My big brudder Dale passed away in December 2020, during the worst of covid. We had been over to the house once since then, and his wife Jan had been over here once after that. But her visit was cut short by a positive covid diagnosis at my house, so she went right back home near Spokane. Now was finally time for a long overdue visit, and when I asked Jan what she wanted to do the most, she said she wanted to go camping. Well twist my arm, I’ll find a spot at Salt Creek any chance I get. So thanks to Rob’s help, off we went.

Western Washington has been experiencing an annoyingly long winter this year, and Jan arrived at the house on a snowy weekend, with more snow forecast the coming week when we were supposed to be out camping. Our trailer is rated for all four seasons, but really this is not what camping is supposed to be about unless you’re hunting or skiing. We tried to get the county park to change our reservations but they were within the seven day limit, so no go. But then the forecast eased and we decided to make a go of it. This is the road above the campground where we went for a day trip on Tuesday, but we didn’t see any snow at all at our campsite at sea level the entire three days.

We actually ended up with three beautiful days, including some outstanding sunrises and sunsets. We had campfires, and walks and drives (some in the snow), played Baja Rummy and Quixx and 5 Crowns, ate hot dogs roasted over the fire, drank some wine and just basically shared the camping experience Jan had been missing. Since Dale has been gone she’s lost her partner for outdoor activities, and I was thrilled to help fill that gap this weekend. Spending time with Dale’s wife, who has been my big sister for 50+ years, was such a treat. I hope this isn’t the last time Nonnie’s Diner gets to host her.

We had a very different end to the camp trip on Wednesday afternoon. We noticed two matching ships heading west, neither showing AIS data, and both looking suspiciously military. Then after a while we saw them together coming back into the Strait. But along with them were two pilot boats plus a US Coast Guard cutter. Hmmmm, looks like an escort for a nuke sub, and sure enough, there it was. We actually saw on AIS they had left a track the day before cruising out the Strait and back in, so it looks like a short deployment. I would love to know someone who works at Bangor and could tell us what was going on. But we just decided it was a super interesting way to end a lovely 3 days of camping in the Pacific NW winter.

Pix of our quick trip to Salt Creek are here. Salt Creek with Jan