Squishing Along At Tolmie State Park

We weren’t on duty for babysitting since Stephanie got a rare Friday off from her job but we went on an outing with Zoey anyway.  Mackenzie was doing a make-up gymnastics practice but Zoey was ready to go!  We drove just 9 exits North on I-5 away from our RV home in Tumwater.  We were going to spend the morning at the Tolmie State Park.

This is a day-use marine park that we had not previously been to.  There are 105 acres here at Tolmie State Park with 1,800 feet of saltwater shoreline.  It is a forested park that opens onto Nisqually Beach on the Puget Sound.

It is open year round and we knew today it would be very crowded.  With the temps going to be at 90F or better, folks would come out to enjoy the cool spots of nature to be found here in our area.

We were able to snag the last parking spot in the small lot.  We headed off down the short trail to the beach.  It was low tide and the water was far off in the distance.  We spotted beach goers digging for:  clams, crab, mussels or oysters (I’m not sure which today). 

   

We decided to wade right through the mud, muck and algae (or whatever it is) to get out to the water.  I wasn’t sure Zoey would be up for that but she was a good sport.  We took off our shoes and socks and started out across the rocky beach.  It was a little bit of “ouch, ouch” for a short distance and then there was more of the muck from the ocean floor.  We began squishing through all the green stuff!

We could see the beautiful Olympic Mountains off toward the West across the sound.  There also were some lovely waterfront homes to see. 

The green yucky stuff got thicker as we got closer to the water.  Zoey kept saying, “oh, gross” but she was happy to keep going forward.  I took a pic of our feet in this stuff.  Looks like I only have 1 foot.  Really….I have 2.

We finally got out to the water and had a good time splashing around as we walked along the shoreline.  Eventually we had to get back up to the trail beyond the rocky beach.   Zoey and Bruce were way ahead of me getting back up to the beach.

     

We got up to a driftwood log to sit and get our feet dried off so we could put our socks and shoes back on.  It was almost time to get back to the car and get our picnic lunch ready.

Lunch was good.  Zoey had the kid-friendly peanut butter and jelly.  After spending a couple of hours out on the beach we were all hungry.  Annie stayed home today.  Dogs on leash are allowed in all areas of this park, but she hasn’t been feeling well and would not have been happy walking all around in this heat.  She stayed home with the A/C keeping her company.

We enjoyed our time here at Tolmie.  I think Western Washington is one of the best places to live, especially in the summer months.  These heat waves are infrequent but we do enjoy nice warm weather all summer long.  The sky is so blue and clear, the trees are all so green, and there is plenty of water to find around here.  It is an amazing place!  Why then do we like to travel away from here???   I guess because we like to experience everything there is to see out there.   Bruce and I really have the wanderlust.

I hope everyone enjoyed their day as much as we enjoyed ours.  Tomorrow we are supposed to be cooling down to 80F.  That will be great.

Until next time…..so long for now!