You might think that after living at Ilwaco, WA aboard our Bayliner 38 motor yacht for two months during the summer of 2013, exploring the region, and especially the Long Beach peninsula, we'd be looking for something new, but such is not the case. We love the area's climate, beaches, bike paths, hiking, restaurants, and natural scenery.
This was our first trip to
Andersen's RV Park, located on the Long Beach peninsula. The gravel parking lot style facility is designed to handle slideouts with ease, and the barked area between sites is outfitted with the picnic table.
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| Site #51 |
The sites are organized in two rows, one north, and one south. The space between the rows is incredibly wide. Lots of room for maneuvering into one's site. We were in site #51, which backed up to beach grass and pine trees.
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| The trees on the right are to the north, and they provide a nice windbreak. |
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| I love the way the RV park map reflects the colorful Adirondack chairs at the facility. |
The facility shows a pride of ownership. It's clean and well maintained. While Andersen's is all about the beach, there are still things to see on a short walk about the park.
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| Wood, not plastic. |
As is my practice, I work while on the road. The WiFi is advertised as 1.5 Mbps but the best I saw during a week stay was .9 Mbps with .4 being typical. While the WiFi performance was OK for email and web browsing, VoIP and sharing presentations online were a struggle at times. Fortunately, Verizon 3G/4G LTE was a solid 3-4 bars, so I used it as a backup to the WiFi.
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| The room between rows was awesome. |
The Beach
It's a short easy walk to the beach. The rolling beach grass-covered dunes hide the expanse of flat, firm beach, the Long Beach Peninsula is known for.
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| The path back to the RV park |
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| The dunes had a very gentle slope to then. |
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| Laura on the beach at Andersen's RV Park, Long Beach, WA |
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| One of many sunsets enjoyed on the beach at Andersen's |
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| Laura put a lot of miles on those shoes on the beach. |
While I'd work during the day (my workday started at 4:30 am), Laura would grab my Nikon camera and go exploring the beach.
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| Firm enough to drive cars on. A common sight on Long Beach. |
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| Laura and Dale. |
Cape Disappointment
We like the
Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Cape Disappointment State Park. Besides telling a great story of the Corps of Discovery, the center has awesome views.
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| This was our first trip where Laura discovered an interest in photography. |
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| Cape Disappointment Lighthouse overlooking the Columbia River Bar. |
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| Dale at Cape Disappointment |
Waikiki Beach at
Cape Disappointment State Park. Below is how it normally looks, but a few days later the area was experiencing surges and sneaker waves that were amazing to watch.
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| One of the many pieces of artwork on the Discovery Trail. |
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| Dale at Clark's Tree sculpture on the Discovery Trail. |
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| Laura on the Discover Trail |
Waikiki Beach
Contrasted to the photo shot day's earlier, the surf is massive as the swell rolls up the beach. No one was surfing this day
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| The logs were being moved about. |
North Jetty and the Surge
Laura has an affinity for Pelicans, of which there are plenty at Cape Disappointment. As a result, we get lots of bird shots when she has the camera;-)
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| Back at the North Jetty, but this time with a strong surge. |
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| Not the calmer surf from days earlier. |
Ilwaco, WA
We had a mix of overcast and sunny days during our visit. Ilwaco is a favorite destination of ours. We wish the Port of Ilwaco would invest in an RV Park.
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| Thee slip to the left of center is where we spent two months on the Bayliner 38. Absolutely loved it. |
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| Always a great place for photos on a sunny day. |
One of the vessels on the hard at Ilwaco is the Jeanne O. Slowly rotting away, this double ended fishing boat has been the subject of some of my photography because I love its working boat lines and its character. The boat has also captured the eye of a local watercolor artist. At the end of our two months in Ilwaco in 2013, Laura gave me a watercolor of the Jeanne O.
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| Jeanne O |
Long Beach
Camping in the Northwest has it share of overcast days, but when the sun comes out the colors are spectacular.
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| Dale and Laura near Andersen's RV Park |
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| Heading back to camp as our trip comes to an end. |
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| The beach grass is beautiful as it moves to the wind. |
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| Not the overcast of the first day as we prepare to head home. |
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| A final sunset from Andersen's RV Park |
Andersen's RV Park was wonderful. Although missing bike access to the Discovery Trail, getting there was only a short drive. We enjoyed our week at Long Beach. As predicted, it was too short.
Live
well, Laugh
often, Love
much
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