More from Cape Disappointment

I've been lax with my blog posts for two reasons--lack of internet service and rain.  The rain means that I don't have very many pictures to post.  The lack of internet is bearable because we have found three places in town (Long Beach, WA) that offer a good, free WIFI connection (McDonalds, Hungry Harbor Cafe, and Lost Roo Restaurant).  I can also go to the jetty or the boat dock at Cape Disappointment State Park and connect to the internet using my cell phone. 

A morning view from the boat dock

I've realized that as much as I miss having constant internet available, I've become too dependent on checking my email and reading blogs several times a day.  It's kind of liberating to check just once a day. 

One of the tsumani warning signs at Cape Disappointment State Park 

I spent the weekend in Long Beach while Dave made a quick trip home.  The motorhome was parked at Sand Castle RV Park which isn't much of a park, but it is located within walking distance to town, and offers free wifi along with full hookups.  The neighboring RV on our left was very close, but no one was parked on our right side, so we had some breathing room over there.

The drive into the state park

We are back at the state park now and I'm enjoying our last few days here.  On Thursday morning we leave to go visit Jonathan and celebrate his birthday with him on Friday.  We'll get to see his new apartment, the first one he's ever lived in all by himself.

One of the views in the park

Today's rain wasn't quite as annoying as yesterday when it rained all day long.  Today we had some sun breaks in between the rain showers.  Boy, that sun feels good when it's out! 

We're still waiting for news about the birth of our granddaughter, but so far it looks like we will be home in time for the good news!

Cape Disappointment

We get teased when we tell people that we are going to Cape Disappointment.  They say, how could you go to a place with that name?  Well, other people must agree with us, because the full-hookup loops of this park are almost full.  Rain, wind, chilly weather--they don't stop people from camping at this Washington State Park. 

My view of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse while connected to the internet at North Jetty.

The lack of cell signal almost stopped us this time, especially since we are waiting for that oh-so-important call about the birth of our first granddaughter.  If we are willing to drive to where there's a signal, we can still get calls, emails, and read blogs.  So it's not too much of a disappointment to stay at this park.  We'll be here for a couple of weeks.  We're using our senior off-season discount, so the cost is only $6 per night.

Waves and driftwood

Driftwood at Cape Disappointment's Waikiki Beach

On our 3 to 3.5 hour drive from home to Ilwaco, WA, where Cape Disappointment State Park is located, we usually stop half-way at a deer viewing area.  We have never, ever seen deer there!

A Musical Weekend

While we were at Cape Disappointment State Park last week, I was surprised to see how many of the yurts were rented.  I snapped some pictures of some of the empty ones.

This yurt is located near the tsunami warning siren.

 

We've never been to this park when the siren has gone off. 

One of the reasons for camping at this park was to attend the 26th annual Water Music Festival in Ilwaco, which is always held the third weekend in October.  The concerts were held at two venues, Hilltop Auditorium which is part of the high school, and the Inn at Harbour Village, a historic chapel turned into a bed and breakfast and event center.  In 1928, this was a Presbyterian church.  It was fully renovated and now offers ten guest rooms and a venue for weddings, concerts, etc.

I attended all five concerts, which featured everything from "baroque to ballads, and beyond".  I am already looking forward to attending this festival again next October.  In the meantime, the group is offering a "Tuba Christmas" concert in December which sounds like a lot of fun. 

A Rainy Day

This morning we planned to go for a bike ride, but when we stepped outside the motorhome, it had begun raining a fine mist.  We changed our plans to a walk around the campground.  As we walked, the mist turned heavier, almost looking like snow.  It wasn't snowing and the temperature was in the high fifties but we got quite wet by the time we got back. 

We went out on a couple of errands and then came back and had a quiet afternoon inside.  Around 5 pm, the rain had stopped and the sites were starting to dry up.  The sun tried to come out but didn't quite make it.  We took advantage of the dry weather and went on the same walk we took this morning in the rain.

The Cape Disappointment campgrounds are arranged in loops, with ten sites in each loop.  This picture is looking towards the back loop.  There isn't much fall color here yet. 

Each loop has trees in the middle of the loop.  Children like to play and hide in the trees.

How would you like to tow this little Smart Car? I wonder why it carries two spare tires?  The vehicle towing it was a small Winnebago View.

Friday morning Dave will head back to Vancouver to referee a high school varsity football game and two youth football games on Saturday.  I will attend the first concert of this weekend's Water Music Festival in Ilwaco.   A chamber ensemble will perform "Mozart's Magic Flutes".

Back to the Beach

Dave was able to leave his football officiating duties for a few days in order to come with me to Cape Disappointment State Park.  We were here in August for the kite festival.  Things are cooler and quieter here this time of the year, but many of the full-hookup sites are filled even though it is midweek.

We happened to be walking at high tide.

Part of the reason that there are so many people here is that seniors (62 and over) can get an off-season pass which is good from October through most of April.  We paid $50 for the pass and can camp for free at any state park standard site and for $6 for a full or partial hookup site, which we have at this park, including 50 amp power.  Dave turned 62 last month, so this is the first time we've had a chance to use this valuable pass.

Site #1

This time we have site #1, and we can get better internet at this site than we could get in August at site 11.  Using our "Smooth Talker" cell phone signal booster, we can get 2-3 bars of Verizon signal instead of no bars without the booster.   We turned on tethering on my cell phone and Dave's phone always has tethering, so we can use both use the internet at the same time.  If a park has free wifi we use it, but this state park does not have wifi. 

We hope this bird wasn't injured, but we were able to get very close to it which was unusual.

After we arrived yesterday, we went for a long walk on the beach.  Today we went on a day trip to Ocean Shores, Washington, which is 97 miles north of here.  We are going to stay at the state park there in November and wanted to check out their sites. 

Driftwood

Footprints in the sand

A church we saw on our walk in Ocean Shores

North Jetty

The last few times we have visited Cape Disappointment State Park, the end of North Jetty has been closed because the river is being dredged in order to deepen the shipping passage.

This time we were able to see the dredge doing its work.  

A closer view of the dredge ship.

We couldn’t walk all the way to the south end of the beach because of the work going on at the jetty.

This area, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean is such an interesting area.  We never get tired of exploring here.

Cormorants

When we are this close to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, we can see that it needs a paint job!

Cape Disappointment’s other lighthouse is North Head, which is visible from Benson Beach at the campground. 

Battery Harvey Allen

Welcome to my new blog followers, Freely Living Life.

On Sunday we visited the battery Harvey Allen at the former Fort Canby at Cape Disappointment.  Now there’s a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at the site of Battery Harvey Allen. 

Battery Harvey Allen at Fort Canby

 One of the former gun mounts

The remains of “Big Betsy”, a 15-inch Rodman gun

One of the interior rooms at the battery

Sunset over the Pacific

Our stay here at Cape Disappointment State Park is coming to end.  Beginning in October, we will be able to begin using our off-season senior resident’s pass, which allows us to camp for free at any Washington state park if there are no hookups and for $6/night for full hookups.  What a deal!  We will be back, maybe in October for the Water Music Festival, a weekend of classical music.

Saturday at Cape Disappointment State Park

View of the Pacific Ocean from Beard’s Hollow Overlook  

Since we visited Cape Disappointment State Park in April, a new Beard’s Hollow overlook has been built along the road into the park.

Beard’s Hollow is named for Captain Edward Beard, the commander of the Vandalia.  In January, 1853, his ship was sighted sailing nearby with no sign of trouble.  One week later, the Vandalia washed ashore near McKenzie Head.  The captain’s body was found in this inlet.  No one survived to tell the story, but many attribute the loss of the Vandalia to the treacherous conditions at the mouth of the Columbia River.  Many ships have been lost in this area, which is how it got it’s name, Cape Disappointment.

Dave at the Beard’s Hollow Overlook

There’s nothing disappointing about the park, though, and this weekend was one of the busiest summer weekends.  Many people were enjoying the park’s Waikiki Beach.  Unlike its better known cousin in Hawaii, this Waikiki is full of driftwood.

Waikiki Beach

  North Jetty’s rocks

Pelicans over Waikiki Beach

Last night Long Beach had fireworks in celebration of the Kite Festival.  The display was supposed to start at 9:30, but it didn’t get going until 10 pm.  In the meantime, we watched night kite-flying demonstrations.  It was interesting seeing the kites all lit up.  Unfortunately, it was very COLD at the beach, but we unthawed on the way back to our campsite!

Wind Warning

I happened to be reading rv.net yesterday afternoon and noticed that someone had posted a wind warning for the Oregon and southern Washington coastal areas.  I looked at the weather report on Yahoo and saw a severe weather warning.  Due to predicted wind gusts of up to 80 mph, we made a quick decision to leave Cape Disappointment last night instead of waiting until this morning.  We ate a quick dinner and left the park a little before 6 pm. 

I stopped in at the ranger station to let them know that we had vacated our sites (Charlie and Pam left early also).  I was so surprised when the ranger said that we were entitled to a refund since we left early because of the wind warning.  The refund needs to be mailed to us from the state park headquarters in Olympia, so we'll see if we ever get that check.

We didn't have much wind on the drive home and arrived home last night around 9 pm. Since we drove south the last hour on I-5, it didn't matter as much that it was dark since we know that road well.  We unpacked a few essentials and saved the rest of the unloading until today. 

We didn't get to have a campfire last night, but it would have been too windy at the park to have one.  We enjoyed a fire on Tuesday night and on Wednesday night.  Pam supplied the marshmallows.

Dave's excellent fire at our campsite.

Cape Disappointment, Final Full Day

Dave and Charlie decided to play golf today.  Long Beach has a nice 9-hole golf course,  Peninsula Golf,  just north of town.  There are two sets of tees, so they played 18 holes.  Pam's parents came to visit.  They used to live in Ocean Park so like to revisit the area. 

Dave, Carol, Jonathan

This picture was taken about 7 years ago by our friend, Michael Groark, when we camped at Driftwood RV Park with Michael and Annie on Memorial Day weekend.

I watched a Netflix DVD that I brought along, Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont.  It was a cute movie.  After lunch I went for a walk on the beach.  I forgot to check the tide table and discovered that it was high tide.  I was able to walk for 1/2 hour, but the waves were reaching my feet, so I scurried back to drier ground.  I finished my walk by walking around the campground loops.

A few years ago the state redid the full hookup area of this park.  They asphalted all the sites and changed the electrical boxes from 20 amp to 15/30/50 amp.  Very nice.  If there was Verizon cell service and/or WIFI, this would be a perfect park.  We changed the external antenna to the driver's side of the coach and it works better now, so I've been able to update my blog every day. 

North Head Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment State Park