Wednesday, October 19th, 2016 we crossed the border near the town of Blaine, Washington. The line up wasn’t overly long, but we got into a line that went quite slow. The officer at our crossing was being quite thorough and checking out the contents of people’s vehicles and we happened to be the only trailer in line. Dan and I thought this is going to take us awhile. He’ll likely look through the entire trailer and there will be lots of questions. There are scanners and cameras everywhere and by the time we reached the officer at his post, we figured we had been scanned and photographed and put through the data base. We were pleasantly surprised that after a couple of questions, (particularly if we knew how long we could stay in the United States), were answered and a quick walk through the trailer and a look in the refrigerator, we were on our way heading South on the I-5.
Shortly after crossing, we pulled into a rest stop to take a washroom break and have some lunch which was long overdue. Feeling refreshed and ready again, we headed towards Tulilip area that we thought we would stay overnight in the casino parking lot there. Yes, they allow that, it is dry camping but it’s free!
The area outside of the casino was amazingly beautiful with a giant sculpture of an Indian (and yes, I said Indian because in the U.S. they still use this term to refer to the original Natives) fishing in a stream (as seen here) and sculptures of Orca whales that appeared to be swimming as the water around them moved in a way to suggest they were swimming. The grounds were remarkable with vibrant colours, pathways, fountains, and small waterfalls. A very beautiful stop, but we thought maybe it was too early to stop traveling yet, so we got back into the truck and continued our journey.
We went down the 405 South to keep us from getting caught up in the bigger Seattle traffic, but campgrounds were scarce, few and far between. We ended up taking the I-90 East and the sun was setting quickly now. We stopped periodically along the way to see if the different campgrounds had a spot for us as we had not pre-booked for the night. One thing we learned through the Allstays.com App is most Casinos in Washington State do allow overnight parking for free as mentioned before.
By this time, it had started to rain again. We haven’t seen this many days of rain in a long time and while discussing with Dan, we seemed to both feel we have never been through so many continuous days of rain in our lives. I still see why my sister in Vancouver feels partial to staying in Vancouver taking the rain over snow any day! We have rain in Alberta but it’s not like this. It never lets up. I’m sure it’s just the time of year and being so close to the ocean, but it creates a dreary atmosphere and it would be tough to handle that day in and day out.
So, after driving what felt like for hours we got to the Snoqualmie Casino in the North Bend area off of I-90 East and parked alongside two large motorhomes who were also parking for the night. A lady from one of the motorhomes approached Dan to introduce herself briefly saying “I like to know who I am sleeping beside”. Dan and I thought that was really a great idea, it is nice to know especially when you are in a parking lot for the night with very few resources.
Using the Allstays.com App once again, Thursday, October 20, we located a couple of campgrounds nearer to Seattle in the Lake Sawyer area. One was full, but the other had room for us. We checked into Lake Sawyer Resort. Eileen at the counter, who is a very lovely and warm person, let us walk the grounds and look at a few available spaces and pick out the spot we would like. It cost $33.33 US per night with tax, giving us water and power hookups. Wifi was an extra charge of $1.95 US per day. We decided to spend four nights there. It is always nice to meet local residents of the areas you're visiting as they are a wealth of information. In all of our travels over the years we have always found this to be the best way to find out where to go and what to avoid.
Our days in Washington were disorganized and Dan was concerned about having technical abilities set up for us. He felt we needed a phone for making calls especially for booking campgrounds and getting local information. I totally agreed. There were a few things that we checked into regarding telephone and wifi, and it took hours out of our time in Washington, but that's going to have to be another blog!
On Friday, October 21, we had to go back to the Snoqualmie area and it was a day it wasn’t raining! We did what we had to do in the area and then we went over and had a look at the Snoqualmie Falls and did a little hike to look at the power plant. Since it had been raining so much lately, the Falls were almost at maximum waterfall capacity.
More information about the falls: Check out http://www.snoqualmiefalls.com and/or
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoqualmie_Falls
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Panoramic view of Snoqualmie Falls, North Bend area |
On Saturday, October 22, we decided to venture towards Seattle to the Museum of Flight located between Tukwila and Seattle. Dan is a lover of aviation of all kinds and going to this museum was like a child in a candy store. Wide eyed and smiling, he loved every minute of all the history and planes. I have learned through Dan’s sharing of his knowledge of aviation quite a bit about flying. In fact, sometimes I surprise myself that I know a little bit of aviation lingo too. We unfortunately bypassed the Boeing Factory that is outside of Everett when we first came into Washington. My bad, I read conflicting information and second guessed where it was located. We really wanted to go there, but then when we missed it, we decided to not go back. Way too much driving.
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| Outside the Museum of Flight, Washington |
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| Inside the Museum of Flight, tables are being set for a Flying School dinner, above, many planes hang from the ceiling. |
Dan and I thought long and hard about going into Seattle and doing all the regular sight seeing stuff, but then we didn’t feel we wanted to face the heavy congested traffic and the stress of finding our way around. We decided to forgo the trip into Seattle and look for an area of Washington to explore that would be a little off the normal path before going to Oregon.
We took Sunday, October 23 to just hang around Lake Sawyer campground. The lake is very tranquil and beautiful with many ducks and lily pads. We decided to go for brunch that morning and when we went to pull away, we discovered that our one tire was completely flat. So, Dan put on the spare tire and we dropped the tire off at a tire shop for repair. We finally had a nice brunch at 1:00 p.m. at IHop. We were famished! We spent the later part of the afternoon getting some laundry done. Dan got a call that the tire was ready and he went to get it and they put it on for him.
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| Piper watches the ducks on Lake Sawyer |
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| Lily Pads, Lake Sawyer |
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| Checking out the floating deck, Lake Sawyer |
On Monday, October 24, we pulled out of Lake Sawyer Resort and we headed for a resort called Friends Landing near Montesano located on Highway 12 West of Olympia (Washington’s capitol city). We chose this campsite for its location and also because it was very affordable at $22 per night (Good Sam member rate) regular $25 per night included water and power.There was wifi, but it was very basic and slow so didn’t allow for streaming movies. We took a stroll around the little lake there called Quigg Lake. The lake is freshwater but it's level fluctuates with the tide. (At night, we checked the level of the Lake and it was up to the top of the bank!) It was a beautiful and much needed walk after traveling all day.
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| Our spot at Lake Quigg, Friends Landing |
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| Checking out Lake Quigg |
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| Walking the path, Lake Quigg |
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| Piper and I pose on path, Lake Quigg |
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| Always reminded of Canada! Huge Maple leafs. |
Previous to going to Friends Landing we had picked up a “Washington State Scenic Byways and Road Trips” book. It was very informative as to things to see and what they were about. We decided since we wanted to take the coastline down through Oregon on Highway 101, we thought we should see what Washington had on its West Coast too before leaving it.
We took Tuesday, October 25 to drive the “Hidden Coast”. From Aberdeen, heading West on Highway 109 and continuing North on Highway 109, then taking the Moclips Highway East and hooking back onto Highway 101 South. What an amazing day! The weather was cooperating for the first time in about two weeks. Sunshine has been an extremely rare entity and thankfully on a day we would enjoy it the most, the sun shone bright. It was windy along the ocean, but still sunny!
Our first stop was Ocean Shores. Apparently this town was created from a vision of Pat Boone’s (singer/actor) in the mid 60s where every home and business was to be situated on the water, be it either the ocean or the canals that allow for ocean access. Dan, Piper and I went out on the ocean shore and ran among the waves and sand. Piper had such a great time. It was her first time putting her feet in the ocean and (whoops) drinking salty ocean water! She chased the gulls and frolicked like a small child. We drove a little further South through the town to a Jetty. Rocks were piled high building a wall to serve as more protection from the roaring sea. The wind was fierce and the waves were high. As we stood on the rocks the fresh ocean water misted us.
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| Piper's first ocean encounter |
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| Piper loves the beach and the wind! |
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| Having tons of fun! |
This community is very spaced out allowing for each home to have a view of the water. Deer were abundant and yards were designed with rocks, shells, drift wood, old nets, and even giant ropes from ships were strung as decoration over their decks. The community evokes a simple, laid back. stress-free lifestyle.
Our journey continued us North past Copalis Beach. We didn’t stop here but it is known as “Home of the Razor Clam”. The razor clam bed in this area is considered to be one of the largest in the world.
We continued North on Highway 109 to a small village called Seabrook. On the way up the hill to this little community, we took a picture of the trees on the hill that seem to have been sculpted in a leaning position by the relentless ocean wind.
Seabrook is amazing! We have never seen or experienced anything like this in our lives. Both of us felt like we had stepped onto the set of a movie similar to "Pleasantville". We parked the truck near a little street of shops and set out on foot. This little village beckons to be explored on foot. The houses are all so perfectly designed and placed boasting amazing colours and architecture. Each little street is connected with a walking path and as we followed we saw small cottages with a large fire pit site for everyone to share, an indoor swimming pool, a playground, 2 tennis courts, a pickle ball court, leading to a farm area called the Farm District. The Farm District looks to be a work in progress but already provides access to horseback riding, a large park area (Horseshoe Park) for special gatherings and weddings, an orchard, berry patch, community garden, and from reading the Seabrook WA Magazine 2016-2017, there are plans to expand the walking path system.
After exploring and taking in the amazing beauty of this quaint village, we made our way back over to the shops where we parked. Feeling hungry now, we spotted a ittle pizzeria called Frontager’s Pizza Co. on the corner of Meriweather Street. Being a gorgeous sun shining day, and we had Piper with us, we sat on the patio. I was extremely pleased that they were able to make a gluten free pizza for us. The pizza was just as amazing as the little village! Delicious! Dan really enjoyed it too. James, the Manager of Frontager’s was very kind to offer some travelling suggestions for us to see on our trip through the U.S.
Website: frontagerspizza.com
After eating, we thought we would check out the little shops, but unfortunately most of them were already closed for the day. I was smitten with this town already, but when I saw they also have a gym, Rusty Anchor Fitness, I fell in love!
Seabrook is a hidden gem and we promise ourselves to return someday. The area has much to be explored.
“…hiking trails, record-sized trees, haystack rocks, tidal pools, waterfalls, and historic lodges,…” (SeabrookWA Magazine 2016-2017).
Website: seabrookwa.com
Continuing a little further North, we then turned onto the Moclips Highway and then onto Highway 101 South back towards Aberdeen. We took a brief detour into Hoquiam to have a look at their local “castle”. Apparently they will give tours of the home if you pre-book. This home boasts over 10,000 square feet and was completed in 1900 overlooking the town of Hoquiam.
Website: hoquiamcastle.com
We returned to our little campsite at Friends Landing and had a campfire. The perfect way to end the perfect day…
Wednesday, October 26
Dan and I both felt very strongly about moving further South sooner than later as we really want to get where it is warmer and no rain would be nice for a while! Our goal is to explore things as we travel and if we find something we really like or there is lots to see in the area, we will stay longer.
We decided it was time to get into Oregon and start driving the coastline on Highway 101. Before leaving Washington though, we made a few stops along the way taking a bit of a scenic route through the “Cranberry Coast”, Highway 105 that wraps towards the Pacific Ocean and then makes its way back East a little to hook back onto Highway 101 to Astoria where we crossed over into Oregon State.
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| Westport Winery |
Next, we stopped in Westport. A fishing town offering salmon charters, a working marina, and surfing too. Our biggest reason to go was to see Washington’s tallest lighthouse, Grays Harbor Lighthouse at 107 feet tall, erected in 1897. We were able to walk up to the lighthouse, but it was not open on this particular day.
We were disappointed, but Dan says at least he got to touch it!
Website: http://www.westportmaritimemuseum.com/lighthouse-history/
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| Westport Marina |
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| Grays Harbor Lighthouse, Westport, WA |
It was still raining, (or raining again), so we traveled forward onto Highway 105 passing the Cranberry Museum and a small town called Tokeland. While we didn't drive into the town, I read in the “Washington State Scenic Byways and Road Trips” (pg 21) book that Tokeland was a former resort town and back in the 1890s there was a steamer ship that took passengers between Tokeland and South Bend. The original Hotel and Restaurant still stand and are historic.
We finally rounded one last corner and in front of us was the longest bridge gapping two shores that we have ever seen and then drove across! It was amazing! It took approximately five minutes to cross in total. This was our entrance into the North Oregon Coast into Astoria, and a grand one it was…
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