Short Travel Day - (Chimacum, WA)

We only had 38 miles to drive today, so we were in no big hurry to leave our Walmart parking spot in East Port Angeles, Washington.

Linda went into the store to grocery shop for the next few days and to get supplies for our Iceland trip that begins next week. We're going to take a bunch of food with us because it's so expensive over there, and we want to save our discretionary dollars for other things.

While she did that, I gathered up all the baskets that some of the other RVers had just left way out in the parking lot, and I rolled them into a corral. It's such an easy thing to do for the privilege of being able to park overnight for free.

Once she was back, we hitched up the Jeep and rolled out. We fueled up both vehicles now that we're back in the U.S. where gas is much cheaper, and then proceeded to drive to the Evergreen Coho SKP RV Park in Chimacum, just south of Port Townsend.

It's one of 11 Co-Op (Co-operative) RV parks formed with the aide of the Escapees RV Club, but managed and maintained by the individual members of each particular co-op.

Formally, a Co-Op is defined as "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise".

If you are not an actual member of the particular Co-Op park, you must be a member of the Escapees RV Club to stay at the Co-Op parks.

We have been Escapees members since we started on the road back in 2005, and this will be our sixth Co-Op park.

By the way "SKP" is the shorthand for "Escapee".

We pulled in a little after noon, forgetting that the office is closed from noon to 1:00. But they ask that you dump your tanks at the dump station before parking, so we just took our time doing that and filling our fresh water tank. We also unhitched the Jeep, and then pulled into one of the dry camping sites just beyond the dump station.

Daily rates are $25 for full hook-ups, $20 for water/electric only, $7 for water only, and $5 for dry camping. The full hook-up sites were all taken, but there were water/electric sites available. Since we're only staying three days, we decided to just dry camp and save a little cash. It was a little over $16 for the three nights.

And that comes with a very nice dump station and a place to take on water, plus access to the old, but clean bathhouse (showers are free), and access to a nice, big laundry room. And they have a propane filling station which we will take advantage of the day we leave.

We got set up in our gravel parking lot, and two sets of friends, Bill & Diane and Carolyn & Sam greeted us. We hadn't seen either couple for quite some time, so it was nice to hook up with them again.

After boondocking for the last four days and watching our water consumption, Linda & I were ready for a nice long shower, so we walked to the clubhouse where the showers are located and knocked that out first thing.

We enjoyed a little "happy hour" with Sam & Carolyn, and then we went to the clubhouse to check in on a couple of the activities on the park calendar. But, apparently, the calendar is wrong and nobody was there. So we just went home and relaxed.

The reason we came to this area was to satisfy Linda's desire to hit a couple of beaches near Port Townsend that are known for sea glass. And we get the added benefit of visiting with some old friends.

I have to say that this park is very pretty as RV parks go. It is so clean and landscaped beautifully.

They are just finishing up a Japanese relaxation garden.

The wide, paved roads are nice, and you can tell RVers planned it. Though all the Escapees Co-Op parks have been immaculate, they are different ages in different terrains with different "personalities" and management philosophies, and they all have their draws.

One of the draws of all of them is the very inexpensive retirement living. They are certainly worth looking into, but you may have to go on a waiting list to get in if you are interested. The current waiting list here has about 120 people on it.

Anyway, we'll be here for three nights, and then we move down south of Seattle where we will stage for our trip to Iceland and leave our rig behind for a month. We're spending a month in Iceland in a 4WD camper van, so when we get back our little motorhome will feel like a mansion.

That's it for another day in the life. Until next time.