VW ADVENTURES

With the sun out and NO WIND, and discovering how close we actually are to the ocean, we have a better appreciation of this location and campground and can understand how visitors are drawn to it.  We are a bit resistant to leave, but we pack up and prepare for a day of driving on up the Washington coast.

Yesterday on the way to the campground, we had noticed a Lewis and Clark monument but we were so cold and tired of the wind, we didn’t feel like stopping to investigate. Now, with this beautiful day, we are more eager to stop and check it out.  A reproduction of a diary entry on a plaque is mounted underneath a fascinating relief depicting the expedition’s first sighting of the Pacific Ocean.

The wind howled all night, shaking the bus and tent so much we fear it will rip the mounts out of the roof.  We even consider again taking the tent down in the dark. Of course things were set up in the tent area: table, chairs, stove, storage tub, etc. that will also have to be stored or else some of it might (might? probably–most definitely!) blow away! We snuggle under our Pendleton blanket and finally fall asleep to the roar of the wind.

Waking up to cold (50’F outside and 56’F inside) it seems the wind has let up and stopped beating us around, although it sounds as though it is still blowing in the tops of the trees.

The sun is shining when we finally venture out. Still chilly even with the sun shine and wisps of fog or clouds drifting past, which seems incongruous with the sound of wind. We have some tea and greens, make the bed etc, then walk through the campground in search of the beach. It is a lot closer than we anticipate and walking past a couple of campsites and through more driftwood, we are surprised to step into a wide expanse of beach with waves breaking playfully on the shore. Once there, we laugh at ourselves, realizing that some of what we think is the roaring of the wind is actually waves crashing on the beach. This morning is calm.

Brrrrr…. we are cold with the wind whipping our tent. Our main goal is to stay warm. But first we need to get supper cooked and eaten. Even with the cold and wind we are looking forward to our dinner of fresh prawns finished off with those little ‘fishy’ cookies we bought in Astoria. The tent keeps us protected so cooking is easy except for being bundled up! The prawns are delicious cooked with Cajun seasoning and some veggies. After cleaning up from cooking, we snuggle into our cozy little camper with the wind ripping at our tent and enjoy hot tea with our cookies and wonder if we will get any sleep tonight.  The wind is wild ripping at the tent and we consider taking it down. We trust that Volkswagens are build sturdy and besides, we are much warmer with the tent up, so we settle in

It is also still very chilly with the wind blowing off the ocean, and we can barely enjoy the classic intrigue. We decide to head back to our camp site and get set up & have dinner before the sun sets. While we were out and about, a large group of fellow campers had set up camp at the Yurt next to our site. They had drug the picnic table from our campsite over to theirs, assuming, we suppose, or perhaps just hoping, that no one was or would be camping in our site.  While we are getting the VW Microbus level on the parking space and beginning to set up camp, the neighbors bring the table back. Apparently they do not speak much English as they are using sign language and making friendly gestures of apology.  At first we are a bit perturbed that they just helped themselves to our table, but with their immediate return of the table and their genuinely friendly attempts to apologize – we realize it is not a big deal. And besides, with the wind blowing so hard — it seems stronger than ever, and colder as the sun is setting, we decided we will not be using the table anyway. So we attempt our own gestures of friendship to communicate that they are welcome to the table after all! They seem appreciative and don’t hesitate to drag it back, putting it to use immediately.

Before driving into the campground, we get out and explore a little around the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. A sidewalk made of narrow slabs of concrete, depicts the journey of Lewis & Clark with inscriptions taken from notes of their diaries, beginning with the expedition’s starting point in St Louis.  Each inscription describes the latitude & longitude, how far they had traveled from the previous point of each diary entry, and the overall distance from St Louis.  It is really interesting, especially when some of the references are places we have actually visited. Curious where it leads to, we follow the sidewalk which is lined with large pieces of bleached driftwood.

Brrrrrr.. We are getting cold at Cape Disappointment Campground! The sun is shining but with the wind whipping up, we are barely comfortable with our shirts and shorts on.  Being Arizonians, we resist wearing long pants, preferring shorts! But this is just too uncomfortable and we decide it is time for long pants.  However, there is only ONE pair of jeans in the cupboard! After one of us tries them on, it is apparent that Tommy’s jeans never got packed! We are going back into Ilwaco to buy fish for dinner, so we will now also look for a store where Tommy might find some long pants. We don’t know how much more cold weather we will have to live through! And we thought our warm Pendleton Blanket was enough but that was just for cool nights.

Ilwaco is the perfect picturesque fishing village. http://www.ilwacowashington.com/ and the drive back into town provides that picturesque view. We find a cute little fish market with a clerk right out of ‘central casting’ and feel as if we have stepped into a movie set! She is ‘weathered’ and reserved but politely helpful with our queries-of the varieties of fish available in the case and of a place we might find jeans for Tommy. We decide on some gorgeous fat prawns for dinner and she offers vague directions to a dry goods store further up the peninsula in Long Beach. “The Dennis Company” is a huge hardware type place with everything but groceries. Tommy is happy to find some jeans that are comfortable and wears them out of the store! We continue driving up to Ocean city, exploring the peninsula but it isn’t much fun as we can’t see the ocean at all along the drive. We find one street that goes out to a beach. The wind is so raw that we drive out and look at the ocean from the car, then drive back down the peninsula to the camp. Even the seagulls are huddled on the ground!