Sunday, August 30, 2009

Adventures from Chimacum

We're staying at the Escapees Evergreen Coho Co-op in Chimacum, Washington. It's a beautiful park in a lush, green forested area of the Olympic Peninsula. The short-term visitor sites are pull-thru on gravel with full hookups, a little narrow but otherwise entirely adequate.
From Chimicum

The leaseholders' sites are more generous in size, and they are allowed to put park models on them. There's quite a variety of park models, some even look like stick-built homes. Here are a couple of examples.
From Chimicum

From Chimicum

Visitors who stay at least 30 days can park on available leaseholder sites (without park models) if the owners are away. But they might have to move, with 7 days' notice, if the leaseholder decides to return. We met a couple who have been spending every summer here for 4 years, waiting for their name to rise on the waiting list so they can buy a lease. They have never had to move off a site assigned to them, so it seems that this rarely happens. It's certainly a wonderful place to spend the summer, with lots of things to do and places to go.

Yesterday we drove south and crossed the Hood Canal to go to Bremerton. Don said there used to be a floating bridge across the canal, which sometimes broke, but now there's a nice, new one.
From Chimicum

On the way south, we drove through Silverdale, where Don once lived. He was amazed to find a big mall and lots of chain restaurants and stores where there was nothing, in his memory. Times change. We visited the Navy Base in Bremerton where Don was stationed in the late 70's. We spotted a huge aircraft carrier that had been decommissioned.
From Chimicum

In fact, there were 4 of them.
From Chimicum

There were nice homes for officers.
From Chimicum

And a couple of submarines that were also decommissioned.
From Chimicum

We crossed another bridge, the Manette Bridge, from Bremerton to Sheridan Park, in search of a seafood restaurant for lunch.
From Chimicum

All the places Don remembered in this area were gone. We found lots of Asian restaurants, Mexican restaurants, even Greek restaurants. But no seafood restaurants. So I did a search on the GPS. It showed the Bridgewater Seafood Restaurant. We followed the directions, which took us back over the Manette Bridge, back by the Naval base, south around the end of the Hood Canal and into Port Orchard, where traffic suddenly slowed to a crawl. They were celebrating Cedar Cove Days, and there was a big flea market and farmer's market in the parking lots next to the waterfront.
From Chimicum

And the Bridgewater Seafood Restaurant was nowhere to be found. We stopped at a bar and grill, thinking that they might at least have fried clams, which Don had been craving, and found only hamburgers. The waitress generously recommended Amy's On The Bay, about a 1/2 mile away. That turned out to be where the farmer's market was being held. Parking was at a premium, but we managed to find a space on the street, by performing a (probably illegal) u-turn. When we saw the menu, the only seafood was clam chowder! The waiter apologized, saying they had a special menu for Cedar Cove Days! Sometimes our timing isn't the best. Oh, well, the chowder in a bread bowl, accompanied by Caesar salad, wasn't bad. And we even walked around the outdoor market briefly to see lots of artistic creations, none of which we needed. But we went home with some home-grown tomatoes and nectarines.

Today we washed the motorhome and the car. Don has become a believer, now that we've used Dri-Wash a few times. We only had to wet down the motorhome and dry it, and then used wet microfiber cloths on the car. Both vehicles now shine! (Even the wheels, Dennis!)

And to reward ourselves we went kayaking this afternoon. We found a ramp in Port Hadlock where we could put the boats in. We paddled around Port Townsend Bay, which is part of Puget Sound. It was the first time we've had the boats in salt water. And the first time we've been kayaking since last fall in Livingston Lake near Rainbow's End, Livingston, Texas.
From Chimicum

From Chimicum

We saw lots of interesting boats, and enjoyed a peaceful time on the water.
From Chimicum

From Chimicum

From Chimicum

From Chimicum

From Chimicum

I was intrigued by this house overlooking the bay. What a wonderful place to live! If I were to stop RVing and stay in one place, this place would certainly be a top choice.
From Chimicum

2 comments:

  1. We've not been to CHimicum,so were pleased to see the pictures. As you know, our park allows park trailers, not park models, and certainly not those that have any exterior decor at all! Loft models not allowed. That's okay, we like it, we love our own park trailer.

    Thanks for sharing your adventures. While we are off the road, our blogging friends keep us entertained!

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  2. Thanks for sharing the pics of Chimicum + others. And the kayaking looks like so much fun! C&J

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