31 July ‘07

Tuesday

We really enjoyed our stay with Leroy and Claudia and congratulate them on the beautiful new home that they have built for themselves in Long Beach.  Saying goodbye to them this morning was just like the many times in the past that we have said the same words to them.  It’s always great to see good friends and always sad to say “adieux” (sp?). 

Now we move 4 miles down the road to Ilwaco and pull the coach into the yard of my sister and brother-n-law, Danni and Con Everson. Last year when we visited with them we left the coach in Seattle for some warrantee work, but this year we have come complete with coach and toad…ready or not…  To give you a little reminder of their place it is located in a “Full Timers RV Court” with most of the rigs staying here either semi-permanently or permanently.  Theirs is permanent and sits on a great corner lot making up 2 lots in one.  It’s really done very well and I can see why they like it so much.  They are great hosts and have made us feel very welcome, brother or not. 

It is always great to get together with family and Louise and I have 2 great families to get together with.  The only problem we have is also one of the advantages…Louise and I are on the road so much that we only have a chance to see most of them once every or every other year if we’re lucky.  We’re looking forward to these next 3 days.

29 July ‘07

Sunday

The Long Beach Rodeo is in town this weekend and the four of us (Claudia, Louise, Leroy, and I ) were looking forward to attending.  Just about noon we arrived to see the young queens and their courts swinging their mounts through their paces with flags flying high.  This rodeo is just that, there are no carnival rides and just a few tents set up to offer you those many tempting food and drink items, but that’s OK.  The rodeo was what we came to see and rodeo we saw !!!  The pageantry at the beginning is always wonderful and especially when they present “Ole Glory”.  First on tap was the calf roping, followed by the barrel racing, team roping, bronc busting, and finally bull riding.  Lots of excitement from some very talented young adults.  I must admit, I would never have made it as a “cow boy”…it’s too tough and you can really get hurt doing that crazy stuff.  One of the crowd pleasers was when they brought in the very young on their horses to do their rendition of barrel racing…what a treat !!!  Some were as young as 3 years old (the horse being led around the barrels by mom) and others as old as 12. 

After dinner each night that we were with Leroy and Claudia we played -----.  It’s a card game that they taught us the first night we arrived.  We did have a blast, and I must admit we (the guys) beat the pants off the gals.  It wasn’t that they were inferior at playing cards but it was most likely that we just wanted “The Win” more !!! 

28 July ‘07

Saturday

The Hogs Have Arrived…  Ocean Shores is hosting the 2007 Harley Davidson Ocean Shores Run and the town is filling up with “Hogs”.  Yesterday we ran into town to watch the town and vendors get all set up.  Fact is, they even had some great entertainment for those of us that wanted to get an early start.  We’ve seen them on TV before but this is the first time that we’ve watched the flying bicycles in person.  It’s amazing how these young men and women get these little stunt bicycles flying so high into the air and then go into some twists and turns, release of the handle bars, or just lay out flat as they fly through the air.  It was very entertaining.   We looked into all the booths that were showing so many items related to motorcycling, and then there were the tattoo booths… In all the business that was conducted yesterday, the tattoo booths took in about 90 percent.  It was amazing.  Lou had set up for a haircut in the afternoon so we ran for lunch and then on to her appointment. 

Today (Saturday) we pulled up stakes and headed on down the coast to Long Beach.  Leroy and Claudia Ostrem offered their hospitality and a place to park the motor home.  It’s not always that we get such an invitation (actually we get a lot of them and wish we could get the time to take in all this great hospitality), so we were very happy to take it.  Last year when we were in the area, Leroy and Claudia were just about finished with the exterior construction and were starting with the interior.  Now it is finished and what a great job they have done.  Well I was going to show you a picture of a flying BMX bike, but i erased a lot of pictures from Ocean Shores...SORRY, but here instead and looking better than any-old BMX bike are Leroy and Claudia in their new home.

26 July ‘07

Thursday

Juzzz it’s nice to get up to sunshine !!!  I must admit I love to grab my coffee and head out the door.  We have our awning out, patio chairs and table in place, and now me and my cup of coffee…I love it.  Yesterday started out the same way.  We will be here until Saturday morning so Louise wanted to finish the laundry that she started last Monday and I wanted to wipe some of the dust that has found home on the vehicles prior to leaving.  Unfortunately a couple of the dryers at the campground were out of order so we decided to take the wet clothes into Ocean Shores and find a dryer there.  Across the street from the Laundromat was a Quickie Lube so I took this advantage and took the Tracker over for an oil and filter change.  It is amazing how fast the miles pile up from one oil change to the next.  Everything done for another couple of weeks and with our tummies growling we went looking for a new lunch experience.  It’s been a while since we’ve had pizza so finding Dugan’s Pizzeria fit the spot.  Walking through the door told us this was the right spot…it smelled like “real pizza” and lots of wonderful garlic…  There were 2 sizes to chose from and I wanted the larger 18 inch while Louise thought the smaller 12 would work out fine.  I, unfortunately, was wrong…  we had enough pizza for 10 of us.  I know, we could and did take the rest home, but that was really too much…So sorry Lou, you know best (I’ve just got to remember that).  A little later in the afternoon Jim Manolides called and wanted to come out, so about 4:30 he pulled up for a visit before we left the area.  Again, it was really good to see him and hear all about his travels and other adventures he has had since we last saw each other.  We’ll have to do it again. 

26 July ‘07

Thursday

It’s not often that we are out of bed and on the road before 8am, but today we were.  The forecast was a mix of sun and high clouds so to make this a sightseeing day just made sense.  First we had to get a full tank of gas in the toad and then it was off to Micky D’s for a quick Sausage Egg Mc Muffin…good travelin food.  Our goal today was to travel as far north up the Olympic Peninsula as possible, see as many sights as we can, and get back before dark.  We had wanted to get as far as Lake Ozette but soon found out it just wasn’t in the cards this time around (it’s always good to leave something behind so that you have something to come back for )     

We traveled about 60 miles up the coast and made our first stop at South Beach.  We drove the coast line for the first half hour before it turned inland.  About three quarter’s hour later we were traveling the tree lined coast road to South Beach.  Walking down the trail to the beach, through the tall fir and cedar trees, heavy ground cover of huge ferns, ended at the Quinault River as it flow into the Pacific Ocean.  Fortunately this time of year the river isn’t flowing at capacity so we were able to carefully cross it and find our way down to the log strewn and rocky beach.  The sand here is almost black, as are the small flat stones and the high rock pinnacles that dot the surf line.  Some of these pinnacles are as high as 30 feet that dot the surf and then there are those that are off shore that must be 3 to 4 times that.  We made 3 more stops further north until we ended up at La Push.  La Push is an Indian fishing village on a beautiful point that also enjoys having more of those off shore pinnacles to draw the photographers and tourists besides the sport fisherman.  Now it was time to head back, but not without a couple more incredible stops.  Just south of Forks we make a left turn and head into the deep woods of the Hoh Rain Forest.  We were lucky to be here on a sunny day, as they experience over 140 inches of rain a year, no wonder they call this a “rain forest”.  We seem to be a little lucky in visiting areas like this by coming “off or in-between seasons”.  Today wasn’t one of those days in the rain forest.  The parking lot was filled to the brim.  Fortunately we have a small toad so we found a “slot” to jockey into and we were set for our exploration.  They have a number of walking and hiking trails ranging from ¾ mile to 18 miles, so we decided after a short deliberation that we were going to take the 1 ½ mile Spruce Nature Trail.  After all, we had already hiked some of the Kalaloch and La Push trails and beaches all ready today, and we still had one more site to go to.  We really enjoyed the Spruce trail, but for me it came in second compared to the Quinault Rain Forest trails we had taken earlier this week.  Just 2 hours later we were looking for the worlds largest Red Cedar Tree.      

This ride took us south down 101 again and then it was a left turn, up a hill, going right and left, onto a dirt road for a 5 miles and then finding this HUGE Red Cedar all by its self.  The bark and most of the tree looked like it was dead, but at the top and some large branches near the top, there was enough green cedar foliage that you knew that this tree was indeed still doing very well. 

24 July ‘07

Tuesday

With the rain letting up a little, we braved it and ran for the toad…we’re getting out of here.  We didn’t have a destination but we were out and looking for just anything but staying home, looking out of the window and watching more of the rain.  I guess we were fed up with eating at home as well, as the first thing we did was look for a sea food restaurant.  I don’t know what took us into Mikes Sea-food and Market, but that’s were we stopped.  You know how you determine how good a restaurant is by the amount of people eating…well we couldn’t see inside to tell so we decided to “chance it”.  Rap one up for the “chancers”…it was really good, fact is we decided to return today as well.  Getting back to yesterday, after finishing lunch we drove the beaches all along the ocean side of the peninsula until we found just the right one to explore.  The sun was nicely warming while we walked the beach watching the surf crashing onto the sand.  The surf was so strong, because of the weather pattern we had just gone through, it sounded like the constant roll of thunder during one heck of a storm.  We really did enjoy the walk but all good things have to come to an end.  This end took us down the street to the movie theater.  We quickly looked over the marquee and made our choice…”HAIRSPRAY”.  Everything we had heard about Hairspray was true…it was really enjoyable and made you want to sing and dance through the isles of the theater.  After dancing out to the car I got to thinking about someone that I had heard was living here in Ocean Shores and as it would have it, was the bass player in the “Frantics” (the band that I was a part of while in high school).  Sitting there in the parking lot I picked up my cell phone and dialed Jim’s number.  The phone rang and rang before Jim Manolides picked it up and said “Hi Joel”…those damn phone ID’s…  Jim was just heading out to the casino to buy some of those ---- cigs so we decided to meet each other there in 20 minutes.  It had been 47 years (the best I can recollect) since I last saw him.  We were going to meet in the bar and I happened to get there first.  All the tables were filled when Jim walked in.  This guy with a full gray beard, wearing a wide brimmed hat, glasses, and looking a little older than the last time we saw each other walked right on by me.  When I called out to him as he walked by the second time all he could say was “where’s all your hair?”.              BALD !!!

21 July ‘07

Saturday

All right, we’ve just about had enough of this rain !!! 

You might say that it has kept us captive today.  We are in the middle of a down pour with the wind blowing it horizontal at times and we just don’t want to tough it out anymore.  It’s amazing just how high the humidity rises in the coach on a day like this.  If it keeps up we just might have to look at a dehumidifier to keep the coach from molding.  A couple of pluses that has made this palpable are the satellite TV and satellite Internet.  One thing I wasn’t aware of, is when the rain and wind hit the TV satellite dish it makes a mess of the signal and of course the TV itself…picky, picky, picky.   Bonnie and Doug Rohrer called yesterday and thought that they might want to come up and see us, but when I mentioned our weather…Doug tried to be diplomatic about it, but all of a sudden there were a lot of things that they had to do around their place…  Well, we’re here until the 30th so lets hope we have a couple of days left of good weather so that we can dry-out a little before heading off to our next camping experience.    Well, anyone ready for some Top Ramen ????

20 July ‘07

Friday

Gawd, 5 days of rain already and the weather report is saying another 3 or 4 more to come…  I know, just get the heck out of the coach and the rest will take care of its self.  Sometimes its easier said than done.  After lunch yesterday we put our raingear on and headed out to see some more of the northern coastline.  Its been ages since we made a drive up to Taholah, on the Quinault Indian Reservation.  Not much has changed.  The buildings are mostly the same as they were then, but the Quinault River running out into the ocean, the same but yet quite different.  It is a beautiful site watching the river rush out to the sea and then when the tides change come running back in.  When it comes back, the sea gulls are there to find their fill of small fry. From there we headed further north but still staying within the Quinault area.  Our destination was the Quinault Rain Forest in the Olympic National Forest which is on the south side of Lake Quinault.  The Rain Forest was absolutely amazing.

Our first stop was to see the largest and oldest Spruce tree in the WORLD.  I’d like to say that the sun had come out and the rain had left us, but that’s not quite the way it was.  It didn’t rain hard but when it did rain it was like walking through a fine shower mist that left you thankful that you had your gear on.  Our hike through the Rain Forest was cut short because of the wetness, but what we did hike and what we saw was great.  We are looking forward to a much milder and dryer climate when we get to the Hoh Rain Forest further north on our next outing.   

18 July ‘07

Wednesday

We left our campground at Hoodsport and arrived here at Ocean Shores Monday night.  The first night we parked at the Quinault Beach club Casino.  The first thing was to get the OK to camp on their parking lot and the second was to sign up for their “Club Card” and get all their free or discounted goodies.  We had a real good club sandwich in their restaurant and then back to the coach to set up.  We were about 200 yards off the shoreline so we decided to take a long walk up the beach and take in some of the clean air that can be found at seaside.  After dinner Louise took one of her coupons into the casino with $20 and they gave her another $10 to either gamble with or just take home as a winner.  She had another idea…$20 plus $10 is a perfect amount to compound into a fortune…ya, you bet…

Tuesday we moved down the street towards Ocean City and our new campground at Western Horizons “Ocean Shores RV Resort”.  We will be here for 2 weeks and hopefully be able to take in more of the Olympic National Park from this side. 

Yesterday it sprinkled off and on, but today…it was constant. 

The weather report isn’t looking too good for the rest of the week so we’ll just have to take it is and get out and enjoy it anyway.  

14 July ‘07

Saturday

The annual Wiener Family Picnic was today and we all had a great time.  Susan and Mark have their summer home just up the hill from this waterfront park and through their neighborhood association have full access to this wonderful private beach.  I didn’t keep tab on how many family members were able to make it, but we had a full beach.  Lots of conversation, food and drink kept all of us enjoying the day.  Louise and I took the kayak to the picnic and I would say that throughout the day it must have been under paddle by everyone there twice or more.  Great location and a great time for everyone…now what about next year ???