Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Around Washington and Down to Oregon

Another catchup post brings us to South Beach Olympic National Park Campground. This campground serves as a sort of overflow campground to nearby Kalaloch campground. We think it is better as all sites overlook the ocean. We first tried to park at one of the sites immediately overlooking the beach but it was not level at all. We decided to park at one in the next row up but as Joe drove around to get to the spot I noticed he had stopped at the other end. I at first thought something was wrong but found out he was parked in our new perfect spot that someone had just left. What good luck. We are right overlooking the beach with a nice short path that goes to the sand below.

 

 

 

As this campground is first come first serve we are set up for Labor Day weekend or so we thought. More on that development later. Before we left Lake Quinault, we drove 45 minutes south to Aberdeen to do some grocery shopping. A lot of the small towns on the Washington Coast don't have much in the way of grocery stores, mostly just small food marts you see at gas stations. So we are set for the week. The beach is a great one for walking with all the drift wood over the beach, including some large trees. Savannah was so happy to be off leash and started running around with a happy look on her face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This looks like someone made a little shelter out of some of the driftwood.

 

But Wait!! Take a look at this "cabin" created by some ambitious builders.

 

Check out the window and bench in front of the cabin. Even the inside was decorated. A drink anyone?

 

While we were busy checking this out, Savannah decided to continue her walk by herself. I had to chase her down as she would look back at me and continue on. She is becoming like Terra, wandering off on her own. Well i finally got close enough to tell her to sit and she did. Back on the leash for now.

 

 

On the way back, we saw some fishermen and they were actually catching some fish.

 

 

We had two great days then our good luck ran out. First we were having a problem with our refrigerator that would just stop running. It looked like we were going to have to take the motorhome in to a repair place. It did start working again but we had another problem. After a couple of nice, cool but nice days, the rains came. And came, including inside our motorhome. We had a problem with a leak on the driver's side near the front before but thought it had been fixed. It was worse than ever. We had towels and plastic over the steering wheel and front area as it was leaking in several spots. As rain was forecasted for the next few days, we sadly decided to leave our beautiful site. We stopped at a repair place where Joe got some caulking material for the roof. The refrig is working okay now and the repairperson gave us some info on what was wrong and what to do if it stops working again. We spent one night at a Casino and called an Escapees Park that is in the Port Townsend area and found out they have some boondocking spots available for the weekend. That was a relief. It is only $5 a night so a good deal. It is a nice park, all on one level but surround by trees. Very pretty. This park, unlike Jojoba has a lot of park model units, not just motorhomes and fifth wheels. Some are very nice.

 

 

 

We met one gentleman who has a place in Jojoba. In fact, he is one of the original Jojobans who helped built the park. He is also the main chef in charge of the different events in the park that involve food. And Escapees are famous for their love of food I am told. We left on the Tuesday after Labor Day and headed south back into Oregon, trying to get away from the rain. We spent a few days at Clackamette RV Park, in Oregon City, near Portland. It is a nice city park right on the Willamette River.

 

 

 

 

Savannah found a nice spot to sit and watch people and boats go by.

 

We went into Portland to do some shopping including a Trader Joe fix. We haven't been doing anything real exciting lately, just enjoying the great views. We spent a few days at Lake Emigrant in Ashland. This is another campground we have been to before and is one we could have stayed at longer. Last time we were here it was really cold. In fact, we woke up one morning to snow on the hills. This time it is very warm, in the 90's. However our spot has two trees and so with shade and a slight wind, it was very pleasant to sit outside reading and enjoying the view of the lake.

 

 

The water is down here as you can see by one of the piers in the picture below.

 

We were shocked when we left and drove through the Lake Shasta area. The water level was way way down. Anyway, we are now back in California headed to one of our favorite spots, Avila Beach.