August 2026 Update from the Road

We spent the whole month of August in Washington State on what felt like a rapid-fire tour. We need to be in Joshua Tree, California, for a party on October 1st, so we tried to see as much of the state as we could while leaving a little time to visit Oregon. Along the way we visited with many friends, met some new people, had work done on the van, and drank a bit of beer.

Our path around the state was oftentimes guided by circumstances beyond our control and by suggestions from friends and bartenders. In fact, we did a bit of backtracking after a bartender and two friends, on different sides of the country, made almost simultaneous suggestions that we go to a specific area.

We had a few general plans but nothing specific. Many days started with hiking and sightseeing, then deciding where to go next and looking for a campsite in the late afternoon. We never made reservations and were lucky with first-come, first-served sites and free boondocking locations. A handful of times we’d drive to find campgrounds full. But usually our second, less convenient choice was available.

The first thing to direct our path was a windshield repair. Back in Montana, we caught another rock with our windshield (remember we had just had the entire windshield replaced in July). It was too hot in Montana to stop for another repair, so once we reached Washington, I tried to schedule an appointment through our insurance company to get it addressed. We were in the Grand Coulee Canyon – a more sparsely populated part of the state. There were no shops to take it to, and we would have to wait 3 days for a mobile repair (even if we went to them). So we put a piece of tape on the chip and decided to deal with it once we reached the coast.

On August 2, we left our campground in the national forest and concluded our tour of the North Cascades Mountains. We headed for a city north of Seattle, where we had scheduled an appointment with Safelite. The next day, as we drove on the highway to the repair shop, Periplo caught another rock! At least it happened before we got there!

While we were in the area, I remember that a traveling friend, Holly, was staying north of Seattle.  I reached out to see if she was close. She was. We planned a little two-day camping adventure on the Puget Sound coast. We camped at an overlook and spent the day at Larrabee State Park.

Duwan, Holly, and Greg at our amazing overlook campsite.

While we were hanging out at our overlook campsite with Holly, a young couple jumped out of their van with a guitar. The couple, Singaporeans Emerson and Michelle were on their honeymoon. Emerson knew all the classic rock songs and jammed for a while with Greg.

I love being on the water and wanted more of it, so after leaving our friend, we headed for a couple of islands, Fidalgo and Whidbey. We went on a whale tour, visited several more state parks, and camped at the Blue Fox Drive-in Movie Theater.

We had 4 days to explore before we needed to head inland to meet up with friends, Doug and Jackie. We had plans to go camping in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Doug and Jackie had made a reservation weeks earlier, but now the campground was closed due to a spreading fire. We needed a plan B.

Waiting to leave Whidbey Island on the Port Townsend/Coupeville Ferry.

Periplo on the ferry.

So we decided to leave the islands a day early and scout out a good dispersed camping spot on one of the Washington peninsulas, away from the smoke and burning fires. But my friends required electricity for their rig. I opened my iOverlander app and started looking for a developed campground instead. Options were slim. State parks were all full. But eventually I found an odd little campground in the Port of Dewatto on the Kitsap Peninsula – a place that might have once been a town, but now only has a campground.

Greg and Doug play guitar at our campsite.

We all piled into the van and drove down a dirt road to look for the town of Dewatto. When we didn’t find it, we headed down the coast until we did find a town where we hung out on the dock with our feet in the water and then had some ice cream!

I cooked pancakes outside on our last morning of camping.

After leaving our friends, we headed to the Olympic Peninsula and did a mostly counterclockwise tour, taking in the sights along the way, including parts of Olympic National Park. We visited rainforests, the rocky coastline, the most northwesterly point in the continental US, and an animal rescue.

Taking pictures of the animals at the Olympic Game Reserve.

Duwan at Merymere Falls on Lake Cresent.

Usie on the beach near Ozette.

Us on the beach again.

Greg on the Kalaloch beach.

A plan for Greg to record vocals for one of Doug’s songs brought us to Doug’s house in Seattle for a few days. We enjoyed hanging out in the hip Ballard neighborhood and visited locks and a fish ladder.

Then we headed southeast from the big city to visit Iron Horse Brewing. We had become enamored with Iron Horse’s Irish Death and other Death beers since we first discovered them shortly after entering the state. We were taking a circuitous route to Mount Rainier National Park. A bartender at the brewery suggested that we check out the Yakima River Canyon on the way.

We spent 2 days hiking around at Mount Rainier and one afternoon at Mount Saint Helens National Monument.

The next-to-last day of the month was spent in Vancouver, Washington, hanging out with an old sailing friend, Captain Robert, and his daughter, Rona. Rona had just run a marathon that day. We made a little trip to visit a waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge.

On our last day, we spent the evening with strangers who are now new friends, Sue and Don. We were virtually introduced to Sue earlier in the month by Sue’s cousin, one of our old sailing friends.

Greg, Duwan, Captain Robert, and Rona.

Duwan and Greg at Multnomah Falls.

Don, Greg, Duwan,and Sue.

A few expenses

I am not detailing every nickel and dime we spend anymore, but I thought I would write about a few expenses that relate specifically to our journeys.

Harvest Hosts

We joined Harvest Hosts for $75. Harvest Hosts allows you to book free stays at businesses like wineries, farms, breweries, and museums, with the expectation that you will spend a little money with the business. Since we don’t drink and drive, I thought joining Harvest Hosts would be a great way for us to have date nights and visit some brewpubs.

The Wig Wam Pub at Deep Draft Brewing.

They had an old-fashioned shuffle board at the Wig Wam Pub.

Yoked Farmhouse & Brewery.

Iron Horse Brewery – Worldwide HQ. We had been drinking Iron Horse Brewery’s Irish Death beer since we entered Washington. They have a whole line of Death beers: Mocha Death, Aloha Death, PB & Death, Blackberry Death, Cookie Death, Mexican Cocoa Death, Chocolate Hazelnut Death, and Tiramisu Death beers. We were excited to try them all on our visit, but they only had Irish Death and Blackberry Death. We were a bit disappointed.

Whale Tour

We splurged and went on a whale tour. With the senior price for Greg and a 25% off coupon code I found online, the tour cost us $191.

Gas

We spent $647 on gas and traveled about 1760 miles. Gas prices in Washington have been anywhere from about $4.50 to $5.50.

Camping

$199 was spent on camping. We used to try to only do free camping. But our approach to camping has changed a bit since we don’t have to watch our money as carefully. We did a mixture of free and paid camping—whatever was the most convenient. Sometimes we just stopped on the side of the road, sometimes in a developed campsite. Since we have a Senior America the Beautiful Pass, we only pay half price at all federal campsites, which makes camping so much more affordable.

Our most unusual camp spot was a drive-in theater. It cost $64 to camp, but that included two movie tickets ($7 each) and a $30 voucher for the snack bar. We had a giant pizza and a hot pretzel.

Our pizza at the Blue Fox Drive-in on Whidbey Island.

Once it was dark, the drive-in showed old concession stand ads and cartoons. The main feature was Spider-Man: Brand New Day. There was a second movie, but we didn’t stay up for it.

Our most off-the-beaten-path camp spot was at a roadside pull-off. The view was wonderful.

Sometimes roadside pull-offs come with a view. We enjoyed looking out of Periplo side door and seeing the fog cover…

…and uncover this big rock.

Camping stats:

• 2 –  nights at a national forest campground (paid, $32)
• 4 – nights at Boondockers Welcome locations
• 2 –  nights at an overlook
• 1 – night at a city park campground (paid, $31)
• 1 – night at a drive-in movie theater (paid, $20)
• 1 –  night at a county park campground (paid, $15)
• 3 – nights at breweries (Harvest Hosts)
• 2 – nights in a port district campground (paid, $36.5)
• 3 – nights in a Native American casino parking lot
• 1 – night in a Washington Department of Natural Resources campground
• 1 – night in a roadside pull-off
• 5 – nights in a National Park Service Campground (paid, $52)
• 1 – night on a river with a charge for the access road (paid, $5)
• 2 – nights in a friend’s driveway
• 1 – night at a BLM campground (paid, $7.50)
• 1 – night in the driveway of friends of friends.

Forest Service Campground, Park Creek Campground on Baker Lake. $16 a night with Greg’s Senior America the Beautiful Pass.

Puget Sound overlook where we camped with Holly. This place filled with vans at night.

Our most expensive campground, Washington Park on Fidalgo Island. The free option was on a busy street. We opted to pay $31 for a campsite. We got one of the last non-electric sites that day.

Our camp spot at the Blue Fox Drive-in. For $64 we got two movie tickets, camping, and a $30 voucher for the snack bar. The theater also had a bar!

Magnolia Campground on Whidbey Island. We ended up at this campground after we decided we didn’t like the free option—a 24-hour parking spot at the ferry port. $15.

Our camping spot at a Harvest Host location, Deep Draft Brewing.

Our compound with Doug and Jackie at Dewatto Campground. We got a deal on these spots. I wasn’t sure if I could book two rigs at the same spot, so I called the campground. The woman I talked to was so nice. She booked one spot under my name and another at no cost under her name. She only charged us $10 for an extra car for two nights. All in all, it was $36.5 for two nights after we split the cost with Doug and Jackie.

On our first night on the Olympic Peninsula, we drove up to the National Park’s Heart O’ the Hills Campground because the ranger at the visitor center told us there were still open camping spots. This was wrong. So we drove back down the mountain to the Native American Elwha Casino. We spent two nights here.

This was a free Washington Department of Natural Resources campground. We checked out a much nicer Washington Department of Natural Resources campground before we landed here. It was full. We were only needed a place to sleep, so this campground was perfect.

National Park Ozette Campground. $10 with our senior park pass. This was a first-come, first-served campground. We got here on a Wednesday afternoon. There about 5 spots left.

Allen’s Bar Campground. The camping was free, but we had to pay $5 to cross private property to get here. We might have tried for a first-come, first-served site in the national park, but this campground was perfect for us since it had a clear view of the sky for our Starlink. Greg needed to make an early morning video call the next morning.

National Park Kalaloch Campground. $12 with Greg’s senior park pass. This was a reservation campground. We arrived midday on a Thursday afternoon. We were 3rd in line and snagged a spot!

National Park North Fork Campground. $10 with Greg’s senior park pass. Due to lack of planning and not really understanding the area we drove a long way down rough roads to get to this first-come, first-served campground. We got the last spot.

Harvest Hosts location, Yoked Farmhouse Brewing.

Doug’s driveway.

Harvest Hosts location, Iron Horse Brewery.

BLM Campground Big Pines Campground in the Yakima River Canyon. $7.50 with Greg’s senior pass.

National Park Campground Cougar Rock at Mount Rainier. $10 a night with Greg’s senior park pass. There were first-come, first-served spots available when we arrived Thursday morning. But the campground was full by afternoon.