I had never been to Grayland ocean Beach before. It's on the Washington coast. The Pacific Ocean, for those that are not familiar with the area.. I arrived Friday morning to rain. The rain never stopped. I took a walk down to the beach in the rain with Roger (who arrived to the campground just minutes after I did). We were soaking wet just 30 minutes later. Changed cloths then set up the table canopy & the RV awning and started a campfire in the rain.  The campfire didn't last long before we decided to go back inside our RVs.

 Kyia was soaking wet and I wouldn't let him up on the furniture even though they were covered with blankets. I laid a blanket down on the floor for him to lay on. He liked being inside in the warmth and dry just the same as me though. I stayed inside the RV for the remainder of the day watching movies (except to patch a new-found leak in the RV roof skylight <sigh>). It was just too stormy to be outside (the makeshift roof patch held very well for the entire time).

Deano and Family arrived late Friday around 9PM. It was pouring down rain. I wanted to go help him setup but decided there wasn't much I could do so I stayed inside and peered out the window while I talked with him on the FRS radio. He wasn't enjoying the setup in the rain.. I wonder why.. <grin>

I dozed off late Friday then I was startled awake at Midnight to the sound of a siren in the distance and severe winds blowing my RV awning aggressively side to side. I had to get up and get dressed to put up the awning before it was ripped off the side of the RV. Kyia followed me out the door even though I wanted him to stay inside. I was in no mood to watch the dog or get him back into the rig so I let him be. It was pitch dark except for my tiny RV porch light.

Just as I had gotten the awning rolled up and locked down, a truck stopped on the road. A lady hollered out the windows, "what is the siren on the beach for". I hollered back, "I haven't a clue". As she was pulling away, out of the darkness I saw the shadow of Kyia cast from the truck headlights; I realized he was headed directly in front of the truck. I yelled out quickly and sharply "STOP". Luckily for Kyia (and me because it only *almost* gave me a heart attack) the lady stopped the truck immediately.  I was really flustered by this time. I ran over and grabbed the dog and said goodnight to the nice lady in the truck. At that point, Roger came out of his rig and hollered over to me "do you know what the sirens are for" (thinking the lady in the truck was a Ranger telling me what it meant).

Roger walked over and I explained I had no idea and that the lady in the truck asked me the same thing. I could see he was in his pajamas with only a coat over it. He explained that he was also rolling up his awning for fear of it ripping off the side of his rig. We noticed that my table canopy was ripped up off the ground and was resting against a couple trees. Roger and I discussed it and decided the table canopy would be OK for the evening resting against the trees (neither one of us wanted to spend the half hour it would have taken to disassemble it). The sirens had stopped by this time so we figured it was OK and wasn't a tsunami.

Saturday morning I awoke to sunshine. Kyia casually opened his eyes when I got up then quickly went back to sleep. I made coffee then looked out the window.  Oh sh*t, the table canopy poles look to be broken. I got dressed and went outside to surmise the damage, Kyia finally awake enough to follow me out the door. Sure enough, two poles and one connecting brace were broken. Oh'well..  It was only a 35 dollar table canopy. Maybe I can buy parts online later. It's just not worth worrying about. Later, we found out the the siren was for a fire and was intended to alert the voluntary fire department (go figure).

It went much better after the first day/night. All was well on Saturday. Kyia and I went for several walks on the beach during the day. Jim and Sherry dropped by for a visit on Saturday afternoon. Roger C and Family came over for a dinner potluck. We watched a movie that Deano had recorded and gave me (Air-America, an HBO Documentary). Roger, Cindy, and I walked down for the sunset on the beach. Later that night Roger started a nice campfire. Deano came over and we all stood close to the fire listening to Art Bell (along with other AM radio stuff) and talked. Kyia even had a little excitement when he spotted some Badgers near the bathroom (Kyia has such a keen sense for animals near by). Anyway, Saturday was a good day and we all needed a good day after the terrible Friday we had.

I left for home around 9:30AM Sunday morning. It was a nice, relaxing, and uneventful drive home. Another RV trip in the books. I really do like Grayland for the layout and the beach access. I will be going back there (hopefully when there is no rain).

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