Page 159 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2021 REDISCOVERING CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL COAST

Before we picked up our VW bus, we toured
Seattle’s 605-foot-tall Space Needle and wandered
around Pike Place Market to watch fish vendors
toss big salmon back and forth. Then it was off to
Peace Vans in the mixed-industrial SoDo (South of
Downtown) neighborhood, where we met owner
Harley Sitner, who introduced us to 32-year-old
Hamma Hamma, our Vanagon home for the next
week.
Sitner explained all the ins and outs of this par-
ticular VW bus, gave us a reference notebook and a
service number to call in case we needed aid. (Hey,
even brand new vehicles break down.) Then, be-
cause it had been a decade since I’d used a manual
transmission, I carefully backed up the Vanagon and
drove around the block without the kids.
Feeling comfortable, my youngsters (now 17-
year-old Anders and 19-year-old Maddie) hopped
in and we were off. We rolled south down Inter-
state 5, pushing the four-cylinder engine to a top
speed of around 65 miles per hour. I recognized
much of the road, which I’d driven many times dur-
ing my decade of writing for the daily newspaper in
Olympia.
When we crossed over the Nisqually River south
of Tacoma, I pointed to the west over the verdant
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
(https://www.fws.gov/refuge/billy_frank_jr-
_nisqually/) and Nisqually Reach, where I’d paddled
my sea kayak a number of times. In town, we hiked
on trails in Tumwater Falls State Park, which

though only meters from the interstate, seemed a Disappointment State Park (https://parks.state
world away - thanks to its cascades of tumbling wa- .wa.us/425/Cape-Disappointment-State-Park)
ter in a narrow gorge. Total distance from SoDo to about 130 miles from Olympia. Located at the
Olympia, 70 miles. mouth of the Columbia River, the rugged headlands
For a late lunch, we pulled into a parking lot filled here earned their name because it was so difficult
not far from the state capitol building that was for mariners to enter the river. Truth be told, many
filled with food carts where we met up with Matt - a ship was wrecked here.
my oldest son - and his mother. We dined on Shortly after arrival at a campground just steps
yummy burritos, compared funky VW bus stories from the ocean, we rolled out our sleeping bags and
and enjoyed the afternoon sun. popped the top of our camper - where Maddie got
We said our goodbyes, hugged and headed west the upper bunk, fit for a princess - while Anders
on Highway 101 and Highway 8 through logging and I shared the lower level. We all got a good
country. We reached the Pacific at Willapa Bay in night’s rest and woke the next morning to the sun
about 90 minutes before arriving at our destina- poking through the mist.
tion for the next two nights, the 2,000-acre Cape Lo and behold, another VW Vanagon was parked

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