When it comes to travel plans, flexibility is the name of the game. As our stay at Fort Stevens State Park in northern Oregon came to an end, the wildfire smoke was still lingering in the area. The air quality readings were still in the ''unhealthy'' range and coastal visibility was hazy at best. We were hoping for better conditions for our journey down the Oregon coastline. Where to go? What to do?
A couple of factors led us to look across the Columbia River towards the southern tip of Washington state. While following the air quality readings on the AirNow app, the air conditions seemed to be improving more rapidly to the north of us along the Washington coast. The other factor that led us (OK ... mainly me) back to Washington was the desire for a nice long hot shower. Oregon state park campgrounds still didn't have their shower facilities open due to Covid-19 precautions. Up to this past week, we had never tried out the small ''wet bath'' shower in our van. Using it for the first time revealed some water drainage issues that Doug worked on repairing during our Hymer meetup. In the meantime, Doug devised a tarp shower that we could use with our sink faucet and a wash basin in a pinch.
As our week-long stay came to an end, I began thinking about the nice coin-operated showers that we used during our Washington state parks stays. After researching Washington state park locations, we decided to take a trip across the Columbia River to check out Washington's Cape Disappointment State Park. Just thirty minutes away, we found that it had all the services that we needed along with ...
beautiful lighthouses,
long sandy beaches,
colorful coastal flowers,
... and a luxurious hot shower for me!
Our stay at Cape Disappointment (named by an early explorer who was disappointed when he mistakenly thought that the mouth of the Columbia River was only a bay) was certainly not a disappointment for us.
But the air was still just slowly improving, and Baby Beest likes to be driven, so we continued north along Washington's Hidden Coast Scenic Byway to find another Washington state park along with some other hidden gems.
Gems like starfish and anemones at low tide along Damon Point Beach,
dramatic seascape,
friendly faces of harbor seals,
and birds enjoying crab dinners,
while I prepared our dinner from my beach side kitchen.
In van life as in life itself, there are times when things don't always go exactly as planned ... often times they turn out even better! We were certainly not ''disappointed'' to have to be ''hidden'' for a few days as we ''waited for the smoke to clear'' on Washington's beautiful west coast!
Next up: Turn Left ... Turn Right ... And join us as we discover the beauty of the Oregon Coast!
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