Gotta, Gotta, Get Away!

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream. Wandering by lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate streams. World losers and world forsakers, for whom the pale moon gleams. Yet we are movers and the shakers of the world forever it seems." Arthur O'Shaunessy

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I have been jonesing to go to the coast for quite some time now. It's hard for me to be so far inland, having grown up just a couple of miles from Cape Cod Bay. I remember being able to hear the crashing surf all the way at my parents house, after Nor'easters or blizzards. The Atlantic Ocean was just a short drive east, as was Nantucket Sound.

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Even when we lived in California we weren't that far from the water. I've always said that I could never live in a land-locked state. One of my only reservations about moving to Washington was when I saw how far away from the coast we would be living. I resisted moving here at first, but then finally caved when Brian dangled the "But-we'll-be-so-close-to-Canada" carrot in front of me.

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Bonney Lake isn't far from Puget Sound, but it's not the same as being near the ocean. There are not that many decent beaches on the Sound, and I've been woefully disappointed in the few that I have visited. We don't have the money to take any extended weekend trips to Long Beach (SE Washington) or Cannon Beach/Seaside (Oregon).

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I haven't been anywhere in well over a year; coming up on two years this spring. Not being able to travel is killing me. Not being able to beachcomb is killing me even more.

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Since I desperately need to get away, by myself, but don't have much money, I'm going to do a marathon drive for an overnighter to Kalaloch Lodge, on the Washington Coast. Kalaloch is pronounced "Claylock". It's spendy, because it's one of only 2 places to stay on that part of the Olympic Peninsula; the other being Lake Quinault Lodge. It's about a 4 hour trip out there from my house. My plan is to leave at the crack o'dawn on Friday, March 19. That should put me on the coast by mid to late morning. I plan to spend the day hanging out, beachcombing and will probably go check out the teeny, tiny town of Queets. Check-in time isn't till 4 pm so I'll have a lot of time to kill!

Here's a picture of the Lodge that I found on line. I'm staying in their cheapest room, meaning, no ocean view, no TV, nothing. Which is fine w/ me because all I need when I travel is a bed and bathroom.
"Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous; that ocean is not silent." H. P. Lovecraft
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This is the beach at Kalaloch. I'm so incredibly anally retentive that I actually looked up the tide tables for the month of March, in order to ensure that I would be there for low tide.

Saturday, March 20, is going to be my marathon day. My actual goal of this trip is to see & beachcomb at Ruby Beach, which is another 10 or more miles north of Kalaloch. If you go back and look at the map above, Ruby Beach is located where the Highway bends back inland, north of the red arrow which marks Kalaloch.

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Low tide that morning is at 10:30, so after I spend some time at Ruby Beach, I will start the unbelievably long haul back to Bonney Lake. I figure I'll get home around 4:00 pm, if I'm lucky.



Isn't it beautiful and mystical? Back in 2002, we drove past it on our way to see another very cool beach that's much farther north, but we didn't stop here. The beaches are littered with many logs that wash up during storms. You have to be really mindful of the surf because you never know when another log is going to be tossed on shore.

We're in an El Nino weather pattern this winter, which means it's been warmer and drier than normal years. Going to the coast in March can be a real crap shoot. But weather be damned. I don't care if it's howling and and the surf is crashing. I have got to get away. Storm watching is a big past time here in Washington, and I'm not going to let a little wind and rain deter me from my photography and beachcombing.....as long as I don't get my leg or foot pinned in the log jam, I should be fine on my own.
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"But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the lore of books is the secret lore of ocean." H. P. Lovecraft

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I cannot wait.