Friday, March 30, we took off about 1:30 p.m. from our home in Fall City, WA, for our shakedown trip in our new Fox Mountain 265RLS 5er. Less than an hour later, we pulled into Dash Point State Park in Federal Way, WA. This is a real jewel in highly urban Federal Way. It is right down on Puget Sound, with about 1,300 feet of beach front.
About half the park was closed, but the loop that was open has 51 sites. About half have water and power, and of those, only four have sewer. We did not get one of the sites with sewer, but there were plenty of partially serviced sites open, so we backed into one, leveled up, connected the power and water, and put the slide-out out. The fee for the paritally serviced campsite is $27 per night. It is first-come-first-served, no reservations. When I walked around the loop with Baxter, our little Lhasa, I saw there were maybe half a dozen or more pull-through sites open on the other side. Lesson learned, drive all the way around the loop before picking a campsite!
And the next thing we did was turn up the heat! We have a radiator-style oil filled electric heater but we had to turn on the propane forced air furnace. I think a couple of little Walmart electric heaters are on our shopping list if we are going to be doing this four season stuff!
Friday evening we had drinks and a nice dinner, and naturally I fell asleep halfway through the movie! It is OK, though, because I know all the dialog by heart anyway - just our favorite, the Anthony Andrews / Jane Seymour version of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
Saturday we walked down to the beach from the campground. It is a pretty good hike, and it was raining naturally (it has been raining / showering / drizzling / misting / down-pouring, you name it) the whole time we have been here! I have seen the sandals and socks guy, and he is me! There was a Trail Run going on that evidently started and finished at the beach parking lot. Fools. Wet fools at that!
We had company for dinner, which was very nice. After dinner, the Ranger knocked on our door, and told our company that there was a $10 fee for any car entering the campground, even just to visit somebody in the campground. I guess I do believe in our parks being supported by user fees, but that seems a little extreme to me. Oh, well.
It is now Sunday morning, we had a great breakfast, lingered over a second cup of coffee, and I am now catching up on the computer stuff - our Verizon MiFi works here but it is S-L-O-W. Patty has read a lot on her Kindle, I have been reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court on the iPad. It is a great read! The sun has been shining off and on, so there might be hope for one more walk before lunch, and then we have to pull out and head home.
All in all, I like this place, and give it a big thumbs up for anybody looking for a state park not too far from the Seattle area!
* This post was
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edited 04/02/12 06:39am by Pat Anderson *
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Pat & Patty Anderson
Will retire 12-31-13
2011 Fox Mountain 265RL (Fall City, WA)
1991 Alpenlite 25+2 (Omak, WA)
1993 Ford F250
2005 C-Dory CD25 Cruiser, planning to do Great Loop!
2008 Lambretta UNO150 Scooter
1987 Honda Sprees (matched set) Our blog
We like DP very much and it's good to see it's finally open again after all the sewer work. We haven't been able to go there in a couple of years. Really like the beach area and exploring the area when there's a super low tide.
BTW, They do take reservations starting May 18.
* This post was
edited 04/01/12 04:18pm by ScottG *
Scott, Grace and Wesly
2003 Dodge 3500 4x4, 6 speed Cummins (lightly bombed),
2004 Forest River 25RKS many, many mods.
H0NDA eu2000i
2008 F350SD V10 with an 2012 Arctic Fox 29-5E When someone tells you to buy the same rig they own, listen, they might be right. When they tell you to buy a different rig then they own, really pay attention, they probably know something you don't.
Nice place but can be tight driving around. We overnighted there a few years back. Pretty but tight!
* This post was
edited 04/01/12 02:59pm by driveby *
2008 Itasca Sunova 35J Class A
1997 TJ Sahara, hard and soft tops and AC
Held together via Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar and stopped by US Gear Unified Brake system.
The Fox worked out great! Everything we expected, but we have been having our evening drinks in it in our driveway for a week, so not that much different! We discovered the lights over the vanity and in the head do not work, did not pull the cover off the fuses, but I will do that before we go out again. If fuses are OK, dealer will fix the lights- we decided we want the slide-out awning anyway and will be taking it in pretty soon for that.
Yes, Dash Point is a bit tight, it seemed like there were a fair number of poorly located trees on curves that would be better off removed! But I never felt it was really a problem, I went slow and watched in the mirror where the rig was relative to the tree, and I doubt if I ever got closer than 2 feet to a tree at any point.
* This post was
edited 04/01/12 06:10pm by Pat Anderson *
We camped there a few years ago as well. Loved the proximity to Seattle, but I agree with the previous poster. The sites are pretty narrow and it's tight driving. We have a photo of our 5th wheel site and I'm not really sure how DH got into the site. It was extremely tight.
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