La Push for the Unexpected

Brent makes it a habit to fill the RV with a full tank of water whenever we leave an RV park because we just never know when we might need to dry camp. In all honesty, we immensely enjoy dry camping. It somehow feels like a vacation when we truly unhitch, unhook, and unwind.

We were traveling north from Aberdeen and Ocean Shores, Washington aiming toward Forks as our destination. I followed Brent on Highway 101 and we crossed a series of bumps in the road that bounced the bikes on our bike rack around like ragdolls. I gasped the first time I watched them pitch up and then down and outright shrieked the second time. I had flashbacks to losing my bike off the bike rack back in Santa Cruz—I didn’t see it happen and only heard about it through Brent’s narration and a sobbing Evelyn in the background—but I imagine it to be a similar sling-shot scenario to what I was witnessing. So, I called Brent.

When he answered, he assumed I had seen the campground sign we’d just passed: South Beach Campground. While he secured the bikes, I swung around in a U-turn to back track and check out the campground.

I turned off the wooded, tree-lined 101 into the campground, bumping along with two sleeping daughters in the back seat. When I turned a corner out of the trees, my eyes widened: the ocean was right there. Trailers, RVs, and tents pulled up any which way they could make it work next to numbered fire pits and tables parallel to the beach. Instructions on a sign told new arrivals to check in at the bulletin board. I cruised along around the campground, noting a few empty sites, but what could accommodate our 42 foot beast plus my extra vehicle?

There was one site that seemed to fit the bill—site 21. It was empty, but the bulletin board showed it was paid for through that evening. As luck had it, a park host wobbled toward me and the board. With a wire turned into a “u” with a hook on the end, he began removing “paid” receipts from their plastic pockets on the board.

“It looks like you have a question bouncing around in your head,” he winked and smiled at me.

I asked him about site 21 and he said it was all mine if I wanted it, but to take ownership of the table somehow soon and we’d figure out the payment after we were set up. He told me we could park however we wanted or needed to as long as we weren’t blocking the road.I called Brent and he brought in Sayla [the traila], who bounced and rocked behind his truck in along the gravel camp road. In no time, we had her parked and we paid our amazing $15 a night for three nights at this breath-taking campsite, leaving us only to make up dinner an enjoy the view.

Evelyn immediately made friends with the 8 year old boy in the campsite adjoining ours. His family was on a three week roadtrip from Minnesota and back. Evelyn and Ethan played hide and go seek and painted rocks, and we all chit-chatted about our own adventures along the Washington coast.

The next day, we ventured in to Forks to do laundry. It was a 40 minute drive there, but it was the nearest town, and we were positively overflowing with laundry. So, we paid an astronomical $5 per wash to get our stuff clean and then went to breakfast at a small diner that catered to hunters and fishermen. Forks was small and quaint in its own way. There was no more than a Subway to speak of as far as chain stores go. People weren’t overly friendly—I’d venture to say it was the most “redneck” town we’d experienced to present itself as such thus far.

I was more giddy about the pseudo-celebrity of the town, along with its neighboring city, La Push. I’ll admit that I was a Twilight nerd after the book series came out. I would have never ventured to read them on my own, but when all of my students were reading them and actually talking about literature with one another, this English teacher had to be part of that conversation! At the time, I had a blast with it. Immediately discovering myself to be very much “Team Jacob”, I bought myself a “La Push Wolves” shirt, which my students loved my wearing to school, and my students giggled at my small Big Lots werewolf Halloween bust that I had customized with a little hand-written “Team Jacob” sign. To actually visit the two cities that inspired a fictional revolution was something that made me smile from the inside out.

The only sign I saw in Forks as any indication of its fictional celebrity fame was literally a sign—a digital one over an inn that boasted “Edward Cullen didn’t sleep here—Come on in for great rates!”

La Push was another matter. As soon as we crossed the city boundary, we were greeted by a “Treaty Line” warning “No Vampires Beyond this Point”. We drove on to find “Jacob’s Cabin Retreat” motels and “Go Wolves” signs on cars and trucks. I couldn’t help but smile and snap pictures. All kitchiness aside,what was unexpectedly stunning was the view from the shore once we reached the beach. The sea stacks and large, tall islands off shore looked as if they had floated away from the mainland, some so far out they were hazy to see through the sea air.

We didn’t stay long because we were hungry and duty was calling; we hadn’t expected to make this a destination so we were unprepared for a day of adventuring. It was, however, a place with a sense of humor that invited the outsider. One more point for Team Jacob!

Back at South Beach Campground, we returned to find new neighbors where Ethan’s family had been the night before. This was a small family from Germany. The older German father with younger Thai wife had a polite and imaginative son Evelyn’s age named Nico. Evelyn and Nico became fast friends and they danced, wrestled, saved each other from “martians” (the stars), and did arts and crafts. Nico’s mom invited Evelyn down the beach with her and Nico, and they spent the next day making sandcastles, collecting rocks, and playing tag on the sand. They played fort in a washed-up tree that was white-washed from years on the shore.

Nico and Evelyn got along famously—in fact, I’ve never seen her get along better with anyone! Both sets of parents were equally thrilled. We all helped in the fun they were having by offering up snacks, toys to build into their imaginative play, and plenty of room to simply do what their hearts desired. We anticipated a tearful good-bye, but we exchanged email address with the promise of keeping in touch as pen pals, and neither seemed worried that they wouldn't see each other again.

Not to be forgotten in mention here was the presence of whales and sea lions in the surf right in front of our campsite. When I woke that morning, I sat at our table and rubbed my eyes, watching the waves in the morning light. It had made my heart jump when I saw a huge plume of seawater burst up into the air right out of the farthest wave off the shore: a spout from a blow hole! I called excitedly to Brent and Evelyn and we watched for several minutes and several more spouts. The whales stayed in the area all day that day! They seemed to be lazily moving along the shore, staying right at the last wave in the surf—closer to shore than I’d ever seen whales before.

Sometimes we could see the backs of the Gray whales hump up and out of the water—two of them alongside each other. I also watched orca fins appear up and sliding through the waves after their spouts appeared—again, at least two of them. There didn’t seem to be conflict between the whales. Orcas are known to corner and kill Gray whale calves. I can only hope this wasn’t the case here with these two species trolling the area at the same time. Whatever was happening, they were there from daylight well into evening, and as the sun set, we watched dozens of little shiny heads bob up and back into the surf in the same area—sea lions or maybe otters, depending on who we overheard observing the scene next to us.

South Beach wound up being one our classic couldn’t-have-planned-it-better stops. We hadn’t known of this campground before discovering it from a near bike mishap along the highway and had been aiming for a different campground altogether at the time. This turned out to be my favorite campground of all we’ve stayed in so far. It couldn’t be beat for the view, the sea life, the new friends, and the price. I'm grateful Brent plans for the unexpected; these seem to be the best of all stops we make.