Copalis Beach WA

When I look for a campground in an area that I have never been I choose one that has good reviews,amnaties that I would like to have and of course the location.

The Dunes Beach Resort in Copalis Beach was our choice, it had full hookups,CTV , free WiFi ,the location was good and close to the beach,15$ for P.A Member.

But what we found was totally different than expected:

Sites are not leveled.

Sites are too close to each other.

Hookups on the wrong side.

Bathrooms dirty.

WiFi very weak and only by standing 3 feet from the office.

I wonder who added "RESORT" to the name and why???what does RESORT mean? Is there a pool, Jacuzzi or something extra ordinary that makes the park different from a "Regular" C.G? in anycase if this is a resort  I am a fly…

I don’t think I will be comming back , after 2 nights we left and got a refund on the 3rd night.

The beaches in the area are beautiful, you can drive ,ride a horse or walk as long as you can see,but it is windy and sometimes too much even in the end of July.

A day drive to Ocean Shores and Oyehut is the best thing one can do in the area or visit the local Casino that has a smell of an ashtray and is loaded with people sitting next to the machines hopping to hear coins drop.

Taking with us the positive things It was a short but altogether a pleasant visit to the area .

Raymond area

On our last stop in 2016 we meet Steve at a campground in Oregon, we had a great chat and exchanged e-mails, before each one headed on his own way Steve told me about his tree farm in Washington and invited me to come for a visit.

It seemed to be a very interesting stop as we never had a chance to visit a tree farm and learn about timber and harvesting trees and as a old Chinese guy says "the cards fall correctly into the deck".....we were on the way to Steve.

Steve and Becky showed us around the huge farm and explained us all about cutting trees down, collecting and transferring them to the mill, we learned so much interesting new things for us .

These meetings enrich our lives and we are so grateful to be meeting people like Steve and Becky.

Part of the grounds include a family gathering place they call "in the woods C.G" with toilets and showers ,it sure is a great place all together.

On the following day we took a day trip to the Coast.

Hwy 105 took us a small fascinating town by the name of Tokeland that held a wood fair to our delite.

Driving around in this small town close to the Ocean we meet people working on their house and some rentals, we got into a short conversation and departed shortly making new friends.

This is a place where the silence is very load..

Our next stop was to Westport on the South Bay, it has a big fishing port , many shops and restaurants mostly sea food.

We strolled along the long promenade had some ice-cream and purchased fresh Tuna straight from the fisherman that cut it for us on the boat and believe it or not the price was close to the price of apricots....

The weather was great and although it was Saturday there were no lines anywhere and it was easy to park, it sure is a great place to visit with or without kids and by the way fresh Tuna tastes fantastic.

Olympia WA

From Randel on the way to the coast we spent a day in Olympia the Capitol of Washington.

It is a very nice groomed small city with 51.000 population, beautiful parks, nice marina and down town area.

Every weekend the city holds a big farmers market with an attached free parking place, that sure makes things easier.

The Capitol building reminds the one in Washington DC, there are free tours few times a day and parking is not difficult to find.

The building dome can be seen almost from every spot around the city which gives the place more of an official place .

Although we have never met before we were lucky to be invited to park the 5W on a properly belonging to  internet friends , we spent some time with Julie while her husband was fighting fires in Oregon, what a great couple, more people like this and the world will be a better place.

Our freezer is full but standing in front of this fresh sea food place was too much for Shula ...Olympia like other towns along the ocean is a good place to get supplies of fresh sea food,lobsters,musels,different fish and crabs .

I am waiting to have on my plate….

Randle WA area

Today we planned to visit the North Side of Mount Helen the Hwy to Windy Ridge was closed due to maintenance and snow so we took a day trip in the area.

We stopped at Mineral a small old time mining community and today a good fishing place on the lake, RVers gather there as a tradition from April till the end of the season , the town also has the smallest Post Office in the U.S.A , but unfortunately it is not taken care off.

Elbe was our next stop , a small town on the crossroads of Hwy 7 and Hwy 706 that leads towards the East Entrance of Mount Rainer.

It is mostly a stop to get food, take a train ride with an old engine to Mineral or even take a "room" in one of the old train carts.

I liked the General Old Store that looked more as a museum where you can find ,tools,nails,fishing staff and chat with the friendly owner.

We had Lunch on the Train Restaurant (the one that is NOT moving) which we did not like , we made our way to Ashford, the last town before Mount Rainer and an exciting point for climbing mount Rainer groups. a very nice place with good coffee shops and great Icecream.

Here groups get trained by professionals that will escort them before climbing the Mountain.

On the way back we stopped at the Recycled Spirits of the Iron Sculpture Park created by Dan Klennert, it is a MUST stop, it is not only what Dan created but from what Dan created it.

unfortunately we did not have a chance to speak to Dan, maybe next time..

Here are examples of his fantastic work.

In case you want to visit here is the location:

State Route 706 on the way to Mt.Rainer N.P 3 miles East of Elbe WA.

As we made our way back "home" to Randle It was the best time of the day, the sun was settling down and the shadows were getting longer, I love these 2 hours or so before it gets dark, so we made a unplanned turn towards Lake Riffle at the sigh saying " boat lunch" , it cant be bad I thought and drove a mile down the road before hitting a closed gate and another sign saying "closed due to low level of water"...so we parked the truck at the gate and hiked another mile to the lake and what a good decision it was.

No a soul around, great views, gliders, and fantastic reflections, even an open clean pit toilet....

I love it when it works….