aventuras del automóvil: The Bates Motel

Friday we decided it was time to go camping for real and headed to the Olympic National Forest in Washington. we read a National Enquirer article this campsite called Kalaloch that sounded awesome so we were determined to make it there and camp..

we stopped in Olympia along the way to get supplies and got distracted by this fair that was going on.. it was kind of sad because it was pouring down rain and hardly anyone was there. the most depressing fair i've ever been to, but it was fun too.

i beat this little kid at the water pistol game to win kiki this frog.

i felt bad for beating him so i gave him the rest of my tickets after. but not the frog.

kiki didn't want to go on the Zipper but they require two people on the ride so i talked her into it. it's pretty scary riding these rides anyway, but especially when it's raining out and feels like the ride could break at any second from a rusty bolt. i mean, aren't they supposed to shut those rides down when it rains?

had a not so tasty double cheeseburger and then we continued our journey to Northern Washington..

on the way we stopped in Abdereen - hometown of Kurt Cobain. this is the sign you see when entering the town.

this is pretty much the town.

i can't understand how someone could suffer from depression growing up in such a beautiful place.

on the way we also stopped at the Forks Timber Museum where we learned about logs

kiki admiring log sculpture

FRIDAY PART II

ok, now we get to the most interesting part of this day... sadly, when we got to the Kalaloch campground not only was it pouring down rain but the campground was completely full. i guess that's what we get for getting to a popular campsite late Friday in the middle of summer.

we tried to get a room at a hotel near the campsite and they were completely booked. they checked hotels in the area for us and everything was booked for 150 miles in both directions EXCEPT one bed and breakfast up the road. the girl who was helping us said that the outside looks a little "ghetto" but assured us it was fine and that they make the best breakfast in the Pacific Northwest. we didn't have much choice and the breakfast was a selling point so we took it.

THE BATES MOTEL

this place almost deserves it's own blog. it's a lot of pictures but i think it's worth it..

this is the Hoh Hum Ranch (the Hoh are a native american tribe from the area)

back of Hoh Hum

i wish i could have gotten a picture of the couple who ran the place (this old man in overalls and his wife who was much much, much larger than him). when you walk in you're in the middle of their living room (they were on the couch watching a dvd) which was decorated with every kind of knick knack imaginable - stuffed taxidermy animals, broken kids toys, native american artifiacts.. random shit galore. the decor had a very Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel to it.

the strangest part was that they had all this weird art scattered throughout

this was near the entryway:

(ok, penguins. that's cute)

in the hallway near our room:

prarie dog (that's fine, not too weird yet but a little)..

then.....

Satanic goblin people?

Goblin child covered in yellow fur?

i was going to take a lot of beer to be able to get to sleep and not have nightmares about furry goblin kids coming after me.

luckily there was a pizza place nearby with pitchers of tasty IPA

the next day we woke up and everything was fine. they had a great breakfast prepared for us and the other guests and kiki and i got to sit around and listen to farm stories and have small talk with the other guests. it seemed like everyone else staying there was either in the peace corps, or a nurse, or volunteering to help out disabled children in Papua New Guinea - so we felt a little out of place. but other than that it was a nice breakfast and everyone was very nice and friendly.

for good measure, more pictures of Hoh Hum:

here's the view from our window. it was actually a beautiful view, with lots of wildlife to see and listen to (birds, frogs, llamas. yes, llamas)..