Too Much Traffic

July 4-9, 2019

Washington Land Yacht Harbor RV Park, Olympia, Washington

Day 20-25

Left around 9:30am and arrived around 1:30pm, taking one long break to catch up on calls. Took I5 – it was horrible. I almost got run into. I actually called 911 over it because the same driver was gently bouncing in and out of his lane. Troopers never came. So stressful. Driving the trailer isn't hard but it takes so much concentration. It's exhausting because you're looking around all the time and making sure you have enough braking space. For the most part, I stay in the slow lane.

Camp is basically a gravel parking lot with a huge yard, great for dogs. It's mostly an Airstream campground, that's why I booked it, plus I thought I was going to Seattle. There are a few Airstreams in the lot and many permanent Airstreams in the homes on property. I wanted to be around my people. Most of the rigs however are other brands.

Once I checked in, a little boy came over to my site and invited me to his family’s 4th of July BBQ! They are from Hamburg, Germany and have been traveling the US for a year - parents, Ben and Melonie plus 4 kids all under 15 (Jacob, Emily, Jacob and Eli the youngest). They saw I was alone! Isn’t that so nice! Though I was really tired and wanted to just unhitch and nap, I couldn't resist. The hot dog and bratwurst tasted especially delicious and their potato salad was good too. And, the kids really liked Sparky!

Once I got back to my truck to unhitch, another neighbor came out (Airstreamer). The “lines” of the space were not clearly marked on the gravel. Chris (wife Mery) showed me I actually had more space and could then put down my awning if I wanted; so, I reparked. Turns out he is a 25-year member of the Airstream club and has a vintage International. He and his wife are up here for the summer visiting family and got into a bad car accident. She's in rehab and he is limping around. Some guy hit them while they were on their motorcycle. They had to be air-lifted out (remember, I did get helicopter insurance). Yikes. Anyway, such nice people! After my nap, the boys came back over and played with Sparky. Then we watched some local fireworks.

Day 2 – The German family is leaving this morning so the boys want to walk Sparky with me before they go. Our adventure today is to Long Beach, WA, about 2 hours away on the coast. Not much traffic, but the roads were in rough shape, unlike Oregon whose road where great. The scenery was not as pretty either. As we got closer to the water, you could really tell it was low tide. We passed thru fishing towns like Redmond and South Bend (cute).

Long Beach reminds me of a typical New England beach town. The downtown has saltwater taffy, ice cream, fish & chips, go carts…and lots of people walking. The beach is actually ¼ mile from the main road. An easy walk, or you can drive on it!!! They have a big arched sign saying it’s the “longest” beach in the world. I don't think so, but I couldn’t really tell. It was wide and compacted though, which I guess makes it easy to drive on. The water was surprisingly warm and since it was low tide, made it especially perfect for dog time! Thankfully, this beach is off leash and easily gets a 4-paw rating. Sparky was so exhausted and happy, which makes me happy. This beach town has one road in/out. Thankfully, we are going against traffic on Friday afternoon. I can’t help but think what Sunday afternoon must look like…a line of cars for miles. Yikes!

I’m hungry, so we stop in South Bend for fried oysters/fish at Linda’s Fish & Chips. Located on the bay side, this little food truck makes really terrific fried fish that can be dredged in flour or corn meal! I had corn meal (GF) which I thought I would be ok with, fried in the flour oil, but as it turns out I was not. But for the moment, it was delicious! They do their own fries, but those were not good. They only fry them once, so they're not cooked thoroughly, and they are dark and limp. This is why frozen fries are better. They were so nice though, and they had dog treats😊. Got back around 6:30pm and stayed in.

Day 3 – Errand day! Checked out the Olympia Farmer’s Market. It was much smaller than I expected. Stalls were all indoors and mostly of non-food artisan items. Produce was limited and repetitive, and not very interesting. I did find some organic apple wine which was nice, so I got some. Also found some fresh heritage chicken and pork which I stocked up on.

Went to an awful off leash dog park near camp (the one at camp is so much better) - no trees, right off the freeway. Picked up a portable wireless HP printer. The thing is about 1/3 the size of a regular printer and weighs about 4.5 lbs. This will come in handy, especially for map questing multi addresses for each stop. Filled up on gas. Sure miss someone pumping it for me in Oregon, plus gas was so much cheaper! Today I paid $3.25.

Day 4 – My birthday! Happily, stayed in all day. Did office stuff and made my neighbor, Chris, lunch.

Day 5 – More errands including having my new iPhone reset because the reception is horrible (I had AT&T reset it too). Had lunch in Tacoma at Viva Vegan a gluten free/vegan cafe on Proctor. Ordered "The Grickle” pizza served on a cauliflower crust with nacho sauce (dairy free) and pickles. Sounds awful, but it was actually pretty good considering my dietary restrictions. Went to another off-leash dog area in Defiance Park. The park was really nice, but the dog park was pathetic. To avoid the awful traffic here (worse than Portland), I drive home along surface streets, along the Puget Sound. The drive time was probably the same, but this was far more scenic and less stressful.

Day 6 – Thankfully I am leaving this area today!!! Can’t stand the traffic here. Looking forward to smaller towns and better weather too. Next stop Yakima, eastern Washington….