Ft. Stevens SP, Hammond, OR - Oct. 7 - 8

Crossing the river to Astoria, the first stop was to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. This is a must see museum with incredible exhibits on fishing, canning, the river and bar pilots, wartime, mapping and on and on. The forces of the water at the mouth of the river demand great respect and knowledge of the ebb and flow of the river colliding with the tide and winds of the ocean on the shallow waters of the sand bar. The wrecks are many and the big ships take on bar pilots to get them in and out of the mouth and then a river pilot for the rest of their journey up the Columbia. It was amazing to learn that potatoes can travel over 400 miles from Idaho down the Snake and Columbia Rivers.

We’d listen to The Shipping Report on one of the local public radio stations which would list what boats were coming in that day, from where and what they were bringing in or picking up. The ships were mostly coming from China, Japan and Korea and were picking up logs and lots of wheat as it was harvest time. They also aired advisories for checking weather conditions on the bar and great maritime stories.

Ft. Stevens SP was on the OR side. The two parks were quite different but each good in their own way. The campground here was much bigger and buried in the woods but there was over 9 miles of great biking trails connecting the CG with the beach, lake and historical areas. We were able to get one of the few tent sites (8 +/-) which was nicer and less expensive. Most of the other sites at Ft. Stevens were full hookups which we didn't need or want. The sites at Cape Disappointment were very close to the beach, had a variety of full hookup to primitive and less dense but what there was for bike paths didn't connect the park and the roads were too narrow, twisty and dropped off with no shoulder to comfortably ride. 

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Cape Disappointment - Oct. 4 - 6

After we had made online reservations for Deception Pass SP, we were a little gun shy of WA SPs not because we were hit with an online reservation fee which is the norm but we were also hit with an out of state deposit. This collectively added $12 to a one night stay. We really wanted to stay at Cape Disappointment in WA on the mouth of the Columbia River so figured we’d give it another try and were pleasantly surprised to find no out of state surcharge arriving w/out a reservation – something to keep in mind.

Cape Disappointment was where Lewis & Clark finally arrived at the Pacific Ocean although they made their winter camp on the south side in OR. We again were pleasantly surprised to find the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Ctr. open. Because the center was cooperatively shared between the government, WA and OR, it wasn’t affected by the shutdown. 

The campground right by the beach was bustling with the opening of razor clam season and a favorable minus low tide. We watched how they dug for them using a 6” PVC tube about 3-4’ long w/a handle and air hole at the end. The sand traps in the tube and takes 2 tube fills to get the clam. You can easily see where the clams are by either a dimple or bulge about the size of a 50 cent piece in the wet sand. A 3 day license can be had for $8, 15 clam/day limit. We worked it through and thought for a short while that we would dig but then reality set in on how to store the whole clams, clean them (there was a nice cleaning station nearby but the tide was late) and then process or cook them in volume in our 19’ van.

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Last Stop thru Indianola - Oct. 2 - 3

This visit is best described as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”! The Good was visiting again with Sue and Will, Drew and Lori and Sue’s neighbors and friends, Becky and Gale for a fabulous dinner followed the next day by touring through Indianola and Suquamish.

The Bad was arriving back at Sue’s to find out that Danny, her dog, had a bad laceration from jumping a fence. Sue and I headed off to the vet for 4+ hours while they sedated him to clean and stitch his leg. Interestingly, the only vet that could help at short notice was a VCA 24 hour urgent care facility that we also have and use on the east coast. Harry in the meantime “played” with an excavator moving a log around and drove with Will in his Triumph down to a local marina.

And the Ugly! Next to Sue & Will’s property is a pasture with cows. Harry warned us to take our time coming back from the vet because it turned out this was the day the cows (4) were to be butchered – onsite at the foot of their driveway! I know our local farm, Weir River, has a “meet the meat day” and this is life but to do this on the road in public with a spot light as it was dark was too much. Harry told me enough to get a “visual” but I’m so glad I wasn’t there!

Pushing all that aside, we had one more feast before we left – Dungeness crab cakes, fresh salmon and oysters. Sue sent us off with fresh eggs and Liberty apples picked from her trees and almost forgot, smoked salmon from Will. Sad goodbyes but we will be back.

On the way through Poulsbo, we made a stop at Central Market. This is a five store family chain grocery store in WA that is much like Whole Foods but better with lots of local produce. We were able to completely reprovision and picked up some local Chanterelle mushrooms, the same that we had seen growing on Rich’s property.

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Matlock, WA - Sept. 29 - Oct. 1

The trouble with getting into a good book, “Ahab’s Wife”, is that the blog writing gets put aside day after day after day! 

It was still raining Sunday going into the Quinault Rain Forest. The only campground open, Willaby CG, was pretty nice with lots of space as we were the only ones there. 

I had defrosted a pork loin several days back when we camped next to the NW Dutch Oven Group so had to cook it up regardless of the weather.  The awning went up to ease the pain of cold rain which was our undoing! We won’t discuss the “would have, should have, could haves” but long story short the awning collapsed against the van about the same time Harry was headed out to take it down. Unfortunately the middle brace and lateral arms gave way and punched through the awning. It was toast but there was also the problem of putting the awning away (or cutting it off) so that we could move. My cousin, Rich, was coming to meet us the next day so we asked him to bring tools and a hack saw as a last ditch effort. 

The morning brought light and new clarity to our situation and Harry was able to relieve tension so that we could crank the awning in. I wish the same had been true with our government! The shutdown has brought into perspective what is a real problem and what is an inconvenience best dealt with once we get home. Of course the shutdown has closed all National Parks, National Forest, BLM and Army Corp. campgrounds which was one of the main focuses of our trip and where we prefer to stay!

Rich led us back to his home in Matlock via Donkey Creek Road. This was a short cut through mostly National Forest and private logging roads. He cleared the way of fallen trees and warned us of low clearance areas but one 2 mile stretch was an education. It was a single lane logging road that was so busy that we waited for a logging truck going in our direction to run interference for us. Who would know!

We had a great time catching up, seeing his home and property. We poked along the Hood Canal and after trying unsuccessfully to find Geoduck (gooey duck) served in a restaurant, we picked one up at Taylor Shellfish and headed home to try our own hand at cooking. Harry watched a few YouTube videos and then we had lots of laughs cooking everything up – Geoduck, oysters and meatloaf.

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Kalaloch - Sept. 27 - 28

I think it was my cousin, Drew, who said that fall comes quickly to WA, in fact very soon after the Equinox. Well it is raining and has been going on 3 days now. We had a choice leaving La Push to either head back the way we came putting us in the “rain shadow” near Pt. Townsend and Seguim but we decided to continue the loop south around the Olympic National Park into the rain forest area. What did we expect! 

We got a great campsite in the Kalalock Campground right on a bluff with a direct view out to the Pacific. This also meant a direct hit from 50+ knots of wind and rain for the two days we were there. Please don’t feel bad for us though. We were surrounded by the NW Dutch Oven Society’s annual gathering. We were invited to the most amazing meal with pots full of chicken, spaghetti, stew with biscuits, vegetable dishes, peach cobbler, angel food upside down cake with pineapple and if that doesn’t sound like enough, the morning brought McMuffins, a sausage/egg dish and blueberry crepes cooked on the lid of the pot. These folks were great inviting us into their lives and passing their knowledge on. So many thanks! There will be a new pot in my future!

When we were in La Push, I noticed 4 dead Common Murres and one that was dying. Once we got to Kalaloch, we were able to get one beach walk in before the rain and saw several more. I mentioned this to the ranger and although she wasn’t aware of anything happening said that when two different types of algae bloom together they create a soapy foam that washes the oils off the birds. The birds get cold, swim to shore where there’s no food and die. I told her I saw some foam that had fluorescent blue-green bubbles so she is going to check it out but fears it is happening again. Sad!

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La Push - Sept. 25 - 26

On our way out of Indianola headed for La Push, we went by the Grover’s Creek Salmon Hatchery. They have an automated bucket lift built in the 1990’s by Accumar, Will’s company that brings the salmon up to the hatchery where the eggs and sperm are collected. The salmon are then given away but only good as “smokers” because they are pretty beat up. Timing is everything! When we arrived, they were giving away fresh salmon caught the night before from the bay as part of research. We got a nice silver side salmon to bring along.

La Push on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula is part of the Quileute Indian Reservation. Sue and Will rented a cabin in the Quileute Oceanside Resort and we parked alongside. The pictures really describe this area the best but finally we have arrived at the Pacific Ocean with a couple days of beautiful sunshine and Nina has died and gone to heaven running the beach with her cousins, Danny and Llewie!

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Indianola, WA - Sept. 21 - 24

Finally the anticipation of seeing my sister after about 7 years sets in! She suggested we take our time, enjoy Pt. Townsend, stay for lunch and get to her house in the afternoon. Pt. Townsend has the infamous Wooden Boat Festival in early Sept. that would be nice to see someday but the old buildings, shops, restaurants and marinas were worth the walk around. After scouting out the Pt. Townsend Brewery to get a “Growler” (half gallon jug) of Hop Diggidy IPA as a special birthday request, on we went to Indianola. The GPS wasn't really keeping up with where we were which then became further complicated by the fact that I either didn't remember or wasn't told that my sister’s street had been renamed and renumbered. We got close enough and then went by which house looked familiar from pictures!

Coincidental to our arrival, Sue and Will had just been given a 30’ Baba sailboat. It’s a cutter rig built in Taiwan with a solid teak interior, hand stitched tanenbark sails, skylights and bowsprit. The boat had been sitting at a slip for 7-8 years and the owner feeling guilty about not being able to take care of it, searched around for someone to take over. My brother-in-law, Will’s name came up and through a random act of kindness has become the new proud owner of “Miracle! No need to change this name!  I wish I had taken some interior shots because it has an open layout below with enough headroom for Will who is 6’6”. The cushions and seats are all high quality naugahyde. It’s a beautiful, sturdy big 30 footer that will give them many years of comfortable sailing.

We had lots of fun going down memory lane, celebrating birthdays, meeting the dogs, the sheep and the chickens. We, of course, had to see the new boat, the old boat Penelope named after my mom and then travel over to Hansville to visit with my cousin Drew and his friend, Lauri.  He has built himself a beautiful home that captures the views of his property and the mountains beyond. It’s quite a life out here. I think I’ll stay!

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Deception Pass State Park, WA - Sept. 20

From Baker Lake, we continued on the Cascade Loop Scenic Highway through the Skagit Valley Region. We passed through Sedro-Woolley, a logging community, Burlington, Mt. Vernon and La Conner which was the highlight. La Conner is a fishing/artist community with a Victorian flair. It also has the largest commercial bulb industry second to Holland. Of course this time of year, all we saw were the bare fields but could really get a sense of what the color must be like March – May when the tulips are in bloom with Mt. Baker and the Cascades in the background. The farmhouses were really cool too.

Deception Pass was beautiful with an incredibly strong tide coming through. Nina and I poked through many of the trails around the campsite finding great views, birds and a beaver cruising around the swimming area. This was really a quick overnight so we could be a bit more organized and cleaned up before getting to my sister’s the next day.

We caught the Coupeville/Pt. Townsend ferry the next day. Although I did make a reservation for the 11:45, we arrived early enough to drive right onto the 11:00 and didn’t really need it at all. The Washington State Ferry system is really slick. 

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Baker Lake, WA - Sept. 17 - 19

We decided to move around to Lake Baker in the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest so that we could pass through Concrete to do laundry, find a post office and stores for miscellaneous stuff. Aside from an innovative town sign, there was hardly a soul walking the streets and many store fronts empty. The laundromat was the busiest business around as well as a hardware store that sold everything making perfect sense given the lack of competition. It is a cute town though and passing back through, we will be looking up a bakery we read about after the fact.

The north side of Mtn. Baker has a scenic byway that I’m sure is spectacular and tempting but we wanted to continue the push to the Pacific. It may have been a good decision because we found that although campgrounds were listed as open online along the lake, more than half were actually closed. The same was likely to be true north. We stayed the first two nights at Horseshoe Cove CG and then moved over to Lower Sandy which was dispersed camping/free. This campsite was one of the nicest we have had! These were lazy days for biking and great beaches for Nina to run. I also found a great pond behind a pump house with an amazing collection of at least 7 different kinds of ducks.

We will be traveling down to Deception Pass State Park Friday night before arriving at my sister’s house in time for her birthday Saturday. They really aren't that far away at this point so we will be looping back to see the San Juan’s later.

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North Cascades, WA - Sept. 14 - 16

It’s always exciting to head towards a new, beautiful place and today it was the North Cascades! We passed through miles of wheat fields, many of which had already been cut. Beyond the wheat, we got into apple country, orchard after orchard with the harvest in process. It was interesting seeing the clusters of small cabins that the pickers must stay in when they are working an area. I regret not stopping the driver for a photo opp but he was on a roll. 

We traveled through great towns – Pateros with a hawk festival, Twisp where we hoped to go to a farmer’s market but closed as we arrived and the western town of Winthrop with the old store fronts.  After going through Washington Pass with views of the Liberty Bell, the first night stop was at Lone Pine CG in the Okanogan National Forest so we could hike to Blue Lake in the morning and continue on through the N. Cascades. 

Harry will tell you I drive him crazy wanting to see not just choices in campsites but campgrounds as well! We “toured” Newhalem, Colonial Creek which I liked a lot for the ducks in the creek, but finally chose the Goodell Creek CG on the Skagit River both because it was close to Newhalem and pretty cool with all the salmon jumping as they come up river to spawn. Campsite #13 was a great one. The National Forest outside the park as well as inside the North Cascades allow dogs on the trails which was a big plus.

By this time, we have gorged ourselves on huckleberries; ice cream, cobbler, pancakes, strudel, and then we moved on to fresh peaches and of course apples. I’m not sure I ever knew what a peach should taste like. Ours back home are picked so hard, mush out and get mealy instead of ripening. My sister tipped us off on getting some as soon as we got into WA peach country.

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