“You are so lucky,” my waitress told me. “It’s gonna be sunny and warm through Friday.”
“Isn’t it like this most of the summer?” I asked, unaware that the peninsula in southern Washington is famously foggy and cold. Earlier that day, I’d cursed the sun as it beat down while I struggled to sync my phone app with an electric charging station. On an 85-degree, cloudless day, sweating with palpable range anxiety, I worried I’d never get my electric car fully charged. After driving 172 miles, I had 106 miles left. Not enough to explore the peninsula, let alone get home.
It took an hour to diagnose the problem – “track my location” was off. Once activated, the five charging stations at Snow Peak Campfield appeared on my screen. Whew!
Time Magazine listed Snow Peak as “one of the world’s 100 best places to explore.” I couldn’t fathom how a campground landed such a superlative review. But this is more glamping than camping. Snow Peak is the first North American site of a Japanese vendor of upscale equipment, offering three levels of camping: bring your own gear and sleep in an open field with access to super-clean showers, bathrooms and washing stations, rent a tent from them, with access to the above, or book an ensuite, architectural cabin equipped with climate control, kitchen with fridge, stovetop, pots, pans, linens, deckchairs, towels, and more. All three levels include pre-booked, timed entry to the Ofuro Spa, which includes a sauna, soaking pool, and cold plunge.
They had me at “climate-controlled cabin.” Ensuite sweetened the deal. Spa clinched it.
This turned into a solo trip, allowing me to explore at my own pace. But first, I needed to recover from the heat and EV-charging drama.
Cars must remain in the parking lot, so I piled my duffle bag and ice chest into a wheel barrow, and followed the gravel path to my cabin. An electronic fob opened the sliding door, revealing a cool, clean, austere space with queen sized bed, couch and coffee table. I propped my feet up and chilled out until dinner time.
Only 10 minutes away in Seaview, The Depot Restaurant offers truly fine dining, a full bar, and service from skilled wait staff. North Jetty Brewing, a few blocks away, supplies beer, on tap, that perfectly complemented the Chef’s Special: a pan-seared, generous center-cut of local, wild caught salmon smothered in wild chanterelles and a lemony cream sauce. So good! Not wanting to arrive stuffed for my 7 p.m. spa time, I took half home.
At the campground’s office, I exchanged my driver’s license for a key to the spa. Upon entry, a long wall of baskets provided storage for outdoor shoes. Knowing that patrons are asked to enter the pool bathed, I used one of the spa’s two private changing rooms, with overhead and hand-held shower-heads instead of the narrow option in my cabin. Ahhhh! Next stop was the Japanese-cypress-lined sauna. The wood’s evergreen aroma, different from cedar, added to the exotic feel. Alternating between sauna, a bank of shower heads to rinse off, the soaking pool, and the plunge pool, I ended my two-hour slot with one final rinse-off in the private changing room. Squeaky clean, I walked back to my cabin and fell into a peaceful sleep. Glamping was working for me! The next day was a marathon of exploration, starting with the shore at Long Beach, featuring the skeletal remains of a 38-foot male gray whale that beached and died there in 2000.
Driving north, vintage cars filled the road, making this car enthusiast’s heart skip a beat. The 40th anniversary Rod Run to The End of The World was happening over the coming weekend, a chance to swap meet and admire precious beauties.
I bought a kite in Seaview, then splurged on big, fat, juicy Willapa Bay oyster shooters at Castaways. So fresh! Continuing north, I moseyed through Oysterville, admiring the 1890s vintage homes and gardens before heading to the tippy top of the peninsula, at Leadbetter Point State Park. After placing my Discover Pass on the windshield, the Bay Loop trail beckoned, with its scents of kelp, salt, and fresh air.
Back on the peninsula’s southern end, I reached the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center well before 5 p.m. closing time. Their gift shop’s “Lewis & Clark Through Indian Eyes,” edited by Alvin M. Josephy Jr., gives a totally different perspective on the expedition. Highly recommended.
Finally, it was time to explore Cape Disappointment State Park, in a spectacular setting which is anything but disappointing.
Long Beach has something for everyone with festivals year-round to check out and enjoy. And pamper yourself with a 2-hour pass to the spa at Campfield’s Snow Peak!
Meanderings is a travel column by Mindy Stern, a Mercer Island resident whose essays can be found at www.mindysternauthor.com.
