Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Dungeness Doesn't Disappoint

Strait of San Juan de Fuca from Dungeness Recreation Area
When we started planning our summer route I knew we would be on the Olympic Peninsula near the end of July. One of the first reservations I made was for Dungeness Recreation Area based on Nina's campground review. It sounded like heaven.

Changing our initial route to start north on Hwy 101 rather than south didn't change where we planned to be this week. In hindsight I would have planned a lot longer on the Oregon Coast and tried to change our reservations here to the end of August - but we'll just do that next time :-)

Although I expected to dry camp a lot more, we have had at least water/electric at every stop except our one-nighters at Harvest Host locations. So this is our first experience with managing the electrical system for more than half a day.

Like every other system in the motorhome, we will gain confidence with experience and get the hang of it eventually. Also like every other system, the owner's manual is nearly worthless for anything other than the obvious "name of buttons" that is more insulting than helpful.

Maybe it's coming from the drought of California, but water and tank usage is very easy for us. I think we could easily go three weeks with access to a laundrymat. We'll test that when we have our solar and can boondock (hopefully this winter).

Anyway, back to Dungeness.

This is a county park so the Discovery Pass is not required and some of the rules are different from state and national parks. One is that no alcohol is allowed. So naturally we really wanted a few beers on our first night.....but we followed the rules.

Loop 1 is all first-come, first-serve and Loop 2 is about 75% reservable. Less than half are occupied in each loop this week.  Most of the spaces are very long - easily accommodating our rig and Jeep with room to spare. They could be wider, especially toward the front of each site, but most will accommodate slides. We are very comfortable in #51.. The big bonus is the view of the Strait from our passenger side windows - can't see it from the picnic table due to the fully grown foliage that separates the site from the Bluff Trail. If you have solar and/or satellite this is the one for you.

Beautiful view of the water from our large side window
Each loop has it's own bath house which are close enough to each other to "borrow" from the other loop as needed. Showers are "bring-four-of-your-friends" size with good pressure and warm water. Insert quarter for each 2 minutes which isn't the pain I thought it might be. Bathrooms and shower are kept very clean.

Updated and clean (you get weird looks when photographing a bathroom)
I screwed up when we arrived and parked in #53 because that was our original reservation and on my calendar. I forgot we had been moved to #51 to add Wednesday night. The camp host knocked and said someone else had reserved the spot for Sunday night. I assured him it was ours, then checked my email again after he left and discovered the error.  #53 is a much tighter spot, and although we were set up, it only took a few minutes to move us to the better site. So glad those people came in as we would have had to move on Wednesday anyway and found out what a great site we should have been in :-) Nice to have some good travel karma saved up!

We love watching storms - especially over the water or coming across the desert - and the Bluff Trail gave us our first opportunity on Sunday afternoon. While the rain barely reached us for more than off-and-on sprinkles for a couple hours, the show was gorgeous to see. Having the trail this close is a big reason to stay here.

Watching the storm



On one side of the trail is the Strait

and on the other side Half Shell peaks out
Tessa contemplates the obstacle course ahead
Although not posted, I read "dog-friendly" ends at the Refuge so we turned back here
We're seeing some of the incredible natural beauty here while taking care of a few mundane-but-necessary things that we've saved for a good size town like Sequim.

And I'm so glad we are staying at Dungeness!

19 comments:

  1. The moment you mentioned Sequim I thought of Sunny Farms Country Store! (I like grocery stores) I wish every town had a market like that.

    I'll enjoy the ocean vicariously through you this summer!

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    1. Funny that you mention that store, I have it in my notes from your post last year and am going there today :-) Please enjoy, I'm loving your time in Wyoming!

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  2. Only you, Jodee, could make reading about the bathhouse a great read:) Love the sounds of this park. What terrific views:)

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    1. Thanks :-)))) Like so much of the coastal area, the weather changes the view often, making the Bluff Trail something new each time.

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  3. I agree with John and Pam's comment! :)) Do you think the no alcohol rule applies even inside your own RV?

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    1. Probably not, and I noted that the sign says you can't open or consume (in the picnic area) so clearly having alcohol unopened isn't a violation. Since we really only like to partake "on the patio", we showed great restraint :-)))

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  4. Haven't camped here but stopped at the Dungeness many times.

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    1. The natural beauty of the place is amazing, and staying here has been a real treat.

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  5. We haven't camped in Oregon yet. What is a discovery pass?

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    1. Washington State Parks require a Discovery Pass for entrance - including for camping and is in addition to the camp site fees. Our friends bought ours so I don't know how much they are.

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    2. Thanks, we're in Colorado camping and I notice in order to camp in state parks here I need to pay a extra 7 dollar daily fee or a yearly fee along with state park fees. It must be something most states do. :) I love your blog.

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    3. You do not need a pass if you're spending the night in the park.

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  6. That first picture is fabulous. Love watching storms come in. Thanks for the information on the site for solar. We can go 3 weeks at a push on our tanks and water but ours are smaller than yours. I'm more comfortable with 2 weeks. But we have no problem at all with the batteries if our solar panels have good sun. If it weren't for the tanks we could stay forever. Without the solar, after a few days even with the generator the house batteries do not come back to 100% so the longer you stay, the more potential damage as they come back less each day. Solar is GREAT! It will never pay for itself unless we are still RVing into our 90's but the freedom is fantastic and worth the money. We could never spend the summer in a National park without it.

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    1. I hate running this generator :-) I know it's not a loud as I think it is but it's obnoxious :-( With the residential fridge we drain a pretty good amount of battery overnight and when we're out to see the area. Solar is a must for us, hopefully sooner rather than later!!

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  7. Wow..Dungeness has a rugged beauty to it, Jodee. I know what you mean about storms coming over the water. We watch them coming over Lake Michigan. No two trips to the water's edge are ever the same. :)

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    1. We're looking forward to seeing a few over the desert this winter as well - the raw power is so awesome :-)

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  8. Now you're in my home stomping grounds. There's so much to see around Sequim and Port Angeles. We make a point to go back usually at least once a year. Enjoy it all.

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    1. I see why you love it here. We're coming back next week on our way to Seattle to visit family.

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  9. We love Dungeness Spit -- so glad you're enjoying it, too. The sky in your first photo is beautiful -- I can never get enough of those expansive views over the ocean. The 'no alcohol' rule seemed a bit overzealous the first time I encountered it, until I realized that we could enjoy happy hour indoors and no one was going to come bust us. :-)))

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