August 2024

Time with family, friends, and Boondockers Welcome

We started out the month in Marysville, WA, doing some modifications to the van at Hailey's parents' house.  We added stop-stay gas struts on the rear doors, Josh drilled a hole into the quartz countertop of his workspace for cable management, re-glued the magnetic strips for the windows, re-glued some of the ceiling panels, and Josh trouble-shooted the Starlink so we knew it would be reliable on our travels. 

The first week of August was spent in the driveways of friends. We stayed a night in Edgewood, WA, at Steph and Lance's, then a couple of nights in Beaverton and Banks, OR, visiting with Nat and Walt.  It was nice to catch up with our people.  A good portion of a day was spent at Owl Off Road as our suspension needed to be fixed.  They did a great job ensuring we were satisfied with the work. 

We headed back to the coast and stayed one night at Cranguyma Farms.  It was neat to see the cranberry bogs and stay close to Long Beach.  Lucky loved running on the beach; chasing her ball, rolling in sand, and digging in sand make her very happy. We stopped at the free Cranberry Museum in Long Beach and grabbed a couple of the small containers of homemade cranberry ice cream.  The next location we overnighted at was Hoodsport Winery. We liked this location as we were able to grab dinner at Hama Hama Oyster Saloon.  The saloon and store are located on the waterfront of Hood Canal. 

On our way to Harbinger Winery (where an overnight stay was) we worked from Sequim.  We've been a fan of Harbinger for several years. It was where we stopped after our first weekend away together doing an overnight backpacking trip to the Hoh Rainforest.  They have great wine and their Harvest Host accommodation was a nice level and open field. 

Tuesday, 8/13/24, took us up to Canada.  We thought we would get in line early and catch the 5:15pm sailing but they were able to squeeze us on the 12:45pm sailing. This stressed Hailey out as she had a 2:00pm meeting and Internet connection was not great.  Thankfully it all worked out and she was able to take the call right before going through customs.  In Canada we did our first Boondockers Welcome location.  We stayed in Mills Bay, BC and met a wonderful and welcoming couple, Donna and Luch.  The next couple of nights we stayed in Port Alberni on Brenda and Bob's property.  Brenda and Bob were also very welcoming and kind.  We enjoy meeting like-minded people who are friendly and genuine. 

While in Ucluelet we dry camped at Secret Beach Campground and stayed five nights at Surf Grove Campground.  At Surf Grove Hailey took her first ever surfing lesson.  Lucky loved running on the beaches, and we enjoyed exploring the town and surrounding areas.  Even though it rained for a significant amount of time during our stay, we tried to make the best of it. 

After leaving Tofino we spent a couple of nights in Squamish, BC.  Unfortunately, due to the heavy rain, our Starlink quit working. This prompted a swift return to the US where we could procure a new Starlink at the Best Buy in Bellingham, WA.  For several nights we stayed in the parking lot of Silver Reef Casino in Ferndale, WA.  As a registered member of the casino (which is free to sign up for) you are allowed to stay for three nights in their lot.  They have a designated parking area for RVers which is flat, safe, and quiet. 

Once we determined our new Starlink was working properly, we drove back up to Canada on Saturday, August 31st.  We explored the Steveston area, which is outside of Vancouver, and met up with our friend Heather, who we met in Morocco.  The last night of August was spent at a Boondockers Welcome host in Richmond, B.C.