June, 2020
I can’t remember a camping trip when I truly wanted to head home at the end of it. This trip was no exception. At the end of each camping trip, it would have been just fine if I had moved to a new camping location, a different town, with more things to explore and learn … but heading home was never high on my list of things to do at the end of any camping trip. I love my home, but it’s surely not like being out in this gorgeous world.
This last morning here at Friends Landing near Montesano, WA, was no different. The view across the lake was stunning and tugged at my heart and soul. In fact, leaving this campsite was more difficult than leaving almost any other campground or campsite I’ve been to.
The view behind my trailer, directly out my back dinette window.
The view out my side dinette window.
If my travel trailer were a cabin, just a bit larger, with a few more amenities, I was pretty sure I would want to live right here … forever.
So, rather than hitch up and head out right away on this last morning of this trip, I decided to take a morning drive with just the truck and blatantly ignore the nonsensical notion that I needed to hitch up and head home with the trailer. I did need to be out by 1pm, but there was plenty of time before then.
There were two state park campgrounds nearby that I wanted to explore for future reference. Lake Sylvia was one. Here’s my favorite campsite there, it was beautiful!
The closest neighbor on the left was about 30 feet away; the closest neighbor on the right was about 20 feet away and there was a large wall of shrubbery on that side as well. After I got home, I checked this campsite online and found that it was reserved for the entire summer and into the fall. It was THE most popular campsite in that campground, no surprise to me. But I put this campsite on my list anyway, knowing I would have to reserve way in advance to get it.
Next I drove to Schafer State Park and found some good campsites there too. That campground has a wonderful stream running through it that I could hear as I drove through the camping area. So of course I found that stream and went for a short hike along it. Little Towhee came along too. She does not miss out on a chance to get outdoors.
She’s not a water bird. But she’s fascinated with water. I think one of the reasons that she likes being around water is that the water attracts all sorts of other birds that Little Towhee then gets to visit with.
At first Little Towhee was perfectly content to sit back from the water’s edge and simply chipper and chatter with the other birds.
But the more she looked at the stream, and then felt how calming it was, the more she began to think about getting closer.
“Ann, what do you think, is it safe? Can I get closer and be safe?”
I told her I thought it was safe and that I would stay right next to her. So she hopped forward carefully.
And then …
…with just a few more hops …
… (and a great number of cheeps and chirps!) …
… she was actually in the water!
Yes, ok, she was just on the very edge of the stream, but she was actually in the water.
She sat there for quite a while, watching everything, talking with the other birds. I didn’t mind. It was a perfect place to be quiet and watch and listen and wonder.
Do you see Little Towhee in the river?
By and by, Little Towhee’s feet got cold and she wanted to get out of the water. I picked her up and we headed back to the big white truck … and then we drove back to Friends Landing campground in order to hitch up and head home.
What a great week! I learned lots of things, lived for a week in one of the most beautiful campsites I’ve been in to date, and met lots of great people. I didn’t tell you about the people who stayed in the campsite right next to mine for three days. They had a small home-built wooden sailboat with them on a trailer. They used to own a larger 34-foot fiberglass sailboat and sailed all over Puget Sound. With my 30-year history of owning two different power boats and cruising all over Puget Sound, those folks and I had so many stories to share. We spent an hour or two every evening trading tales of our adventures. As well, the people in that feed store in Montesano were the nicest and friendliest of any I’ve met. It was a great trip.
And yet it was time to hitch up, head out on the highway, and head home.
Even the drive home was lovely.
Towhee the Trailer is now parked in the storage lot here at home, ready for the next adventure!
Well that was wonderful! I have a favorite site too, in the state park down the road. It’s hard to get, it’s booked all summer. But I usually can get it after Labor Day, midweek. Or before Memorial Day, also middle of a week. I feel sort of bad for it, because it never gets to rest. It doesn’t have a lake like your favorite site, but it’s surrounded by brush and trees and I’ve seen birds there I haven’t seen anywhere else. Last fall I went without Katie and just took my camera and had the best time sitting in my camp chair trying to capture images of a yellow warbler and a robin stealing my blueberries and a catbird…and and and. It was so fun. Your part of the country sure is beautiful. Someday I’ll get there.
Hi Dawn and everyone. You’ll see below that I’m having problems with the latest update of WordPress.com. But I figured out a way around at least one of the problems. I haven’t been able to reply to your comments. But now it looks like I can. Yippee!
SO! Here’s my reply to you Dawn … so many campsites I’ve been in that have lots of trees, also have lots of people and noise such that birds don’t seem to want to be there. I just purchased a very light weight tripod seat that I will carry with me on walks/hikes so I can get away from people and then sit and watch birds, and try to photograph them. 🙂
We too have favorites, two different campgrounds each with one favorite campsite, and they too are reserved all summer long. Like you Dawn, we just wait until late September or early October and get a reservation there starting on a Monday. Our view from each campsite is mostly trees and a small stream but also there’s a lovely mountain in the far distance and lots of birds in the immediate area. Ann is awfully generous posting the name of the campground and even the site # of this favorite spot of hers. Most of us guard that information closely, even from friends. We like our friends, but we see them when we’re home. We really like peace and quiet and nature.
Jim
I know…I don’t share my favorites very much either. Monday (day after tomorrow) I’m headed to one of my state park favorites in northern Michigan for a few days. I’ve camped in this site the last 3 years…this will be year 4. I still have to deal with large trailers and their air conditioning noises next to me, but the sites are pretty large, and during mid-week I often have no neighbors. That’s what I’m hoping for this week, but campgrounds are pretty full, even midweek right now. We’ll see.
We’re headed out too this Monday, not to one of our favorite places, but it’s still another really pretty place here in British Columbia, Canada. We own a motorhome, still wondering why we don’t downsize and get a trailer and then we would have a tow vehicle to use to explore in. We have AC but never use it because the noise bothers us too! Sometimes we wish they were banned. Enjoy your trip Dawn.
Janey
I’m with you folks about air conditioning. I have it too, but I’ve used it only once and that was just to make sure it worked. I suppose if I were in eastern Washington or in the SW of the USA, then I surely would want and use my A/C. But I always wonder why people up here in the northwest turn theirs on when it’s really not that hot out. Hope you folks are having a great week of camping, Janey.
Especially in the summer, I go camping from Sunday late afternoon until Friday morning. Weekends are just too busy and noisy. Ah, but then yes, like you folks, I so enjoy when September rolls around and the kids are back in school. Most years we have a window of great weather in September and early October, sometimes even into November. Jim, you folks would be more than welcome to join me at Friends Landing in campsite #18, it’s right next to #17 and has almost the same view, but don’t you dare take #17 from me, LOL! 🙂
I wonder how many of us are adventuring vicariously through you. The water, the air; can almost smell them.
More then a few I think.
Right now this blog gets about 140 separate readers for each published post, from several different countries. I can buy readers, some bloggers do, but I won’t. Like with your blog Dawn, the readers really do want to be here and that’s what matters to me.
Some day the internet will be able to share smells. Hmm, maybe not such a good thing in some cases, but with freshly mown hay, or fresh baked bread, or a walk in the forest, or a pot of stew on the stove … mm, mm!
I really love your stories and how they turn into adventures. It is a little jump of joy when I see you have a new posting and are out camping. When it is difficult to get out and about this is a real pleasure to read. Thank you !
Hi Kathy, I’m testing options in my blog admin account, hoping this other method of replying to a comment works. I loved your “little jump of joy” comment … I got a little jump of joy reading it. Thank you for being here and for adding to the full story that this blog has become. 🙂
Me too Kathy. I am subscribed so I know I will get an email with a link to a new post but I still keep checking in between times hoping maybe I missed one. I always smile and kind of rub my hands together at least mentally, when a new post arrives. Love the education, and the humor, and the photos.
That made me smile Nebraska. I can just picture you saying “ah ha! another blog post to read, what’s this one about?” I’m sure glad you enjoy them. 🙂
Hi everyone, I’m having problems with the blog. WordPress updated to version 5.5 and now I cannot reply to your comments. I get a message that says I am not logged in, even though I am logged in. Also, for some readers, the photos are “squashed” from side to side. As well, when I try to edit a new blog, I get a message there too that says I am not logged in. Wacko!! I do have a new blog post scheduled to publish this Thursday. We shall see if it does. In the meantime, chat amongst yourselves and have a great time. I hope to be back on track soon.
I love your comments. They make me feel really good! 🙂
This a test, only a test.