May 8-12, 2022
May is sometimes a cold month here in the Pacific Northwest. Of course, “cold” is relative. It never freezes here in May, flowers and trees have long since started blooming, animals have shed their winter clothing (including humans, we shed our winter clothing too), and we are dreaming of summer while enjoying spring.
But still, sometimes May is cold. It was cold here this year, 2022. And we had more rain than usual, yes even more than usual for the rainy Pacific Northwest. But after such a very cold winter, I wanted to get out in the camper even if it was a bit chilly. So I headed out to one of my favorite campgrounds close to home, Friends Landing, near Montesano, WA.
I managed to snag my favorite campsite right next to the lake, with electricity (for heat), and with only one possible neighbor (for peace and quiet). I didn’t care if it was cold and rained a bit … I was going camping! 🙂
With my dinette at the very back of the trailer, this was a perfect spot with a perfect view of the lake.
I got the trailer all set up, everything connected and checked. And then I went for a walk through this small campground.
The Chehalis River runs right past the campground. Lots of fisherfolk come here to use the boat launch and put their small power boats in the river to go fishing, or they come here and fish off the pier below.
I walked out onto the pier and turned to the right and looked downstream, towards the west, towards (eventually) the Pacific Ocean. The river was so beautiful and calm. You can fish from that floating pier, or launch a kayak, or sit there and watch the river glide by.
And then I turned to the left … so pretty. But in this photo below, you can see the dark clouds that had recently passed overhead, and the rain water still on the deck of the pier.
I walked out to the far end of that deck to look upriver.
So gorgeous and peaceful. I loved the old pilings that had supported a larger pier or a floating dock at some point in the past. Note the logs that have been linked together to protect this pier from debris/logs that float downriver towards this pier.
Below … the view looking back onto land and looking at the campground. In a campground that has only 18 RV campsites (and 9 tent campsites), there were only 5 RVs here this week, and that includes mine. It pays to go camping in the off-season.
I walked back to my campsite, then walked the few feet to the lake and turned around to take the photo below. Ah, another rain cloud coming in, but I have the perfect campsite and the perfect rig.
And, later that evening, after that rain cloud had passed by overhead, this perfect evening sunset appeared. 🙂 Happy camper here!
