This post is a little delayed but better late than never.
August 19th was my Birthday. This year I chose to go on a personal walk about. I was tired of staying in the city and going to the same favorite restaurants to celebrate. It isn’t that I don’t appreciate and cherish my past birthdays with friends, I very much do, I simply wanted to do something different this year. I have had a lot of changes in my personal life over the past year. I’ve been in 2 relationships over the past 20 years. I was married for 13 and in another long term relationship for almost 6 years. For the first time in my life I have time to myself and that is why I had a desire to camp alone. Every adventure I have taken alone I have felt empowered by each of the experiences. I was confident this camping experience would be no different. PLUS, about a month ago I decided to check to see if there were any campsites available at my FAVORITE campground in Washington State. When I looked online not only was there availability but a camping site right on the beach was OPEN. There must have been a cancellation because Kaloloch is always booked solid between Memorial Day and Labor Day. When I saw this spot was opened I booked it!
Let the adventure begin.
The road trip started out with Cookie getting sick on the road again. She crawled onto the front seat and start to throw up all over the blanket. YUCK! I abruptly pulled the car over so that I could clean up the nastiness. While I was cleaning off the blanket a Sheriff stopped to check on me. I remember looking up and seeing him standing behind me. My first thought was OH NO! did I pull over in an illegal place? I was friendly and explained the situation to the Sheriff. When he saw the puke on the blanket he said “oh I’ve been there with my dogs” 🙂 he said he just wanted to make sure I was OK after he saw me pull over so quickly. I thought that was great because after all I was traveling alone and this gave me reassurance that I’m being looked after. After I cleaned up the mess the pooches and I carried on. Seattle >> Paulsbo >> Sequim >> Port Angeles >> Lake Crescent >> Forks >> Kalaloch Campground. This was the first time Paco and Cookie had been to a beach. They absolutely loved it! So many new smells to roll in. They ran all over the beach and the smiles on their faces was entertaining to watch. Paco decided it was fun to run up to strangers and say hello “yap! yap! yap!”. That got annoying pretty quick so I had to redirect his attention to the tennis ball and treats which works every time! 🙂 My camping spot was perfect and yes I mean perfect. The thing about taking adventures alone is that you don’t have any decision points other than with yourself and that makes things smooth. I had a wonderful dinner and a spectacular sunset and I couldn’t be happier about my birthday walk about. I know one day I will have someone to enjoy these experiences with but for the time being…me, myself and I are going to be Ok! Here are the pictures I captured from the experience. Please enjoy them as much as I enjoyed capturing them!
Washington State Ferry “Goodbye Seattle”
This upcoming pictures are from Granite Falls the following weekend.
This picture of a Lilly is my favorite over the past few weeks. I did not use any filters on this picture. It was pitch black outside. The porch light was the only light which is why I was able to capture this beauty.
Emily!! Thank you for sharing your photos, your thoughts, and your adventure. I love that you are complete, independent and wholly fantastic!! You don’t need “No Stinkin'” Man! You need you and we need you!!
I LOVE your camping spot! We have camped on the peninsula several times, and once lost Angie there at the tip. Wish we could have been there to camp, laugh, play games and get harassed by the Rangers with you.
Wouldn’t it be fun to camp with Nancy, Lenny, Ken, YOU, and me sometime? I’d LOVE that!
Glad the cop was doing his job as PEACE Officer, doing Community Service! I think the great majority of police officers are good and well-intentioned but the job is nearly impossible.
Thank you again for sharing. Your photos are fantastic!
Love,Betty
“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ― Shel Silverstein
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 07:47:17 +0000
To: bwhiton@msn.com
Thanks so much for the support and inspiration. I love you guys so much and would LOVE to go camping with your Portland family 🙂 Just let me know when and I will be there. Have a wonderful day and I will be in touch soon. Love, Em