WORKING AND LIVING IN WESTPORT, WASHINGTON

 

 

OUR WORKAMPING JOB ONLY  REQUIRED US TO WORK TWELVE HOURS EACH WEEK, IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG TO GET INTO A ROUTINE. WE WORKED MONDAYS AND TUESDAYS, FOUR HOURS EACH DAY AND TOOK WEDNESDAYS OFF. I FOUND A WEIGHT WATCHERS MEETING IN ABERDEEN ON WEDNESDAY MORNINGS.

 

 

 

 

 

 SO, WEDNESDAYS WERE A DAY TO RUN ERRANDS AND USUALLY HAVE LUNCH OUT. AFTER GETTING THE BEDS ALL CLEANED, WE STARTED PREPARING THE POTS AND HANGING BASKETS FOR PLANTING ANNUALS.

 

 

 

 

GAIL TOLD US TO BUY THE PLANTS WE NEEDED AND SHE WOULD PAY US BACK. SO, ON WEDNESDAYS,  WE WOULD BUY PLANTS AND THEN WORK AGAIN ON THURSDAYS, PLANTING THE PLANTS WE HAD BOUGHT.

 

 

ABERDEEN IS 20 MILES FROM WESTPORT, WHERE WE BOUGHT MOST OF OUR GROCERIES. THERE IS A LOVELY FRUIT AND MEAT MARKET ACROSS FROM WALMART.

 

 

WE HAD TO  DRIVE ACROSS  A LONG BRIDGE TO GET TO ABERDEEN. BELOW THIS BRIDGE IS THE OYSTER BEDS. YOU COULD SEE THEM WHEN THE TIDE WAS OUT.

 

 

WHEN  THE TIDE  CAME IN......THEY DISAPPEARED!!!

 

 

THEY HAVE TIDE CHARTS TO TELL YOU THE TIMES OF THE DAY THAT  THE TIDES COME IN AND GO OUT.

 

THERE ARE A COUPLE OF CHRISTMAS TREES FARMS ALSO ON THE WAY TO ABERDEEN.

 

 

 

 

AND OCEAN SPRAY

 

 

ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 1, GAIL AND DON HAD A WELCOME POT LUCK FOR ALL THE NEW WORKAMPERS. WE EACH BROUGHT A DISH TO SHARE.

 

 

THEY HAD GONE ALL OUT WITH THE TABLE SETTINGS.

 

 

WE SHARED A BEAUTIFUL MEAL AND GOT TO KNOW EACH OTHER.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RAZOR CLAM DIGGING

 

 

WE GOT TO THE BEACH EARLY IN THE MORNING, THERE WERE ALOT OF PEOPLE ALREADY DIGGING. YOU HAVE TO DIG WHEN THE TIDE IS OUT. YOU LOOK FOR A BUBBLE IN THE SAND, WHEN YOU SEE A BUBBLE YOU CENTER THE CLAM GUN OVER THE BUBBLE AND SCREW THE GUN INTO THE SAND. MOST OF THE TIME PAM CAME UP WITH A CLAM. WHATEVER YOU DIG UP YOU HAVE TO KEEP, YOU CAN'T PUT THEM BACK.

 

 

PAM LET ME TRY IT, IT WAS HARD TO PULL UP.....

 

 

BUT, WOW!!! A RAZOR CLAM!!!

 

 

 

IT WAS FUN!!  IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG TO GET PAM'S LIMIT, WHICH IS 15, RON WAS STILL DIGGING, BUT HE FINALLY GOT HIS 15. IT TOOK ABOUT A HALF HOUR. IT IS VERY HARD WORK, THEY WERE BOTH TIRED, SWEATING AND WINDED.

 

 

 

THEN IT WAS HOME TO CLEAN THEM AFTER A SHORT REST. YOU HAVE TO PUT THEM IN BOILING WATER TO GET THE SHELL TO OPEN.

 

 

 

AND THEN FINISH CLEANING THEM!!!

 

 

 

 

I JUST WATCHED, BUT I WAS GLAD TO SEE THEY DIDN'T THROW MUCH AWAY...WHAT THEY COULDN'T EAT, THEY SAVED FOR FISH BAIT. IT WAS VERY INTERESTING AND I APPRECIATED THEM TAKING THIS "GREEN SOUTH DAKOTAN".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MORE OF WESTPORT, WASHINGTON

 

WE COULD HEAR THESE SEA LIONS BARKING FROM THE RV PARK, TALKED TO LAURIEJEAN  ABOUT THEM....... THEY ARE MEAN.....DO NOT TAKE YOUR DOGS TO THE DOCKS.......  THEY WILL  TRY TO EAT THEM. THEY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO  TRY TO KNOCK PEOPLE IN THE WATER...... NOT SUCH GOOD REVIEWS.   AFTER COMING HOME FROM WORK ONE DAY, WE HEARD THEM BARKING AND HAD THE TIME TO GO MEET THEM. WE  FOLLOWED THE BARKING.  WE  KEPT OUR DISTANCE...THEY ARE HUGE!!

 

 

BEFORE ARRIVING HERE WE WERE TOLD WESTPORT IS A QUAINT LITTLE  FISHING VILLAGE.

 

 

THE BOATS ARE BEAUTIFUL!! WITH ALL KINDS OF NAMES!!

 

 

 

 

WE SAW THIS SIGN  AS WE WERE LEAVING......NO WORRY THERE....WE WERE TRYING NOT TO FEED THEM!!

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THE STATE PARK FREE WEEKEND WAS GOING ON THE SECOND WEEKEND WE WERE HERE, SO WE WENT TO FIND THE PACIFIC OCEAN!

 

 

 

 

WE WENT TO WESTHAVEN STATE PARK.

 

 

DRIFTWOOD, AGATES AND SAND DOLLARS! I PICKED UP QUITE A FEW SAND DOLLARS.

 

 

WE REALIZED TODAY THAT  THE RV PARK IS BETWEEN THE BAY AND THE OCEAN.

AND THESE SIGNS ARE  EVERYWHERE!!

 

 

 

 

KIND OF SCARY!!  JERRI, NEXT DOOR SAYS THERE IS NO WAY YOU'D HAVE TIME TO GET OUT....I SAID, "WELL, I HOPE IT DOESN'T HAPPEN WHILE I'M HERE"....AND THEN I REALIZED I'D WORRY ABOUT ALL THE FRIENDS I'VE MADE HERE.  

 

ON MONDAY NIGHTS, THE WORKAMPER COUPLES GET TOGETHER AND GO OUT TO EAT. WE HAD NOTICED ALL THE EARLY MORNING ACTIVITY IN THE PARK AND ASKED ABOUT IT. RON AND PAM, ONE OF THE NEW WORKAMPER COUPLES  FROM WASHINGTON,  TOLD US THAT  RAZOR CLAM SEASON IS ON RIGHT NOW. THEY GO OUT EVERY MORNING,  AND WERE NICE ENOUGH TO INVITE ME TO GO ALONG THE NEXT  MORNING.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WESTPORT, WASHINGTON

WE ARRIVED IN WESTPORT, WASHINGTON AROUND 2:00 P.M. ON THE 14TH OF APRIL.  WE HAD BEEN " ON THE ROAD " FOR  21 DAYS AND  HAD ADDED QUITE A FEW STATES TO OUR MAP.

 WE FOUND AMERICAN SUNSET RV PARK, WHERE WE WILL SPEND THE SUMMER.

                              

 

                                     

 

 

WE WENT IN  THE RV  OFFICE  AND MET GAIL, THE OWNER, AND ONE OF THE OTHER  WORKAMPERS, LINDA. GAIL SAID TO TAKE A COUPLE OF DAYS AND "GET ORIENTED" BEFORE WE START WORK. IT IS A VERY NICE RV PARK AND EVERYONE SEEMS FRIENDLY AND NICE. WE HAVE A NICE LARGE LOT AND A CONVENIENT PLACE TO PARK THE TRUCK.

 

 

 

 

 

WE WERE HARDLY SET UP LOOKED OUT THE BACK WINDOW....AND HERE WERE THE "CULPRITS" GAIL HAD WARNED US ABOUT.

 

 

 

TWO DEER GRAZING,  A CHANCE TO SEE IF   "OUR SOUTH DAKOTA HOMEMADE DEER REPELLANT RECIPE" WORKS IN WASHINGTON. THE NEXT DAY  WE MET MOST OF THE WORKAMPER COUPLES, THEY  CAME OVER AND INTRODUCED THEMSELVES. WE MET KATHY AND BILL, THEY  LIVE RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO US,  LAURIEJEAN AND  JIM, THEY  LIVE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF US, LINDA AND  GRANT,  JERRI,  GAIL AND  BOB,  AND  JAN AND LEON. WE JUST DID FIRST NAMES AND A COUPLE DAYS LATER WE FOUND OUT THEY ALL  THOUGHT OUR LAST NAME WAS GARDENER. NO, WE EXPLAINED WE AREN'T THE GARDENERS.....WE ARE  DOING THE GARDENING. IT WAS FUNNY!  THE NEXT DAY WE DROVE TO ABERDEEN, 20 MILES AWAY TO WALMART. IT IS NOT A SUPER WALMART!!! BUT, THEY HAVE A SAFEWAY STORE. WESTPORT ONLY HAS ONE GROCERY STORE, THE RED APPLE. THE NEXT DAY WE WENT TO WORK IN OUR NEW CLOTHES.

 

 

 

 

WE STARTED AT 9:00, WE DECIDED TO START WORKING OUT FRONT IN ONE OF THE BEDS......THIS IS A "BEFORE" PICTURE.

 

 

AND THIS IS THE"AFTER"  PICTURE.

 

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WE ALSO CUT SOME TREE LIMBS, WE WORKED UNTIL 1:00. THE NEXT DAY IT RAINED ALL DAY, SO WE WEREN'T ABLE TO WORK. WE WENT TO THE LOCAL NURSERY TO LOOK AT PLANTS.  WE KNEW WE HAD TO CLEAN ALL THE DEBRIS FROM WINTER BEFORE WE COULD START PLANTING, BUT WE WANTED TO GET SOME IDEAS.  THE FIRST WEEKEND WE WERE HERE THEY HELD THE YEARLY CRAB FESTIVAL.

 

 

 

ON SATURDAY MORNING WE WENT TO THE "WHALE OF A SALE", WHICH WAS A CITY WIDE GARAGE SALE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IT WAS FUN, BOUGHT A FEW THINGS, AND THEN AT NOON WENT TO THE CRAB FEED.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I  ORDERED A HALF  CRAB,  SAT DOWN AT A TABLE AND HAD NO IDEA AS TO HOW YOU GOT THE MEAT OUT OF THE LEGS.  THERE WAS A WOODEN MALLOT ON THE TABLE, AND AFTER WATCHING A FEW PEOPLE, I WAS ABLE TO HAVE LUNCH. 

 

 

 

 

 

IT WAS DELICIOUS.....BUT IT WAS ALOT OF WORK!!

 

 

DARRELL ENJOYED HIS HOT DOG!!

 

 

AND THIS "CRAB/MAN" CAME OVER  SO WE COULD GET A PICTURE!!!  UNUSUAL LOOKING FELLOW!!

 

 

 

 

THE NEXT MORNING WE WENT BACK TO THE  "WHALE OF A SALE"  TO LOOK SOME MORE AND FOUND OUT THEY WERE SELLING STUFF FOR $2.00 A  BAG.  I FELL IN LOVE WITH  THESE LIGHTHOUSES!!

 

 

 

 

AND THEY FIT INTO A BAG!!! THEY MAKE A NICE CENTERPIECE FOR OUR PICNIC TABLE!!

JERRI DOESN'T DRIVE, SO, THE NEXT DAY SHE CAME OVER AND ASKED   IF I COULD TAKE HER TO THE STORE. I TOLD HER I'D BE HAPPY TO TAKE HER ANYTIME . SHE GAVE ME THE  "GRAND TOUR". .SHE SHOWED ME HALF MOON BAY,  THE JETTY CATS, AND WE WENT TO PIER 8, WHERE SHE BOUGHT FRESH OYSTERS.

THE NEXT DAY HERE SHE COMES BRINGING ME FRESH, FRIED OYSTERS.......

 

 

 

 

THEY WERE SOOOO DELICIOUS!! I GOT HER RECIPE, SO, I'LL BE MAKING ME SOME THE WHOLE TIME I'M HERE.