Over the winter, Dustin and I decided that this summer would be a good time for us to take Bethany camping for the first time. He started some research and found a Kalaloch, a campground on the Pacific coast that takes reservations. Six months later, we loaded our car to the bursting point, and embarked on an adventure!

We slept reasonably well in the tent, I didn’t ruin any meals on the campfire, and Dustin hit upon the genius idea to heat water over the fire for washing our hair. So, all in all, the trip turned out to be a great experience. The weather was cool, foggy and damp (I guess that’s what happens at a campground sandwiched between an ocean and a rainforest). Even so, the scenery was beautiful.

Bethany and I had our first experience at the Pacific Ocean! Bethany was completely enamored with it. She got to wade in the water…

Dig in the sand…

And climb on driftwood…

Back at the campsite, we encountered some indigenous wildlife, including Slugworth, the banana slug (I’ll spare you that picture!), and a rather cute little inchworm,which captivated Bethany for quite some time.

I have to admit that the visiting humans were much scarier than the critters. Apparently, being so near to near to Forks, WA has made the area a haven to Twilight fans who are making the pilgrimage to seek out vampires and werewolves.

But don’t believe a word of what Dustin says. I didn’t trick him into going there because of the books. He picked the campground all on his own. I didn’t even know how close it was until I started researching the location of the nearest grocery store.

Regardless, the campground was clean and well-maintained. Our site (A43 if you’re curious) had a nice little wooded alcove for the tent that made us feel like we had some privacy from the other sites. We’d definitely return. That is, if we could fit our gear into the car with a second car seat installed. I sense a minivan in our future. *sigh*

If you’re interested in seeing more pictures, you can go to Team Campbell Pictures, my Shutterfly share site, to view them. You’ll find a lot more pictures of the landscape, especially the beach, and all of the pictures are at their full resolution.