When the tide is low he appears, taunting you....daring you to chase him
We arrive once again at the Pacific Coast in Grayland, WA. We set up camp at Grayland State Park. Great site will all the amenities, but a bit pricey at $373 for 9 days. Of course we are here for the clam digging. All the clams we got in Alaska are long gone. Besides, Barb LOVES digging clams. Everything is always better fresh. We had 2 dig sessions over 9 days in 3 weeks to load up whatever room we had in the freezers. This would also leave us some room for RnR and Roux some beach frolic time. 
Grayland Beach
There has been plenty of rain in the PNW the past several weeks and there is plenty of water to go around, even where you don't want it. Due to my chronological dyslexia I put us here a day early and so they gave me a site for one night that was only partially flooded till the next day. We also got the yearly non-resident clamming licenses this year as we planned to dig about 12 days in all. The non-resident 3 day license is $9 so $21 for the yearly made sense. Additionally, we closed on our land in Texas on Day #2 by traveling to the Fed Ex office in nearby Aberdeen to receive, sign, notarize, and return the documents as well as having our bank transfer the $$$ for the down payment and closing costs. It was a very smooth experience and 'hats off' to our banker at Fifth Third Bank back in Michigan for 'covering our six'. We still had one more day off due to digging not opening till Day 4. This would include gathering firewood, last minute supplies, transferring the electric to our name on the new property, and digging the spare cooler out of the back of the truck. I plan on saving all the clam shells from this trip to compost into the garden back home. An entire 43 quart cooler filled with clam shells? That is gonna take some baking soda.
(It's a bit chilly still mid winter)
There will no competition this time, no crowning of the Clam King. My wife knows there is no contest. We do it for the love of the sport, the beach, fresh air, success and relishing meals we would create. There is so much to savor and appreciate about time at the beach. We haven't been here for 2 years. Although she was born and raised a Southern Girl, my wife is in her natural element here. She will forever be my Clam Queen. We were only able to dig 3 days due to a gale front coming thru the morning of the last day open. Additionally, Barb wrenched her back and we quit early Day 3, harvesting 20 of our allotted 30 clams.
At the truck (Day 1, Barb's whopper limit)
We took a break after this dig to travel to East Olympia and visit our friends, John n Wilma Meek. Setting up camp next to their shop was nothing new and we were able to relax and settle in for nearly a week. I did have to be careful as we were hooked up to a 10 amp GCFI outlet with adapter so when we ran the microwave we had to turn off the heater...….lesson learned, twice. John has been battling diabetes as well as a variety of other health issues. We wanted to visit and help out as we could with things.
Barb & Wilma stocking firewood
(I love the fact Wilma drives the tractor)
The second digs in March resulted in our camping at Screaming Eagle RV Park in Ocean City. Rates here are $40 per night. Everything at the beach is more expensive, but we love it here. The owner is very nice and even gave us our favorite site this time. We stayed here for 9 days, digging clams for 6. We have stayed here several times and this time we added digging with friends. Ruby Garlinghouse is a long time high school friend who is lucky enough to live near the beach in Ocean Shores, WA. Ruby and her husband Rick love razor clams, but don't get to dig as much as they used to so we decided to get together for a couple days doing the 'Clamapalooza' thing. We had good days and very good days, but in the end we stocked up our freezer as well as theirs and others. Three days Barb was on her game while I was feeling my age and out dug me saving both our limits. 6 days digging here yielded us over 90 clams for ourselves. Ruby and Rick dug with us 2 days and put away 45 clams themselves. We also put away 90 more for our son and friends Wilma and John as well. For the entire trip this time we froze 140 clams.
While here I prepared Venison Stroganoff, Venison Burger Soup, Italian Sausage Soup, Venison steaks over the fire, OTR Gumbo, OTR White Chicken Chili, and Velveeta Skillet dinner. Lots of soups here at the beach this time of year, home cooking for chilly weather.
Venison Burger Soup
We enjoyed our visit to Washington Pacific Beaches as always. I grew up here, but my wife became a quick, willing learner. She loves the ocean and fine tuned her technique to a whole new level this trip. It is always good to see her this happy. It never hurts with a freezer full of razor clams. venison, and rockfish to enjoy for the coming months and the 'Cherry on the Cake of our Day' to close on the Texas land for our winter place. We now take a week's sojourn to ourselves at the beautiful rocky sea stacks of La Push before visiting friends once again, then heading east to our home in Michigan.
"It's all the same to the clam"
Shell Silverstein
WiFi courtesy of Screaming Eagle RV Park
No comments:
Post a Comment