The "Dew Drop Inn" Chronicles

[michaelo]

Jenn, next time your in PT walk up the stairs by the statue, that is uptown with the grand Victorian homes, that is where genteel society lived back in the day, spring is best when everything's in bloom and the views are forever. Yes looking forward to seeing you at the NWRU and hearing all about your latest adventures.

Michael

 

[michaelo]

When you climb the shallow rise steps (built this way so when the Victorian ladies lifted their leg to gain the next step they wouldn't reveal too much ankle!) to the top you will arrive on Jefferson Street( most of the Uptown streets are named after Presidents) this is a great street to start exploring, hang a left and within a block on your left will be the Fire Bell Tower built in 1890 to alert the volunteers to their stations, on your right is St Paul' s Episcipal built in 1865 farther along is the Rothchild house built in 1853 and open to the public, then the large sand stone Customs House built in 1893 and then the impressive court house and across the street...

Michael

 

[michaelo]

Everyone has their take on the ultimate camp chair, this is our's, the ubiquitous (on a film set) director chair.

They are very comfortable, (I've spent upwards of 20 hours in one of these during a long shoot day) they are very well made, (I've had only 2 in a 30 year career) they are compact when folded.

At night we put back pack rain covers on (5 bucks at Wallymart) to keep the dew off.

They look great too! They're a real classic just like our Camp-Inn.

Don't bother with cheap imitations the good ones are made by Telescopic of maple hardwood (just like the galley hatch ribs on your Camp-Inn) The best place to get em is at filmtools.com

Michael

 

[michaelo]

I guess Susan and I didn't get enough camping on Dewey's maiden tour because we are now spending our 119th night aboard at Fort Townsend SP campground just down bay from Port Townsend.

Fort Townsend SP, the slight rise to the right of the picnic table is Port Townsend

We need to make space for Dewey in our storage unit in PT and Fort Townsend is about a mile away, so here we be. We are the only campers here but we are not alone...

Campground neighbors

PNW banana slug

...spring is in a wild frenzy here, there are literally flocks of robins, I've never seen so many, we had the 2 doors on Dewey opened wide to air her out and a humming bird flew in to check her out! The rhododendron are busting out all over...

...and the trilliums...my, my...

... I think it's the perfect campground for tenters and teardropers, it was laid out in the 1950s when the RVs were smaller so the sites can't accommodate the big box RVs.

There are 2 areas, a loop through a dense Douglas fir forest...

...and a more open area with pull through sites adjacent to the old forts parade grounds...

Get a load of the grassy sites, haven't seen that in a while

... we chose the latter so we could use our solar panel. (no power posts here)

Makes a nice break from boat chores

Michael

 

[Pick]

Another one for our bucket list. Beautiful place. It is going to take a long time for us to hit all the great places you have shown us on your posts Michael thanks for yet another one.
MDP
Mike & Denita

 

[michaelo]

You are welcome Mike, happy to share. Truckers have an expression "Keep the doors closed and the wheels rolling" just a matter of getting up and going. It won't be long before all of us are enjoying your posts.

Michael

 

[michaelo]

Dewey's maiden tour was for the most part in gorgeous weather, at one point we went 72 days with only one day of rain.

That changed when we got to the wet coast, we got a week of rain at San Simeon and a week of rain at Humboldt Red Wood SP, and ok, it's never that great camping in the rain but for the most part we had strategies in place, we didn't exactly suffer, we still enjoyed it for the most part (had our Northern Breeze up and our Mr Heater going and of course the trailer's furnace)
until the water started to rise and the ground especially at the galley started getting really squishy! Also no fun sitting in our camp chairs with your feet in the mud. I tried doing some impromptu landscaping, spreading pine needles down and at one point hauling some gravel from the side of the roadway, but that's rather hard work and had only limited success.

We did have 3 of these plastic garden stepping stones from Wallymart with us to use under the leveling jacks. When a neighbor left a set of yellow leveling pads behind we started experimenting with our now freed up black stepping stones.

We found that they tend to ride up on top of squishy mud and not sink in like the plastic camp rugs tend to do.

So we bought 9 more for an even dozen, they weigh about a pound and a half a piece, so not too bad...

... here's hoping that these feet stay happy when the rain returns... stay tuned here for updates.

Michael

PS found this banana slug on the tiles this morning, they like them too!

Heh, careful where you step back there, WILDLIFE CROSSING

 

[1Door]

Yes..we like all the photos too!!!!

 

[pat walsh]

Michael we have the Northern Breeze floor it is heavy duty and works nicely - we have used it in mud and the only issue was bagging it up to take home and clean. At home I laid it on the grass and hosed it off easily - no real scrubbing needed.

 

[michaelo]

Pat, we got the floor with our NB, haven't used it yet, but will give it a go next time we have it out in the rain, thanks for that. Thanks Jenn, Susan and Alan, glad to share. Yes Jenn, it's safe to return, but don't rush, I know how pretty the country is between here and there.

Michael

 

[michaelo]

The Dew Drop Inn is back at Fort Townsend SP for a few days, more work to do in our storage unit, plus I'm on stand by for jury duty this week, the campground is a lot closer to the court house than the boat which is still moored on Squim Bay.(we are patiently waiting for a slip to become available at Port Townsend Boat Haven)

Fort Townsend SP site #33

Susan broke out her sewing machine and whipped up a new improvement for Dewey. Our new fiberglass propane bottle has a plastic enclosure.

UV really does a number on plastic, so voila problem solved, we won't run with it we'll throw it on when we set up camp.

Notice the nifty stripes, not just for looks, Susan used scraps from another project and some material from an old canvas awning that someone had thrown out. Dumpster diving can really pay off sometime!

Michael

 

[1Door]

Looks great!
They'll NEVER pick you if you have been a Jury Foreman before.

 

[Evan]

My dad said: "I don't know what he did, but I can tell he's guilty." They dismissed him.... hmmm.

 

[michaelo]

I'm off the hook for Jury duty, slow crime week in Jefferson county I guess. In LA county they have you wait in a large room with the other folks on standby, makes for a colorful week! Once I say I work in the media both sides want nothing to do with me, ha ha, works every time.

 

[adrianneross]

Hi Michael,

Thank you very much for you wonderful trip log (and pictures!) and interesting equipment asides - a lot of good information for camping in the wet and mucky!

I was on the fence about buying a Northern Breeze shelter, but after seeing your posts, I'm definitely going to get one before our trip to Washington. The plastic stepping stones are a great solution as well.

I've been thinking about making a sitting bolster for the teardrop but I didn't know what to do with it when we're sleeping - now I know to make two that will fit in the front storage bins. Thank you!

I'm also a big fan of director's chairs - my parents had a great set from the 70's (my mother has a bad hip an needs a sturdy chair with arm rests) but they finally succumbed to age/damp. She had been looking for a replacement for years with no luck - we could outfit a jamboree with all of her broken/rejected camp chairs. I finally found the Telescope brand (at www.bobwhite.com) and I bought my parents a set when they bought their camper van - best gift ever! Now I'm planning to get a set for Tim and I when we get our teardrop. I like them because the seats are replaceable/repairable - unlike most modern camp chairs.

Hope to meet you (and the Dew Drop Inn) on the road someday!

 

[michaelo]

You are welcome Adrianne, happy to share, so glad you got something out of my rambling. Thanks for the Bob White site, much cheaper than Film Tools. It's a wonder that you don't see more director chairs in the campgrounds, we have also tried a pile of camp chairs over the years, nothing compares to their comfort. You cannot go wrong with an NB when the weather turns foul, great investment for a teardroper. See you on the road!

The Dewey and crew are camped at Dash Point State Park on Lower Puget Sound. We have business and errands to do in the Seattle/Tacoma area, instead of staying in a schmelly schmotel we're enjoying the comforts of our tiny home on wheels.

We drove through some major rain to get here, then it let up a bit enough for us to get situated and put the NB up without getting too soaked, but we had the site booked a month ago so we were committed. Man, did it rain last night, like buckets!

Ahhh! It's nice now though, the sun is shining and everything is drying out. When it's nice it's nice. The flowers sure like the rain though.

Haven't had a chance to check out the park beyond the campground, will hopefully get to do that between errands.

There is no rain in the forecast after today for the Olympic Peninsula so we are trending toward a swing out to the coast proper with a visit to Kalalock before returning home.

Stay tuned here for more of the "Dew Drop Inn Chronichles"

Michael

 

[michaelo]

The Dewey crew Innjoying a brew at our Pacific oceanfront campsite at Kalalock campground, Olympic NP, story and more photos to follow in a future post. Weak cel service here, so I'll be lucky if this posts.

 

[fpoole]

oh Mann... nice....
and you not only got a good site, but good weather too...
fun... Beer Time to the Max...

 

[Pick]

That is my idea of camping!
MDP
Mike & Denita

 

[michaelo]

I think Kalalock campground is Susan and mine's favorite on the whole of the west coast and even more so if you can snag an oceanfront site in good weather like we managed to do on this trip.

We've only been here in the off season, I've heard that it's a three ring circus in the summer. It's a great place to watch the winter storms coming in off the Pacific, that's when a site off the beach and in the trees is the ticket. You can get a pretty good idea how hard the wind blows here by checking out the swept back Monterey Cyprus trees on the bluff above the beach.

Even though it's part of the Olympic NP at Kalalock it's all about the ocean and miles upon miles of pristine beaches...

...the ruggedness and remoteness of the place takes your breath away...

...the water here is just full of life...

There are thousands of discarded Dungeness crab shells on the beach right now, all those crabs are growing up and moving out of their old shells!

The Gray Whale migration is in full swing and as sure as white sticks to rice we've been seeing the telltale bursts of mist from their exhales as they head north to Alaska.

Can you see them?

Wishing you were here!

Michael