Cape Disappointment State Park With Family
The last weekend in August, I drove down to Cape Disappointment State Park on Friday evening and set up camp. I set up the big tent because my son & his family would be joining me later that night. I was pleased that I was able to set up the big tent by myself, especially since Marcus didn’t arrive until well after dark and during a light rain.
While I waited for them to show up, however, I went on a short bike ride around the park.
The rest of the evening was a bit of a pain. Instead of sitting around the campfire drinking wine, Marcus spent a lot of time trying to patch a leak in his air mattress using duck tape (it didn’t help).
The next morning, I got up early and rode the Discovery Trail. When I got to Beards Hollow, I crossed a wooden bridge thinking it was part of the trail. The other side had a steep hill and it was all dirt instead of paved. I tried to go up it, but it was too steep and I only made it halfway. On the way back down, I crashed…right into some blackberry bushes! I ended up with bruises and scratches, but I dusted myself off and found the rest of the trail and continued.
When I was done riding, I got back to camp just in time to see Marcus & family drive by. They were heading to the park store to get some dish soap (to wash baby bottles). By the time they got back, I had breakfast almost cooked for everyone.
After breakfast, we drove to my favorite spots, starting with the beach below the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. We took some photos and then drove to the parking lot to walk up and explore the area around the Interpretive Center. We couldn’t hike to the lighthouse, however, since it was closed off. So, we headed to the North Head Lighthouse. From there, we could see the area where we were camped.
When we were done exploring, we drove into Long Beach for lunch and the hardware store to find a real patch kit for the air mattress.
Back at camp, we walked down to the beach to relax, listen to music, watch kite flying, and to see MJ really enjoy himself in the sand. Not sure how much sand he ate, but the joy on his face was priceless! At one point, he looked like he had a beard and mustache from all the wet sand around his face!
We packed up after breakfast on Sunday and headed home, but I wished the weekend hadn’t come to an end!
