W. Lloyd Williams

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Bay View, WA: Not the Best View

September 11-13, 2008 Missing the entrance (Prudy and TomTom can accept no blame - in this case) without a turn off the bitty oceanside strip, we were obliged to continue our scenic drive. And scenic it was for the miles it took us to find a turnabout in some farmer's barnyard. Back at the campground? A view of the bay, yes, a tidal flat (biodiversity aside, Lloyd sees nothing positive in a mudflat) and, marring the entire horizon, oil refineries.

We reserved two nights and already resolved to make the best of it. Lloyd would start painting and I would tackle a screenplay outline. But, first we needed a site that would actually fit our bus, unlike our reserved site which would accommodate the bus rear and no more. But, a gentleman on a staycation (stay-vacation near home - increasingly common given gas prices) already inhabited the emergency overflow site when his reserved site proved too small too. So. Maybe we should go somewhere else.

We waited while the two attendants played campsite solitaire on their monitor and came up with this: if Mr. staycation moves to another site, since he only has a 26' trailer, we can move our 40' into the overflow site. But, first, Mr. staycation needs an hour to drive home for his big truck in order to move. It all began to happen before we could figure an alternate destination so we insisted on paying his night's stay and agreed to the extra charge for our now 'premium' site. All we had to do was wait.      

In the meantime we took the under-road tunnel at the Interpretive Centre to a lookoff in the trees. This is the best view available, only available at this very spot, if you ignore the refineries to the left.

And the tunnel to Bay View State Park's beach leads to a sad, sad little beach.

 

Bay View State Park offers little else, and the sites are cramped and quite public. Indeed, if it weren't for the blackberry bushes drooping heavy with luscious drupelets the trouble may not have been worth it.

"$10.00 a pound," the ranger said. "We weigh ya on the way in and on the way out." He smiled. "Please, pick as many as ya can, otherwise the birds get them and there's purple poop all over the place."

Gladly, Sir. 

The redeemers: hot sun, a campfire with a delightful couple from Vancouver and blackberry pie, blackberries in yogurt, blackberries on cereal, blackberries on ice cream ... ..

Do not camp here (unless it's blackberry season). 

-P