Creaking Down the Trail: A Resting Adventure

After eight years of volunteering Rich and I are taking a vacation, finally. We completed our volunteer assignment at Molalla River State Park and July 1 headed to Paradise RV Park near Chehalis, Washington. The plan: a tour of Washington State, kayaking, hiking, resting and visiting friends.

Rich and Cheryl in Paradise

Paradise, our first stop was a rest stop. A time to pause and gather resources. A hike to Woods Creek was a welcome inhalation of nature. We walked the trail two years ago. Now, there is a story walk. A wonderful new addition.

Paradise RV park offers kayaking on their pond. No typo there. In reality it was more interesting than we imagined. There are some good sized fish in the pond. As we glided along the water disturbing small insects, a fish would jump out of the water off the front tip of the kayak. Our one hour kayak exploration of the pond was a good rowing warm up for the season.

Second stop, a beautiful tree filled campground in La Conner, Washington in NW Washington right on the Puget Sound. I forgot that the beaches on the sound are rock covered, two inch and larger buggers. Normally, that would be okay but Rich had pulled a leg tendon shortly after our arrival so limited or no walks on rocks. The beach and everything on it is for the use of the local Samish Tribe. Most days we would walk from our campsite to the beach to one of their sacred sites.

Sacred Tree

We signed up for a guided sea kayak tour in Bowman Bay. Great fun that tested our rusty kayak skills. Puget Sound has a wide variety of shore birds. The Rhinoceros auklet was a new, for Rich and I, and exciting bird sighting.