Pacific Northwest and the Produce Market

We have been here at Pacific Beach about a week and I wanted to get at least one post on our time here. The facilities here at Pacific Beach Resort and Conference Center are adequate.  The price is right but the term 'resort' gets overused a lot.

The RV park is fine but the facilities need to be upgraded.  The price is right at $20/night with one free night and we stayed a week.

The view from the campsite is blocked by overgrowth and brush along the fence which was a shame.  However beach access is nearby and we could walk a couple hundred yards down to it from our campsite.

Or we could walk downtown toward the Pacific Beach State Park and access the beach there.  We did that a few times for an evening walk and enjoyed it.

We are in this area because we wanted to see the National Parks and Washington/Oregon coast in the Great Northwest.

One day we took a day trip to Olympic National Forest and saw the historic Lake Quinault Lodge.

It was built in 1926 in 53 days by George Garrison who had worked on a similarly looking lodge in Yellowstone National Park.

Not far down the road was the Worlds Largest Spruce Tree.

You can see how the trunk of the tree dwarfed us.

Next we took a leisurely drive around Lake Quinault and into the Quinault Rain Forest.  It was beautiful with lots of growth and tall trees.

The Quinault Rain Forest gets about 150 inches of rain a year.

We made the drive around the lake was a mix of paved and unpaved roads.  It was fine with our Honda Civic but it signs warn again RVs making the drive.

One place we stopped was the Ranger Station where we took a hike to the Kestner Homestead and the Maple Glade Trail.  It lasted about an hour and one half and was very nice.

Later, we concluded our 70 mile day trip after a stop at the Big Cedar on the West side of Lake Quinault.

It was another mile or so up to the top of the hill to the Big Cedar.  The only trees we have seen that are this big are the redwoods of northern California.

It was an enjoyable day with lots of hiking and interesting things to see in the Rain Forest of Olympic National Park.

Yesterday, a few miles from Pacific Beach, we stopped by a produce stand at Copalis Crossing called, "Voss Acres Produce Market".  It had a nice variety of produce and historical interest.  Check out their web site.

We met the owner Sharon was very friendly.  She told us the house they lived in was moved down the railroad tracks 18 times in the late 1800's while the railroad was being built.  The house was the railroad office with a porch and back kitchen added on over the years.

The vegetables in the market were very inviting and we bought some tomatoes, zucchini and corn.  We talked with Sharon some more and she was funny.  I told here about the blog and wanted to take a picture with her and Pam.

She was agreeable but quickly dived into the drawer for some lipstick.  She would not have her picture taken without it!  Funny!

If you are in the area of Pacific Beach, Washington near the coast we recommend you go see the Olympic National Forest near Quinault and make a special stop at Voss Produce Market in Copalis Crossing!

Summer in the Northwest

We left Spokane and made the 6 1/2 drive to the Tacoma area.  We stopped for lunch at a scenic overview spot along the Columbia River.

The day was mixed- some clouds and some sun.   The traffic got a little crowded along I-5 but we made it to the Camp Murray ANG Recreation Area without incident.  It is across I-5 from McChord Field and Fort Lewis.

We didn't expect a whole lot from our campsite, but we were pleasantly surprised to get a spot on the water with a large grassy area under a shade tree.

We checked out nearby Fort Lewis (the historic gate says "Camp Lewis") and played golf there on Friday.

On Saturday, we drove into Seattle and walked around.  It was a another beautiful day!

Near the Market Center we peeked into the original Starbucks.  It was crowded!  Summer was bursting out all over along the water in the city park.

On the way out of town we drove over to the Space Needle.

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Mt Rainier.  We could see it in the distance from Seattle and also out near our campsite, but we wanted to learn more about it.It was about a 90 minute drive and along the way there were some beautiful scenes.

Once in the National Park, we found more beauty.

At the top, we checked the lodge, Vistor's Center and the Guide Center.

This side of the mountain was known as Paradise.  It was beautiful and the snow was still pretty deep!

On the way down the mountain, we went over to Reflection Lake

But the lake was still frozen over and there was no reflection!

It was fairly warm and it may all melt in the next month?

Later, we drove back to our campground and cooked on the grill.  Puget Sound was full of boaters and we watched all the activity.  Later, 4th of July fireworks went off and continued well past 11:00 PM.  It was another great day.

We are thoroughly enjoying our time in the majestic Northwest!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And as always, thanks for your comments!
Until next time...