September, 2024
Let me admit that I have my blog posts a little bit out of order here. I was so happy to have had those elk come right through the campground, so close to me, that I posted that blog post from today’s afternoon elk invasion before I posted this morning’s blog post. I just couldn’t wait to share the elk with you folks. 🙂
So now let me go back to this morning. Rain! Many of you will know that you can’t or shouldn’t live in western Washington or western British Columbia if you can’t stand much rain. It rains here! This morning at Dosewallips State Park, I woke to the lovely (but loud) sound of rain on the roof of Towhee the Trailer. Here’s a video from inside my trailer that morning … listen to the rain!
I love my trailer. I was perfectly safe and warm and dry inside, but I didn’t want to sit inside, waiting, maybe for hours and hours, until the rain quit … how long would that take? So I opted to head out and go for a drive in the big white truck, and join the rain out in the world. 🙂
I found some nice back roads in the woods, so pretty. But the most interesting back road I found was right along the waters of Hood Canal. And I do mean right along the water! If you want to drive along this road, it’s Seal Rock Road, north of the Dosewallips campground. It might have been part of the original “highway” here many years ago, but now the main highway bypasses Seal Rock Road and I bet the people that live on this road are very happy about that. Ok, let’s go take a drive on Seal Rock Road. (You can always click on the photos to enlarge them.)
Seal Rock Road truly does run right along the edge of Hood Canal. You can see that it’s a grey wet day, although the rain clouds were already beginning to dissipate by the time I found this road.
I love Madrona trees. They are so beautiful.
I was driving south on Seal Rock Road, with Hood Canal on my left … so I drove with my window open and simply paused here and there to take photos.
Just a little way down the road were these large homes on the right side of the road. There wasn’t room for homes on the left side of the road!
On the left side of the road was this structure below. It would be a lovely place for the folks who live across the road to walk over and sit on that deck and enjoy the view on a nice warm, sunny day … or walk down the stairs to the beach and explore.
No sandy beaches here! But still, if you wear good shoes, and in good weather, and especially at low tide (the tide was high when I was here), I bet there’s lots to see and explore here.
Further on down the road, I spotted this upturned dinghy just off to the side of the road. It appears to be a Livingston dinghy. I used to own one. They are probably the best dinghies on the planet … they are so stable in the water because they have two hulls and don’t tip sideways very much. I hope someone put this dinghy here purposefully and is taking care of it, tho it looked a bit worn.
Then further down the road a bit more, the road moved over a little and allowed space enough for homes to be built right on the edge of the beach, right next to Hood Canal. I would be happy to live in the house below! The house faces east over Hood Canal. What stupendous sunrises you’d see from that deck.
Ah, and I think I shared the photo below with you in a blog post at the beginning of this camping trip. It was a gorgeous, peaceful spot in the woods (on the right hand side of the road), but obviously the home had seen better days, and oh my word my heart hurt for that boat.
And yet just a bit further was this house (below). The front door and the garage door faced Hood Canal. I was surprised the windows weren’t HUGE so they too could have a beautiful view of the water. But it was a nice home and was very well cared for.
At the south end of Seal Rock Road, it rejoined highway 101. The rain had stopped by then, so I headed back towards my campsite at Dosewallips State Park.
The two photos below show how beautiful this stretch of highway 101 is. It definitely was autumn when I was here.
I arrived back at my campsite late that morning after that great back road country drive. I parked the truck and was about to climb back up into my trailer when these folks (below) arrived in the campsite right next to me, my new neighbor. Another Escape trailer! And another big white pickup truck. 🙂 They waved, I waved. I took the video below being careful not to get their license plate number in the video. Then we chatted and chatted (and chatted more that evening). I posted the video online and emailed them a link to it. They loved it. It’s just a short little video, but it meant a lot to them since no one had ever done that for them. Oh, and he apologized to me for the dent in the door of their truck, it had just happened a few days prior to this and he swore it would be fixed as soon as they got home! Hey, no apology needed! 🙂
I love back roads, any time, but maybe even more when it’s raining just a bit. Let’s keep finding each other, finding the back roads (or the main roads), and keep on doing what we love, finding things that bring us joy and peace. Even in the rain. 🙂
Especially in the rain!
Your pictures capture the atmosphere of a rainy day, here in in the Pacific NW, so very well. At least it’s how I have experienced them. The grey, mistyness, creating a softness of the light, and muting of sound that makes it so peaceful and relaxing.
Thank you. I enjoyed the drive. 🙂
Thank you, Fritzi. My sentiments exactly. 🙂
I can almost smell the rain from your photos. Beautiful. The rain, the waters of the world, are so important.
Indeed, yes, maybe the rain and water are the most important.
My wife and I have lived in this small town in Montana for most of our lives. We’ve driven every back road here a million times. But we still love driving them. We still see interesting things. And yes, even in the rain. Nice neighbors you got!
Yep, nice neighbors, and nice rain! Thanks Tim. Keep on driving.
Love the rain on the roof. Of course we always prefered sunny weather but when it did rain we loved the sound of rain on the roof of our motorhome. It was so cozy. Love the rain! Thank you for that memory. 🙂
Ah yes, it felt cozy to me too. The rain made noise on the roof, but it was a lovely comfortable noise … reminding me I had a safe and happy home. Thanks Marge.
Being able to do something nice even on rainy days is important!
Amen! 🙂
Nice trailer interior! Really like that sign Home is Where You Park it. 🙂 What a gorgeous world you live in, probably because of the rain!
The rain here in the PacNW sure does make it green here! So we shouldn’t complain about the rain, that’s what I think anyway. 🙂 thanks Walt.
Lived in Maine for a few years way back and the autumn leaves there were bright and brilliant and gorgeous. But autumn leaves in Washington in the rain are so luscious, so rich, so soft. So quiet and peaceful. Glad you went for that drive. 🙂
Judy, a friend of mine was born and raised in Maine (maybe somewhere near where you lived), and we’ve talked about my going back to see the leaves when she would be there too visiting. But that never happened. But I’ve seen lots of photos and videos of those eastern autumn leaves. Indeed, they are brilliant! and bright! Like you, I like the softness of the PacificNW autumn leaves.
I just got home this afternoon from 4 nights of tent camping with my sister in northern GA. We had no rain! It ALWAYS rains at least once on any camping trip I’ve been on. Usually the last day so you pack everything up wet. This trip was perfectly dry!!!
Ha! Yes, when one says “it always rains”, and then you go and it doesn’t rain … what’s with that? Glad you had a dry trip home. Very little rain out here this summer. Great weather for camping, but hard on plants, and troubling.
Wow your beaches sure are different from ours here in southern California. I bet the things that live on your beaches are different than ours too, pretty much nothing lives on our beaches. And yes, the rain … even in photos it looks so luscious, so rich. mmmm.
Oh our beaches are full of critters! 🙂 crawly things and flying things and growing things that stick to rocks and things that grow in the sand (when there is sand). Nothing is a danger, it’s all just marvelous to search and discover. If you two are ever up this way, let me know, and I’d be happy to help you figure out where to go and what to do and see. 🙂
Love the inside of your trailer, so tidy! And I like how you notice things in the world, you watch, and listen, and somehow sense things that maybe you don’t even know you are paying attention to. And you make friends of people (and other animals) really easily. I haven’t in my life, but since reading your blog I’m reaching out more and, I’m now making friends! I’m a retired MCSE, like you are, and am taking a wood-working class and am loving it, something way different for me, stretching the brain. 🙂 So, when someone like in that other Escape trailer drives up beside you, do you just walk out there and talk with them? Do you just walk up to the elk and talk with them? How does all of that work? Aack, more than I should say I suppose but I’ve been following your blog for years and feel comfortable here. Thank you, thank you!
Thank you Jamie, that was a wonderful comment. Yes, like you, I’m a retired MCSE, and I’m a retired diesel truck mechanic (sort of something like working with wood … with tools anyway). When that Escape trailer pulled into the area, I purposefully just “happened” to walk outside my trailer around the back of my trailer so it wasn’t obvious that I was out there to LOOK at those folks. But they saw me and THEY waved first, so I waved back. They paused before backing into the campsite, so I walked over and (from a distance) asked if I could help with anything and of course I said what a beautiful trailer they had. 🙂 They said they had two options of campsites and were talking about that … so I said “well, if you back in here, you’ll be with family” (because of our two Escape trailers) and they both liked that a lot. They seemed like real nice folks so I said “hey, wait a minute, I’ll go get my camera and get a video of you backing”. They loved that. That’s sort of how I do things … I say a little thing, or make a little advance, and then see what I get back. On the other hand … the elk! … I let THEM make the advance, although I usually retreat when they advance. And, I make ticking sounds with my mouth/voice so that even if I’m standing absolutely still, they know I’m there. Does that matter? Heck, I don’t know, but maybe that’s why that one female elk looked right at me! She was probably thinking “what in the world is that person doing?! what sort of weird noise is that?!”
Woodworking sounds like a wonderful hobby!
Delicious! Who can live without rain?
Not me. 🙂 Thanks Babe.