A Weekend in Dungeness!

Always Human. Never AI!

That’s dungeness, not dungeoness- that would be a different blog altogether. 

This week, I went camping! I also worked my regular 40 hours. I already knew how much I loved working remotely from a previous experience with it at the start of COVID, but being back in a remote job now, when I am also doing much better mentally, has really been a wonderful improvement to my life! And it’s about damn time after so many years of suffering in FuckingOklahoma™. But that’s a different blog- Check out Escaping the States for my laments, emotional outbursts and generally more serious and depressing topics.

This blog is for fun side quests and food! 

So with my new work from home job, I have been exploring the possibilities of working from anywhere but home! While the near unlimited cuddle time with my kitties when I am at home is a mental health boost like none other, Washington has SO much nature to offer and I am here for it!

Since I am no longer working with wildlife or doing nature education, I am feeling a distinct lack of those things in my life, even still being surrounded by animals and even with the lovely amount of green in this city! It is still a city. And I am still a rural creature. So this week was my first test of working while camping! 

The campground I chose for this test was actually one I had been to recently so I already knew it had decent cell coverage and would be a pretty safe test for working off a hotspot. There are SO many options for beautiful camping in the PNW so it can be difficult to pick a location! I generally keep an eye on birding hot spots and choose my locations based on bird activity or events.

I first came across this campground when I heard about the Olympic Bird Fest at Dungeness River Nature Center and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, I found out about it too late to actually register for anything so I figured I would just go there and visit some of the spots they had on their agenda, and have a nice little camping trip as well! 

It was an absolutely beautiful campground, well maintained and with good service so I decided to go back for my test! I also brought reinforcements! (My local partner who works weekends so is off during the week to run shenanigans with me)

A note: This blog will focus mostly on the camping experience (As well as a new food place I tried!) and will minimize the birding part of things. To read about the birding and photography side, as well as see a lot more birdy pics, visit my nature blog and education website!

The Journey began directly after I got off work at two and we headed to ferries! Though not strictly necessary -it takes about the same amount of time and the same cost to drive around the Sound rather than cross it- why would I drive when I could relax on the water for an hour!

The water was silky smooth on the crossing, the calmest I have ever seen it, even with the building clouds on the horizon. It was absolutely beautiful and made for a pleasant ride without sun or wind in my face for the duration.

Across the sound we still had an hour of driving but with the sun staying out till like nine in the evening that was plenty!

The forest around the campgrounds were as lovely as the first time I visited and I can never get enough of the ferns and mosses here! Even with the thick of trees, the Salish Sea was just down the path and we could hear the movement of the waves from our campsite.

As much as I always loved tent camping, car camping is definitely where it’s at! It is so much easier to set up and is much comfier and cozier- warmer too! The biggest reason I have kept my car since moving to Seattle is because I want to keep doing camping trips like this! I have considered trading up to a hybrid version of the Telluride but for now, I am enjoying not having a car payment. With the campsite all set up, it was time for dinner!

Since we were at the Dungeness wildlife refuge on the Dungeness spit where the large tasty Dungeness crabs were first commercially harvested we figured it only appropriate that we have one at our fire! Though it was purchased at a grocery store (for an exorbitant price!) it was technically a local catch and would have to do until we can get all geared up to catch our own!

We also picked up a few fresh veggies and live local clams for our fire and ended up with quite the spread for our little camp table.This was actually my first taste of crab and it was definitely a winner in my book! Absolutely is a taste I would like to have again, but not for market prices! I was already working towards getting some fishing gear built up so adding in a crab trap isn’t a hard sell.

After such a decadent dinner, we walked over the bluffs near our campsite to watch the sunset over the Salish Sea. The evenings come late in the summers here and the colors of the sunsets are some of the most stunning I have ever seen! People love to romanticize Florida sunsets and other more tropical destinations, but sunsets at higher (or lower) latitudes have always been much more dramatic in my experience.

After a cool night and peaceful rest I was up early to start the day! My work starts at 5am but thankfully the birds start at 4:30 so I was up and ready to go! I was actually a little surprised to stumble out of my car tent at 4:45 and see there was already a bit of light! Mornings come early in the summer here too.

Much as I do love being out in nature and lost in the woods, I do prefer a more comfortable camp with some modern amenities these days- such as a bathroom! A vault toilet will do but campgrounds with nice bathrooms are always preferred, and this place had decent, clean ones.

I was stopped by this dapper gentleslug on my way back from washing my face and they were in quite the rush to cross the road! If you have never seen a slug in an all out dash, no holds barred, go big or go home race to the finish line… it’s about as exciting as watching grass grow. I took pictures of their cute little eyes and bid them adieu as they rocketed at mach-slow to their destination. Safe travels slimey little friend!

With that morning distraction overcome, it was time to step into my office! Can’t really beat this for a work environment. Sometimes work can be a little slow and I am bored, waiting for something to do, but I am so thankful to finally be working again! And even more thankful that I can work like this! The pay could be better, the work could be more mentally stimulating, but that’ll come, in time. I am still new, and there is room for growth. I hope to be able to finally work my way up in a real career that I have been chasing for much of my adult life. And I am lucky that I have the opportunity to do so in such a beautiful setting.

Since my day starts so early, my lunch break is when I have breakfast. The benefits of camping with a friend is that he can light the fire and cook the breakfast and have it ready for me by the time I am on break! Gender roles be damned, this is the way.

And with such an early start, I am done by early afternoon and still have the entire day to do whatever I please! With the work from the woods experiment complete, it was time to go explore!

In this case, exploration meant a beautiful walk around the Dungeness River Nature Center. This was actually the host center of the Olympic Bird Fest though I did not get around to visiting it when I came out the first time. It was a short walk but the scenery was amazing! Unfortunately, mid afternoon isn’t the best time for birds and the woods were fairly quiet, save for a rowdy family of Ravens with young ones that were learning to fly.

Can’t go on a trip without trying a new restaurant of course! For dinner, we went to a local place for fresh seafood, Dockside Bar and Grill at a marina in Sequim. Sadly, my partner wasn’t feeling that well so they only had a seafood bisque, though it was deliciously rich and creamy!

I had a wild mushroom cobbler to start and a wonderful creamy butternut squash ravioli with salmon for my meal. Both were equally rich in flavor to the bisque and the deep umami of mushrooms can just never be beat! A good creamy sauce can sometimes be a little heavy to me but this one was nicely balanced and didn’t weigh on my stomach.

Alas, all journeys must eventually come to an end. This was just a short one with a specific purpose, and I accomplished what I set out to do. We planned our ferry ride back to allow us to see the city lights coming into Seattle, which had the pleasurable side effect of also letting us see the sunset behind us. Even without a cloud in the sky, the colors were still so vibrant!

For all I don’t really like cities, they can be quite beautiful when all lit up at night. Seeing Seattle from the ferry or from West Seattle has inspired me to work on getting better at night photography on my actual camera. This was just taken with my phone and can’t compare to the possibilities of a real lens, I just need to learn to use it the right way.

With this side quest complete, I returned home to immediately begin planning the next adventure! With warmer temperatures coming in we were thinking a trip into the mountains might be the next on our list. Time will tell!

The birding trip to Dungeness Spit will be posted on Nature’s Vein whenever I get around to writing it!