July, 2025
Today was my last day here. Today was a sweet day. My gosh, I sure didn’t want to go home. It felt like “home” right here. I’ll be here just one more night, tonight, and then I’ll head home in the morning with Towhee the Trailer in tow behind the big white truck. I have laundry to do, bills to pay, and house/home chores to attend to.
So this morning, the morning of my last full day here, I took a drive out into the country, out past downtown Port Townsend, out past all those historic homes, and out into the farmland to the north and the west of Port Townsend where people just live their lives and aren’t troubled by the tourist industry or the wooden boat industry in Port Townsend. It was a quiet, peaceful drive among handsome and comfortable homes, rich farmland, creeks, and luscious woodlands. I took lots of photos, but I’ll share photos of just one place I drove past … the Wilderbee Lavender Farm. It smelled delicious!!! Even before I got there!
Unfortunately, it was closed on the day I drove past, but I definitely rolled down my windows and enjoyed that heavenly scent of lavender.
I continued west and north around this point of land. I’d never been here before and really enjoyed the back country roads. And then I found a special place … I found a small road that led to a public beach access. There was just one TINY sign, but rest assured I can read and follow tiny signs. 🙂 It was “North Beach County Park”.
I parked and then walked all around, in the grassland just above the beach, and then I wandered up and down the beach, and enjoyed the sunshine and the views across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and yes there were a few other people here, mostly local folks who knew this place and who were out on this gorgeous day with their kids and/or their dogs. I chatted with a few folks and their dogs, really nice folks, and dogs. In the video below, looking to the right was Whidbey Island … and then to the left across the water, way in the distance, was Canada’s Vancouver Island.
Eventually, I headed back to my campsite at the Point Hudson Marina/RV park at the north end of Port Townsend. I had a bite of lunch and then pulled my chair out to the rocks and just sat and watched the world and the boats go by.
Oh, but just then I heard some loud engine noise behind where I was sitting, it was inside the marina. Guess I better get out of my chair and go check it out. 🙂
You might remember the photo of the commercial day-cruiser boat RED HEAD a few blog posts ago. Well RED HEAD has a permanent mooring spot right here in the Point Hudson Marina. That engine noise I heard was RED HEAD starting up. She had a boat-load of tourists on board and they were heading out for an afternoon cruise through parts of the San Juan Islands, likely to see some whales or Orcas. What interested me was how easily and quickly the boat turned completely around in such a small space.
RED HEAD obviously has two engines (twin engines we call that), so one engine can be put in forward gear, and the other engine is put in reverse, to help spin the boat by moving the stern of the boat from side to side. This RED HEAD also has a bow-thruster which moves the front of the boat from side to side. She can quite literally turn on a dime. My old wood boat Redhead had twin engines, but no bow thruster. Nevertheless, I learned to spin my boat around almost as quickly as this RED HEAD could. Fun to watch!
Turn your sound on … and be prepared for a LOUD honk of the horn just before RED HEAD leaves the marina. Every boat is supposed to do that, honk their horn, before heading into the narrow entrance channel (outbound or inbound), to warn other oncoming boats.
And then RED HEAD was free of confinement … and off she went … full speed ahead! 🙂
After all of that roaring and honking and speeding and such, I walked back to my chair by the beach, by the rocks (sigh how wonderful), and simply watched other peaceful and quiet things going on out there on the water. Here’s a link to a music video that I often play when I want peace. You might like it too. It’s quiet music along with a warm crackling fireplace. Although it is a video, I usually start it playing and then I minimize the window and simply have the sound of the music and the fireplace in the background of whatever else it is that I’m doing. Keep your sound turned on, click on this LINK and let yourself relax. Listen to it for a minute, then let it keep playing as you come back here to see the last few photos.
This was such a beautiful day here at Port Townsend, with such calm water!
Just to the south of the marina was this pier and dock (below), with small rowing boats and small sail boats.
Young children (and their adults) were taken out on the water on a calm day in those boats for a fun time.
And, still, those sailboats in the photo below were looking for more wind, not to be had today. Seems sailboats are always looking for more wind … or LESS wind!
And then there were the many small rowboats out and about ……. pull, pull, pull, pull. It’s always the person at the stern of the boat that sets the pace.
Ahhh …… one last PULL! And then relax.
Below is a photo of my trailer and truck taken from where I was sitting out by the rocks and the beach. What was also spectacularly wonderful during the week I was here was that two friends of mine were also camped nearby in their Escape trailer. When they realized what a perfect campsite I had, they came to visit every day, every afternoon, brought their dinner, stayed into the evening. I loved it. They were not intruding. The three of us usually sat right there in front of my trailer with the open door … sat and talked, or napped, or ate, or walked around, or just watched the world go by.
The view from where we were sitting was spectacular.
Photo above … looking east (to the left) across Whidbey Island and then to Three Fingers, that mountain with three peaks in the photo above. Here in Washington State we have BIG mountains … Rainier (Mt. Tahoma), Baker, Adams, Glacier, St. Helens (well it’s not so tall anymore after it erupted), Shuksan, Mount Terror, Mount Olympus, Put-lush-go-hap, etc. That list is just off the top of my head, we have huge mountains here, most of them still volcanoes. Three Fingers, at about 6,900 feet (do I remember that correctly?) is a small mountain hereabouts. And yet it has snow and ice on it year-round. If I remember correctly, there are about 100 mountains in Washington that are taller than Three Fingers. We love our mountains. 🙂
And, eventually, the sun began to settle into the west. My friends had left their campsite and headed home this morning. So I spent a quiet evening here, watching the world. What a special day, and a special week.
The next morning, Friday, I hitched up the trailer to the truck and headed home, driving south down the road along the west side of Hood Canal, my favorite drive.
With Towhee the Trailer safe and snug in her home spot, I headed home to my safe and snug home spot too. And yet … and yet … I surely do look forward to another camping trip to Point Hudson, especially if I can get that same campsite!
On the other hand, there are more camping places that I have yet to visit and more adventures to enjoy. So let me stay home for a couple of weeks while I plan my next adventure (and do my laundry). I so much appreciate everyone’s comments here. Sure I love my travels, but they wouldn’t be the same without you folks being part of them. It is “social” media after all, so please comment, question, suggest, advise, tell a joke, wonder, and walk through life with me and with each other. I’m so glad you are here. Sleep tight. 🙂 Peace.