The Discovery Coast

Off to explore the Long Beach Penninsula known as the Discovery Coast. Ambling up the west side of Rte 103 the ocean is on our left and the road is mostly residential with picturesque beach cottages on our right. There are miles of pristine ocean beaches and plenty of access points as we passed through little hamlets of Klipsan Beach, Ocean Park, and Surfside. We came to the end of the penninsular and crossed over to the east side. We followed Sandedge Rd along Willapa Bay. There was an interesting little side road on our left which led us to a little village called Oysterville.

Although Oysterville is a ghost town, it has life. The historic district, with Willapa Bay as it's backdrop, looks like a movie back lot from a 19th century community. We passed storybook cottages with amazing gardens . The village dead ends at the Oysterville Sea Farms where they harvest oysters. The owner was out collecting Oysters and arrived with a wheelbarrel full as we roamed the store shelves. We purchased a small container of oysters to cook later and then continued down the road. Following the bay road Captain's Coffee appeared. As its cold, raw, and showery we stopped for a hot drink. We passed by several oyster canneries and drove down to the dock of one. There were enormous piles of oyster shells at the end of the dock. We couldn't believe the amount of them. People use the broken shells for landscaping as well.

Our next stop was Long Beach. We parked on the sand beach, watched the surf, and drank our drinks. Long Beach is a fun place and is famous for it's eccentric charm. Long Beach is the world's longest beach. During the summer it offers many festivals and soaring kites. We wanted to walk the boardwalk but decided to wait and hope the weather gets better.

There's more on our to do list today so we're off to the town of Ilwaco (pronounced way-ko not whak-o...). This is an incredible place and is framed by one of the world's most beautiful harbors. Turning onto Alternate Route 100 we drove through the Lewis & Clark State Park to the picturesque North Head Light perched high on the headland overlooking the Pacific. This light is a testimony to the cape's challenging weather. Winter winds have been clocked here at 160 mph. The rain stopped so we walked the trail to the light and enjoyed the views.

Next stop is Cape Disappointment. This is the older of the two lighthouses. Many difficulties were overcome, include the loss of all construction materials in a shipwreck at the mouth of th Columbia. Finally in 1856 the 53-foot masonry light was completed. As we drove through the park we stopped at Waikiki Beach. This is where Lewis & Clark came ashore when they finished their expedition. John Jacob Astor also landed on this beach to trade with the local indians.

Ilwaco Harbor Village was an interesting place with refurbished fishing shacks. It was time for some chowder and we decided on "Ole Bobs" right on the harbor. It was really quaint and the chowder was good. Afterwards we passed the Cape D Coast Guard station and training center. Unfortunately we weren't allowed into the station as it's now part of Homeland Security.

Back at camp we looked over materials on Washington to help us plan the next few weeks. We'll be seeing mostly beaches, scenery, trails, and hopefully "sun"! Ken did some maintenance. We had dinner, watched TV, and went to bed.

Pictures: (right to left) Oysterville Cottage, Oyster Shell Pile, Long Beach Entrance, North Head Lighthouse trail, North Head View, Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, Waikiki Beach and Cape Disappointment, Ole Bobs

What is SqueeekyCheese?

Oregon is really beautiful, the spring weather isn't the best, but it has a different kind of beauty. It was raining as we started to hook up and then the sky let loose, we had a downpour of hale...felt like we were roller skating as we moved around. Finally we headed out and within 30 minutes the sun was peaking out. The weather here is a lot like home - if you don't like it wait a minute!

We drove through Willamette Pass and over Cascade Head with great views and then through Suislaw National Forest with Alder, Aspen, and Douglas Fir on both sides of the road. This area is very much like home. We passed a Daffodil Farm and lots of dairy farms as we wound our way along Nestucca River. The river is a great recreation spot for fishing. Soon we began to see snow capped mountains on our right in the distance. It was our first view of the Cascade Range.

Along 101 we started seeing signs for "Squeeeky Cheese" and knew we were getting closer to our first stop.. Tillamook Cheese Factory. This is the only place you can get Squeeeky Cheese, Tillamook Ice Cream, and a first hand look at how Tillamook Cheese is made. Of course we took the self-guided tour. It was really interesting. They make 167,000 lbs of cheese per day and 1.7 million gallons of milk is delivered daily to the factory. So what is squeeeky cheese? When cheese curds are cold they have a squeak, but when they come to room temperature they squeak their hearts out and that's half of the reason people eat cheese curds. Tillamook's cheese curds are made from cheddar cheese curds...hmmm...and it has a nice medium sharp taste with a little bit of a rubbery texture which adds to their enjoyment. The curds also have a bit of a salty taste and they are shaped oddly which makes them fun. After the tour we went to the cheese tasting counter and last but not least visited the ice cream counter (38 flavors). Naturally we took cheese and ice cream home with us.

As we continue up Rte 101 through Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach we really can't see much for views as it's pretty socked in. We crossed over the Nehalem River lined with houseboats into the little community of Nehalem and passed Wanda's Cafe. The forest got thicker as we drove through Oswald West State Park. A mountain appeared in front of us and as we rounded the corner the opening of a tunnel appeared taking us through to the other side. Suddenly we came along a stunning stretch of beach, Cannon Beach provides breathtaking views around every corner. The town was named for a cannon that washed up on the beach in 1846. The cannon from the US Navy schooner Shark washed ashore after the schiooner was wrecked while trying to cross the Columbia Bar, known as the Graveyard of the Pacific. The cannon was rediscovered in 1898. The town has worked very hard to keep the natural beauty of the area.

Arriving in Seaside, Oregon's first seaside resort, the gray stormy ocean rushed up to meet the sea stacks and exploded into the air along the roadway. Seaside is very quaint and offers visitors dozens of specialty shops, art galleries, and antique stores. It's a great place to browse. Rolling through Seaside we find ourselves back on the Lewis & Clark Trail. We thought if the weather clears we would come back this way to enjoy the beautiful beaches.

Arrivng in Astoria we realized we were about to cross Mile 0 of Highway 101 at the south end of the Astoria-Megler Bridge. The bridge rose in front of us and we were not prepared for the immenseness of the structure. The bridge is the longest continuous three-span bridge in the world and is over 4 miles long. The bridge makes Hwy 101 an unbroken link between the Canadian and Mexican borders. Going over the bridge the road took us up over the Columbia River as you get to the crest the bridge slants downward like the first drop on a roller coaster and then flattens out to more like a causeway. As we reached the crest Seagulls were flying by at eye level. You think you are over the bridge and then the causeway turns to a single lane bridge, due to construction. A line on this bridge divides Oregon and Washington. At 3:21pm we passed into our 21st state on our journey.

Our first view of Washington along Rte 101 is foresty with little hamlets dotted along the way. We got to our campground in Long Beach and unhooked and set up for the 1st time in driving rain and wind! Dinner, TV and Bed.....

It was an awful weather day but gorgeous scenery!

Pictures: Oregon Sunset (without sun)