20250818-19 An Asian Wedding and Adventure Begins

20250818-19 South Korea and China Trip

Our daughter Ciara had her wedding 2 weeks ago but because her new In-Laws have extended family in China, she is also doing a wedding in Shenyang, China.  This is in the northeast part of China, and is adjacent to North Korea.  Our last trip to China was in 2006, before the Beijing Olympics, so we figured it was time to go back to China.  Viking Cruises has China tour itineraries that include overland excursions so following the Chinese wedding ceremony, we will take a high speed rail train from Shenyang to Beijing and see a few tourist sights there, and then join the Viking Cruises pre-cruise extension overland tour to Mongolia before flying from Mongolia to Hong Kong to board the Viking Yi-Dun ocean cruise ship.  This ship will take us down the Chinese coast to Beijing (Tianjin) with 7 ports of call, including an overland excursions to Fujian Province and an overnight stay in Shanghai.  From Beijing, Viking will fly us to Chengdu, Lhasa (Tibet), and Xi’an (terra cotta warriors) before returning us to Beijing for our flights back to the US. 

In order to get to Shenyang, we will fly into Seoul, South Korea, and spend a day touring Seoul and getting over jet lag, before continuing on to Shenyang, which is a fairly short flight from Seoul.  

Some of our immediate family will join us for the Shenyang wedding and Beijing tour. China has recently implemented a 10 day visa free tourism option so most of them will be heading back to the US within that 10 day window.  Because we will be taking the Viking Cruise and overland tours, we did have to make a trip to San Francisco to obtain real Chinese tourism visas.  

We flew business class while our children John and Price are flying economy along with Ben’s brother Franklin.  The plane was a 777-200.  The business class pods were certainly nicer than economy or premium economy, with seats that convert into lie flat beds, but the age of this plane is apparent from the outdated entertainment system and lack of in-flight WiFi.  The business class pods we have more recently flown in on Delta and Emirates were nicer and more up to date.  Both of those had Bose noise canceling headphones and free inflight texting, while this flight has basic over the ear headphones without noise cancellation.  

The flight attendants all appear to be young and attractive Korean women.  On Emirates, we were surprised to find that the flight attendants were mostly Filipino, but in retrospect, it makes sense that Arabs in the UAE routinely hire foreigners to work in the service industries, so their staffing is more like what you’d find on cruise ships. 

 
The meal service in business class was good with cloth napkins and steel utensils.  The dinner was served within the first hour of the flight.  The first course was a salad with fancy greens, stone crab claws, prosciutto, melon and a selection of fancy rolls.  There was a choice of a salmon, beef tenderloin or chicken breast entree, served with wine and sides of asparagus and potatoes.  We both had the tenderloin, which came out medium rare with a tiny bit of mushroom gravy.  The meat was properly prepared but a little bit grisly.  The tenderloins we had on the Princess and Oceana cruises tours were better, but these were OK.  The entrees were followed by both a fruit and cheese plate and chocolate mousse with a port wine and coffee or tea.  
The cabin was dimmed and the window blinds were pulled after the meal service, even though it was full daylight outside.  

It’s hard to know how to best deal with traveling over multiple time zones and jumping over the International Date line, but these international air carriers would know best.  We got off the ground about a half hour later than the original scheduled departure of 2:30pm.  So we left Seattle at 3:00pm on Monday.  We arrived  in Seoul at 6:30pm after about 11 hrs in the air.  

We had a second meal service which would have been around 9pm Seattle time with a choice of sandwiches or ramen.  Most people went for the ramen which was spicy. 
The lights came up about an hour before landing, which would have been around 2:00am Seattle time for third and final meal service with coffee and juice, salad and Janet had Beef stroganoff while Ben had a shrimp congee. 

 
We got through customs about 7:15pm.  The customs counter was well staffed and we encountered no trouble getting through.  All of our bags made it to Seoul without a hitch.  We picked up a Jumbo taxi at the taxi stand, which just barely got all our luggage in the back.  If we had brought one more suitcase, it would have ended up in someone’s lap.  But the Jumbo Taxi had 4 luxury leather captain’s seats in the back and Ben rode shotgun in the front.  It took a little over an hour to get from the airport to Fraser Place Namdaemun Seoul.  The roadways were very modern and extremely well maintained.  The fare was 87,800 KRW, which is $63 USD.  That seems super reasonable for an hour ride with 5 passengers and a huge pile of luggage.  

The hotel front desk staff spoke fluent English and got us all checked in quickly.  They did take photocopies of all of our passports.  The rooms we got are actually huge suites with a partitionable queen bed on one end, and two twin beds in a studio apartment with washer/dryer, full sized refrigerator/freezer and induction cooktop.  The apartments are furnished with pots, pans and even a rice maker so it would be quite possible to do all our own cooking.  The Hotels.com fare did not include the breakfast but there is a hotel restaurant that offers a full American breakfast for $23USD.  

We were able to contact our Tours By Locals Seoul tour guide through WhatsApp to confirm our 9am pickup for a full day tour tomorrow.  
Franklin and John headed out into the night to explore the neighborhood around the hotel while the rest of us pretty much showered and crashed.  We’ll be sure to set alarms for the morning.

20250501 Thursday, May 1, 2025. End of Our Clamming Season

20250501 Thursday, May 1, 2025. End of Our Clamming Season

The weather could not be more perfect for camping.  We woke to blue skies and calm winds.  We decided to hit the beach early to try to get home before the worst of the traffic.  The low tide was at 9:52am at -1.6'.  We were on the beach at 8am, and had our limits by 8:45.  Getting to the beach before the bottom of the low tide may have been advantageous because the clams may be making shows that disappear over time as the tide drops.  We were able to spot more shows today, although many looked like holes rather than the classic donuts in the sand.  It was such a beautiful morning, there could be no more drastic contrast to some of our earliest razor clamming days when it was raining sideways.  

We got back to the RV and shucked the clams, putting them on ice in the refrigerator and then breaking camp.  We were on the road at 10am.  We did stop at Dairy Queen in Aberdeen for lunch at 11am.  We dumped our holding tanks in Montesano.  There are 4 lanes of trailer dump sites, but only one is open, so we had to wait in line. Fortunately, there was only one rig in front of us.  

Then we made a  brief refueling stop at the Lacey Costco, and a final refueling stop at the River Rock at the Angel of the Winds Casino exit.  We pulled up behind a huge class A RV that to our surprise was being filled up with gasoline and not diesel.  The owner says it takes 80 gallons to fill it up.  We're glad we have a more economical diesel that only takes 24 gallons to fill up.  

There was a bit of traffic heading into Seattle, but fortunately, the express lanes were open so we were able to bypass much of the building traffic.  There was also traffic in Everett, with much of it heading to Snohomish and Marysville.  

Ben took a brief detour to stop at a closed state patrol weight station to see what weight we are actually driving around with.  The RV had a full load of water, LP and diesel, as well as Janet on board.  The total weight of the RV was 11,300 pounds, which is slightly over the 11,030 rating.  The Bronco  with a full tank of gas and some gear surprisingly weighed in at 5200 pounds, which was significantly heavier than what Ben thought it might weigh.  So we were probably 8% over the rated weight.  But we were well under the rated axle weight ratings, and closely monitor tire pressures, engine and transmission temperatures, and don't drive that aggressively.  Still, we need to be more conscious about unloading unnecessary gear from the RV and Bronco.  

We arrived home at 4pm.  It was a bit different doing our clam processing in our kitchen instead of the RV.  Janet did some fresh fried razor clams with panko and seasoned bread crumbs that were tasty and tender.  It is quite a bit of work and mess to bread and fry them, but they are a treat.  

While there are additional razor clam openers days during the Spring, our Senior Off Season WA State Parks pass is now expired, and May 1 marked the opening of ling cod fishing season, so Ben and Price will be getting out on the Pacific Skiff to see about catching some fresh ling cod.  Halibut season is also under way, although halibut is a much less productive pursuit in Puget Sound.  Spot prawns will also open later in May, so we will be quite busy working our local waters .  We did get our money's worth out of the Senior Off Season WA State Parks Pass, and will likely buy next year's version.  We have become pretty adept at camping with the RV in all weather conditions and are getting some good use out of the RV. 

20250430 Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Another Honest Dig. Campground News

20250430 Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Another Honest Dig. Campground News

Since we have been camping in a site adjacent to the bathroom and shower facility, we have noticed quite a few “unhoused” people making use of the State Park campground facilities here. There is no gate house or on-site rangers. A crew shows up in the morning to do maintenance and check for campsite registrations and payment, but for the most part, the campground is unsupervised. 

Over the last 2 days, a minivan with a couple inside had spent most of both days parked in front of the bathroom, and yesterday, for hours, the man had unloaded the contents of the van in an enormous pile of plastic sacs, totes, and random piles all around the van while he cleaned it out. He also disappears into one of the toilets for more than 40 minutes at a time. His female partner sat in the passenger seat glued to her cellphone nearly the entire 2 days. He finally got it all repacked into the van as the sun set. They also had a yappy rat Terrier tied up in front of the bathroom barking for hours and hours while this was going on. 

In the past, others would pull up in various cars, disappear into the toilet or shower for more than an hour before reemerging and leaving. Fortunately, we haven’t encountered any syringes, needles, or other unsavory items being left behind. While it sure is nice to have the free hot showers at these State Parks, there should be some effort to restrict access to park guests. 

The rangers have been busy preparing the west half of the campground loop for opening. The flooding has largely receded, and they are moving picnic tables around with a tractor. We imagine it will open tomorrow. 

We were on the beach at 8:15am and it didn’t rain overnight, so we were hopeful for an easier time finding the clams, but it was pretty much like yesterday. We got our limits but did have to work at it for a little over an hour. 

Our doppelgänger neighbors had left the campground before we had even gotten up. We got our clams processed and then headed into Westport to hit the Shop’n Kart, which is their local independent grocery and goods store. Ben was looking for some solvent to get pine sap off the Bronco’s windshield, and Janet wanted to pick up some hot dogs for lunch and dinner.  It’s interesting to wander through these stores that have a bit of everything. Ben did find some Goof-off, and Janet found a selection of tube steaks. 

After indulging in some cheese and jalapeño  brats for lunch, we hit the trails around Twin Harbors State Park again. The last time we did that, we encountered flooded-out trails that went nowhere. But the water table has dropped a lot, drying out all the trails and the back half of the campground loop. We were able to walk all the way from our campground loop to both the Bonge Street parking lot area and the one northwest of the campground loop where we have been hitching the Bronco and RV together because it is a big, level parking lot. We clocked 2.75 miles in about an hour. 

April 30, 2025

April 12, 2025

Burned out abandoned RV at Bonge Rd Access. 

The sun has been out most of the afternoon. We had run the generator while processing the clams, and that had charged up the batteries from 52% to 75%. With clear sky and full sun, the batteries were charging at 3-4A. By evening, they were up to over 85%.

Dinner tonight will be hot dogs with canned chili. Tomorrow will be the end of our razor clamming and free senior off-season pass camping season. 

20250429 Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Honest Work for Clam Limits, Doppleganger RV

20250429 Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Honest Work for Clam Limits, Doppleganger RV

It was raining through the night and into the morning, although it had largely stopped by the time we hit the beach at 7:45am. The rain seems to drive the clams deeper and washes away classic clam shows, leaving only subtle dimples. This made it harder to find the clams, but we did find out limits of 15 each. It’s nice that it was a -2.0’ tide and daylight. It took us nearly 90 minutes to get those limits. 

After we got back, as we were cleaning up our equipment, another camper came up to chat about our RV. He was looking to trade in his class A for something smaller now that their grandchildren were all adults now. He was also hoping to pull a Jeep Wrangler, which is comparable to the Bronco. 

After he finished and headed back to his campsite, a lady walking her dog exclaimed “You have the same RV as us!”, and sure enough, a Winnebago Navion of the same year and color was being driven into the campground. He had stopped to pick up the registration paperwork while his wife walked the dog. 

They ended up parking right next to our site. It looks like a Winnebago jamboree. Actually, their rig has a different layout with a fixed bed in the back and different storage layout.   It turns out they are traveling musicians. He does Elvis impressions and she does Ann Margaret, as well as others. Their layout has more storage for all their show equipment and costumes.   They had also clammed in the morning, and were going to head off to the docks at Westport to crab from the pier with crab snares. 

It was fun and interesting to share experiences and modifications with these RV’s. 

After getting our clams put up in the freezer, we headed into Westport to get our auxiliary LP bottle refilled, lunch and exercise. 

We got our last punch on our Merino’s fish and chips card so the next time we come, we can get $10 off. They really have the best food in Westport. We’ll have leftover fries with whatever we can come up with in the RV for dinner tonight. Most likely, this will involve more Costco rotisserie chicken, noodles and cream of mushroom soup. 

We walked the trail from the Westport tsunami sanctuary tower to the Jetty. It was nice that it is paved and the jetty blocks the winds. It connects to the lighthouse trail so we walked just shy of 3 miles.  

Then we stopped by the library to use their WiFi to do our Duolingo lessons and post this blog. 

Tomorrow we may try a different beach. Our new Winnebago neighbors dug at the Cranberry road access, which is the next one south of the Bonge Rd access we have been using. They said the digging was quite easy there. 

20250428 Monday, April 28, 2025. Morning Clamming and Emergency Med Hunt

20250428 Monday, April 28, 2025. Morning Clamming and Emergency Medication Hunt

We got up at 6 a.m. but could hear other campers heading out to dig for clams and the cawing of crows in the campground as we got dressed. 

There was heavy overcast overhead, but plenty of daylight and light wind when we got to the beach at 6:40 a.m. With a -2.0’ tide, there was a lot of beach exposed. The sand at the end of the beach approach had gotten very loose, so a lot of people were parking on the shoulders of the approach. An abandoned RV has been on that shoulder for weeks, but since the last time we were here, someone had set it ablaze, so now it’s a burned-out hulk on the shoulder. Some of the nearby trees were also burned. 

Although the tide had gone way out, there was a surprising lack of classic clam shows on the particular stretch of beach we were on. At one point, we could see moisture being pumped by clams well below the surface, but they weren’t leaving any shows. Eventually, we did manage to find enough shows or partial shows to get our limits, but it was certainly easier to find them the last time we were here when they were making classic shows. We were on a slightly different stretch of the beach, so perhaps tomorrow we’ll go to the same spot we were in 2 weeks earlier. 

We got the clams cleaned and put up. Ben had brought our Waterpik to use to give the clams enemas. This was a lot easier and faster than using a hand syringe, but even after enemas, some clams just seem to manage to retain some sand. 

When we got up in the morning, the batteries still had 75% charge, so we decided to try to do the clam cleaning with the induction cooktop because it brings water up to temperature much faster than the LP burner. This was working well until Ben put on the Keurig to make a cup of coffee. All of a sudden, everything shut off, including the lights. The generator panel was dark, but Ben tried pushing the start button anyways, but nothing happened. 

Just as Ben was about to pull open the battery compartment lid to jumpstart the system, assuming the BMS had shut down the Lithium batteries from the overload of running both the induction cooktop and coffee maker, the generator started up, and after stabilizing, the lights came back on and normal power was restored. The BMS may have just temporarily shut the batteries down. When we checked the BMS monitoring app, it reported the charge state at 50% and charging at over 30A. 

We’ll just have to remember not to run the coffee maker or toaster when using the induction cooktop. 

In addition to forgetting our fishing licenses, Ben realized he had forgotten to grab his medications. So we did have to run into Westport after getting our clams cleaned and put up to see about getting emergency meds sent to a local pharmacy. We used the WiFi at the public library to message Ben’s doctor and also had the pharmacist at Twin Harbor Drugs call Ben’s doctor. 

We had lunch back at the campground and then went for a walk along the Westport Lighthouse trail. We headed back to the pharmacy. The doctor’s office finally sent prescriptions at 3 p.m. Instead of just getting a handful of pills, Ben ended up with 30-day supplies of his blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering meds. The copay for these emergency meds was higher than for the usual mail-order refills, but it certainly was less than the cost of driving all the way back home. 

We also came to the realization that although our Senior Off-Season pass is only good Sundays - Thursdays, Thursday is May 1st and the pass expires after April 30th, so we had to re-register our campsite so we leave a day earlier on Thursday instead of Friday. 

20250427 Price Marathons, We Head Out to Clam

 20250427 Price Marathons, We Head Out to Clam

Price ran in the Whidbey Marathon, his first full marathon. Ciara and Tom had flown in from Chicago to support Price. We cheered him on from several viewpoints, and he managed to finish 57th overall with a time of 4:04, which is remarkable for a route with nearly 2000’ of elevation gain.  

After recovering for a bit, we all had lunch  at Orlando’s BBQ. Ciara and Tom then headed to the airport. 

We weren’t sure if we needed to stay home for the night to support Price after his first marathon because he was pretty beat up after his first half marathon. However, he had trained properly for this race using his Garmin smart watch and marathon training software. He had also invested in proper marathon running gear, so he actually came out of this marathon in much better condition and didn’t need us to stick around. 

Our Senior Off Season camping pass expires April 30th, and there is a daylight razor clam opener this week, so we packed up the RV and headed off the island at 4 p.m. We made a refueling stop at Samcor and a second refueling stop at the Lacey Costco. 

We did run into heavy traffic starting in the Northgate area. It must have been Seattle residents returning home from seeing the tulips in Mt Vernon and other weekend outings. Fortunately, south of downtown, the traffic cleared, and it was clear sailing from there on. The weather was also fine for the most part with moderate clouds and only light rain as we got to the coast in Aberdeen. 

We arrived after dark at 9 p.m. It’s a good thing the campground was only lightly occupied, and our prior site #221 was available.  Ben had also installed area flood lights on the rear of the RV and puddle lamps below, so backing the RV wasn’t done entirely in the dark. 

As we got settled in, we realized that we had forgotten to grab our fishing licenses. Ben and Price had left them on the boat after fishing for halibut. Ben ran the Bronco into Westport, where he could get a cellular signal and was able to download images of our license document numbers from WDFW’s servers to show any wildlife agents who might happen to want to check us. 

The Lacey Costco warehouse was closed when we stopped to refuel. Fortunately, we arrived 10 minutes before they closed the gas pumps. But no Costco pizza for dinner. 

Ben just had a bowl of Costco instant ramen with some rotisserie chicken brought from home. 

Tomorrow, the low tide is -2.0’ at 7:30. If the weather cooperates, we hope to be able to find our clams pretty quickly.