Sumas Washington to Rockaway Beach, Oregon

We leave Chilliwack on Oct 29 to head south for the winter.  The day is drizzly and cloudy so it’s definitely a sign to move on to warmer, sunnier skies.  A short 30 minute drive gets us to the border south of Abbotsford BC at Sumas Washington State.   It is a small border crossing with 4 lanes.  We are grilled by a young agent who asks the usual questions, and Chris explained that we plan to spend 6 months in the US before going to Vancouver Island to settle.  She apparently did not like this and actually said ‘why should I believe that you are going  to return to Canada and not stay in the US”.  Chris mentions wanting to be home for our health care. No sarcasm intended. So after a bunch more questions and answers she finally let us go.  How arrogant is that……   as if we would choose the US over our beautiful Canada.  No cannibis questions though (just legalized in Canada), hmm, must be our age…

 Fishing Pier
We drove a short distance the first day, just to settle back into the ‘towing a trailer’ thing again, and because we did not want to drive through Seattle our first day.    We stopped at a State Park called Kayak Point https://snohomishcountywa.gov/1082/CampsitesCampgrounds, on Posession Sound at Port Susan.  A large park with great facilities and it appears to be a popular fishing area as there is a long pier with crab pots and a fish gutting station.   There is also a long day beach area with 3 comfort stations and a great playground for kids.   There are even picnic shelters that can be reserved which would be great for summer BBQ’s by the beach.    The campground though is tiny with only one loop of 30 sites, but they are all private and wooded.  There is a path down to the beach from the campground which is a long set of stairs, but also a road for those with kids and lots of gear.   We stayed one night in site #29 for $28.  We had a nice fire and Chris grilled some shrimp for dinner on the fire.  YUM.  It was a quiet nights sleep with just the sound of nightlife and birds chirping us awake.

  After living in the trailer for 3 months now, Miko seems to be settling in to nomadic life.   We bought her a smaller carrier which she seems to like (it opens at the top as well which is easier for us) and it gives her more room on the back seats.  She still doesn’t like the driving, but she is very much at home in the trailer.  When we get to our site at the end of the day she is always eager to explore.

Oct 30 – We need to find a store today to get a “hotspot” device.  Our plan is to stay along the coast all the way to California because the Oregon coast is supposed to be beautiful.   It is the rainy season now, so we expect we will have much the same weather we’ve been having – cloud and drizzle, but a little mist and fog does have its own special kind of beauty, and it is warm enough.   Our route today means we will have to drive through Seattle and Tacoma.   On the way we stop at Everett and go to a large mall just off the hwy 5 and at the AT&T store we were able to find the hotspot device Chris had researched – a plan for $50 per month for 8gb on a prepaid plan.

Driving through Seattle was typical city driving, lots of traffic, trucks, bad drivers, etc. and parts of Hwy5 are nasty with bumps.  But, there is 4-5 lanes all along and signage is good.  All in all, going through both Seattle and Tacoma took about an hour, so not bad for city driving.  And Chris managed to get a snap of the Space Needle from the bridge, albeit from a distance.  The drive continues along Hwy 5 for a while then into Olympia (State Capital).  We drove into the city to get fuel – it is a pretty suburban city with boulevards and nice looking parks and schools, etc.. Not far from Seattle it is probably a commuter city.   From here, we can finally get onto quieter roads heading to the coast.   We haven’t booked anything so Chris has been checking the Allstays App.   4-5 hours driving each day is our plan.  We have a lot of time so we can relax and see things as we go.  With good reviews we stopped at Twin Harbors State park with a self check-in, but after driving through the park we discovered most of the sites closed for the season and none along the oceanfront.  Moving along – another 4 miles is a state park called Grayland Beach State Park in ‘you guessed it’ Grayland Washington.  Again a note at the office says to self check-in, so we drive in and discover a really well set up campground with just over 100 sites in 10 loops which is brilliant for privacy and makes backing in so much easier. The sites are all level on new asphalt.
Beach Access #4
 Salt Marsh
After a quick set up we walked a short trail to the beach.  It is low tide and the beach walk takes you through a salt marsh before getting to the beach. That in itself is quite fascinating – the grasses and marsh must house a wealth of wildlife species.  Along the beach in both directions you can see beach houses, and on the beach everywhere there are tire tracks – I’m sure dune buggy’s must be popular here.  What a great place for discovery this would be, but the tide is starting to come back in and dinner is calling.  I noticed tons of mushrooms in the marsh and forest areas and had read a sign at the office stating that it is mushroom harvesting season.  We are on site #91 and the cost is $35 for electric and water. Unfortunately the rain prevented any photo opportunities.

The nearby washroom is very clean, with 4 toilets and 2 showers (which could fit a family – tokens required).   Beef fajitas dinner tonight, again grilled on an open fire.  Night is very quiet and it is warm enough to leave the windows open a bit to hear the surf.  So peaceful….   even in busy summer, this campground -if you can get a reservation – would be great. Highly recommended.

Oct 31 – My usual favorite holiday.  It was nice stopping in the shops and seeing people in costume.

We drove today along Hwy 101 from Washington State and into Oregon.  The drive from Grayland is an easy drive along the coast to the the Oregon border where the Astoria Bridge takes you across, up, and over the wide Columbia river.  On a clear day it would be great views.
 Start of the long bridge/causeway
 The causeway ends at a steep uphill to the bridge on the Oregon side

Astoria appears to be a bustling town worth checking out another time.  A short drive away we stop in Warrenton to stock up.  This town has a good selection of large grocery and hardware stores, and even an outlet mall.  We discover a store called Fred Meyer which  is throughout Oregon.  They are a one-stop shop of grocery, household, hardware, and clothing.  They had everything we needed and more.  They even have gas.  We grabbed the points card which will give us discount on grocery and gas.  Continuing on, we head to Cannon Beach RV Park which has really good reviews and all the amenities one could want.  It is a real RV resort.  This drive along Hwy 101 is a real mix of coastal villages, and forest areas of some elevation.  The highway is not in great shape for the 55 speed limit recommended, and it rains most of the way which doesn’t help. In better weather it would offer nice views though.  At Cannon beach we pass by and realized the RV park is across the Hwy from the ocean, so we move on.

The next RV resort a little way on is Shorewood RV Park which is oceanside.  We pull in and book a site for 3 nights which will give us a chance to explore the area a bit before moving on.   The beach access is a short walk down the lane. We have site #88 at the end of a lane and no neighbour, nice and private.  The park is off the hwy so it is quiet.  Full hookup and a small grassy area for Miko for $47 per night.  A bit steep $$ but the wifi is really good and you can’t beat the location.

http://www.shorewoodrvpark.com/
 Our site
 Rockaway Beach
 Twin Rocks Arch – Rockaway Beach

Haystack Rock – Cannon Beach

It rained (poured) all night and it is like tent camping in that regard – you can really hear the raindrops on the trailer.  At some point it woke me, and of course in the gloomy morning, I didn’t want to get up, so after a lie in, we decided just to take a nice walk into town along the beach.  a 30 minute walk to Rockaway beach.  We had to take our shoes off a few times to wade through rivulets.  The village was very quiet being off season.  There is a mix of beach rentals, a newer condo complex, a smattering of restaurants (Mexican, Smokehouse, Pizza,) a laundromat, post office, and a small grocery, etc. It seems to have everything you would need for a longer stay.  The focal point would have to be the rock in the ocean.   The storms must be something to watch here.  It is full on ocean.