Paradise Bay

“The Earth does not belong to man; Man belongs to the Earth. 
This we know. 
All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. 
Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. 
Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. 
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” 

Chief Seattle

We accepted the generous offer of our dear friend Pat to utilize her RV lot in the Paradise Bay development of Port Ludlow. And using her lot as our base turned out to be the perfect decision. First and foremost, her waterfront lot offered a front row view of the Hood Canal of Puget Sound. As we relaxed on her raised patio each afternoon, our unobstructed view of the waterfront and a few special rainbows proved to be priceless…it is so true…location, location, location.

And a short distance down the street was our own private beach along the rocky shoreline. The local part time bubble maker happened to be there to entertain all and any beachcombers during our stay.

Second, Port Ludlow is centrally located to many ports, i.e. Port Gamble, Port Townsend and Port Angeles. The town is situated near the Hood Canal Floating Bridge, which connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. Each day we waited for one of the Navy’s Triton Submarines to maneuver through the bridge and down the Hood Canal...but we only got all hot and bothered...no sub cruised by us. We could have hopped on a ferry to Whidbey Island, Seattle or even Vancouver, but decided to stick to the "peninsula" during this stay as we were there over the Labor Day Weekend.  A huge thank you dear Pat for giving us the opportunity to visit some of the most scenic Washington ports and attractions of the Sound.  We'll be baaaaaack!!

On one afternoon we crossed the floating bridge over to the Kitsap Peninsula. We first visited the town of Suquamish and the Suquamish Tribal Cemetery to view the gravesite of Chief Seathl, aka Chief Seattle...for whom the city of Seattle was named after. Than we did a quick tour of the small community or Port Gamble on the northwestern shore of the peninsula. Our visit was brief but interesting, for there is a wide range of historical buildings lining the street for visitors to browse.

In Port Townsend we walked most of the shoreline embarcadero, practicing being "consumers." We did a lot of window shopping, visited a few cool shops and came across some unique items to be used in our rig. 

We bid farewell to this special place called Paradise Bay, the kind neighbors we met and the beautiful views. It was off to explore more of the Olympic Peninsula. We love you Pat!

At Waypoint 47.897902º-122.648622º

Little Creek Casino-Resort

"There is an ancient legend of the Squaxin Island People that connects the humans with the sky people. The story is told of a strong (skookum) young man who had become captivated by the beauty of a young Salish woman; she was equally enraptured by his unusual spirit strength. Her ability to run like the wind was known throughout the land; his ability to help people with his spirit power was know far and wide. The young Salish woman was promised to another man in marriage, she had known this for many years. She went on a spirit quest to the cliffs near her village searching for a way to get out of the arranged marriage. Near the cliffs the young man was singing his power song. Using spirit power the skookum man helped the Salish woman to change into the Red-tailed hawk so she could always be near him. To this day near the Salish cliffs, the beauty of the Red-tailed hawk can be seen and heard, nearby the marine waters of Skookum inlet whisper spirit power to those who will listen."

We stopped at Little Creek Casino and Resort in Kamilche, WA to get some laundry done, charge up the batteries and dump our tanks. Kamilche was the first town that we truly became aware of the impact and influence of the state's Native American culture. We would later see that the Olympic Peninsula is dominated by Native American owned land. Tribal headquarters of the Squaxin Island Tribe are located in this town. Little Creek, a development of the Squaxin Island Tribe, the native people of South Puget Sound. They are descendants of the maritime people who lived and prospered along the Sound’s shores for centuries. Because of the their strong cultural connection with the water, the tribe is known as the People of the Water. Little Creek offers a very nice casino-resort, RV park and golf course. The main draw for us to stop here was it’s very comfortable RV park. And best of all, this was a Passport America Membership Park…so we were offered 50% off the regular nightly rate. We would definitely stay at this park again.

We were able to secure two rv pads right next to each other, strong wi-fi signal, close to the bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities, which made our brief stay very convenient. Plus with the continuing rain, we were out of the mud on large asphalt pads and adjoining plush lawns. And the added bonus was the "All You Can Eat" dinner feed (i.e. unlimited King crap legs) for a very reasonable "seniors only" price point. 

A nice leisurely walk from the rv park was the stunning Salish Cliffs Golf Club, one of the top resort courses in the United States. The entrance to the golf course featured some beautiful Coast Salish carvings and totem poles...so very cool! 

While we were in Kamilche, we took a short drive up to the Squaxin Island Tribe Museum Library and Research Center. Known as the "Home of Sacred Beginnings", the shape of the museum's facade represents Thunderbird, an important character in numerous Coast Salish legends. The building contains exhibits, galleries, classrooms, a library, museum store and administrative offices for the Tribe. As the building is beautiful, so be the landscape and water features surrounding it. Very Zen! The design illustrates the relationship between the Tribe and the environment of the South Puget Sound, as well as the atmosphere of a traditional shoreline village. 

Also displayed on the museum grounds were some Coast Salish canoes under a traditional canoe carving shed built with ancient cedar posts and beams over 430 years old. The black painted canoe was hand carved from a 30’ cedar tree log that was 500 years old.

We enjoyed our brief stay at Little Creek but it was now time to skirt the Sound toward Port Ludlow, Washington.

At Waypoint 047.128930-123.104580