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Joined June 2019 Message
  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day17

    Florence to Sunset Bay Park (Coos Bay)

     August 26 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

    Leisurely drive down the coast after fuel, groceries and coffee stop on the way out of town. Did not have too far to go, and actually got to Sunset ahead of check in time.

    Went out to Shore Acres State Park and made lunch in the RV. We spent the afternoon at the gardens and then out to Cape Arago. Love these gardens; the formal part complete with fountain, the rose garden, and the Japanese style pond and plantings. Calm, quiet, serene, and you just wander at will...

    Got in the jeep and went out to the cape, lots of views, wind and sea lions. We took a little walk out with our binnoculars for the views. We had been told that some gray whales had been spotted here, but did not see them. But the sea lions certainly made themselves heard!

    These three parks, Sunset, Shore Acres, and Cape Arago are all the way through Coos Bay and out on a peninsula. Campground is good size and includes power and water at many sites. It has been interesting to see that many state campgrounds, even mid week are noted as "full". Lots of families out vacationing before school starts I guess? Enjoying our time on the road!    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day16

    Laundry day! And lunch in Florence

     August 25 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Loved our day in Florence, really cute historic town with shops and lots of dining options. But we needed to start the day with some laundry, so spent the morning in a laundromat (with quite a few other folks), all masked up, but probably not as socially distanced as required? Enjoyed the kitties that reside here, and the coffee and muffin helped alot...

    Put the laundry away, made the bed and went into Florence for lunch and shopping. Had a nice lunch on the sidewalk, (crab cakes for me-yum!) and then strolled the streets while the guys got ice cream. Again, just great weather with some wind, and cute shops to look at. Florence is on the Suislaw River and has a great bridge right in view from their main street.

    Joined our friend Joanne at her home in Heceta Beach for dinner!    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day15

    Newport to Heceta Beach (Florence)

     August 24 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F

    Drove south to Yachats for lunch. Outdoor seating, and fish tacos were great. Spent a little time wandering shops and then continued our costal drive.

    Cape Perpetua gave us more wind and views! Although the visitor center was closed, we walked on down the path to the tide pool area to see the "spouting horn". Still lots of wind and we had to rescue Linley's hat.

    Continued south on 101. Met our good friend Joanne at Heceta Lighthouse. This light house is in a lot of Oregon brochures just due to the setting. Great view and had a beautiful lighthouse keepers house nearby. The house had been restored and is being operated as a bed and breakfast, I would love to stay here. They have a view of the ocean and the bridge at this location. Bridge was under restoration so not as picturesque as it is typically.

    Arrived at Heceta Beach RV and Joanne joined us for dinner!    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day15

    Newport, Yaquina Lighthouse

     August 24 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Couldn't get into Oregon Coast Aquarium; they require reservations to manage occupant load, darn it. So we headed up the highway (after coffee stop at the Human Bean) to Yaquina lighthouse and headland. What a treat!

    Beautiful site, in spite of really strong, cold wind. Visitors center and tide pools closed, but we spent a healthy hour watching some gray whales right beyond the rocky tide pool area. Lots of water spouts, then the long rolling back of the whale. Only to have them pop up in a slightly different spot 5 minutes later. They did not seem to be passing thru, because they were still there when we dragged ourselves away. But not before we finally got to see one tail flip out of the water! And we all saw it at the same time!

    Not only did we need to move on to see some more coast but it was also really windy, "blow your hat off of you were not holding it" windy! Sometimes you really felt like you had to lean into the wind just to hold your spot. Despite the wind it was a great stop!    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day14

    Afternoon drive, Tillamook to Newport

     August 23 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    This is the second time Tom and I have been to Tillamook, and both times they were not running tours. We had hoped to get grilled cheese sandwiches, but due to Covid, we stood in line (with masks) and each had ice cream for lunch. No food being served, just ice cream and a selection of 7 oz. Cheeses. The ice cream was delicious!

    Back on the road, snacking on cheese and salami for a very late lunch. More overlooks, and drove the Otter Crest loop with more views! We could not have had more accommodating weather!

    Stayed at the Newport Marina & RV Park this evening. We have been here before, but I wanted to come back because it is right by the bridge, marina, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Rogue brewery. Lots to do, see, and eat in one location. Just parking lot style park, but good location.

    Dinner at the Rogue, fish and Dead Guy ale! Delicious, especially because no cook and clean up!    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day14

    Morning 101 drive, Astoria to Tillamook

     August 23 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    Another gorgeous day on the Oregon coast. Our intent is to stay on 101 the whole way.

    First stop was Ecola State Park. Great overlook for "terrible tilly", the old Tillamook lighthouse. It is no longer operational, and is located about 1.5 miles of shore. The headland have us a view north to the lighthouse, and a view south to Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock. The drive in, about 2 miles, was a little tricky and not really recommended for RVs, but we squeezed our way in the single wide road.
    Just gorgeous views!

    We got back our of the park, stopping at some more view points, how can you NOT stop?! Drove through Oswald West State Park, numerous other little coastal towns until we got to Tillamook, our lunch destination.    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day13

    Beautiful day in Astoria

     August 22 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    Gorgeous day in Astoria, wet weather gone and lots of blue skies!
    Drove back to Astoria, stopping for coffee and marionberry scones. We love our morning stops...
    We stopped at the Columbia River Maritime museum first. This is a great museum to visit with lots of info on the river, the Coast Guard, the weather, the fishing... just well done. Particularly interesting because this location, for ships entering the river, is one of the most dangerous ports due to the "collision" of the river with the ocean at the river "bar".
    We had a late lunch at Mos, our first indoor dining experience since leaving Fresno. They handled the social distancing really well, tables far apart and well scrubbed between seatings, staff with masks... and we enjoyed our fish lunch with a view of the marina.
    Back in the jeep and up to the Astoria column. The column itself is not open, but the views from the park are fabulous. Especially on such a clear day. On the way down just drove the neighborhood looking at some fabulous old Victorians perched on the hill overlooking the Columbia.
    Back to our RV location in Seaside.    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day12

    Grays Covered Bridge and into Seaside

     August 21 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Hit the road this morning, stopping in Morton, Washington for gas, coffee and mid morning snacks! (Although the server asked what our lunch order might be...?) Wet drive following the highway on the north side of the great Columbia River! It is a big river!

    Stopped for lunch in a little tiny park in Castle Rock, Loved the flowers, and had a picnic area all to ourselves. The weather was wet and cloudy enough that we never saw Mt. St. Helens, even from the highway.

    We (Linley and I) decided that, in route, a "drive by" of one of the covered bridges in Washington would be interesting. It was, sort of.

    30 minutes later after pulling the jeep from the RV and backing both RVs up the road, we managed to extricate ourselves from a "no turn around" location. Sure wish they would post these signs with much bigger letters! And sooner, instead of in the midst of the turn down the lane.....in spite of the rain we did get back to the highway. I tried to einxplain that this is what "adventure" means in the RV world. Can't quite remember what the bridge looked like.

    Late in the day, we crossed the Astoria-Megler bridge, all 4 miles of it, and had our first glimpse of Astoria. Lots of colorful Victorians, hillside in the view from the highway. RV park was in Seaside, 30 more minutes down the highway. Little pricey, but anywhere on the Oregon coast costs some bucks. However the owner/manager did have 2 week old beagle puppies that we got to hold! So it was worth it!    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day11

    Mt. Rainier, afternoon views

     August 20 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    As you drove further in the park the views just keep getting better! Had lunch at Cougar Rock, and the early afternoon stop at Paradise Visitor center. This is the largest and main visitor center in the park. It has spectacular views of Rainier, except if there are clouds! And even with the clouds it did not disappoint... we could see some of the lower part of the mountain, with some glaciers, and a beautiful wildflower garden. LOTS of folks here! This stop is only at 5400 feet, but being so far north we timed it just right for a wildflower bloom!

    Never got in this visitor center, there was a line of visitors, all in masks waiting to get in. And (I think) it was only to go through the gift shop. But what a great location. There are lots of bikes out of this stop. But tons of hikes in the park, all different lengths and difficulties. I would love to come back and spend a couple of days here.

    Drove out Steven's Canyon road, more great views, if not for the clouds... and then all the way to the Steven's entrance, in the south east corner of park. We hopped out and took a short, but fun hike to the Grove of the"Patriarchs", thousand year old year trees, mostly cedar and pines. Crossed a suspension beside over one of the glacial creeks.

    Love this park, can't wait to come back and spend some time!    Read more

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  • Pac Northwest 2020
    Day11

    Mt. Ranier National Park

     August 20 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 64 °F

    We are overnighting in an RV park, Elkamp Eastcreek, just outside of Mineral. When booking this most of the campgrounds in the park were already booked. Although about 30 minutes away, this smaller park is really nice with big tall trees, water and power hook ups.

    Drove into Ranier and stopped to get out first glimpse of the mountain at Longmire....but like many of our mountain "views" from other trips, the mountain had some cloud cover! We actually never got a full look at Rainier during the day, but this park has a number of great stops to get a full view. Even with clouds, the views are great. Rainier is big, over 14,000 ft! And you get to see it from so many different stops.

    We spent some time at Longmire, with the original administration buildings, gas station, wood trestle bridge and gift shop. This is in the southwest corner of the park. Pretty quiet day, not many people at this location.

    Drove on and stopped at Christine Falls, one of a number of falls in the park. Because this mountain still has well over a dozen glaciers, there are lots of glacially fed creeks and waterfalls. Odd to see the silty, glacial waters that we associate with Alaska. The falls were really pretty, and glad we stopped. They were just a short walk of the road.    Read more

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