After overwhelming encouragement, from readers like you, for visiting the coast instead of Hood Canal, Team Toto cruised out to Grayland Beach State Park on the central Washington coast. We’ve been there before, but it was January and this is Summer.
Note: there’s a town nearby called Grayland. There’s also a large body of water called Grays Harbor. And, while the skies are gray a lot here — it is the northwest, after all, and it is the coast — all these Grays in names of thing are due to a fellow who visited the area. Captain Robert Gray, an American sea captain, discovered harbors and rivers and probably some rocks, and all sorts of things got named after him. This was a long time ago, probably even before, say, The Beatles performing on the Ed Sullivan Show (for my niece: The Beatles was Paul McCartney’s old band. You can look up Sir Paul on the interwebs).
Upon the advice of readers like you, we took Toto to the beach. But NO BEACH WEATHER! Instead, warm sunshine. We even had to improvise additional sun protection.
Despite all the Gray labeling, the weather was decidedly blue. And just the right temperature, with just the right breeze. Our campsite, number 67, huddled just behind the dunes, was reasonably private and oh so close to the beach. Last January’s maze of puddles had evaporated, so the walk to the surf was over soft sand instead of 43-degree puddles.
As before, the facilities and the park staff were all exemplary. And, this time, Verizon covered us with 2 full bars of 4G goodness — we didn’t even use our Wilson Sleek (now re-branded WeBoost) cellular amplifier, which I am going to get around to installing someday.
It didn’t take long for us to shake off our 2.5-hour drive from home.
The terriers suggested an immediate stroll on the sands once we set up camp.
Back at camp, Wally settled down to keep watch. He loves this job. A few sites in our loop sported yurts instead of tent pads; you can see one of ’em back there.
No one sneaks up on this campsite. No one.
You may have noticed an informal addition to our awning. It really was that warm our first couple of evenings. Besides, we have to protect our youthful skin from all those Soltrons.
We needed a little extra shade at times, and this vintage towel was our inelegant solution. Note: the towel was a gift from Sooz’s employer in the mid 1980s. Can you guess who employed her? Can ya?
Okay, this is a little out of left field, but do you know what you can find in the town of Westport, Washington? I can name at least two things: gasoline and groceries. We acquired both. Note: next time, buy gas on the way home, in Aberdeen, and save thirty cents a gallon. Ooops.
Our second day we took the 15-minute drive up to Westport, a small town (but bigger than Grayland) with large commercial and sport-fishing fleets, plus a few tourist-oriented restaurants and shops. There’s a big lighthouse there, too, but hey, once you’ve seen one… yeah. I suppose you could say the same of marinas, but why would you?
A long breakwater, built to help form the marina, served as a local pub for gulls and pelicans. You can’t help but wonder what they’re thinking. The pelican looks depressed. Maybe just learned that Jon Stewart retired.
Aaaaand back to the beach.
This is where dogs that behave really well get to go. Who am I kidding? They get to go here anyway.
When Wally saw this gull he gained the strength of a St. Bernard, or perhaps a small horse. It was all I could do to hold him back, and I outweigh him by a good bit. I tried to distract him by thumbing through my field guide to see what kind of gull this was.
According to The Sibley Guide to Birds, gull identification should not be undertaken casually; this will lead to frustration and disappointment. However, I am fairly certain this gull is called Howard most of the time.
Can you believe I had to work while we were here? It’s a true fact. A client wanted me to write copy for a two-page flyer to promote a user conference. I live for this stuff. While I worked at the office/dinette/spare bedroom/TV room end of Toto, Sooz did some needlework and the boys napped. It took about 3.5 hours, and I’m feeling so very fortunate that I can do this sort of thing out here in the wilderness.
As long as the wilderness has Wi-Fi — or a cell tower.
Sharing is caring!
Following is daring.
Thanks for sharing. The terriers look terrific. Such a wonderful life for them (and you)! By the way, I love your style of writing!
Thanks, Val! Our boys are the center of our universe. Not sure if that’s good or not, but it’s true! We feel privileged to be their guardians, champions and playmates. I’m certain you feel the same about your furkids.
Is your WeBoost considered stronger than, say, a Verizon hot box? That is what we use, typically, but would like stronger cel reception,especially boondocking in the SW.
Checking out Scenic Beach State Park….I prefer somewhere with no strong cool winds, so…the berm at Grayland looks great. Several years ago, we stayed at Cape Disappointment, one of our favorites, and a couple opened a little restaurant in the park. Fabulous pizzas (I had toasted walnuts, pear and Gorgonzola cheese), chicken wings, sandwiches, créme brouleetc,., delivered right to your campsite while we were sitting by the fire. This was heaven. Don’t know if they are still there, but there is a wonderful asphalt path that goes for eight miles along the beach.
Well. I’m having trouble finding out exactly what a Verizon Hotbox is, but my answer here assumes it is a precursor of what Verizon now sells called Jetpack. That is, it’s a kind of wireless router to use for connecting laptops, tablets, smartphones to the Verizon 3g/4g network.
So, assuming that’s correct… the WeBoost — which merely amplifies a wireless signal — would work in conjunction with the Hotbox. You put the Hotbox in the WeBoost’s cradle, and you might go, say, from 1 bar to 3 bars. You can also just put a phone in the cradle, and use the phone as a hotspot. That’s what we do, for now. If we start taking longer trips we’ll probably go the direction you’ve gone and get a Verizon JetPack… which we’ll put in our WeBoost cradle when we’re in marginal areas.
First-world challenges, no? Yes.
Yes, the ‘hot box’ is actually a Jet Pack. Sorry. We have used the phone in lieu of the Jet Pack, at times. The Jet Pack costs $20/mo + data, and you can turn it on and off with a call to Verizon, but the off period extends your contract by that much.
Is there a service charge for WeBoost?
By the way, this June,, we bought some of the best King crab we’ve ever had at the little grocery store in Aberdeen. Just a FYI…
We are going to have to head back to the coast to sample all the new delights you’ve revealed.
The WeBoost devices are one-time-only purchases. They’re designed for cars and trucks and run on 12 volts (of course), and there’s no subscription or service fee involved. They’re just an electronic gadget. They work with any cellular carrier, not just Verizon. It’s worth noting that they will not pull in a signal where none is available; they won’t move you from “no service” to two bars. But they do strengthen a signal wherever there is one. In one spot we camped, we found our smartphones worked outside, but not inside, the trailer. WeBoost to the rescue… there was enough of a signal inside the trailer for the WeBoost to, uh, boost.
One more note: if you like a good deal, you can by a device called the Wilson Sleek for quite a bit less than the WeBoost. It’s the same device — WeBoost is just a new brand name and a cosmetic redesign of the same electronics from the same company (Wilson Electronics, which just rebranded as WeBoost). While they’re still out there, the Sleeks are a bargain — about $70 less than the comparable WeBoost. You can find both on Amazon.
Thanks for all the great info!