Camping Trip

A few weeks ago, Mackenzie and I filled our Honda Civic with camping gear and supplies and went on a three-day adventure along the Washington Coast and around the Olympic National Park. We've been to the Washington Coast before, but never to the Olympic peninsula.

And believe it or not, this is only the second time we've been camping since we've lived in Washington. The first was for our second anniversary. It wasn't exactly a disaster, but we did get rained on quite a bit, and in hindsight it didn't seem like we packed all the supplies we should have. That wasn't entirely the reason we hadn't been camping again, but I think it kept Mackenzie from wanting to do so anytime soon.

But we wanted to take a short trip this summer and knew we needed to do so with a small budget, so we decided to give camping another go. I'm happy to say our second experience was far better than our first.

We stayed at Kalaloch Campground, literally one block from the beach. Even in August it was cloudy and cool, but we kept a warm fire going at all times while at our site. We even did most of our cooking over the fire, which I think was one of Mackenzie's favorite things. We went with a few of the tried-and-true camping favorites (hobo stew, franks and beans, smores, etc.) and even tried making bacon and coffee over the fire.

While we were there, we took a few hikes along the beach, as well as a few day trips to the Hoh Rain Forest, La Push, and Ruby Beach. Driving just a few miles from the coast, the sun would start to peak out and the temperature would increase by at least ten degrees--weird Washington weather.

My favorite part was lunch along the Hoh River. We found a spot just off the beaten path, stuck our feet in the freezing cold water, and enjoyed the view.

On our way home we took the northern route and stopped along the way to explore Port Angeles, Hurricane Ridge, and Port Townsend. We're already making plans to go back.