What about Washington

Well, what about Washington?
We'd been to Washington State a few times during our motorcycling days. We had stopped in Seattle for a few days (it was sunny!) and spent time in Port Townsend (windy!) and stayed in a cottage on Orcas Island (fabulous!). The weather was ideal, but it was just a handful of days... Now that we've been here for nine weeks I thought I would make note of things that are different from what we are used to.


First there was the humidity or dampness. We were on the coast so I get it. But still, it didn't take much to break a sweat. I found myself showering a lot. And it wasn't long before the cabinet doors had swelled and wouldn't close properly. It's also not a good idea to not thoroughly dry clothes before folding and putting away. In a dry climate, no problem, but here you'll notice a distinct moldy odor as you dress. Yeah, not good. When it started raining, hard, we began to notice a condensation problem. The dogs brought in great amounts of moisture and the carpet wouldn't dry. We decided to buy a dehumidifier. Anymore, we really seriously consider what we spend our money on and where we will put or store the item. Well it turns out this was a very good decision. Works great!

Next the weather. It was always a surprise. Never knew when the fog would come or go, same for the wind and even the rain. Instead of waiting for the sun to set behind a mountain so I could open the blinds without the heat, I would now rush outside to enjoy the sun while it made it's precious appearance! Here at Battle Ground Lake State Park I have to go for a walk just to get to the sun. All these beautiful, tall trees make for tons of shade.

Our Camp Host Site

The price of spirits. Now I realize the ability to purchase liquor varies widely state to state and having lived in Nevada for many years, I'm used to it being readily available and cheap. We ran into dry counties down south and I'm familiar with Oregon's state owned stores. So, we found ourselves shopping at a small IGA grocery store in Long Beach (WA not CA) and I'm getting ready to purchase a 1.75 liter of Gordon's Vodka at the high price of around $20 (In Nevada and Arizona you can find it on sale for close to $10 or $11 bucks) when I noticed a small sign notifying me of the spirits tax. There's a 20.5 % retail tax plus $3.77 per liter tax. So if the price is $19.99 you end up paying $30.69 for that bottle! In Oregon, just over the river, the same bottle is about $25 with no tax. Still too rich for my blood. I'm now buying a local brand (in Oregon) at $14.10 per 1.75 liter.

Mushrooms. Gross and fascinating at the same time. We ate our first wild mushrooms a few days ago. Dennis, the park maintenance guy, is a mushroom hunter and gave us some golden colored mushrooms to try, complete with cooking instructions. After he assured Bob he wasn't poisoning us we cooked them. I overcame the gross factor and managed to get down the first bite. They were okay. Probably not cooked perfectly, so not as delicious as promised. We later saw the same mushroom for sale at Battle Ground Produce & Butcher Shop for $7.99 per pound! We have other mushrooms in the park (of course) and I have no idea if they are edible or not...

Trees. Big and lots of them. Also one type has very large leaves...It's like living in a rain forest. (Well maybe not as many bugs)

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. We are definitely enjoying camp hosting for the state of Washington. What a good deal!!!