Vasa Park, Washington

What a quaint little park this is!

We're up in the Seattle area to visit family, and unbeknownst to us (when we originally planned the schedule) state and federal parks in the area close at the end of September. . . so, where to stay? There are a few private RV parks in the area, but they all looked fairly expensive and rather boring. The travel planning division (that would be Steve) searched around and found Vasa Park, on the southwest shore of Lake Sammamish.

I feel like we've gone back in time. This place has the feel of a nice family park from the 1950's, and for good reason. This park was established in 1926 by members of the Vasa Order, a Swedish fraternal organization with a focus on maintaining Scandinavian cultural traditions. There are several lodges in the Pacific Northwest, and the sign at the entrance credits the lodges that support the park.

This park has the comfortable feel of parks we frequented as children - large  rolling grassy areas, a swimming area, and multiple covered picnic table groupings. The RV area has only about 20 sites, some of which have full hookups and some only water and electric. Tents are welcome too. There's also a boat launch. When we arrived the entrance area was ablaze with large Halloween balloon decorations, obviously to appeal to their younger customers.

The parks isn't fancy, but it's very clean and comfortable, and we are right on the lake. If the weather was warmer we'd probably put out the canoe, but as it is we're in the middle of another drizzling rain.. . must be autumn in the northwest.

The RV spaces are all grass on our side, so there is a danger of mud if it rains too much, but we are in the last space so no matter the weather we have a full view of the lake, and we can push the slide-out over the edge of our space and have a wider area than we would in any of the other space. The full-service spaces across from us have gravel, but not such a nice view.

Though we didn't realize the emphasis on a cultural connection when we made the reservation, it's obvious once you are here. Clues are not only the Swedish flag flying at the entrance, but this little cabin in the middle of the park - restored to resemble cabins used in the woods in Sweden.
We've also noticed the Nordic lilt when talking with the folks who run the campground. Looking in to the history of the area in general it seems there were a lot of Swedish immigrants who settled here years ago. The impact of the culture still shows, and they've done well to hold on to this piece of property. It's tucked in along the shore of Lake Sammamish between homes worth in the neighborhood of a million each - I'm sure developers would have loved to get their hands on it, but we are glad they didn't!

More photos of the park and details of the cabin in the album.