This is what it looks like on the inside. We folded down the table and benches and made them into a bed for our youngest to sleep on. Now everyone has their own space. There isn't much walking room in general, so things will get pretty interesting when we're all loaded up for the trip.
Each child has their own Thirty-One Tote for their personal items. They fit nicely at the end of the bunk beds.
Last weekend we took the trailer out for a test run. It's geoduck (giant clam- pronounced gooey-duck) season in Washington, so we headed up to the Hood Canal for the ultra-low tides. Being new to trailer ownership, we're still figuring things out. We didn't realize that we need to specify if we want water/electrical available, so we ended up with a dry campsite. This wasn't a big deal since we were only there for two nights and there were bathrooms and a water spigot nearby. It's good to know for future reservations though.
These are pictures of the Hood Canal that were taken while we were out clamming with friends. If you ever plan to go, please pay attention to the water toxin reports and make sure you have a shellfish license. There are laws about how big the clams need to be and how many you can harvest per person. Despite what you see in these pictures, there were a TON of people there. That tends to happen when it's sunny and beautiful out.
We picked up a book called "Whelks to Whales: Coastal Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest, Revised Second Edition" by Rick M. Harbo at the aquarium. I'm so glad we did because after missing our tide pools field trip with the homeschoolers last week, this book told us everything we wanted to know about the animals we were seeing. I highly recommend it!
Beautiful, no?
I look forward to geoducking every year. Sometimes we are successful and sometimes we aren't. Either way, it's always a wonderful trip. This year, I left the clamming to everyone else and went out to find starfish. Last Friday when our youngest and I wound up at the Seattle Aquarium, we learned that starfish have been dying at an alarming rate up and down the west coast because of something called "Wasting Disease". You can learn more about it here:
http://www.eeb.ucsc.edu/pacificrockyintertidal/data-products/sea-star-wasting/I had no idea this was even happening! The volunteer at the aquarium sent me on a mission to see if I could find some this year. We've always seen tons of sea stars, so the possibility of them not being there was frightening. I'm happy to report that even though it was difficult, I was able to find three small Sunburst Starfish. This is one. It felt soft like the inside of a cheek.
A few were upside down. Would you like to see what the underside is like? Here's a clip!
We also saw a few curious Harbour Seals.
The second night we were there, a friend woke me up, and I'm so glad she did! I only wish I had a camera at the time. The Aurora Borealis was visible!! This is a huge bucket list item for me and it was such a treat to be able to see it in person. It was like green, evenly spaced waves. Kind of like this.
The kids had a great time digging up clams and tiny crabs (that were left on the beach) with their friends. The guys came back with three geoducks, which were turned into sashimi and clam chowder. This is a geoduck. They look...interesting.. to say the least. They taste sweet and briny. I would say "like the ocean" but that probably doesn't describe the flavor much because they aren't salty. The texture is a bit on the firm/crunchy side.
Freshly prepared geoduck sashimi
The chowder was as fresh as it gets and was absolutely delicious!
Other than having a fantastic weekend adventure, I picked up the mail from our new P.O. Box for the first time this week. We got our first letter (okay, okay- bill). We also visited the dentist to keep up our oral health before we head out. Dental health is very important! (Hi Dr. C and staff! ;-))
This weekend we'll be packing and outfitting the trailer with things like a toilet paper dispenser. You know, those little things that make life easier......
42 days to go!!
- Jen
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