For our first time camping in 30 years, we reserved a site at Bay View State Park near Anacortes. All our new camping gear worked out very well, and we had a great time both at the campsite and walking the beach nearby. We were warm and comfortable sleeping in the truck, and the awning with side wings kept us dry when rain fell several times during our stay.

Following an enjoyable weekend of camping, we had a good lunch at Anacortes Brewery’s Rockfish Grill as we slowly meandered home, enjoying the route along the way.

Below are highlights from May 7th and 8th, 2022. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a map with our most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

5/7/2022

Bay View State Park Position: 48°29.23’N, -122°28.80’W At Bay View State Park near Anacortes.

Campsite Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.66’W Our spot at Bay View State Park is relatively secluded from other campsites, although a bit boggy.

Inflating Luno Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.62’W Inflating our Luno air mattress at our campsite in Bay View State Park.

Bed Ready Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.63’W Our bed in the truck inflated and all ready to go for later. It looks comfy and cosy.

Under the Awning Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.63’W View to our bed in the truck from our camp table under our awning.

Lunch Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.63’W Enjoying our first camp lunch with our new gear. So far everything is working out super-well.

89% Position: 48°29.31’N, -122°28.62’W After about five hours, we’re down to 89% charge on our Ecoflow Delta Max 2000, and we’re currently drawing 64 watts. We started the car to test the charging from the 12-volt system and are charging at 104 watts. At this input, it will take 4 hours to fully recharge the battery. The lesson here is the capacity of the 12-volt charging system is inadequate to practically charge the battery, so we’ll look for other solutions.

Stump Position: 48°29.28’N, -122°28.85’W The plaque on this stump tells how Joe Hamel, a member of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission from 1959-1971, was instrumental in securing additional land for By View State Park and developing the beach.

Joe Hamel Beach Position: 48°29.26’N, -122°28.91’W Walking at low tide along Joe Hamel Beach off Padilla Bay. Directly to our south, not visible in the photo, is the narrow waterway leading to LaConner.

Camp Host Position: 48°29.30’N, -122°28.76’W Washington State Park camp hosts receive free use of a designated RV site as compensation for greeting visitors, answering questions and explaining rules, assisting park staff, and performing maintenance. This host has a pretty nice semi-trailer truck to pull their fifth-wheel.

Starlink Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.62’W We have good cellular connectivity here at Bay View State Park, so only have the Starlink out to test it with the Ecoflow as a power source. Both work great.

Making Dinner Position: 48°26.82’N, -122°27.46’W Making dinner on our Coleman Classic camp stove using our GSI Outdoors Pinnacle camping cooking set. We’re pretty happy with the cooking set. It’s lightweight and seems durable, and looks great.

Tacos Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.62’W Beef tacos for our first camp dinner with our new gear at Bay View State Park.

Washing Up Position: 48°29.31’N, -122°28.62’W Doing the dishes at camp. One of the nice features of the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle camping cooking set is the storage sack, bottom right, doubles as a wash basin.

5/8/2022

Morning View Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.62’W The morning view from our bed inside the truck. We slept very well on the Luno air mattress and were warm and comfortable under a Casper down duvet and a Rumpl down blanket.

Kettle Position: 48°29.31’N, -122°28.63’W Boiling water for morning coffee using a Sea to Summit collapsible kettle.

Breakfast Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.63’W Making coffee to have with fresh pineapple as part of our breakfast. The coffee filter holder is a silicone Kuissential SlickDrip that collapses like the kettle. It worked well with the electrical travel kettle we got for our road trip across the country.

40% Position: 48°29.31’N, -122°28.62’W After 20 hours, the Ecoflow is down to 40% charge and will be fully discharged in 6 hours at the current 58-watt draw rate.

Office Position: 48°29.32’N, -122°28.61’W James getting some work done at our campsite “office”. We run an extension cord from the Ecoflow to the camp table where we can easily power all our devices.

LL Bean Duffle Bag Position: 48°29.33’N, -122°28.62’W We continue to make great use of our LL Bean rolling duffle bags. We keep one full of camping gear in our apartment storage room beside our parking spot, and use another to transport anything we need from the apartment. We stage from the bags to setup camp, then put them forward, one in each seat, when done. As with traveling across the country, we use packing cubes to keep things organized and not have to be constantly sifting through loose gear.

Blankets Position: 48°29.33’N, -122°28.62’W To keep everything in the car looking neat and tidy, we cover the gear in the back en route with two Utopia black fleece blankets, then move them forward to cover the bags in the front seat. The blankets are soft and durable and look great.

Sea Trader Position: 48°31.15’N, -122°36.65’W After breaking camp, we drove into Anacortes for lunch. We’ve always loved the view down Q Ave to the Dakota Creek shipyard when a big ship such as Sea Trader is in the boat yard being serviced.

Anacortes Brewery Position: 48°31.16’N, -122°36.76’W The large number of beers made over the years by Anacortes Brewery.

Rockfish Grill Position: 48°31.15’N, -122°36.76’W Following an enjoyable weekend camping at Bay View State Park, we had a good lunch at Anacortes Brewery’s Rockfish Grill as we slowly meandered home, enjoying the route along the way.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map. And a map of our most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.