Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Evergreen Coho SKP RV Park, Chimacum, WA


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We visited the Olympic Peninsula in 2014 and spent a few nights at the fairgrounds in Port Townsend, WA, but this time we opted to stay about 10 miles south in Chimacum at the Escapees park, Evergreen Coho. The short term area is just a gravel lot but it’s a nice park, although it doesn’t have all the amenities that Jojoba Hills has.

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It’s been a busy social week. Lazy Daze friend Jeanne is here for a month, another Lazy Daze owner, Melinda, whom we met at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, has a lot here. And Larry and Renee, who head up the Lazy Daze Morro Bay get-together, showed up a few days ago. We joined them all for happy hour the other night.

We also visited with some neighbors from Jojoba who are here for a month, and at the farmers market on Saturday in Port Townsend ran into two more Jojoba couples who are staying in the area. Also had nice visits from a blog reader, and a friend of Jim’s from Facebook and his wife, whom we had not met before.

The weather has been fairly warm, in the 70s to low 80s, but we’ve had quite a bit of haze and smoke so it’s not great for outdoor activities. On the clearer days we’ve walked around the streets and along the waterfront at Port Townsend. We love looking at the boats, interesting shops and lovely architecture.

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At the Northwest Maritime Center you can watch the building and restoration of wooden boats. They are such beautiful pieces of artwork.

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Jim had to educate me on Steampunk, a term I had never heard of and a fad I guess I missed, although it’s apparently been around for years. This shop sells some wild clothing.

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Point Hudson Marina.

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Flowers at a B&B next to the marina.

Chimacum, Port Townsend, Evergreen Coho SKP Park

You have to love a town where residents post signs such as this.

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And you can pick up your monthly poem from this box. Port Townsend is home to a large number of writer and poets.

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We’ve been to the Pourhouse and had a beer on their pleasant outside deck.

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We also had a fun evening at Port Townsend Brewing Co., where a stranger got out of a cab and came in and bought a couple rounds for everyone at the bar. He was from Seattle, very well-dressed, blind and in a wheelchair. He asked where the best place in town was to spend the night. We didn’t get his story but one of the patrons speculated he was terminal and spending down his money. When someone thanked him he said this was just a normal day for him. We also had a good conversation with a retired mail carrier who is now an antique shop owner in town. It’s always interesting sitting at the bar talking to locals.

The rock music wasn’t that great but there was some good people watching at the Thursday night free concert at the dock.

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Last week the Saturday farmers market was expanded for the Uptown Festival. They have an annual parade and we came back after a walk to see what it was all about. Another crazy small town event.

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Apparently anyone can enter.

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Chimacum, Port Townsend, Evergreen Coho SKP Park1

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This brass band followed at the end of the parade. They were excellent and we walked behind them for a while just to listen. Brought back memories of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

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We’ve done one hike at Port Ludlum, a planned community just south of Chimacum. I read that it was one of the best places to retire, so we wanted to check it out. Located on Port Ludlow Bay, with home prices from the upper $200,000s for a condo, on up to $12 million for a home, we knew it was too upscale for us. That’s okay, though, since we really didn’t care for it. It was a bit too “planned” and perfect looking.

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There is a five mile loop starting near the golf course, the Timberton trail, that goes mostly through the forest with occasional views of the Olympic Mountains (on most days, according to the website).

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We saw a sign for a beaver dam here but couldn’t find it. The mosquitoes had found us, though, so we didn’t search very long.

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We finally came to the view but there wasn’t much to see.

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I nearly had to run to keep up with Jim, who was walking as fast as he could to keep the mosquitoes away. We didn’t bring packs (where we keep the bug spray), since it was just a short, easy trail. Guess we’ll never learn.

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A couple weeks ago we ordered our mail from Pensacola to arrive while we were in Portland but it sat in Los Angeles for many days and didn’t show up before we left. It finally made it a few days after we were gone so the park forwarded it to Chimacum. Still no tracking and it hasn’t arrived at the post office yet. We’ve decided to hang out here for another week in hopes it will catch up with us soon. I am still monitoring the smoke in Canada but doubt we will be going by the way things look at this point.

19 comments:

  1. The "Refugees and Immigrants Welcome" sign is prominently placed in the windows of many of the houses near Randyland in Pittsburgh, PA. Glad to see it's up coast to coast!

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    1. That's the first one we've seen but good to know it's across the country.

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  2. Gorgeous photos!! I love the parade. It looks like everyone is welcome.

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  3. You have the darnedest luck with mail and packages...

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  4. Love Port Townsend. We've been many times (it's still on our short list of places to settle down, one of these days...). There's always something new to discover! We've never seen that particular parade, nor have we been to Port Townsend Brewing. We're heading back there in September so we'll have a chance to try it out.
    If you haven't been to Finn River Cidery in Chimacum, it's wonderful. Beautiful place and great cider.

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    1. Some friends also recommended Finn River but we haven't been yet. PT Brewing has great beer and live music several times a week. We'll be there again tomorrow for the blues band.

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  5. Love the OP and what a perfect place for some much cooler weather and lots to see and do. Yes, we have learned the hard way that the packs always go even if it is only a short, easy hike.

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    1. We should know better! At least we had a bottle of water but that didn't help with the mosquitoes.

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  6. Your post is timely since I will be heading there soon. Looks great. I was thinking that the weather was looking sunny and clear in your pics until I saw the view of the Olympic range. Hard to escape the haze this summer (again).

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  7. Sorry we will be gone by the time you get here. Hopefully the smoke will be gone by then, too. It's been really bad the past three days.

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  8. We really enjoy Port Townsend. I have fond memories of walking from our rig at the marina every morning to a local coffee shop, before the town seemed to wake for the day. Sorry to hear the news about Canada. Any idea where you might head instead?

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    1. No plan B yet if we don't go to Canada. Any ideas?

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  9. When I lived in the PNW and sailed Port Townsend was a favorite port of call. Bummer about the mail and smoke. I'm staying home to avoid smoke.

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    1. You are fortunate to be somewhere smoke-free.
      Mail hasn't arrived yet :-(

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  10. I think that parade is in my future...

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    1. Yup, just decorate your bike or grocery cart and you're in!

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  11. You are making me want to visit all the SKP parks and especially Jojoba. Amazing the number of people you met up with. Looks like there are enough Lazy Daze folks in the area to host a float in that sweet little parade. Sorry you are having smoke problems and that it will prevent you from going to Canada. And too for the mosquitoes. John and Pam think we have the bugs here but we don't. Perhaps we should thank Washington for hosting them. Love the sign and the gorgeous wooden boats.

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