Ocean Shores

We're almost as far north and west as you can go in the lower 48 states, at Oceana Resort, in Grays Harbor County, southwest of the Olympic National Forest. Our campground is one of the Leisure Time Resorts, part of the Thousand Trails family, so we're staying here under our membership with no per-night charge. That will help our monthly average! We have several campground system memberships, and we haven't been using them nearly as much as we should to get our money's worth.

Our site is on the end, facing an open area bordered by tent sites and a playground that's very seldom used, so we're enjoying some elbow room in spite of the narrow RV sites and the fact that the park is almost full for the Labor Day weekend.

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The local general store stocks a few essentials, and has a colorful wood carving outside, but we're driving into the town of Ocean Shores about 5 miles, or Hoquiam/Aberdeen about 25 miles away, to buy groceries.

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We're on the north edge of Gray's Harbor, originally charted by Captain Robert Gray in 1792. This coastal, mostly rural, area is full of character(s), with a rich history of farming, fishing and the fur trade.

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We noticed several signs that were a bit different from other places we've been. Wonder what happened to the water at this beach? Isn't it on the ocean?

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The motel sign below reads "When sign is submerged we are closed." Dad and Son Sasquatch carry surfboards.

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We made some new friends, most of whom are members of S*M*A*R*T (Special Military Active Retired Travel Club), and are headed to the 2009 National Muster later this month in Lacey, WA, about 80 miles east of here. They invited us along, as well as to a pre-rally of the Nomads group. Don decided to re-instate his lapsed membership in the club, and we are planning to attend the rallies.

Here are our new friends. Lena and Bill are at the table with Don, after finishing a spaghetti dinner at our place on Thursday night.

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Al and Tryna, Bill and Mary sat at the other table. It was a little too cool to eat outside, and it's pretty easy to fit 8 into our motorhome, or more if we eat out of our laps or off of tray tables.

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Don and I visited the Westport Maritime Museum yesterday, on the south beach of Gray's Harbor.

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A separate building houses the first-order Fresnel lens from the Destruction Island Lighthouse. It's "considered the finest first-order lens display in the world." The lighthouse still exists, with an automated beacon installed in 1995; however, it was decided that the lighthouse was unnecessary and the light was turned off in April 2008. This and other lighthouses are described at www.lighthousefriends.com/

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We had lunch at the place recommended by a few people we met along the way, and enjoyed the best seafood we've found in the Pacific Northwest so far.

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Then we walked out on an active fishing pier to a gift shop. I'm sure glad I didn't have to back this big rig out on the narrow dock!

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Workers were unloading a couple of boats. Large flash-frozen salmon were being loaded into big shipping containers...

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...and shrimp were being moved from a smaller boat into bins, with a few spilled in the process.

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These park models for sale (called "Cottages" here) face the harbor.

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This condo building offered great views as well. An auction is scheduled, with minimum bid $295,000.

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There's even an RV park with great views of the harbor.

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This fisherman found his own private place to pursue the sport.

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Grays Harbor Light Station, Washington's tallest lighthouse (107' tall, 123' above sea level), has been in the same place since 1898. Although it was built only 400 feet from the water's edge, it's now over a mile away due to the addition of a jetty and build-up of sediment over the years. Yet, it's still an active guide to navigation, using a third-order Fresnel lens with two bull's-eyes.

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Don waited at the view site while I walked out to the lighthouse, but I declined to climb the 135 steps to the top.

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On the way home, we stopped at Brady's Oyster House to see their fresh catch.

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Afterward, we took Shadow for a walk to the beach. He kept looking back to make sure I was following.

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This 'sculpture' made of beachcomber's finds marks the path.

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At first, Shadow was reluctant to run free after Don took him off the leash. Maybe he remembered running wildly the first day we went to the beach, and how tired it made him later! After all, in dog years, he's almost as old as we are.

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He picked up the pace a bit when he found the wet sand.

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Today we visited the Ocean Shores Interpretive Center. It offers lots of interesting displays and explanations of the history of the area.

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Driving around the south end of the peninsula, we found lots of interesting houses, most of them having some way to view the ocean, either from a deck or windows or a top-floor belvedere. Many of them are for sale.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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In fact, there were 4 of them.

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There were nice homes for officers.

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And a couple of submarines that were also decommissioned.

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

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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.

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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.

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From Chimicum

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

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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.

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