Long Beach, Seaview WA 9/16/10 - 9/30/10

Another two weeks on the Washington Coast!

This time we are just across the Columbia River from Astoria, Oregon. This is our first time at Long Beach Preserve. It is just a few miles from Ocean Shores and Seaview, WA, and is on Long Beach Peninsula.

The park is pretty small, with lots of trees. I rains a lot in this part of Washington, but we had a few nice days of weather while we were here. There is a trail down to the beach that we were able to walk or ride our bikes on.

They tore down their clubhouse a year ago and are improvising with this little trailer. We went and watched a move there one night.

They have a really nice pool. It was actually warm enough to swim in, if you didn't get in the hot tub first! The weather was pretty cool--in the 60's--but we hit the hot tub several nights at about 9:00 pm and really enjoyed it It was pretty dark by that time and usually we were the only ones there. Sometimes the stars would be out and sometimes it would be kind of rainy or foggy.

The beach was very close by and we walked on it several times. I went ahead of Terry one day and walked over to this big hill. He stayed behind to look for treasures. Well, I found this lady's purse in the sand. It had been there a while and I noticed that it had a zippered pocket. I was hoping there would be a treasure in it, but it was empty.

Well, I used it to carry my collected seashells in. (The larger brown shells are razor clams that are supposed to taste really good.) I decided to lead Terry on a little. By the time I finished my story, he was convinced there was between $300 and $500 in the zippered pocket. He was really excited, until I finally told him the truth! I am sure he will get even with me!

We thoroughly enjoyed this park because of a wonderful paved path, Discovery Trail, that was about eight miles long. It even went on further on one end, but it was quite a climb and we never made it up the mountain side. Our park was right about in the middle of the trail--three miles one way and five miles the other.

The trail, on one end ,went along the beach and then into the woods. There were trees with leaves and also pine trees on further.

Just on the other side of this bridge there was a very steep hill. We make it up the hill to the highway, but didn't go any further. The trail ended up in the bay town of Ilwaco, where we went through several times on our way to shop and get mail in Astoria.

The other trail (5 miles one way) went the whole way along the beach, past the town of Seaview and to the other side of the town of Long Beach.

It was so nice to ride right along the beach. You could see the ocean most of the time, but sometimes the dunes and seagrass was too high.

When we got closer to Long Beach, there was a boardwalk that was up higher off the ground, so you could walk the 1/4 mile and see the ocean the whole time. We got off the bikes and walked it one day and then turned around and walked back to the bikes.

Along the bike trail there were these unusual bike racks. They would be kind of fun to have in the back yard!

There were several monuments to Lewis and Clark. This one is where they saw and caught their first sturgeon. The statues were all really nice.

This is where a road comes down and crosses over the trail and there is public beach access. There were some nice wind-blocked picnic areas. We saw people there quite often--lots of times flying kites. The wind is usually blowing. They allow vehicles on the beach. One day we saw a pretty good-sized motorhome parked down there. I went and asked the kid in it if he had dug a hole for his back tires to make it level, or if he was stuck! Well, he was waiting for the tow truck! He proceeded to tell me that "she" drove off of the hard sand where "she" shouldn't have! We saw "her" talking on a cell phone on the other side of the road. That is where she stayed the whole time the tow truck was getting them out. It looked like maybe there was a "little problem" there!

While we were at Long Beach, we came up with a brilliant idea to display our Scentsy bars when we sell them. We got peg board from Home Depot, who cut them just the size we wanted, and because they were scrap pieces they gave it to us for $.50! The peg board hangers were $.77 apiece and we needed about 80 of them, so we just used bolts and nuts as hangers. They turned out pretty good!

Then we bought an inexpensive little canopy to help protect from the rain (or sun, if needed) and had a couple of times we set up our wares at the resort. It was lots of fun and we met some really nice people. We even sold some Scentsy products!

One day we took off to look for some lighthouses. Here is the summit close to where the bike path crosses the highway. It would have been quite a climb to get there on our bikes. We did make it up about half way up one day, but decided we didn't want to hurt that much so we turned around!

We could see the bike trial in the grass down below us. Quite a view!

The first lighthouse we found was the North Head Lighthouse. It no longer has a lightkeeper because it is automatic. There is another lighthouse, Cape Disappointment, around the south end of the peninsula, on the mouth of the Columbia River.

After Cape Disappointment Lightstation was established in 1856 to mark the entrance to the Columbia River, mariners approaching the river from the north complained they could not see the light until they had nearly reached the river. Their cry for an additional lighthouse was supported by the many shipwrecks, which occurred along the Long Beach Peninsula, just north of the cape. It was lit for the first time on May 16, 1898. Since the light is only two miles north of Cape Disappointment, North Head needed a distinct signature. North Head shone a fixed white light, while Cape Disappointment alternated red and white flashes. North Head is one of the windiest places in the United States. On January 29, 1921, winds were clocked at 126 mph before the instrument blew away. They have frequently been measured at over 100 mph. Perhaps it was the wind, or the long gloomy winter that drove one keeper's wife to her death in 1923. Not being able to take it any more she committed suicide by flinging herself over the precipitous cliffs. On April 19, 1932, the ferocious winds forced a wild duck to fly out of control into the lantern room, crashing through the plate glass and taking out a chip of the lens. The light was automated in 1961 and the last keeper left on July 1, 1961.

So, there is some history I am sure you wanted to know!

At the lighthouse keepers' residence below the North Lighthouse, which are rented out for weekend stays now, we found this friendly porcupine. When I got too close, he backed towards me with all of his quills pointing out!

As we were driving along, we spotted Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. When we stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, we found the trail, and after quite a hike, made it to the lighthouse. There was a road leading up part way, but only the Coast Guard could travel on it. It was part of the hike for us.

The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse is still run by a members of the Coast Guard, and there are no tours given. This lighthouse helps prevent many ship wrecks at the mouth of the Columbia River. The lighthouse has continued to watch over the entrance of the Columbia River since it was first lit on October 15, 1856 .

It has a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.

We had a great time at the Long Beach Preserve. We met some nice Church members, at Church and in the park, and ended up going to a potluck dinner one night and I went to a Women's Conference with some of them in Astoria. We will look forward to going back some day.

Oceana, Ocean Shores WA 9/2/10 - 9/16/10

On to a park in western Washington and the Coast!

Yes, we are walking the beaches again! We love to be on the Coast, but I don't think we could live there--too much fog and rain. But it is sure fun to visit. We had typical coastal weather, mostly in the 60's, rainy, foggy, but with a little sunshine thrown in.

This park is another Leisure Time in the Thousand Trails System, called Oceana. It is on Grays Harbor, close to Ocean Shores, and the park is on the peninsula.

The park has only a few sites with sewer hookup, so we had to conserve on kitchen and bathroom water, but we made it the full two weeks and didn't have to dump our holding tanks. The park has a small clubhouse, but no pool or many other amenities.

There is a small laundry room, with two washers and two dryers. As we were carrying in our laundry in, another guest suggested that we could take down the tub and wash board if we needed it! Thank goodness I only had two loads of clothes.

On the peninsula, there are over 25 miles of fresh-water rivers and lakes. One of the rivers went right through the park. Someone said there were family of five otters that lived under the bridge, but we never got to see them.

The park is nice--small but with a lot of grassy spots. One whole side was down with electrical maintenance scheduled, so it didn't seem too crowded.

We parked quite close to the restroom and showers because we needed to use them a lot to keep from having to dump our holding tanks. It worked great!

There is a path that leads right down to the beach.

It was great and we did a lot of walking and looking for treasures. There were a lot of sand dollars, but they were all broken by the birds. We never did find a whole one.

The beach was close enough that we could hear the ocean sounds all night long. Sometimes it was so loud that it kind of sounded scary!

We did end up finding some pretty cool shells to add to our collection. We usually save them on our picnic table and then throw them away before we leave.

On the trail down to the beach there is a "finders' tree." It is a place to hang all of the treasures you find on the beach. There were already lots of things on it, from old sleeping bags to a toy truck. Terry found an old buoy and added it to the treasures.

One day we went for a drive and made the loop around the peninsula. There were lot of deer. They are darker than the ones in Idaho and they have black tails. You really have to watch out for them when you are driving on the roads.

The deer like to hang out in people's yards, like these are doing. We had some in our park and saw them quite often, but never got a picture of them.

We had several opportunities to put out our Scentsy products. The manager pretty much let me do what I wanted with it. So, we had a couple of open houses for it.

If the weather was bad, we would invite people to come into our Condo where we had the warmers displayed on the cupboards--

--and all of the scents to smell on the table. It was a fun way to meet and visit with people. We had a few couples who came and stayed for over an hour just visiting. We usually all trade "RV Cards" and will probably see them again somewhere along the road.

If the weather was nice, then we set the Scentsy warmers and scents outside, which was a really nice way to do it. I am not sure that too many parks will let us do it this way, but it was fun to get to do it here.

The day before we left we went we went towards Aberdeen, WA, to Lytle's Crab Shack. Someone had told us that they sold really good fresh seafood. They had a sign that said, "We shuck, you suck." Well, the lady there talked us into having our first "oyster shot." It is a raw oyster put into a shot glass (or a little paper cup if you don't want to buy the shot glass) with a little cocktail sauce (or hot sauce if you prefer) on it. You are supposed to just gulp it down and swallow it whole, but I wanted to taste it so I chewed mine. Terry thought it was pretty good, but I don't think I will try one again. We did buy some steamer clams to steam and some oysters to deep-fry (we also deep-fried some onions.) Terry liked both really well, but I preferred the clams. They were sooo good. I don't know why we hadn't tried them before, but I don't think it will be the last time!

Thunderbird, Monroe WA 8/19/10 - 9/2/10

We left Leavenworth and headed west to Monroe, WA. It was really a pretty drive. We thought Idaho had a lot of rivers and lakes, but I think Washington has more. There were rivers and lakes everywhere.

Thunderbird Resort is a Leisure Time Resort, which is one of the three parts of the Thousand Trail family--Thousand Trails, NACO, and Leisure time.

Thunderbird has a nice entrance at the Ranger station. There is a wood carving of two eagles on a nest with a large fish hanging from one of the eagle's claws.

The park is split on two sides of the highway. One side is right on the Skykomish River. But the sites along the river don't have sewer so we chose a site on the other side. It was one of very few sites left. The park was filled with soccer players and their families.

Needless to say, these great playgrounds, miniature golf and pools were filled with families. It kind of thinned out after the weekend, but lots of families came again the next weekend. There were quite a few activities for the kids, so it was great. They had water balloon tosses, pool volleyball, cupcake frosting, coloring contests, candybar bingo, and movies.

We caught a little time in the big swing set when there were no kids. The swing sets in most of the parks we have been in were not quite as heavy duty as these. They were great for adults too--if you didn't get sick to your stomach swinging like we do in our old age!

A stream came down through the park (from which they got all of the water for the park) so we had to cross a little bridge to get to the clubhouse, pools, and country store.

The clubhouse is a big red barn. I think that at one time it had been a real barn.

It was quite nice inside. They had activities and served meals in here on the weekend, but not much went on during the week. They allowed me to set up my Scentsy products both weekends we were there and we did pretty good.

The pools are beautiful. There is a family pool that was almost always busy, a wading pool for the little ones, an adult pool, and a hot tub.

There is also a little country store. They rented small little outside fireplaces--the only way you could have a fire outside. We didn't rent one, but it looked like a fun thing to do.

This is a picture of the clubhouse from across the road where the rest of the resort spaces are located.

That is also where the laundromat, office, and adult clubhouse are.

The Skykomish River is really pretty. You could tell there has been quite a bit of flooding because of the large trees left out in the middle in some areas. The river was quite low while we were there. This is a view from one of the sites on the river. Maybe it would have been worth it to stay on this side and not have sewer hook-ups!

Terry found some fishermen who told so many "fish stories" that he stayed and visited for about an hour while I went to do some laundry. One of the guys caught a big fish and was excited until Terry told him it was just an old sucker! The guy was disappointed and said he was going to take it home anyway and tell his wife it was a salmon. Later, we walked by their rig and they were sitting outside eating. Terry asked them how the salmon was! Everyone had a good laugh.

There was a nice laundry room. It only had three washers and three dryers, but I didn't have to wait too long for my turn.

Terry even got back from talking to the fishermen in time to help!

My brother, David, gave Terry this black powder pistol. He has been working several months on refinishing it and finally got it done while we were at Thunderbird. He did a good job!