La Push, WA
Monday, October 7
Up early to check out the tide pools at Salt Creek Recreation Area in Port Angeles, Washington. We arrived here yesterday afternoon and spent a few hours exploring the rocky shore searching for sea cucumbers, anemone, and mussels. It was so neat! Low tide was at 6:30am this morning, so Andi and I decided we’d wake Tory and Aden up early and visit another spot on Tongue Point. Were we crazy for waking our kids up to hunt for sea creatures? Maybe.
It rained during the night and was still raining this morning, so we bundled up in warm sweatshirts, raincoats, stocking hats, and Bogs & walked through the campground down to the waterfront.
Washington is so dramatic! I can’t get enough of it. Look at all these beautiful grays.
We were down on the beach by 7:15am at first light. The rain stopped long enough for us to walk along the water and searching for sea life. The terrain was more rocky in this section of the park and slippery because the rocks were wet. We didn’t see as many creatures in the tide pools, but it was exhilarating nonetheless to be outside in the early morning exploring nature with the whole place to ourselves.
The four of us returned to the RV around 9:00am and made breakfast. Andi and I decided to hit the road toward our next destination — the town of Forks, Washington — and find a spot along the way with better internet to do school with the kids. After we finished eating breakfast, Andi unhooked the RV from power and I stored everything inside that needed to be put away for a day of travel.
The drive from Salt Creek Recreation Area, around Lake Crescent, over to the western coastline of Olympic National Park was a beautiful curvy road through the forest. It was a good thing, too, because navigating there was a challenge. Part of the highway was closed for construction and Google Maps was having a hard time re-directing us to Forks. Andi our fearless leader, who has navigated us over 3,450 miles thus far on this trip, worked his map magic and found a way there.
We finally made it to Forks (yep, the actual town where author Stephenie Meyer based her Twilight saga novels) and parked the RV at ACE Hardware so Andi could do some shopping and Tory and I could do school in the parking lot. Aden said he didn’t feel very well, so he laid down on the bed in the back.
About 15 minutes after he left, Andi returned to the RV with a woman dressed head-to-toe in bright yellow rain gear. She looked miserable! Apparently, she and her husband were biking all the way from Vancouver, Canada to San Francisco, California and camping along the way. They were broke down in the parking lot of ACE Hardware, one of their bikes had a flat tire, and they were sopping wet from camping overnight in the rain. Andi felt sorry for them, so he offered the couple some hot coffee and to refill their water bottles. Tory and Aden were completely freaked out that Andi had brought a stranger into the RV! They both cowered on the bed in the back of the RV and kept whispering, “Who IS that?” to each other. Afterward, Andi and I explained to the kids how important it is to help people — all people, even strangers — when they are in need. A hot cup of coffee wasn’t much, but it probably helped make their morning a little brighter.
Andi returned from his shopping trip in ACE with some warmer sweatpants for Tory (she’s been complaining her legs are cold when we’re biking around), a fuzzy blanket for Aden and a few groceries. After we cruised around the town of Forks, we hit the road for the nearby town of La Push where we planned to camp for the night.
La Push, Washington is a small unincorporated town located right on the Pacific Ocean and surrounded by Olympic National Park. The town itself was pretty dumpy, but the beaches were absolutely stunning!
Admittedly, I was a little hesitant to camp here overnight. It was like a ghost town — there were cars parked around buildings but not a person in sight. The beaches were empty and the sky was a moody, misty gray. I just got an eery feeling about it and suggested to Andi that we go back into Forks and find somewhere else to stay. “It will be fine,” he said. The employee working inside Quileute Campground was very professional.
We found our assigned campsite and setup the RV. We had a beautiful view of the ocean before us. Tory and Aden tore off for the beach as soon as we were settled, and I followed behind with the camera. They had a blast running up and down the shore, splashing in the water and collecting rocks. Huge pieces of driftwood littered the beach.
Of course, Aden was all wet by the end. It was misting rain but it wasn’t really that cold — temperatures were in the mid 50’s.
After we played outside, the kids and I came back into the RV to write postcards while Andi went to take a shower in the campground shower house. Upon his return, he reported it was a verrry long walk there and back and the showers were cold. Not recommended.
We made sloppy joes with salad for dinner and watched episodes of Cake Boss on Netflix. It was rainy and windy all night and shook the RV something fierce, but we could hear the waves crashing outside our window. Not a bad ending to an unexpectedly awesome day in the OP.
