4/17 thru 4/29 - ORegon

OREGON

Oregon is a beautiful state, from it's mountains to its miles of coastline.  We stayed in three different parks for the almost two weeks we were there and enjoyed exploring all three areas.  

Pacific Crest Trail

Yes, that is a SNOWball!

When we left Boise on Friday, 4/17
we traveled west on Rt. 20 (the same route 20 that's in Chicago - it runs from Massachusetts to Oregon).  We stayed two night in an RV Park in Sisters, OR and did a little exploring of central Oregon.  It's a mountainous area and we took a drive to the Pacific Crest Trail for a short hike.  If you saw the movie, "Wild", this is the trail Cheryl Strayed hiked for 1100 miles from the Mojave Dessert in California thru Oregon to the Washington State border. 

I'm in, how about the rest of my sisters?

From Sisters, we continued our journey west until we hit the Pacific Ocean. We found a nice park to stay in, Carl Washburne State Park near Florence, OR.  There were only 5 or 6 spots that our rig would fit in but luckily this was a first come, first served park and we got there on a Sunday after the weekenders left. There was just one thing wrong with this park/area - no tv signal, no phone signal and no internet!  And we were here three days!!  Luckily I had downloaded a bunch of books and Marty had lots of podcasts to listen to.  And we were at the ocean and there was lots to do so who needs internet/tv/phones anyway?

Once we got set-up we took the 1/2 mile trail next to our campsite through a beautiful, moss covered forest to the ocean.  We walked it a least once a day (gotta get those steps in - right fitbit friends?).  We stayed there three nights and it was nice to be back in nature.  We even got a campfire going one night and we haven't done that since October!

Walking thru the woods

We checked out the Heceta Head Lighthouse which was a short drive (or long hike) from us.   Heceta Head lighthouse was built in 1882. The Oregon Coast has lighthouses every forty miles and each one has a different light signal; Heceta Head Lighthouse blinks a white light every 10 seconds. We were able to take a tour and almost climb to the very top.  As you can see below Marty even took pictures of the inside light. 

Dogs can run free on Oregon Beaches and Maddie loved it.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

This is a view from inside the  prisms of the Lighthouse

View of the Pacific Ocean from Heceta Head Lighthouse

We left Carl Washburn SP on Wednesday, 4/22 to head north.  We are due in Forks, WA on Friday, 5/1 and decided to spend a week on the northern coast of Oregon.  After calling many state parks and having no luck because of those darn weekend people we found a private campground right on 101 near Seaside, Oregon.  Seaside is a cute town with a 1 1/2 mile "prom"enade right on the ocean.  It also has lots of cute touristy shops which we didn't visit - don't need any more stuff.

The weather was good every other day so on Thursday we visited Fort Clatsop - this is where Lewis and Clark had their winter encampment after reaching the Pacific Ocean.  It rained Friday and we did computer stuff and laundry. We drove south from Seaside on Saturday when the weather was beautiful.  On Sunday it pretty much rained all day, when there was a break in the clouds we ventured out to Seaside to walk the "prom" until the rain came back then we headed home.

Mary and her friend, Sacajawea

We took Flat Stanley with us to Fort Clatsop.

We saw these signs all along the coast

 

On our way to Ecola State Park we saw this guy on the side of the road

Ecola State Park Beach

Ecola State Park Beach

I think it's a little chilly to "catch a wave" - Ecola State Park

Waterfall at Cannon Beach- Hey, how did you get up there?

Waterfall at Cannon Beach

Rappeling rock wall at Cannon Beach

On Monday we drove north along the coast to Astoria. We walked along the riverfront admiring the 4 mile bridge over the Columbia River which connects Oregon via Highway 101 to Washington.  Then we drove up and up and up until we reached the Astoria Column.  Here's some information on the Column: 

Standing above the city–600 feet above sea level to be exact–the Astoria Column unleashes an unrivaled view of Young’s Bay, the Coast Range, the mighty Columbia River, and in the distance—the Pacific Ocean. Its light shines each night as a silent testament to the pride, fortitude, and resolve of the people who settled the Pacific Northwest, and to those who live here today.

how many stairs??

164 stairs later we made it to the top for a selfie

Astoria-Megler Bridge.  We will be traveling on it Wednesday - Yikes!

That's it from Oregon.  This has been one of our favorite states and we still have so much left of it to explore.  Our next four 1/2 months will be spent in Forks, Washington - here's a link to where we'll be working http://forkstimbermuseum.org/   Stop by if you're in the neighborhood!