Souvenirs From The Road: May 2017

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Olympic National Park

Day 25 – May 25 is our grandkid’s last day of school! Wow! Where has time gone? The sun has been up and bright since 5:15. We are definitely feeling that sunlight change the further west and north we head. Our destination today is the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park. We said good-bye to our friends Ed and Carolyn (we will be volunteers with them starting next February back at LBJ National Park in Texas) and away we go! For being in a rain forest, I have to say these clear blue skies and no mist are a little disappointment – not! We walked the Mosses Trail. It is beautiful. When we were here 7 years ago, with the rainy mist it just seemed more like a rain forest.

Look at the pile of tree roots!

We also scored a great campsite at the Hoh Campground at the national park (site 25). We are perched on the edge of the beautiful Hoh River. We spent our afternoon sunning. Then Donna did an awesome instant pot Tuscan Chicken dinner. We burned the rest of our propane on a really great and needed campfire. 10 pm and it’s still dusk looking. LOL! A great day…..

Campsite on the Hoh River in the National Park

Day 26 – May 26 - finds us wishing Donna and Greg a happy 38^th anniversary!!! We enjoyed coffee by the Hoh River. Such a beautiful site. Greg made a great breakfast. We are headed to Sol Duc today, hotsprings located in Olympic National Park. Still can’t believe we are in a rain forest with clear blue skies. The full hookups at Sol Duc RV resort leave a little to be desired by us (packed in to close to your neighbor), but the location was great. We went and took a soak in the hot springs which was really enjoyable! We made an anniversary dinner of steak and lobster for Donna and Greg. Then a campfire. All good!

Oh – also took a 1.6 mile hike to Sol Duc Falls which was beautiful.

So pretty looking up into the tall trees.

Check out the rainbow on the Sol Duc Falls!

Hey! I think I know those guys on the bridge!

Tried to get Donna and Greg to spend their anniversary night here.

Day 27 – May 27 – A great way to start our day was with a black bear sighting in the campground. My pictures of the bear high up in the trees really kinda looks like a black blob, but it was cool. It was a beautiful drive over to Port Angeles. We found a full service site at Conestega RV Park. It’s Memorial Day weekend and everything is full. We haven’t done laundry in 5 or 6 days. Need I say more? But first we stopped at the Farmers Market in Port Angeles. Then we joined all the traffic that was headed to Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park. (Despise holiday traffic jams…..) It was snowy up top and crowded (did I mention that before?) Went to dinner at Downriggers on the wharf. Fish and chips and clam chowder. Yummy! Another good day.

The Wharf in Pt. Townsend. We ate with this type of view, able to watch the ferry that goes to Vancouver and a cruise ship that went by.

Hurricane Ridge - if you look close there are a few deer.

Great view!

A view of Mt. Hood across the Juan de Fuca strait

Olympic National Park is such a diverse biological place. There is glacial ice, the waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Olympic Peninsula has really cool plants and animals that apparently aren't found anywhere else on earth.

Next up is Deception Pass, a ferry and then Canada!

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Oregon and Washington Pacific Coastline

Day 21 – May 21 finds us leaving California and the bad roads behind for the Oregon coast! California is a large, beautiful state with many national parks that are our favorites. But it is time to head north. Highway 101 in northern California was washed out in many places due to the overload of bad winter weather they had. It just slows your travels down when you have to be on a one lane road from time to time.

The beach scenery in Oregon is much more dramatic! We arrived at Sunset Bay State Park mid-afternoon (Loop A sites are small and suck but this is where we were able to make reservations. Try for Loop D). We did make one stop to see the Cape Blanco Lighthouse but when we got to the top of a narrow road, the winds were at least 50 mph and the sea fog rolled in. Need I say more about it? But I did snag a good picture.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse in the sea fog and gale force winds.

The gardener's house at Shore Acres

Shore Acres

Look at the size of these buds!

Shore Acres

I think these birds had a nest.

Check out the sea gulls

Ron and Greg walking down on the beach

This state park does have a lot to offer. One of the highlights was going to the Shore Acres Gardens which is down the road. It is beautiful. I am thankful to the families that donated what they created to the state so future generations can enjoy. The rhododendrums were in full bloom and are so beautiful. They make the azaleas we grow at home look so tiny and frail. We can hear the fog horn from the Cape Arago Lighthouse near the park this evening.

Day 22 – May 22 was a lazy morning. We are only traveling about 130 miles up the coast to the South Beach State Park which is outside of Newport, OR. Now this is a great state park. It seems to be a very busy state park as RVs were coming and going all day long. We went to town and had the oil changed on the truck and then did a little sightseeing in town. The lighthouse in town – Yaquina – was closed when we got there (close at 4). We went to the historic wharf in town. Found us a little place to try some local beer and then we went and watched the sea lions. They are so funny to watch! Quite comical!

The mosquitoes are here. We went for a walk on the beach to catch the sunset.

The bridge going into Newport

Yaquina Light house

Newport Historic Wharf

About to sample a good local beer

Cheers!!

Comical sea lions!

Newport Wharf

Very colorful wharf

Bailey and Greg getting ready for the sunset on the beach.

The mystical sea fog

Day 23 – May 23 we landed at Cape Lookout State Park which is near Tillamook State Park. (Don’t arrive early here – the park rangers wouldn’t let us occupy our site, even though it was empty, until 4.) It was a beautiful drive to the park, and the park is very beautiful, set amidst the tall, rainforest scenery. The beach is right by the campground too. We dropped the trailers in their parking lot and drove to Tillamook. So excited! They make our favorite cheeses, yogurt, and are a strong competition in the ice cream department with our Texas BlueBell. We did eat some awesome grilled cheese sandwiches and had ice cream for dessert. We stopped at the Blue Heron and sampled some French cheeses and wine tasting.

The famous grilled cheese and tomato soup!

Sampling the cheese

Next stop was the Cape Meares Lighthouse. This lighthouse is 217’ above sea level and the 38’ tower is the shortest on the Oregon Coast. The volunteer there gave an excellent tour. We did a little beach walking when we returned to camp. Finally found a perfect sand dollar and we saw 2 eagles, our first sighting on this trip.

What a great campsite!

The 3 arches. You can see the arches from the other side.

The town of Oceanside

Beautiful lighthouse

Checking it out on our tour

Inside the lighthouse

The beach by our campsite

Our first eagle sighting!

And sea fog

Day 24 – May 24 is going to be a great day as we were going to be meeting up with friends, Ed and Carolyn, that we met when we volunteered at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. Washington is their home state and they were kind enough to come camping at Pacific Beach State Park with us. We had a good drive over. The Astoria bridge that goes between Oregon and Washington is so huge, and pretty crossing the Columbia River. We stopped at the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Ft. Clatsop in Oregon before crossing over. This fort was built on the banks of the Netul (now Lewis and Clark) river. This was the winter encampment for the Corps of Discovery from December 1805 to March 1806. These were some tough guys! We toured the replica fort. It’s a really good Visitor’s Center here, and we got to get another stamp for our passport books!