Last Fall when we were planning trips for this Summer, we scheduled a four-week break after our long-ish July trip to Vancouver Island. We thought we would want to have some at-home time after a busy few months at rallies and tooling around British Columbia.
But after a week or so at home, I realized… I didn’t want to wait an entire month. I wanted a short trip in there somewhere — just a few days.
We had a family meeting and decided it would be good, if we could snag a site somewhere. So I jumped onto washingtongoingtocamp.com (the State Parks’ reservation site) to see what might be out there, not too far away.
What I came up with was Scenic Beach State Park. It’s only an hour from home — a smallish park on the eastern shore of Hood Canal, our region’s best-known fjord. We used to live up that way and we remembered the park to be well-named — the view across the canal to the Olympic range of mountains is stunning. The campground is in the forest, but has nice sites. I found a pull-through that looked good and booked a three-night stay. No hookups, but the park has potable water and a dump station and we can do three days of 12-volt living without a lot of strain. We think.
Everyone on the team was pleased with the plan. But.
The weather had cooled down from our record heat of the last few weeks. Checking the forecast, however, we found that it has every intention of warming back up. Scenic Beach will be in the mid-eighties during our intended stay. Really, not too hot, but, yes, too hot for cairn terriers wearing fur coats. And, without hookups, no chance to use air conditioning.
Now it would only be “too hot” for a few hours each day. We would survive, using clever tricks like ice cubes and dips in the canal. But some team members indicated a willingness to forego the trip should the weather predictions fail to moderate. Oh.
So yesterday I was up my usual two hours before anyone else and I went back to the State Parks reservation site just to see if… maybe… there might be something available on the coast, where it is known to be cooler, if not depressingly foggy, this time of year. The site has a really good search tool, so I was able to zero in on parks that could accommodate our rig. Up popped our old friend, Grayland Beach State Park (we stayed there last winter during a warm spell). And, amazingly, a dune-front site was available for our little three-day window.
This is what Grayland Beach looked like in January. I’m thinking it hasn’t changed much.
Someone must have just cancelled a stay. You just can’t get these sites on short notice in the summertime unless that kind of luck comes your way.
Next thing to check: weather forecast for Grayland. Intellicast said, in so many words and pictures, “fifteen degrees cooler in the daytime, same as Scenic Beach at night.” Hmmmmm.
I booked the site in Sooz’s name. Then, later, when she awoke, we talked about it.
We’re still talking about it. We have a few days to decide. There’s a small cancellation fee for either site, but it’s the same. So we can choose. I say hold off for a few days to see how the forecast looks. She says it’s easier to plan clothing, and food, if you know whether you’re headed to the sandy ocean beach or the hilly, wooded forest with a view.
I guess that means we have to decide soon. Our choices:
- Wide, flat, sandy ocean beach, dunes, moderate temperatures. Two hours from home. Hookups. Good walking for physically challenged dogs and aging human beings. A very nice site in a very nice campground. But we were there six months ago.
- Camping in the woods just uphill from a rocky beach (not very accessible at high tide) with a ridiculous view. Maybe a little hot in the afternoon and early evening. No hookups.
I don’t think we can go wrong. What would you do?
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