We left from the RV park outside of Port Angeles this morning. Two options for heading west: Highway 101 (shorter and less curvy), or State Highway 112 (a bit longer). Looking at the map, it looks like 112 is more curvy, but it also looks like there will be views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean. Our destination for a couple nights is an RV park on an Indian reservation, just outside the western part of Olympic National Park, and right on the Pacific Coast.
Yeah, we took Hwy 112. Yep, it was curvy. Narrow in spots. It would have been big fun to ride on the scooters. In the motorhome... it wasn't bad.
We were out relatively early - the road looks good...
Is that fog?
The first view of the water today...
Yep, that's fog. It came and went as we cruised along the windy road...
On the bright side, there wasn't much traffic, so we were rarely holding anyone up while we lollygagged and gawked. It was a bit of work, with the hills and curves, but the motorhome did fine.
Look, more water...
Yeah, nevermind. Maybe we'll drive out of it as the road turns inland...
Maybe not. What's that? No, I don't think that river is pronounced "Pie Shit." (Pysht)
Notice that the GPS had lost the satellite signal - the trees are thick. Earlier, I mentioned that the traffic was light... yeah, except the logging trucks...
Full, coming at us; empty as they passed us. Yes, I made it easy for them to pass. They are working folks - we don't want to slow them down.
Once back on Hwy 101, we turned south and drove into the town of Forks. If you are into Twilight (vampire books and movies), and we aren't, you know that much of it is set in this town. We didn't know there is a Twilight "gathering" this weekend. Well, starting today. We stopped to get a bite (to eat - not from a vampire) before heading out to the coast... yep, there are plenty of "vampire hipsters" around town. Apparently, we can get a "vampire makeover"... yeah, I think I'll pass.
Some local folks have figured out how to make the town connection pay off.
From Forks, we went west - through a small slice of the Olympic National Park and onto the Quileute Indian Reservation to Oceanside Resort. We booked yesterday on-line... no ocean-facing sites available, but we do have a place to stay. I know we will be safe in our site - we saw this along this stretch of road...
Setting up, in the fog, with some diffused sunlight...
I could hear the waves, so I know we are close to the Pacific Ocean. Once we unhooked the cargo trailer and got the motorhome set up, Izzy came to the door to go outside... that lasted almost 8 seconds... "This isn't HOME!!" She wanted back in. I let her in and walked to the sound of the water.
I expected it to be a bluff overlooking the coast. Nope, there is a small bit of plantlife, then some HUGE driftwood, then the beach, then the water...
I think I can see one of those big rock formations, known as "sea stacks" or the Quileute Needle. I am hoping the fog lifts so we can see them. Heading back to the coach...
Joan asked, "What did you see?"
"Well, we are very close to the water. I know there are some sea stacks out there. Maybe later we can -"
"Look!" Yep, the fog was lifting - we made a quick dash to the beach. Oh, and it is a beach... soft sand. It has been over 5 months since I put my feet on a sandy beach (mostly rocky "beaches" in the San Juans"... but I digress. The sea stacks...
The fog came and went. And everything looks better with a pretty Blonde in front of it...
We walked down to the far end of the beach, and what looked like a jetty. Joan said, "That is the river just beyond that - I was looking at it on Google Earth." Sure enough - a fishing boat heading out beyond the jetties...
For some perspective - here is the same boat with one of the larger seastacks...
Behind the jetty, another fishing boat makes it way out...
Notice how calm the water is in that protected area. And here is a view of the marina back there...
Looking for a way to get to the road above, we walked back by some of the huge driftwood...
Again, for some perspective...
We climbed up the bank and walked by the school and marina. Looks like they had some damage here from the big wind storm we experienced a couple weeks ago.
Walking back to the motorhome, you can see the ocean and seastacks in the background...
Even though the Aspect is not high-profile, we are tall enough that we have a view of the water from our windows. Joan said, "It doesn't get much better than this: a view of the ocean, those cool seastacks, 65º and sunshine outside, 72º inside... and: good satellite TV (we didn't have that the last two nights because of the trees and mountains) and the best phone/internet signal we have ever seen (30 meg download speed on our wifi hotspot and 5 bars on the phone)!"
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A "Twilight Bus" came by while we were taking it all in... found out this beach is also prominently featured in the Twilight saga. For those in the know, it is the beach where Jacob shares some Quileute legends with Bella. (No, I have no idea who they are, I am just repeating what I read). It is also a local surfing hotspot.
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