A Trip to Pacific Beach

It was time for a break at the beach.

Finally, after lots of "we should do it someday", someday came, and we packed up the dogs and took the RV to the Pacific Ocean shore for some much needed rest & relaxation.

Bad luck started the day before we left. Taking the RV in for an emissions test (Did you know that RVs have to be tested here? Neither did I!) they directed me to a testing lane that was about 6 inches narrower than the RV is wide. Sigh. This picture shows the result:

That's the passenger side mirror being held on with duct tape. Sigh. So I spent Tuesday afternoon in a mad scramble to get that fixed.

We arrived at our planned destination on Wednesday only to find that:

• It was infested with mosquitos. A quick walk of the dogs and we returned covered with 'em. Kathy went on a hunting spree in the RV afterwards. (Several folks told us that they were abnormally bad this year for unknown reasons.)
• The grounds were littered with dog poop that hadn't been picked up. (I suspect the owner's dog.)
• No view.
• No ocean access. In fact, because of the way that the river had, apparently, altered its course recently, ocean access was miles to either the north or south.

It took about 10 minutes and we knew we couldn't stay. SO... we headed 10 miles back south the way we had come, to Ocean Shores. Looked around, and ended up asking at "Visitor Information" for something that was more like what we had in mind. 20 miles to the north (yep, past the mosquito pit), we ended up at Pacific Beach State Park.

And that's where the bad luck ended.

It's almost exactly what we had in mind. Here's a shot from a webcam that's in a small hotel above the park:

That was probably taken moments after we left. I believe we were parked on the left site of the shot, probably behind the brown building.

The weather was perfect (sunny & warmish), the beach was right there, the ocean was in view out of our window, the campground was clean, the people friendly, and there were no mosquitos.

It was so good, that we extended our planned three nights into four, and returned a day later that we'd originally planned.

No phone (apparently Verizon Wireless does cover the area, but AT&T wireless does not), no internet, and we had the TV on exactly once to watch one of the movies we'd taken along.

So here are some photos:

Vera gets a blanket wrap and a hug as we try out her new 'royal coach'. Vera has arthritis, and we wanted her to be able to spend time walking and enjoying the beach, rather than getting tired and sore just getting to it. Hence, her new ride.

Everything needed to be sniffed and inspected and peed on. Repeatedly.

Guido, bird watching a flock of something-or-other flying by.

Vera surveying the beach.

Guido's also showing occasional arthritis symptoms, so even though I hadn't planned on it, the cart fits two.

The view out our window one evening.

This is a composite of three images. On the far left, to the left of the posts, is a stream that empties into the ocean. At the center is the beginning of the park's ocean frontage that extends all the way to the right. And yes, the beach really is that big. Lots of room for dogs to run.

Vera became quite comfortable in the cart. On one outing she clearly asked to be put in, shortly after which, this was the result.

Did I mention that everything needed to be sniffed? A lot?

Movies

Helen shows off her digging ability. And shows what it's for. (3,911,478 bytes, AVI format.)

Vera certainly did not spend all her time in her cart. Here she is showing us, and Guido, who's still boss of the tennis ball. (3,741,988 bytes, WMV format.)

Vera and Guido strolling on the beach. (2,695,650 bytes, WMV format.)

Guido getting a small "surprise" while out on the beach. (5,241,774 bytes, WMV format.)