We left today for the first real “outing” since buying our rig. We went to Sol Duc Hot Springs, in the Olympic National Park, for a camping trip with Marilyn, Gene, Jeannie and her kids. Jeannie went early in the day and found 3 great camping spots all together for us. We arrived last and just backed into our level spot. So easy!
Sol Duc is a great place to camp. The resort has three pools of hot water to soak in. There’s also a big pool for swimming. This pool was very warm this time…pleasant to swim in on somewhat cool days. The boys are great swimmers, and Natalie is comfortable now, so we had lots of fun playing keep away with them. We’d swim, then soak, then swim, then soak….
There are also lots of good hiking trails around, although most are pretty rugged. We just did easy ones, to the falls (l mile), and a longer one (2.5 miles)…then soaked again. Hard life.
We had great weather until Tuesday night, when it poured rain. Our rig was very comfortable, but it did leak a little in the bathroom vent. So nice not to be in a clammy tent! Jeannie had to go home Wednesday to get Nick registered for high school, but Justin stayed with us for the next leg of the trip.
We left Wednesday morning to go west around the peninsula. We haven’t been that far west in Washington for ages. We stopped in Forks for gas and groceries. Forks is a tiny little town that has become a tourist destination because of some teen books about a vampire romance. Fun to see signs about characters in the books around this little town. We drove down 101 to Pacific Beach. The camping spot there was right on the beach. Good thing it was an RV camp, because even the pavement had puddles of water on it. But RV campers don’t care! We’re warm! We’re comfortable! We can cook, eat, play cards, even watch movies! Such decadence…We also walked along the ocean beach, enjoying the wind and waves. Harris, Gene and Justin did some geocaching in the area.
Next morning, Justin asked to travel in our van with us. We said sure, but warned him it would be a bumpy ride in the back of the van. No problem for a 12 year old, he almost enjoyed it! We only went a short distance this day to a county park near South Bend. It was a nice little park on a bluff above the beach. The guys went geocaching again, and Marilyn and I set up all the tents the kids had used in Sol Duc to dry them out. Next morning we headed to Fort Stevens state park in Oregon., where Jeannie, Nick and Natalie rejoined us, and Jeff, Mary and Samantha were able to come for a long weekend.
Fort Stevens is an incredible place…huge….and we were glad Marilyn had made reservations as it was full, full, full. We actually parked outside the yurt Jeff and Mary slept in as an extra vehicle, while Marilyn and Gene shared their spot with Jeannie and kids. We set up Mary’s tented gazebo and played cards in between all other activities. Fort Stevens has miles of paved trails for bikes, and we borrowed Marilyn and Gene’s bikes for some rides. Wow! It’s been years since we’d done that…as our muscles reminded us the next day. The camp is at the site of a military fort that was used in WW2, and was actually fired upon by a Japanese sub. We were lucky enough to overhear a tour by a park guide on one of the bike trips. We also biked to the beach and enjoyed a couple of sunny days here. On Sunday it started to rain, but we were leaving so didn’t care. BUT! The drive home was through some of the worst rainstorms we’ve ever been in! Took us several hours, and we were glad to be home again.
Camping with Marilyn and crew always means good times and good food….and now in our little home away from home, it also means we’re dry and warm. What a great trip!
August 12…Tuesday…A long day. Up before 6, hit the road, ate breakfast at Glacier Point in Yosemite. Beautiful views of Half Dome and other peaks, and a couple of loooooooooong waterfalls across the canyon. They were so far away the water looked like lighter stone. You could barely make out it was moving. But, even so far away, it sounded like jet planes roaring around overhead. We wondered what it would sound like close up! We then drove partway into the valley for some awesome views of El Capitan…just like the picture postcards, imagine that! The roads are very steep and winding, so it took a long time to do just that little bit. We drove out on highway 120, which was even more winding, if that’s possible. We drove through Calaveras (where everything advertised had a jumping frog in it….shades of Mark Twain), and Sutter’s Creek, but didn’t stop to pan for gold. This was supposed to be the scenic route, and it is prettier than the freeway, but nothing like our mountains in Washington. Dry, and brown, full of pine trees, sorta like eastern Washington. We finally headed back to I-5, Sacramento, and beyond. Didn’t make it all the way to Redding, but that’s OK. Stopped at a cheap RV park just to get some sleep.
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