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Wounded Warriors – Sekiu

Wounded Warrior No Comments »

Some friends of mine at work are organizing a Wounded Warriors event in Sekiu this August.

Being one of the most computer literate of our group, I got roped into the online marketing and design portion of the setup. I’m not complaining though, it gives me something to do; a purpose. I like stretching the Photoshop and byte wrangling portion of my brain.

So here’s the deal: About 20 of our wounded servicemen will be making the trip out to the end of the earth, also known as Sekiu, Washington on August 11, 2012. At the Sekiu Community Center we will feed everyone who shows up and there will be a silent auction of all the items we receive through donations. Raytheon, a big supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project has already commited a bunch of gear and I hear that there could be a $1800 depth finder/GPS/radar system included. I’ll update the WWSekiu Facebook Page as I learn more.

Local motels have already stepped forward and committed rooms for our guests, free of charge. Rumor has it that they’ll even break out the clean linens for the occasion.

The following morning, Aug 12, we will hold a pre-crack’o'dawn pancake breakfast at the Clallam Bay Fire Hall, (you have to get up earlier than the fish around here: our waters breed the craftiest sons o’ fishes south of Alaska).

While our esteemed  guests are scarfing down their breakfasts, our volunteer skippers will be warming up their outboards in preparation for the salmon slaying to follow. When I was growing up, I fished the Columbia River extensively and the salmon fishing was great there.  Now, I’m still a bit biased towards the south, (my fondest memories take place there), but I can tell you that the Olympics give the mighty Columbia a run for its’ money. Our guests will not regret the extended car ride out here one bit.

Get on over to https://www.facebook.com/WWSekiu to keep updated. I’m going to update it with albums of the items we get to auction off. I’m also going to look into a way to allow those who can’t join us in person to bid on the items in the silent auction. If any of you know a way to coordinate something like that, please contact me. I’d really like to make this event bigger than just Clallam County.

Mark your calendars. Even if you can’t make it over here, you may be able to score some cool gear.

3rd Beach

Beach, Flat No Comments »

I loaded up the kids and took them down to 3rd Beach the other day.

The Family

The Family


The 3rd Beach trail is located by LaPush and is around 2 miles from the car to the beach. It’s a great little jaunt for the kids and they really do enjoy the beach.

This day, the sun was shining and the breeze was light. I set our stuff down and then strolled down to the south end of the beach and found a huge jumble of rope and som crab pot buoys. I hauled the birds nest of rope back to our “base camp” and discovered that in our absence the crows had discovered my dehydrated fruit that I had made to keep in my backpack. There were apples and strawberries scattered all over the beach. I don’t even remember taking it out of my pack. Oh well, most of it made it through unscathed.

Enjoying the day

We played around for a while. We played jump rope with a 30 foot section of line. The kids, of course took off their shoes and waded around the surf. I spent a while untangling the rope and coiling it up. There was about 300 feet of good quality crab pot line in sections ranging from 20 feet to 100.

After a while the weather started to turn. The clouds started rolling in and the temperature dropped. It never actually rained, but it felt like it could at any moment. By now the kids were ready to start heading back too, so I strapped the coils of rope to our backpacks and started back towards the car.

Rope and Buoys

The temperature had dropped considerably, but no one noticed: The climb up out of the beach was enough to get Kelsi to take her jacket off.

They taught me a couple of new grade school songs and rituals that kids are doing these days. They filled me in on who likes who and the latest news on Justin Bieber. It was a great day.

The 2 mile walk back to the car was too short.

Choosing a Backpack – An REI Infographic

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Here’s a big ol’ infographic that REI released to help you chose a pack for your next outing.

Backpacks Infographic: How to Find the Right Backpack for You

Check out REI’s backpacks next time you head outdoors!