Getting the leak stopped on the truck took a good deal longer than hoped for in Tillamook on Monday but we ultimately got underway to Grayland Beach State Park on the Washington coast by 1:30 pm. The going was slow through Oregon with great scenery and increasing activity, though. We crossed the Columbia River https://www.google.com/search?q=columbia+river+mouth&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Vju4U96QHZLxoAShwoGgBg&sqi=2&ved=0CHIQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622 -- a majestic site, via an impressive bridge construction https://www.google.com/search?q=columbia+river+mouth&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Vju4U96QHZLxoAShwoGgBg&sqi=2&ved=0CHIQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622#q=columbia+river+bridge&tbm=isch and Madam GPS directed us to turn east immediately after. It took us away from Route 101 but Fickie’s grab for a map comforted Willem who at just about that time spotted a viewing area and pulled into it. It was right on the bay from where a good view of the bridge was had and we continued along a still scenic short cut which allowed progressing a little faster than directly along the coast. Ten miles further we rejoined Route 101 back on the coast for a while and another hour to go until we finally reached Grayland Beach on Route 105. This was a rather remote corner with hardly any commercial, or for that matter, any activity whatsoever in sight for miles in either direction.
The campground http://www.parks.wa.gov/515/Grayland-Beach stood out like a charm – wooded with paved sites, hookups and filled to capacity with patrons. Our site was reserved from the computer screen map, close to spotless restrooms and a trail to the beach. There wasn’t a sliver of hope for phone or internet connections but to our surprise we got a satellite signal threaded through the trees, which enabled weather, news, World Cup soccer and Wimbledon progress to be watched. On our side of the continent the weather prospects were great while we wondered how Hans and his family were doing on the East Coast with Liz’s family at the beach and a hurricane moving northward from Florida but still staying out at sea. It seemed fairly benign on Wednesday but could make for not too great beach weather later on.
We were really surprised after starting out on the beach trail. https://www.google.com/search?q=grayland+beach+state+park&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=eTy4U9LLKtGIogSx6YD4Bw&ved=0CEIQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622 . Once we cleared the woods, there was an enormous sandy expanse tapering to the water’s edge and dotted with the odd low growing grassy plant and strewn with shell bits and crab rests. But the waterline was some 300-400 yards away and no easy going across the rough and intermittently compacted sand. Clearly, the ocean sporadically reach the tree line – close to the campground but one frequent visitor said in the many years of coming to the park he had not seen it ever happen. In the distance and close to the water vehicles were parked right on the sand, with people enjoying the ocean – some with picnic canopies and all. Vehicles reached the beach via a path in the distance and it seemed the easier way to get there. However, Fickie and Stella persisted independently on foot, reached the ocean and didn’t seem enthusiastic about a repeat performance.
Stella did repeat the next day, though and returned to tell us about aged remains of a whale on the beach to the south. It prompted Fickie to reach for his camera and Willem to follow suit for the truck keys. We found the compacted access stretch to the beach and headed south past others right at the water’s edge on firm wet sand. At the whale, Willem pulled a little aside and got the truck stuck in sand that gave way! With photographs taken, we collected driftwood from the sandy stretch, dug in under the rear wheels and laid out a track. On the first attempt to reverse, Willem stopped too soon, lost momentum and we had to repeat the effort. It went better but he then turned too soon and the drag of the front wheels under the heavy part of the vehicle had it dig in again. The third attempt was successful and we were on our way back to camp. We certainly were not the first to experience this problem; for some even with dire consequences. Driftwood saved the day for us and all along the wooded Northern Pacific coast we were amazed at the vast amount of such -- often gigantic trees or root system stumps from the past that dotted beaches abundantly. We later learned that much of what one sees on the Pacific beaches have their origin thousands of miles across the ocean. For instance, materials from the tsunami of 2011 in Japan still wash ashore.
Fickie pulled out another movie from his DVD collection the second night and we thought the Clint Eastwood production, ‘Pale Rider’ technically well done and entertaining with a plot more uplifting than most of the genre. With only about 60 miles to our next destination and check-in at 2:00 pm, we enjoyed a real leisurely start which included some Wimbledon coverage in the morning.
At Pacific Beach State Park http://www.parks.wa.gov/557/Pacific-Beach we were welcomed by a sizable display of kites dotting the sky as they bobbed in the wind, joined by all kinds of other similar fun objects tied to high poles all over. It is a relatively small campground and we were fortunate to secure a campsite, albeit dry for two nights. The place was fully booked for the Independence Day weekend so we would have to leave on July 4. The policy with generator use was lenient and we had 110V electricity until 9:00 pm. The beach had characteristics similar to Grayland Beach but the overall environment reflecting some quite beautiful upper scale vacation properties, with more such communities in the making. Although AT&T cellular telephone and Wi-Fi perpetuated their absence, we did succeed in picking up such some 10 miles away and could get essential business done and a campsite secured in Forks, WA for the next two nights. Hiking, searching for a phone signal, wandering around where it was found and observing the lifestyle of the local folks who aggregated at the full menu bar, gave us the kind of cultural input of the immediate area. As everywhere else so far, the scenery remained very worthwhile: https://www.google.com/search?q=pacific+beach+wa&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=KEu4U6yaGcLZoASM24G4Dw&ved=0CEYQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=622.
And then we were off to Forks, Washington( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forks and https://www.google.ca/search?q=forks+washington&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=mDXHU4u1JcmgogS6mILACQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1251&bih=598 ) positioning ourselves well for a short trip to our next venue from where we planned to ferry to Victoria, British Columbia. Forks turned out to be a little more of a town than what the size of the print on the map suggested. And especially on July 4 it had the semblance of a metropolis in terms of traffic and a detour, which directed us away from the throughway of Route 101 for the local parade to take its course. Once on the detour it seemed we were forgotten. No further signs to follow and when the road became real narrow, we turned north onto a slightly better looking street but soon found ourselves winding through neighborhoods that have probably seldom before witnessed a RV attempting to find its way around. By then we had gathered a following of vehicles which presumably figured we knew what we were doing. Directions from a lady on the street who was not short on gestures with a heavily tattooed arm and assuring us we were on the right track got us to Route 101. The only thing we could do as directed seemingly by the second of two police officers in town, was to head north and keep going for about a mile before we found a spot to pull off, let other motorists pass and figure out where the campground might be. We had been counting on simply spotting it from the road. Obviously, it was somewhere back in town along the stretch we were directed away from. Stepping around a bit, Willem got a cell phone signal, called the campground, got directions and the suggestion to wait about 15 minutes before returning to town; matters were wrapping up. Stella had snacks for us to nibble on and we ultimately got to our destination. The campground http://www.forksrvpark.com/ was under the management of new owners and we had a fine full service spot, for once not in dense forest.
Free Wi-Fi was a selling point that attracted us to the campground and when the directions from the office didn’t get us connected, Willem tried the hotspot, which didn’t work either. But just before making our peace with the misfire, Willem remembered a similar situation in the Adirodacks, some 9 months ago and wandered over to the office, where he pretended to have some knowledge about these matters and suggested they reboot their system. It worked! We had Wi-Fi albeit slow and could proceed with working on the backlog of blog work. In the late afternoon it started raining lightly; sightseeing got scheduled for the next day. By 6:00 pm Fickie had photographs ready to download and Willem got it going. But the going was desperately slow and way after dinner by about 9:30 we turned in for the night. Willem figured that should he wake up early, he could take a look at the downloading progress; hopefully it would not have quitted (!) and tune in to the live Wimbledon ladies final at 5:00 am. That is exactly what happened and with the download completed he ultimately got the next blog spiel placed. Meanwhile the tennis was a bit of a bummer and although it was still raining the weather forecast was for a gap of about four hours by 2:00 pm. There was nothing else or better to do than to think about what we should have for breakfast, while the other two began to show signs of life. More blog work and Skyping during the morning, strolling through the general store across the street got us to the point where to weatherman proved to be correct and we were on our way to the Hoh Rainforest some 30 miles south http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoh_Rainforest and https://www.google.ca/search?q=hoh+rainforest&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=f7DIU_OyAujKigLol4DYAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCcQsAQ&biw=1251&bih=614. How does one prepare for hiking in a rainforest? We figured by taking umbrellas. It wasn’t cold at all and we were lightly dressed in shorts. The hike was great and the scenery unlike anything we’ve seen before, from humungous trees, standing and fallen, down to a four inch banana slug slowly working its way underneath some foliage on the side of the footpath. No need for umbrellas but shorts had one hopping to avoid insects bearing down. Their favorite snack, Willem, outpaced the others after having acquired a couple of trophy size welts.
Ruby Beach WA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Beach and https://www.google.ca/search?q=Ruby+Beach+WA&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=rDrHU_erLtH8oASo94HADw&ved=0CBsQsAQ&biw=1251&bih=598 was next, which was another park and hike site for reaching the scene to which quite a number of tourists have found their way. The beach was quite a sight, strewn with pebbles of any size and color imaginable that obviously would be the envy of garden landscapers. Right at the mouth of a smallish river the collection of driftwood was amazing. One could spend a lot of time there without even noticing the vast ocean disappearing over the horizon and walk away with a bag full of collected stuff that would lose their appeal soon after. Except for the famous crystals (the beach is so called, because of the ruby like crystals that get washed to the beach from the fresh water leaching onto the beach. These crystals are the by-product of the glacier activity that used to happen in this area -- Source: ranger station) of which we saw no trace. Willem took a handful of small white pebbles to perhaps integrate with a piece of driftwood from Grayland Beach that he figured could be transformed into something useful somewhere along the way when the occasion presents itself. By then the four-hour window was closing and we headed back to camp in the familiar drizzle of this part of the world. We had to be out of camp by 11:00 am and could not enter the Sequim Bay State Park some 60 miles away before 2:30 pm. So we hauled the assemblage across the street into the general store parking lot, blocking out a good number of parking spots to the side of the lot, from where Willem went to the store, while Fickie and Stella wandered off to a lumber museum surprisingly further around the bend in the road than expected.
Our dry campsite at Sequim Bay http://www.parks.wa.gov/582/Sequim-Bay was truly spectacular; once again burrowed into the woods. We were soon firmly ensconced with the generator running and water tank filled on site from a spigot reachable by coupling two hoses. While Fickie and Stella set out to explore the beautiful place, Willem took off to town to get gas for the excursion to Canada early the next morning by ferry from Port Angeles, some 20 miles away. We ran the generator through dinner time to exactly 9:00 pm as permitted to get the maximum battery charge in and then turned in for the night, because we would rely on battery power to keep the odd thing going and spark the gas sporadically to keep the refrigerator going for 84 hours before the generator could provide 110V again.
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