After spending a few days at the north side of the park, we moved around to camp at Kalaloch campground, a really nice campground on the bluff above the Pacific Ocean near the southwest corner of the park.  We didn't know what to expect as it was a national park campground, which are always nice, but we had been camping in parks with hookups.  Although we had no hookups, we really liked the campground and didn't care that it was so shady that our solar panel couldn't recharge our batteries.  After two nights, we still had plenty of capacity.  We did scout out sunnier sites in case we go back there.  
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After arriving and getting settled, we drove to the Hoh Rain Forest visitor center, and took several of the hikes through the (rain) forest there.  They call it a rain forest because of the very large annual rainfall there, and the flora shows it.  

In July, 2017, we took a trip to Washington's Olympic National Park and surrounding lands.  We first spent a few days visiting some of our many relatives and friends who live in the Seattle area.  How did so many end up there?
Then we spent time touring Olympic National Park.  We last were there about a decade ago, and not a lot has changed but our visit was great.  We started by visiting the sites of the two dams that were recently removed on the Elwha River.  The dams were supposed to be built with a way for fish to get around the dams but they weren't so after almost a century, they were removed to restore the river's natural flow.  Their original purpose was to provide hydroelectric power to Port Angeles but with our current electric grid, that is no longer essential, so they were removed.  And the fish are starting to return.

In July, we took a trip to the Washington Olympic Peninsula.  At the start of the trip, we went to Astoria, OR, and stayed at Fort Stevens State Park.  We recommend all Oregon state parks as we have yet to be disappointed by them.  They have all been great.

We visited Lewis and Clark National Historic Site, where the Lewis and Clark expedition stayed for the winter on their trip to explore the Louisiana Purchase.  We learned a lot about Lewis and Clark and their journey.  If you like historical places, you will like this park.

After visiting the park, we stopped at the Maritime Museum in Astoria.  What a fascinating place! It focused on the opening of the Columbia River, and the difficulties of navigation there, and the many rescues and lives lost.