Campground Notes

We've been internetless the last few days so we've got some catching up to do. 

We're at Salt Creek Recreation Area west of Port Angeles, WA, on the northern side of the Olympic Peninsula. It’s a county campground with wonderful views of Strait of Juan de Fuca.  The international border between the US and Canada runs down the middle of the strait, which is the entrance to the Puget Sound from the Pacific Ocean. We're paying $27 a night for full hook ups. 

Before Salt Creek, we spent one night in Olympia, WA, at the old but charming Olympia Campground about six miles south of Olympia.  Huge trees, and some very private camping spots.  $36 a night with taxes and no discounts.

We also recently stayed at the Columbia Sun RV Resort in Kennewick, WA. It was expensive at $44.50 a night (although not as expensive as the place we stayed in Coeur d'Alene) -- but we got a “Passport America” discount where you get two nights for half price. Like most private parks, they charge less if your stay for a week or a month. If you need to be in the Tri Cities area of WA for a while it could be a good choice as it’s new, clean, well cared for, and the staff was great. 

We’ve stayed at a lot more private RV campgrounds this trip. Usually we camp at state parks, national parks and military bases. But other than the Grand Tetons, Glacier, Yakima, and where we are right now -- Salt Creek Recreation Area west of Port Angeles, Washington -- we’ve parked our RV at private places.  After the Tetons and Glacier, we were ready for full utilities (electricity/water/sewer) which those parks didn’t have.  Then in Livingston, Bozeman, Missoula, Coeur d’Alene, and Kennewick we wanted to do more “city stuff” and be as close to town as possible, so we stayed in nearby private RV parks. Yakima has a convenient state park practically in the middle of town, so that’s where we chose to stay when in that town.

All in all, we like being out in the “boonies” where we can hike, kayak, have great views and explore.  Our two solar panels provide enough juice to run our lights, and we have an inverter we can use to charge our computer and phones and grind our coffee beans.  

But sometimes it’s just plain nice to have access to the microwave.  Here at Salt Creek we have both the microwave and the view.

Where we are right now: Salt Creek Recreation area west of Port Angeles, WA.  That's the Strait of Juan de Fuca behind us.  The park has forests, rocky bluffs, tide pools, and amazing views.  We've had great neighbors:  Dave and Dora from Colorado who are camping in a small Casita trailer, plus full timers from Coos Bay, OR, who had portable kayaks.

This is the Olympia Campground just south of Olympia, Washington.  It's an older but lovely campground in the middle of huge Douglas fir trees.

The Columbia Sun RV Resort in Kennewick, WA, is the newest local, private RV campground and owned by some folks who are long-time local residents. Since it's new and the trees are small, it probably can get windy and hot -- but it was a pristine campground with very nice staff.