Here’s what the brochure says;
Scenic Beach State Park is a 88-acre camping park with 1,500 feet of saltwater beachfront on Hood Canal. The park is known for its wild, native rhododendrons and stunning, clear-day views of Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains. ADA-compliant paths lead visitors to a country garden, gazebo, rustic bridge and huge trees. A wide variety of birds and wildlife call the area home. The park is ideal for those who appreciate outstanding natural venues for outdoor activities.
I guess that’s fair as far as it goes. When you play Camping Host there for a month you develop a little more perspective. We spent August there working for and with Rangers Mike and Shawn. Mike has been there forever and will retire soon. Maybe you could tell he was a short timer with a little bit of a KMA attitude. We worked mostly with Shawn and the ranger aids. Shawn was very nice and loved to stop by and pass time talking and laughing. We saw lots of her and her dog Bo. Our job was to make our presence known, answer questions and to do some site cleanup. Not bad or difficult really, all things being equal. But then, when are all things equal? We’re use to dealing with RV’ers who might be a little more mature and understandable to us. But this is a park for tenters, and tenters are a lot less of that. Mostly they whine a lot and have kids who have skateboards and attitudes. Neither parents nor kids can read or tell time and they pretty much live in their own little worlds believing someone will guide them along, help them find firewood or turn on the shower, be the sheriff and most definitely clean up after them. We had knocks on the door at night for children crying, generators running, too much fun being had by somebody else, and one knife incident. Three State Troopers showed up for that one. Not as bad as it sounds. Some old veteran took offense to a woman who had had much too much to drink stumbling through his campsite trying to find the restroom. He had a knife and called her a “drunken slut”. Probably accurate according to the Troopers! So they let it go. I should tell you that it wasn’t dangerous, just annoying. And it’s not totally fair to say it was that way all the time and with everybody. Nevertheless we probably are more in tune to volunteering at Fish and Wildlife and where campgrounds are closed for the season and such. Definitely where there are RV’ers, not tenters!
The trees were huge like it said in the brochure. That and the climate made it a little difficult. It seemed we missed half of summer. Instead of getting a nice tan I think I mostly just developed a good case of ‘rust’. But there was wildlife. There were lots of little Douglas squirrels and two deer that seemed to hang pretty close. We saw several Pileated Woodpeckers. They’re the big ones that look like Woody Woodpecker. Shawn was telling us about one of her “walk and talks” with a kids group and she said that and got no reaction. One of the chaperons leaned over and whispered to her, “these kids don’t know who Woody Woodpecker is”. So for those in that category consult your field guide or go online. Or look at the picture I provided.
I got to play a couple of rounds of golf with Mike and his buddies. Mike is very competitive and enjoyed beating me the first round. In my defense I had never seen the course before and played like crap. I was glad to get another chance and redeem myself. I shot an even 80 the second time and nobody was close. Mike paid for my golf and lunch and was a great host. Well I paid for lunch the second round. I haven’t learned when to lose gracefully I guess. But if you read this Mike(?) don’t get angry. I’ll give you another shot if we’re back around.
We took a ferry trip to Seattle one day and did Pike Place market. That’s where they throw the fish to buyers. Another day we went to Port Townsend and met Bob and Dee who we know from Texas. They were volunteering at Deception Pass about 50 miles north of us so we met in the middle. We had lunch and walked around Port Townsend a bit. Lots of neat little shops but mostly we enjoyed seeing them again. After Bob and Dee went back on the ferry we went to Ft Worden. That’s where “An Officer and a Gentleman” was filmed. It’s a well preserved installation that once guarded the approach to Seattle. On another day off we took a ferry trip to Edmonds to meet Troy and Brie, Kat’s son and his girlfriend. And then I ran out of words and we left.
Scenic Beach State Park is a 88-acre camping park with 1,500 feet of saltwater beachfront on Hood Canal. The park is known for its wild, native rhododendrons and stunning, clear-day views of Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains. ADA-compliant paths lead visitors to a country garden, gazebo, rustic bridge and huge trees. A wide variety of birds and wildlife call the area home. The park is ideal for those who appreciate outstanding natural venues for outdoor activities.
I guess that’s fair as far as it goes. When you play Camping Host there for a month you develop a little more perspective. We spent August there working for and with Rangers Mike and Shawn. Mike has been there forever and will retire soon. Maybe you could tell he was a short timer with a little bit of a KMA attitude. We worked mostly with Shawn and the ranger aids. Shawn was very nice and loved to stop by and pass time talking and laughing. We saw lots of her and her dog Bo. Our job was to make our presence known, answer questions and to do some site cleanup. Not bad or difficult really, all things being equal. But then, when are all things equal? We’re use to dealing with RV’ers who might be a little more mature and understandable to us. But this is a park for tenters, and tenters are a lot less of that. Mostly they whine a lot and have kids who have skateboards and attitudes. Neither parents nor kids can read or tell time and they pretty much live in their own little worlds believing someone will guide them along, help them find firewood or turn on the shower, be the sheriff and most definitely clean up after them. We had knocks on the door at night for children crying, generators running, too much fun being had by somebody else, and one knife incident. Three State Troopers showed up for that one. Not as bad as it sounds. Some old veteran took offense to a woman who had had much too much to drink stumbling through his campsite trying to find the restroom. He had a knife and called her a “drunken slut”. Probably accurate according to the Troopers! So they let it go. I should tell you that it wasn’t dangerous, just annoying. And it’s not totally fair to say it was that way all the time and with everybody. Nevertheless we probably are more in tune to volunteering at Fish and Wildlife and where campgrounds are closed for the season and such. Definitely where there are RV’ers, not tenters!
The trees were huge like it said in the brochure. That and the climate made it a little difficult. It seemed we missed half of summer. Instead of getting a nice tan I think I mostly just developed a good case of ‘rust’. But there was wildlife. There were lots of little Douglas squirrels and two deer that seemed to hang pretty close. We saw several Pileated Woodpeckers. They’re the big ones that look like Woody Woodpecker. Shawn was telling us about one of her “walk and talks” with a kids group and she said that and got no reaction. One of the chaperons leaned over and whispered to her, “these kids don’t know who Woody Woodpecker is”. So for those in that category consult your field guide or go online. Or look at the picture I provided.
I got to play a couple of rounds of golf with Mike and his buddies. Mike is very competitive and enjoyed beating me the first round. In my defense I had never seen the course before and played like crap. I was glad to get another chance and redeem myself. I shot an even 80 the second time and nobody was close. Mike paid for my golf and lunch and was a great host. Well I paid for lunch the second round. I haven’t learned when to lose gracefully I guess. But if you read this Mike(?) don’t get angry. I’ll give you another shot if we’re back around.
We took a ferry trip to Seattle one day and did Pike Place market. That’s where they throw the fish to buyers. Another day we went to Port Townsend and met Bob and Dee who we know from Texas. They were volunteering at Deception Pass about 50 miles north of us so we met in the middle. We had lunch and walked around Port Townsend a bit. Lots of neat little shops but mostly we enjoyed seeing them again. After Bob and Dee went back on the ferry we went to Ft Worden. That’s where “An Officer and a Gentleman” was filmed. It’s a well preserved installation that once guarded the approach to Seattle. On another day off we took a ferry trip to Edmonds to meet Troy and Brie, Kat’s son and his girlfriend. And then I ran out of words and we left.
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