driftwood

"Coming into a world where you are not as accepted, you are a bit like driftwood," he said.

Alongside the marine animals, Bischoff said he was excited to find an entire shore ecology that included skulls of sandpipers and pieces of driftwood in the bone bed.

Joel Kawahara of Quilcene, Wash., suggests Ruby Beach, which is a rugged patch of rocky shoreline, often full of driftwood, in Olympic National Park.

Elsewhere, a gravel beach with dune plantings, driftwood logs and boulders defines the western edge where the landscape meets Puget Sound.

Spend your day exploring tide pools and your evening around a driftwood fire.