Finally at the beach

On Thursday the 28th of August we traveled to Sequim Bay State Park in of all places Sequim Washington. The campground is buried in the forest just up from the beach. We set up and went looking for the Ranger who is an old friend from when we lived on Lopez Island. We invited him and his wife over for dinner but they wanted us to come to their home. It was nice to see Steve and Regina Gilstrom and share some old time. Thank you guys for a great evening. Their son, Tyler, was home also. He finished his freshman year at SPU, but didn't care for Seattle, so is going to complete a quarter at a local community college, then go to Western, he thinks. Their daughter, Alicia, is a senior at Whitworth and doing a semester abroad, currently in the British Isles.

We took a walk on the beach in the park and this is a view of the rocks and seaweed at low tide. It was rather muddy and slippery but it was fun to get back to the salt water again.

If you look real close those rocks in the above picture are also a combination of a beach full of oysters. Neither of us likes oysters so no problem with leaving them where we found them. And clamming season is closed, so no fresh seafood for us from this beach.
One end of the park beach was a boat launch and the other was a long dock and a float. This is a view looking under the dock toward the boat launch. Lots of beach but it was a (-) tide.
Two kids fishing on the float, not much luck when we talked to them. One of them was digging in the sand trying to find clams for bait. All he had to do was pull some mussels off the pilings and he would have had all the bait he needed. I was going to pick some for myself to cook up but was a little concerned about them growing on the creosoted pilings.
We went dancing at the 7 Ceders Casino just down the road and had a ball. We met some very nice local folks and danced up a storm to a "country" band (country and rock). Enjoyed it so much we went back the next evening to listen to an 18 piece big band and also to do a little more dancing. Then we went back the next night for their Senior Italian dinner. Best dinner we have had for under $20.00 total for the two of us.

We headed to Dungeness Spit for a long walk and on the way down I got this shot of a fawn in the woods.

Just before stepping out onto the sand you can see the spit that goes out over 5 miles to the light house. We only went part way out as the tide was on the rise and the walking was difficult in the soft sand and rocks.
One of the things we found on the beach was this couple all dressed up in there Sunday best and out for a stroll. Looked cute so had to get this shot.
Lots of birds on the the beach.

I took several pictures of these kids enjoying the waves lapping at the base of their log on the incoming tide. Took me 15 minutes trying to decide what one to post, so guess what, I am posting two of them.

We met our neighbors at the next site from Seattle and they had been crabbing so they gave us a Dungeness crab all cooked and ready to eat. I cleaned it and we had it for lunch. Sure brings back memories of all the crab we ate on Lopez Island. mmmmm....

We also had two nice bike rides while at Sequim Bay. There is a bike trail which goes from Port Angeles to Sequim and beyond, eventually going all the way to Port Townsend to the east and the ocean to the west. The first day we rode from the park into Sequim and back. It was uphill most of the way in, so we were glad to have the easy part on the way home (a total of approximately 6 miles). We had a good Chinese lunch while in town and visited the Visitor Center. Then a couple of days later we took the bikes into town and rode the trail toward Port Angeles and back, a total of 11 miles. This part of the trail is pretty flat, so a much easier ride. We walked through downtown after the ride, but not much was open as it was Labor Day.

Next stop is Salt Creek County Park west of Port Angeles. Check back in a few days for more good time by Dick & Jackie.