Remember this?
We found Kalaloch last year while visiting the Hoh Rainforest. We spent one night here before heading home. One night was not enough and we planed to return later last summer. We did return to find the whole park packed and later learned that from June 15 - Sept 5, this park allows reservations and thus is solidly reserved. You can see why. There are tons on spaces similar to this one.
The rest of the year, you can stay here on a first come first served basis. Best to leave on a Tuesday or Wednesday if you want a sea view....which is the whole point IMO. So I give you Kalaloch 2010.
Now, if you looked closely, you are sure to notice we got the exact same spot as last year. I am not going to lie, Mark and I both wanted this spot for sentimental reasons; we feel Samuel saved it for us on the first trip and we carved his name into the wood fence last year because of it. Coming here, for me is like Christmas. You anticipate that gorgeous view for the entire three hour drive. I have been looking at the park map online for weeks making a short list of spots that would work for us. Each spot is a little different; some better for tents, some good if you don't have kids and dogs and then there are a handful that are awesome if you have a medium trailer, three kids and three dogs. I wasn't certain if this spot from last year was going to work for us this year considering the trailer is 5ft longer but it was perfect. We were hoping this spot would be open and it was. Mark wanted to take it immediately but I wanted to check out the corner spot before reserving this one because based on the map, it was larger. The corner spot was taken of course. Since this is first come first served, if you find a spot you want, you immediately make it look occupied by unloading as much of your junk as possible on to it and then you and your kids sit at the table guarding it until it's paid for and the trailer arrives. So we had to drive around the entire loop again to get back to "our spot" and noticed a few other trailers pulled in in front of us looking for their own spots. We watched as people in front of us stopped and looked at "our spot" praying they would move on. They did. Mark pulled up and the kids and I bailed out with the dogs and sat at the table to "guard" it. Someone behind us stopped to ask if we were taking this spot to which we said we absolutely were.
Does she look excited or what?
This is how she looked on the drive over.
The first thing I could not wait to see, after the view, was Samuel's name. We all wondered how it would look a year later.
It looks awesome! I looked at it and I looked at the amazing view and thought this was the closest to Heaven I was going to get on Earth. We spent five glorious days here. It still wasn't enough (for me) but a good start. I could live here. No phone, no Internet, no distractions from our immediate family time, no worries (little did I know). I was in laa laa land for five days.
We left the house at 8:20am and pulled into "our spot" at 11:45am.
Hey Daniel, we have arrived, put down the DS!
We were eating lunch here by 12:30pm
Are you a hungry hippo?
We are enjoying the fact that our kids are getting older and more independent.
These days we bring a play-pen for the dogs. Max was mainly tied up for this trip but he begged to be put in with the little dogs on one occasion so we threw him in too.
The kids spent hours and hours playing at the beach right below us while Mark and I spent a lot of time alone together. It was great for everyone.
Walkie-talkies are a wonderful thing. Can you hear me now? Yes? Perfect. Now go play and have fun.
The ocean never looked the same from day to day.
This makes me think of the "Sea of Glass"
I love these flowers! They smell wonderful but the stems are fuzzy. I didn't expect them to be fuzzy when I first touched them so this startled me which everyone thought was funny. I guess they can see fuzz.
We had a fire going almost nonstop.
The sun rose before we got out of bed but we spent much of our days here watching the storms roll through, enjoying the sun breaks, and watching the sun set. I was very much aware of the time of day and the amount of days we had left to stay. It went fast but was time well spent.
We took part of one afternoon to walk through the entire park. It was mostly empty when we arrived. Mostly retirees there during the week. It was interesting to see how many people came, stayed one night and pulled out the next day. We looked at many other campsites for future reference but decided that "our spot" was still the best one there and there are about 200 to choose from.
It was very fun for the dogs who went on many walks throughout the day as well as enjoyed off leash time on the beach.
Bushalee dug holes and Bijou chased the flying dirt.
Bijou wins....
There was a perfectly good trail down to the beach but when it came to going back up, Daniel opted to climb up this cliff side right to our camp instead. When we started to run low on wood, he gathered logs off the beach and then climbed up just enough to hand them to us through the fence.
Mark carved a new remembrance into the fence. There a many names carved all over this fence already but I just have to laugh thinking of how many people will stay here and wonder who would write "Pooper" on a fence and what on earth they meant by it. The morning we left a couple ladies with young children grabbed our spot (even before we had packed up and left it) and I laughed for a lot of the drive home thinking of them finding "Pooper" in the fence and the questions that might be asked about it.
One of the things we wanted to do on this trip was get back to Beach #4. We briefly visited it last year. Remember these?
We wanted to go explore the rocky island you see in the background. So we did.
They are looking at a little starfish that was regrowing two of it's legs. After our first trip to Ruby Beach, I learned that the big stars weren't on top of the little stars to "protect their babies.' Oh no, they were eating them. There were many stars on these rocks as suspected, just not near where I could get to them so Mark brought me one.
It doesn't matter how many times I see them, I just love them every single time...even if they are cannibals. Mark did not put the little star regrowing it's legs anywhere near this bigger one either.
Beach #4 is a gravel beach. I don't think there is any sand. You get quite a workout here because everywhere you walk, you sink deeply with each step. The beach is on a steep incline so the waves are crazy and always crashing in. Look how the water has eroded this rocky cliff.
I love it. We explored each side of this beach this time. Mark and the kids always climb the rocks but I never do because I'll fall, trip, or just be really scary to watch. However, this is an exception.
It was pretty big but I figured with a little help I could get on and just sit and watch the waves. Mark was more than eager to help me and reached down to lift me up with both his arms lifting me up by both my arms as if he was a crane. (No wonder his back hurts)
This is the extent of my standing up on the rock. I am not afraid of heights by any means, I just don't trust the communication between my eyes and feet.
Here was my view from the top. And if you're wondering, I slid down the whole rock on my butt until I could not slide anymore and at that point, I jumped into Mark's arms. Did I mention how awesome this trip was for Mark and I? This little siesta made us very excited to do some hiking together if summer ever fully arrives. It's fun to hike with someone who is strong enough to be your personal forklift and will catch you if you fall.
Well, I caught his fall too......just not in the same way. Don't worry, he's fine. I think he just missed the last step when he was climbing down.
The last day of any trip to the beach always seems a little sad for me. This was sunrise. It was absolutely stunning. The weather on the day we left was supposed to be the best of all the days we were there. We had no clue about Bud on this morning and it was so tempting to want to stay but we packed up anyway and gave this spot to another family who received it like it was Christmas for them as well.
It was lovely. A much needed break from the everyday mundane. Being gone five days actually felt like a vacation unlike many of our previous trips which felt like more work than vacation. I would have never guessed that I would arrive home to such a rude awakening. We literally walked in the door, checked messages, and left for half the afternoon. I have only now fully unpacked and washed everything from the trip.
Strange occurrence. On the last afternoon there, a ladybug landed on my right arm. I do not like insects but mostly because I see them as little buzzing black things. I don't see well enough to know if it is just a bug, or a bee. If it buzzes, I want nothing to do it with, I don't care what it is. Now, a spider, I can at least discern so while I don't like them much either, I don't have to bat them away from my face. Anyway, I do like ladybugs because I can tell what they are. When I was little, I loved both ladybugs and butterflies. Of course in CA, butterflies were plentiful and they always landed on you or near you. Here, not so much. I was surprised that a ladybug found me at Kalaloch. Seemed like a strange place for them. It was really windy on that day but it stayed with me for a couple hours as I sat by the fire. It was orange; kids said that means it was a baby. It had 5.5 spots. I could not see the spots, Mark counted them. About the time I had to pee, I gave the ladybug to Daniel to hold for me for the few minutes I was gone. When I returned, it had flown away. I am not superstitious but I am aware of the superstition that if one lands on you, it is good luck. Or some wish will come true. Whatever. Upon returning home to Bud, I am not so sure it wasn't a bad omen. I enjoyed it's company anyway. Who wouldn't love an orange ladybug?
