Olympic Peninsula Beaches, WA

Turns out the last possible time to arrive at the Kalaloch Campground in Olympic National Park if you expect to snag an ocean view spot on a Friday afternoon in the second week in April is 3:32 pm. We greedily passed this one up the first time around so we could look for something even better farther around the loop. Luckily, it was still there when we came back around, but it's been a steady stream of lookers ever since. Yeah, it's been raining hard since we got here, but a couple pizzas in the oven, opening one last Easter package sent by @advodna_ann's mom and a foggy view of the ocean through the steamed up windows is pretty darn cozy. #airstream #liveriveted #olympicnationalpark #kalalochbeach

Scene from a Saturday morning. #airstream #airstreamwithkids #liveriveted

A few people have commented that Kalaloch is a great "weather watching" beach. In fact, in the 24 hrs we've been here, we've seen just about everything from rain to hail to sun and blue sky to gusty winds, often two or three of these at a time! The beach is absolutely huge and piled with massive drift logs that give an idea of the power of the waves. We set up the sand toys on the beach for a bit this afternoon and got out my 3 meter trainer kite. @advodna_ann is flying the kite in the picture above and is about one stiff gust away from being flown to Hawaii. #olympicnationalpark #kalalochbeach #kite #kiting

This is what it looked like last night at 7:15. Unfortunately, today it looks more like we're in a submarine than an Airstream with torrential rain falling since the morning. For the last two days, our 405W of solar on the roof and 120W portable panel have had us back to 100% by about 2:00 pm each day, despite rain and hail showers and lots of gray clouds, but today we're not getting anything and running the heater a ton. The plan was to move to the Hoh Rainforest today, but that just seems like a wet thing to do and definitely not likely to see much in the way of solar. New plan, head for La Push and Ruby Beach where we can plug in for a few days and then head to the rain forest with fresh batteries at the end of the week. #stayingflexible #stillteamsolar #olympicnationalpark #kalalochbeach

I'd say a one hour drive (we left at 4:30!) for this site with full hookups for $27/night was a decent call. Wait til you see the sea stacks off the beach right in front of us! #Airstream #liveriveted

This place is definitely other-worldly. Huge piles of driftwood, each resembling some alien insect or carefully sculpted work of art, perfectly rounded stones on smooth beach sand and spires of an aquatic kingdom emerging from the waves in the misty distance. #Quileute #lapush #olympicpeninsula #pnw #campingwithbabies #adventuremom

Exploring the massive stump and makeshift driftwood shelters along the beach. #lapush #Quileute #pnw #olympicpeninsula #olympicnationalpark

Kids asleep, directional rooftop antenna beaming the wifi signal from the baby cam over to the beach and 20 minutes to fly my 3 meter trainer kite as the sun sets behind the sea stacks. Nailed it. #lapush #Quileute #pnw #olympicpeninsula #kite #kiting

Rialto Beach in Olympic National Park is just across the river mouth from the Quileute Reservation and First Beach, but it takes about 25 minutes to drive back up and over a bridge to get there. Remote camping is allowed (with a permit) up the beach and looks like it would be spectacular. #olympicnationalpark #rialtobeach #gorillaonthings #attemptedfamilyportrait (@rvlegend we need you!) #advodnaxmascard

Thanks for the shirt @followthesunapparel. Can't wait to see @margaretleonard and @ocddaddy (and the kids) out on the road! #ftsapparel #rialtobeach #childhoodunplugged #olympicnationalpark

Today's (mobile) home improvement project, covering the windows in the kid's room with Reflectix, was a family affair. #Airstream #airstreamwithkids #liveriveted #mobilehomeimprovement #fulltimefamilies #tryreadingmythoughtsnowaliens