Lincoln City to Astoria.
Heading north on 101. Stopped by a beach area in Pacific city for a rest. Took the Three Capes Scenic drive instead of 101. A much prettier way to travel. Stopped at the Cape Meares Lighthouse. There was an accessible trail to the lighthouse. The three of us enjoyed the walk. Read several informative signs about all the sea birds that live around here. Gopher & I took the dirt trail to the Octopus Tree; a giant sitka spruce tree growing several trunks. (See the photo). We then went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook for a factory tour and cheese sampling. This cheese place is quite famous for its high quality cheddar cheese. Never heard of it but cheese connoisseurs regard it highly. Bought two types; sharp for Carol and garlic/hot pepper for me. Had cheese for lunch and cheeseburgers for dinner. Good cheese but I’m not sure I could tell the difference between Tillamook & Publix cheese. The ice cream they sold was very good. Carol had a scoop of Carmel Pecan, I had Pistachio Pecan. As we were leaving the cheese place, we noticed a lot of police and crowds of people gathering. Asked what was going on. Seems the Oregon presidential primary is soon and Bill Clinton was going to give a speech at the cheese place in about an hour. Having better things to do, we continued on. We camped that night at the Barview Jetty Tillamook County Campground. Took a nice walk to the jetty. Let Gopher run on the beach for a while. There is a very large squirrel that keeps coming around our campsite looking for handouts. If the squirrel gets any closer to Gopher, that’s the end of the squirrel. (See the photo)
Tuesday. Got up about 6am. 50* with a light rain. Took Gopher to the beach for a walk. The plan was to stop at Seaside to walk along the boardwalk. Never stopped raining. Went grocery shopping then to the Fort Stevens SP. It’s 6:30pm now. 50* with a light rain. While walking the dog earlier, I was talking to one of the campground hosts. Mentioned the weather. She just shrugged her shoulders and said “Well, you’re in Oregon”. Reading some Lewis & Clark information. This is the area where they first saw the Pacific Ocean. They stayed in this area for 109 days. It rained for all but 12 of those days. This is the first all day rain we’ve had in the 63 days we’ve been on the road. Can’t complain about that. Carol said time & again how she really likes sunshine. J
Our friends Ted & Liz pulled in late in the day.
Wednesday. Awoke to 50* and rain. About mid-morning we took a drive to see the Columbia River. Found a great spot right on the river. Carol could get a good view and be warm & dry inside the camper. Let Gopher run on the beach.
About noon it started to clear up a little. The sky turned a lighter shade of gray. We drove to the historic part of Fort Stevens. The Fort Stevens Military Reservation guarded the mouth of the Columbia River from the Civil War through WW II. Toured the museum, the old fortifications and some of the grounds. Later in the day the three of us took a long walk to the Coffenbury Lake area. Gopher went swimming. The park has a great selection of paved, multi-use trails. There were a lot of downed trees in the woods and one road was closed. Seems they had a very strong storm in December. Because of all the rain this area gets, the water table is high and trees tend to have a shallow root system. Consequently, strong winds can blow the trees over. Same with the sequoias and redwoods.
On the odd occasion, the sun would come out for a few minutes today.
Thursday; Got up to sunshine and blue skies. First time since we’ve been in Northern California & Oregon. We went into Astoria today. There is a 4 mile paved walkway along the waterfront. We started at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. There were exhibits telling the long history of the Columbia River from ancient times, through Lewis & Clark, and up to the current rescues by the local Coast Guard Station. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here. After that we walked to the downtown area. Had a good lunch. Carol had a fried oyster & bacon sandwich with clam chowder. My lunch was OK; should have gotten what Carol ordered. After lunch we got Gopher and took a long walk to the Port of Astoria; East Mooring Basin. There were dozens of Sea Lions laying on the unused docks. Barking, swimming or just laying in the sun. We saw two eagles sitting on rotted pilings. Waiting to do fishing I suppose. At one time in it’s history, Astoria was a major salmon packing place. There are rotted pilings everywhere from the old over-the-water buildings. Took a picture of the remains of the last of the packing houses. We thoroughly enjoyed Astoria.
Came back to the campground about 3:00. Walked to the lake to let Gopher take a swim.
This is a very nice campground and area. I would certainly recommend it.
