Along the way we climbed down to the beach and admired the views. A seal barked at us. Then we turned into the woods, climbed stairs and startled a deer at the top. We entered a clearing and saw lots of flowers.It was a great walk.

The sun was starting to peek out so we decided to have a Java Log fire. Our site is large and private. It was so relaxing to journal and read by the fire.Late in the afternoon we took another walk. Then Dave started another fire. I made chili (from a can) for dinner and we ate outside.

This was the perfect camping weekend. Close to home but in a different world. We even left the laptop at home.

Ocean Shores - Lake Sylvia State Park

Day 7 , Friday 9/23/05

Finally, a shopping day! We drove to Ocean Shores and explored the shops. Found a great gallery on the main drag and bought a glass ball. Very nice. Then we went to the Quinalt casino. Played blackjack for awhile, had fun, and left with money. Not as much as we went in with - but more than we expected.

Next stop, Lake Sylvia State Park - site no. 11 right on the lake. We went for a bike ride as soon as we got here. We were ready for some exercise. It's another beautiful day. This park is great. Just outside the park are lots of logging roads to explore.

Day 8, Saturday 9/24/05

Today we did the loop walk through the woods. The trail meanders next to a small river... last time we were here we saw otters. No such luck today - the water level was pretty low.

After lunch Dave read while I worked on the photo album. Pretty relaxing except for the generator next door. We started the fire mid-afternoon and had hot dogs for dinner. Then it was more yachtzee and cribbage.

Day 9, Sunday am

Vacation is over! We got up early and headed home. The cats were very happy to see us.

Rain Forest Resort - Copalis Beach

Day 6, Thursday, 9/22/05

Today we walked over to the Tallest Spruce Tree in the World. This tree was conveniently located about a football field away from our campsite. It was tall. Too tall for my camera. So just use your imagination.

Then we walked down to the edge of the lake (about a football field away from our site in the other direction). What a beautiful morning. Finally, exhausted from our adventures, we unplugged and drove a short distance to Copalis Beach. Found an RV Park with a great view of the ocean. We were the only campers there. Although there were a couple of year-rounders with trailers parked on the far side of the park. This place had full hookups - so we were looking forward to watching Survivor.

We went for a little bike ride. Then we tried to walk down to the beach. Sadly, the road to the ocean is washed out and the river is too wide to cross. Still, I guess it's nice to look at and listen too. Dave and I played a game of horseshoes before reading outside for awhile.

After dinner we played cribbage. The sunset was gorgeous.

Hoh Rain Forest - Ruby Beach - Lake Quinalt

Day 5, Wednesday 9/21/05

First thing this morning I had to walk to the river and check on my rock sculptures. They were still there. It's another beautiful day.

Dave and I headed over to the Visitor's Center and took 2 short loop walks called The Hall of Mosses and The Spruce. About 2 miles total. Right near the Visitor Center there was a Bull Elk.

We watched it for awhile before starting our walk.

The mosses and trees are amazing. Like another world.

At the end of our walk the Elk was still there - but now it was right by the trail. That thing was huge and I was a little intimidated. It was nice to get back to the RV.

On our way out of the Rain Forest we stopped for hamburgers at the Rain Forest Cafe. Pretty tasty.

The next stop was Ruby Beach. The parking lot is on a hill and it's a short hike down to the beach. This was another amazing beach. The tide was pretty high so there were no tidal pools to explore. There were lots of rock sculptures. I devoted my time to finding rocks. Then we walked down to the end of the beach. I love the ocean.

Next stop was Klaloch. We had hoped to camp in the NPS campground right on the ocean. Sadly, it was full. Next time we'll make reservations. We drove on to Lake Quinalt. Found a spot at the Rain Forest Resort Village. It's pretty quiet here. Electricity but no cable (so no Lost!). We got gussied up (camping style) and went to dinner at the resort restaurant. Dave had salmon, I had fettucine alfredo, and we both had grasshoppers. It was a great evening.

http://www.rainforestresort.com/

Rialto Beach - Hoh Rain Forest

Day 4, Tuesday 9/20/05

Started the morning off with a short hike to Sol Duc Falls (roundtrip 1.6 miles). Another great walk through the forest. The falls were amazing.

Then we drove to Rialto Beach. This place was wonderful. The parking lot is surrounded by piles of driftwood. The waves were huge and there were lots of rocks. We walked on the beach and explored a few of the driftwood shacks. Next we headed to the Hoh Rain Forest. We stopped in Forks for some supplies. It was a great drive; the leaves were starting to change. We set up camp in the NPS campground - our spot was right next to the river. Pulled the lawn chairs out and took them down beside the river. What a relaxing afternoon. This is vacation! The river sounds and looks amazing and all around us were beautiful views. We can't believe we lucked into a sunny day in the middle of the rain forest. There's lots of rock sculptures left behind by other 'rock artists'. I had a lot of fun playing with the rocks - for once we weren't in a hurry! Below are 2 of my creations.

After dinner we went for a short walk. Then we lit the fire and listened to the river. This site definitely makes our top 3 list of best campsites ever. (I know, sometime I'll actually have to compile the list and share it with you.) Our fire/table area is very private. The river sounds fantastic. There are tons of stars. And we are on vacation.

Sand Point then Sol Duc Hot Springs

Monday, Day 3, 9/19/05

Woke up to rain. Quite a bit of it, actually. Looks like the hike out to Sand Point is off.
The rain stopped after breakfast. So we grabbed the backpack, tossed in the rain gear, peanuts, and water and drove a few yards to the trailhead parking lot.

After lacing up the hiking boots we headed out to the beach. The hike is 6 miles roundtrip. It's a great hike, flat, a lot of it boardwalk. We saw red moss, lavender mushrooms, purple flowers, and huge trees. It was so peaceful. Then, finally, we were at the beach. It was foggy in spots, but lots of driftwood, sand, rocks, and pounding waves. Funny how quiet the ocean seems with all that noise!

We ate peanuts while we walked to the end of the beach. There was a hill to climb - then amazing views. We rested for a few minutes... then Dave went in search of tide pool life while I played with rocks. Then we looked for a couple 'souvenir' rocks before we headed back to the RV. We only saw 2 other people the whole time we were at the beach. We also saw 2 deer. The hike seemed a little longer on the way back. We got back to the RV and were on our way by 12:00. Destination: Sol Duc Hot Springs.

We stopped for lunch at the Breakwater Inn in Seiku. It was excellent. They must be used to hikers straggling in... nobody cared about my messy hair.

We were at Sol Duc with our camp setup by 3:00. The resort is wonderful. It has a restaurant, convenience store, and cabins. The RV park is basically a large gravel lot surrounded with trees. The sites are arranged around the perimeter. It was nice to have power. Next time we might stay in the NPS campground right next to the park.

We relaxed for awhile, tested the TV (still works, dang it!) then headed over to the Hot Springs. It was kind of an expensive, but soothing, soak.

Dinner that night was frozen enchiladas (thank you Trader Joe's!). We watched Scary Movie 3; pretty funny. It was an early night. Vacation can be exhausting sometimes!

http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.asp?trailid=HGW028-098 - info about the Sand Point hike and lots more.
http://visitsolduc.com/ - link to the resort.
http://www.nps.gov/olym/pphtml/camping.html

Lake Ozette via Neah Bay

Day 2 9/18/05

OK. So Neah Bay wasn't exactly on our way to Lake Ozette but we just had to see Cape Flattery.

The drive to Neah Bay was great, but foggy. Lots of little beach access spots to stop at. We visited a few and I found some rocks. The fog was finally starting to lift a little. We ate lunch at a county park with a wonderful view.

At Neah Bay we bought our $7.00 recreation permit. Then we drove out to Cape Flattery. The last 5 miles of the the road is unpaved and bumpy. The hike (1 mile roundtrip) to the coast was beautiful. Too bad the fog hadn't lifted all the way... we couldn't see much. The sound of the ocean crashing on the rocks was amazing though.

The hike back up to the parking lot was a work out.

About 1/2 way back on the dirt road our old 13" TV came crashing down from it's shelf above the bunk. Oops. It hit the back of Dave's seat, then the couch, then the floor, then rolled into the stairwell. Guess we'll have to check that tie-down system more often on bumpy roads. Sadly, the TV still worked fine when we tested it. I was hoping we'd be forced into replacing it with something bigger and nicer.

We thought about staying near Seiku but then decided to go on to Lake Ozette. We found a great site right next to the lake and it was only $10.00 a night. I like National Park campgrounds. Dave fished for awhile. Then we had a 2 coffee log fire (Java-Logs, see link below). We love the Java Logs. Then Dave beat me 2x at Cribbage. So I pulled out Trouble and beat him.

We would definitely stay here again. No hookups of course, but we don't need them. There's no cell service here either.

http://www.java-log.com/

http://www.nps.gov/olym/wic/dozla.htm

Sequim - Rainbow's End RV Park

First day of our fall vacation - Saturday, 9/17/05

Vacation is finally here! Stopped for groceries along the way. We even got flowers for the table. We arrived at Rainbow's End RV Park around 1:00. The park is just off Highway 101 but road noise is never a problem inside the RV.

It's a clean, pretty park. The staff were very friendly. I didn't take a photo of our site. But I did paste a link to the park at the end of this entry. We will stay here again the next time we visit Sequim.

After a nap (that 2 hour drive and grocery shopping really wore us out!) we took a bike ride over to the Olympic Discovery Trail. It was about a 1/2 mile from the park. Then we rode on the trail for about 8 miles.

What a great afternoon. The trail was paved and separated from the road. There are many places where the trail crosses the road. For the most part traffic was very thin. The trail went through woods, residential areas, parks, farms, and over old railroad bridges.

We stopped awhile to explore the Dungeness River. I even got to play with rocks.

Later that night, after dinner, we had our first vacation treat. Microwaved smores. Yummy!

Speaking of smore's, have you ever made them with Reese's Peanut Cups instead of a Hershey's bar? They are incredible!

http://www.olympicdiscoverytrail.com/
http://www.rainbowsendrvpark.com/

Olympic Loop RV Trip

September 2005 we did the Olympic Loop. The weather was amazing. The views astounding. The rocks sensational. We hiked or rode bikes every day. I love vacation.

This post will be the overview... I will do individual posts for each campground. Hopefully I'll get at least a couple of those done this weekend.

Our trip was one week long. We'd been pretty busy so hadn't had much time to prepare. The most important pre-vacation tasks were finishing laundry and preparing the kitty's to stay home alone. Of course I had a friend coming by to check on them. Which meant the house had to be clean before we left. Anyway, we were finally ready to leave.

We left the trailer and motorcycle at home. Usually we bring the bike for week-long trips. But because we planned on moving every night we decided the trailer would be a hassle to drag around.

We decided to be reservation free. One of the great things about rving is the flexability. We did have our tentative route planned with multiple camping options identified.

Our itinerary ended up being:
1st night - Sequim
2nd night - Lake Ozette
3rd Night - Sol Duc Hot Springs
4th Night - Hoh River (My Favorite!)
5th Night - Quinalt Lake Resort (Klaloch was full)
6th Night - Copalis Beach
7th Night - Lake Sylvia State Park
8th Night - Lake Sylvia State Park

Grayland Beach State Park

Had a great time at the ocean this weekend. Dave had driven the RV to work so I met him about 5:45. We were plugged in by 8:00. This is a very popular park. We were surpised to see the campround full sign when we pulled in. Then we found out it's prime clam digging season. The sites here are large and level. Our little C seemed a tad lonely in the pull-through site.

We woke up to wind and rain. Lots of it. After lunch we unplugged and drove a few blocks to a large antique store. Seemed like everybody else around had the same idea. Dave found a toy red baron plane and I found a couple of 70's turqouise plastic platters.

The sun finally came out later in the afternoon. We went for a walk via our private trail to the beach. Then we relaxed by the fire. Don't worry... no trees were harmed in our campfire. Only coffee grounds. We like to bring the Java logs (from Safeway) along for camping. They always start right up and are non-toxic. Plus, they are bug-free.

Sunday morning we went for a bike ride. Sadly, Dave's bike seat cover had falled off in the wind/rain storm. Which means his seat had soaked up a lot of water. So Dave temporarily modified the bike seat (with a hand-towel and rubber bands) to stay dry. We rode across the highway to some back roads. Soon we were riding in between cranberry fields. Nice flat quiet roads but the wind made for a challenging ride. We really enjoyed it.
After the ride we had time for a quick cup of coffee and another look at the view before we left for Westport.
Lucky for us the Westport RV parking lot was right next to the Shipwreck Motel. Can't pass up a photo op like this one!

http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Grayland%20Beach&pageno=1