The weather here in Long Beach, Washington changes quickly. Yesterday started out dreary, with fog and heavy overcast. The fog was enough to interfere with our online connectivity. The campground wifi and our Verizon Jetpack were intermittent.

I unloaded the scooter from the trailer while Donna tried to get some work done. I cleaned the windshield and mirrors on the motorhome and just puttered around all morning.  While I was cleanin,g I noticed the center cap was missing from the left front wheel. What happened here? I have no idea how the cap came off.

Center cap gone!

Around noon we went for a ride. We stopped in the downtown area and had lunch at a fish market/cafe. It was still cloudy but the fog lifted and the sun was trying to break through.

Donna ordered a pound of Willapa Bay steamer clams. I vacillated back and forth over the rockfish tacos or rockfish and chips, I finally decided on the fish and chips. The tacos would have been healthier, but the lunch was delicious.

We rode down to the marina in Ilwaco. This is near the mouth of the Columbia River. Ilwaco is a hub of fishing activity. There are commercial fleets and sportfishing boats for hire moored there. There are also markets selling the freshest fish you’ll ever find.

Marina at Ilwaco

We parked and walked along the marina. We made our way to Jessie’s retail store. Jessie’s is a wholesale fish processing plant but they also have a small retail market selling seafood that just came off of the boat. Donna bought a filet of King (Chinook) salmon and 8 large scallops.

Jessie’s retail storefront

We rode back to the RV park and put the food away. Now it was mostly sunny out. We continued our ride up the peninsula to check the area out. Unfortunately, most of the beachfront is private with only occasional areas of public access. In the public access areas, you are allowed to drive vehicles on the beach! There are signs advising to stay on the upper hard packed areas. We decided against riding the scooter on the sand.

We rode about 10 miles up through the town of Surfside. There are numerous RV parks to be found along the way. Most of them are just narrow lots with RVs parked side by side. We stopped and looked at one that had good ratings in our guide. Anderson RV Park has a great location, right on the beach and only a few miles from town. However, the sites are all back-in sites and very tight. I’m not so sure if this area will be a destination for us again.

By now the day was sunny with temperatures in the 70s. By evening it clouded up, then cleared again.

After we returned, Donna had a writing project to complete. While she worked, I loaded the scooter and repacked the trailer. I opened the awning to allow it to dry in the sun. When we left Burlington yesterday, I had to roll up the awning in the rain. While I was working, I had a cedar plank soaking to cook the salmon on. We had cedar planked salmon with lemon and Herbes de Provence seasoning with roasted corn on the cob for dinner.

After dinner we walked to the beach. As we were walking, I realized we were missing what was sure to be a fantastic sunset. There were a few high clouds tinged with red. We couldn’t see the sun. We had to walk past the hotel and down a path to get to the beach.

I was walking quickly and started to jog in order to see the sunset. I wanted to capture an image of it. We were a few minutes too late.

Sunset missed on beach trail

I rolled the awning up when we returned. It would be wet by morning with rain or dew. When I entered the coach I felt a wet spot under foot on the carpet. Oh no! I looked under the kitchen sink and saw water dripping from the lines to the faucet. I ran outside and shut off the water supply. I relieved the system pressure by opening the outdoor shower valve. I found the unions over the PEX compression fittings were loose. I tightened them and turned the water back on. How do plastic fittings on PEX plumbing lines work loose? I checked the other fittings for tightness. We had a space heater and fan blowing into the cabinet under the sink and over the carpet all night.

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain drops on the roof. I’m glad I did most of the packing yesterday, I only have to dump the tanks and disconnect this morning. Today we are heading down to Lincoln City, Oregon. I’ve made an appointment at the Les Schwab tire dealer there to replace our tires. Maybe they’ll have a replacement center cap for the left front wheel. We also have a reservation at the Chinook Bend RV Resort on the Siletz River, just outside of Lincoln City. We’ve booked five nights there.  We should have an easy 125 miles ahead of us.