20260302 Monday, March 2, 2026 Heading Home

20260302 Monday, March 2, 2026 Heading Home

The new LP tank that we got at Walmart was supposed to be sold full, but without weighing it, it’s hard to know how much LP was in the tank.  However, it ran dry last night after running the generator for only 3 hours.  Fortunately, we had just finished processing the clams when the generator sputtered to a halt.  During the night, we had to switch back to the main LP tank to run the furnace.  The temperatures have been dropping into the lower 40’s during the night, so having the furnace has been essential.  

We broke camp after running the generator for a bit to make coffee and tea, and to put some charge on the batteries which had gotten into the mid 40% charge state, but since we were headed home, we had shut down the generator with the batteries till below 50%.  

It took about an hour to get everything set to leave.  Ben had to use the Bronco to jump start another camper’s truck with a dead battery, but we had to move the Bronco anyways to get the RV out of its site.  We drive both the RV and Bronco to an adjacent parking lot for the State Park that serves a walk in beach access, which is flat and has long spaces suitable for parking long trailers to hitch up the RV and Bronco.  

The weather and traffic were quite pleasant from Westport to Lacey.  We did stop at the Montesano rest area to dump the black and grey tanks, and then made a stop at the Lacey Costco to add several gallons of diesel to assure getting back to the Samcor in Anacortes.  The diesel at Costco was $0.50/gal more expensive than Samcor, but still less expensive than other refueling stations in the area.  We did pick up a pizza for dinner tonight, and Costco hot dogs for lunch, as well as frozen vegetables that we need at home.  Having a freezer in the RV is handy that way.

There is a prolonged resurfacing project involving the University Bridge north of downtown Seattle that caused traffic to back up for about 5 miles, but despite traffic being quite heavy, it only slowed to a crawl and not actual stop and go.  

It was nice to get home with plenty of daylight to get things unpacked and put away. Ben was pleasantly surprised to see that the batteries had charged up to over 90% on solar during the drive home, which was largely under sunny skies.

 
This was a very pleasant RV trip.  We had pretty decent weather for the most part and didn’t encounter any major problems with the RV or Bronco.  We did end up with a pretty decent haul of cleaned clam meat and 2 quarts of clam guts which make really good shrimping bait.   

It’s nice to have this winter fishery to keep us busy and also give us an excuse to do some winter camping.  We’ll probably make one more razor clamming trip at the end of March/early April, when the low tides switch to sunrise.

20260301 Sunday, March 1, 2026: Twin Harbors State Park Clamming Day 4

20260301 Sunday, March 1, 2026: Twin Harbors State Park Clamming Day 4

The weather has been surprisingly nice this weekend, with frequent sun breaks and little rain since Wednesday and early Thursday.  Today, the sun was out for much of the day with broken cloud cover, and a mild breeze.  Our batteries were just a little below 40% in the morning as the solar panels began to register energy.  We ran the generator to make coffee and tea, and allow the batteries to charge up at 9:45am, as most other campers were out and about.  We had a group camping in an adjacent site with a strange plastic bubble enclosure around their picnic table and a small pup tent on the ground.  They had the unfortunate habit of cutting through our campsite, walking right behind our RV, to get to the bathroom and shower building, rather than walk on the driveway.  FYI, it’s poor campground etiquette to cut through anyone’s camp site.  

We went for another walk on the beach.  It was near high tide.  There were a couple of tire tracks heading north of the park high on the beach with two spots that looked like someone had tried to park, but got a bit bogged down in the softer sand.  But they had managed to successfully get turned around and out of there.  Janet collected a few more sand dollars for her collection.  There are some impressive waves with breakers up and down the coast as the ocean swell meets the shallowing beach.  

The campground seemed to largely empty out as most of the tent campers and pop-up campers packed up and left, presumably to go home in time to return to their Monday to Friday work lives.  Ben got in a shower since there was nobody around using it.  

Lunch was simple cup of soup, Cheeze-Its and rotisserie chicken.  We headed out to the beach at 3pm, even though the low tide was at 5:26pm.  The tide was at 2’ and dropping, and we did find clam shows developing a hundred feet above the splash line.  We were able to be a little pickier about looking for larger shows and did end up with our limits of 15 each by 4pm.   

We got back to the camp and Janet got in her shower while Ben started cleaning up the clamming gear and preparing it for stowage, since this was our last day of clamming for this trip.  

There was just enough time to get things put away and back into the Bronco to drive to the Westport Library to use their Wifi to Zoom the family in our Sunday ritual.  The library’s Wifi was not connected to the internet again, but there was ample cellular signal to use our cell phone hot spots to do the Zoom meeting using an iPad on the dashboard of the Bronco.  

When we got back to camp, we had a quick dinner with Ben eating another baked cod, rice pilaf and carrots dinner and Janet having a bowl of Ramen.  Then we processed today’s clams.  

Tomorrow, we’ll head home.  We’ll need to hit the rest stop in Montesano to use the dump station.  On this trip, since the campground bathroom is so close by, we only use the RV’s toilet for number 1, and treat toilet paper like in Mexico- into the trash, and not into the holding tank.  This makes dumping the black tank pretty quick and painless.  We also try to dump clam processing water down the campground drain, so our holding tanks last longer.  

20260228 Saturday, February 28, 2026- Twin Harbors State Park Clamming Day 3

20260228 Saturday, February 28, 2026- Twin Harbors State Park Clamming Day 3

The weather looked pretty decent in the morning with scattered clouds and frequent sun out as we started our day.  We ran the generator to charge up the batteries, which had drained to 43% overnight.  After making coffee and tea, the generator stopped as our external 20# LP tank had run dry.  This was all the excuse we needed to make a run into Aberdeen to get a propane refill.  On a prior trip, we did this at the Tractor Supply Store, but this time, the attendant noticed that our tank was out dated (manufactured in 2011) and he said nobody in Aberdeen recertifies outdated tanks.  Back home, our local Cenex has done this for a $15 fee, but the Aberdeen Walmart was right next door, and they had Blue Rhino LP exchange bottles for $19, so we did that.  With LP at about $4/gal, it was less expensive to do the exchange this time. The replacement tank had a manufacture date of 6/2025, so that should hold us for a number of years.  

While in Aberdeen, we had lunch at the Jack in the Box, which had a $4.99 lunch special with a cheese burger, fries and drink.  Our hometown Jack in the Box doesn’t do these lunch specials, so we jumped at the opportunity.  Oddly, the guy working the counter said they were out of hamburger patties for the cheese burgers, but that they could substitute the chicken patty instead.  It’s hard to imagine a burger place being out of hamburger patties, but then again, our hometown KFC used to always be out of fried chicken before they went out of business.  They guy behind the counter even upsized our fries to make up for being out of cheeseburgers, so that was a bonus.  

Although today’s low tide was at 4:41pm, we headed to the beach early at 2:30pm to see if arriving earlier might prove more successful.  We did find some shows high on the beach, although many were small clams.  As the tide went out further, there were new shows that appeared 50-100’ above the wet zone, and as the tide got lower, there were more shows with larger clams.  We were successful in getting our two limits (total 30 clams) by 3:45pm, so it was nice to be able to get that done and back to the RV before nightfall.  

We ran the generator to use the induction cooktop to process the clams.  The induction cooktop brings water to a boil much faster than the LP burner.  After getting the clams unshelled, we shut the generator down while we did all the cleaning.  After the clams were all processed, we ran the generator again to use the microwave to heat up dinner, which was another round of the prepared baked cod, rice pilaf and carrots meals and then switched to convection oven mode to toast the last of the Costco baguettes.  

When we shut the generator down, the batteries were at 74%, which should hold us through the night with no problem.  

Tomorrow’s low tide will be -0.5’ at 5:26pm, which is just before sunset.  We’ll probably go out about 2:30-3pm again to take advantage of the daylight and hope we find some clam shows again.  Tomorrow should be our last day of clamming this trip.  We’ll head home Monday during the day and try to avoid the rush hours. 

20260227 Friday, February 27, 2026. Twin Harbors State Park Razor Clamming day 2

20260227 Friday, February 27, 2026.  Twin Harbors State Park Razor Clamming day 2

The sun began charging up our solar panels in the morning with the batteries down to between 50-60% charge state by 9am.  We ran the generator to make coffee and tea, and to charge up the batteries.  We have “smart” batteries with bluetooth monitoring which can show the actual charge state of each battery, and it is interesting to see how the battery management software regulates the charging current.  When the batteries are below 75%, they can charge at up to 32A for brief periods of time, alternating with slower charge rates of around 5A.  The peak charge rates then drop as the batteries absorb more charge so they can alternate between say 20A and 5A, and as they approach the 75% mark, they spend most of their time at 5A or less.  Our 300W solar panels can charge at 5-15A with full sunlight depending on how high the sun is overhead and how clear the skies are, so once the batteries get up to 75%, there’s no advantage of running the generator over solar if the sun is out in full.  

Before lunch, we took a walk to the beach from Twin Harbors State Park.  Many of trails in the park, and half the campground are flooded, so the most reliable way to get to the beach is along the road.  Although there was just a light wind, there did appear to be significant surf pounding the beach.  

Janet collecting Sand Dollars

We then took a quick trip into town so Ben could download email and upload yesterday’s blog entry.  The library’s wifi was actually connected to the internet today. It’s interesting to note they only advertise free wifi from 7am to 8pm.  They must shut it down to discourage homeless people from spending the night in their parking lot streaming movies.  

The low tide today was at 3:47pm, so we were on the beach at 3pm.  There was partly cloudy skies with a light wind, so we hoped there would be ideal conditions for us to quickly find our limits.  However, there were very few if any classic clam shows.

  

A lot of people had dug earlier at higher tide levels, as evidenced by a lot of holes. We would have thought getting there closer to the bottom of the low tide would be best, but it took us 2-1/2 hrs to get our limits today.  Actually, we miscounted and ended up one clam short.  The sun set pretty quickly as we were procesing the clams in the RV.  

After getting the clams processed and put away, we had instant noodles and Costco rotisserie chicken for a quick dinner. 

 
Tomorrow’s low tide will be at -0.3’ at 4:41pm.  We’ll head out earlier to try to take advantage of the daylight as much as possible.  Hopefully we’ll be able to find some clam shows tomorrow. 

20260226 Thursday, February 26, 2026- Twin Harbors State Park Razor Clamming Day 1

20260226 Thursday, February 26, 2026- Twin Harbors State Park Razor Clamming Day 1

Ben had connected the external LP tank and shut off the main tank to preserve it, but forgot to switch on the external LP inlet valve, so the furnace didn’t work until he figured out what had happened and had to go outside and open that valve, which is where the external hose connects.  That was at 2am.  Without cellular service or over the air TV reception, there isn’t that much to do after the sun sets, so we went to bed by 8pm.  It rained on and off, but we were comfortable in the RV.  

Since the furnace was off for most of the night, and the RV had started with a 100% battery charge, we were in really good shape in the morning with almost 80% charge still in the batteries.  The rain had stopped during the early morning hours, and there were breaks in the clouds, so our solar panels were getting a some charge, but we will probably run the generator in the evening while we clean our clam catch.

We drove the Bronco to the Westport public library to use their wifi and get cellular reception.  The wifi signal was strong, but it wasn’t connected to the internet for some reason, but at least we had cellular signal to download emails and podcasts. 

We had lunch, which was Costco Rotisserie chicken and baguettes with pickles and Cheese-its.  Real camp cuisine.  

We hit the beach at 1pm when the tide was at 2’ and dropping.  Janet was able to find her 15 clams pretty quickly working the upper tide line where there were shows as the tide was falling, while Ben wanted to find larger clams in deeper areas as the tide was going out.  We had our limits of 15 clams each and were headed back to the RV at 2:15pm.  It was nice to get the clams all cleaned and put up during daylight hours.  

The batteries had not really gained much charge from the sun, staying at around 70% charge, so we ran the generator while we processed the clams and got the batteries up to over 80%.  

Janet noticed that Franklin was on Copalis beach to the north.  He was digging for razor clams with his girlfriend Kate.  He reported tough digging at Copalis with few shows and a lot of pounding to provoke shows.  We had considered meeting him for dinner in Aberdeen, which is halfway between Twin Harbors and Copalis, but was cooking the 7 clams he had managed to find and was also having trouble with getting cellular signal.  We invited him to relocate to Twin Harbors since there are still plenty of empty RV sites, but he was already booked at the Copalis RV resort for his 2 nights.  

We microwaved some leftover baked ling cod with rice pilaf and carrots that we had brought from home with some toasted Costco baguettes for a gourmet dinner.  

We happen to have different cell phone plans on our phones to be able to tap into different networks.  Janet’s phone is on Mint Mobile, which uses the AT&T network, and Ben’s phone is on Xfinity Mobile, which is on the Verizon network.  At the campground the Verizon network shows only one bar but no internet connectivity, while the AT&T network shows two bars and Janet has been able to periodically get emails, texts and even stream some Facebook videos, but not enough for the RV’s AppleTV to be able to stream any content reliably.  The lack of connectivity does encourage us to get to bed much earlier.

20260225 Wednesday, February 25, 2026: Off to Westport and Twin Harbors State Park for Razor Clamming

20260225 Wednesday, February 25, 2025: Off to Westport and Twin Harbors State Park for Razor Clamming

We had to get an early start, leaving at 7:50am to make a service appointment for the RV at Mercedes Benz Sprinter service in Lynnwood by 10am.  The RV had 2 outstanding software recalls, and when we started the RV this morning, it was requesting that we schedule service 1, which is basically an oil and filter change.  We were able to add that to the service appointment, as well as a fuel filter and transmission service, which were about due as well, and recommended by the dealership.  

We made a refueling stop at Samcor to top up the RV and Bronco, and then headed straight for the dealership.  We arrived about 15 minutes early, just enough time to unhitch the Bronco from the RV at the entrance to the service drive.  One of the technicians commented on how much he liked our Bronco.  

The service tech estimated all the work would be done by 3pm, so we settled in for a long wait.  We took off for lunch at noon, but as we were leaving, our tech stopped us and said our car would probably be done early, but that we had time to eat and come back.  

We asked for a recommendation for Bánh mi sandwiches, and he suggested a place called Yeh Yeh’s, just about a mile south.  There was an interesting Asian market and vegetable stand right next door.  The Bánh mi’s were delicious and only $7.50 each.  They also had Pho for $12.50, which is less expensive than what we had paid at a new Oak Harbor Vietnamese restaurant last night.  

Sure enough, as we finished our sandwiches, we got a text that the RV was done. We got the Bronco rehooked up and pulled out at 1:30pm, and headed for Twin Harbors State Park.  There was some moderate traffic through downtown Seattle and a few spots approaching Federal Way and Lewis McChord military base, but the drive was pretty easy.  The weather had started off with clear skies and temperatures in the upper 40’s, but as we got further south, the clouds built up and it started to rain.  We made a fuel stop at the Lacey Costco, and picked up some baguette’s and a rotisserie chicken, but no pizza this trip.  We had only managed to eat about half of our lunch Banh mi’s, so we would be having left overs for dinner.  

When we arrived at Twin Harbors about 5:20pm, there were only a handful of campers.  We were able to set up in site 221, where we had camped a few times before.  It is right next to the bathroom and showers and close enough to a spigot with a threaded fitting that we can refill our fresh water without moving the RV.  The sun set and the rain began falling heavily just after we got the RV leveled and slide extended.  

The low tide bottoms out at 2:30pm tomorrow, so we’ll probably head out a little after noon to dig clams.