October 6-11, 2022
Finally camping again! I know it’s been awhile since I posted a camping blog post. I’ve been busy with a water leak inside my home that flooded the whole house, and then there was all of the contractor work, the insurance issues, communications, etc. In the end, all of that got taken care of, but it took more than six months!
So, finally, now I’m posting the last camping trip of 2022. I did manage to work in two camping trips in 2023 just before the water leak. I’ll share this 2022 camping trip first. Then I’ll post the two trips in 2023.
And so now let’s forget the water leak and all that cranky stuff of life that happens, and let’s go camping! This camping trip was in October, 2022, during a spectacularly gorgeous autumn week. Friends of mine came along too in their Escape trailer. Our “twin” Escape trailers were parked in campsites right next to each other.
Here’s where we went camping …
“Illahee” is a native Indian word that means water. This state park is right on the water for boats and boaters to visit and enjoy, with docks and buoys and such, and the campground is right next to the water of Puget Sound for campers and picnics and such. The native folk called this land and the surrounding land “Illahee”. I’m glad that name remains.
Here is a Google Earth image of where Illahee State Park is … Seattle on the right/east side of Puget Sound … Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Vashon Island on the left/west side of Puget Sound. The RED star is Illahee State Park.
Most people drive to Illahee State Park via Bremerton, but you can drive down from the north too.
Let me share a closer image of Illahee State Park.
The street entrance (the red circle) to this state park is at the bottom of the image above. My friends and I were camped at the RED star. The red arrow points to a switchback road and, indeed, it had serious switchbacks down to the water. That’s how you drive down to the beach and to the state park dock. Of course, bringing your boat there is easy, just cruise in on the water. But you would not, and should not, drive down to the water with a sizable trailer in tow. There is a boat ramp down there on the beach, but only for very small trailers with small boats.
And here are a few more photos of my delightful camping spot!!
And you can see my friends’ Escape trailer right next door.
We gathered around one fire pit or another every evening. October weather here is usually pretty chilly, but this week was wonderfully warm. And yet the evening cooled down enough to need jackets and a cozy warm fire.
From these photos, you can see there weren’t any other campers any where near us. People might walk past on the roadway once in a while, and a car or truck or RV might slowly drive through, but for the most part we had the place to ourselves.
On our very first day here, we drove down to the beach (those switchbacks). We parked, and then walked out to the end of the pier and back. My gosh, you don’t get weather better than this … blue skies, warm sunshine, calm water.
We visited the beach and that pier several more times, you can bet on that! And we had other adventures in the area too. Stay tuned for more warm adventures in this six-day, shirt-sleeve weathered, October camping trip.