Our grateful thanks go to Beulah, Martin and Lee, for the loan of their motorhome (RV) and their kind hospitality during the first few days, giving us time to reset our internal clocks and test out Buzz’s podsticker cuisine at the Mud Bay Bar! We burbled off in the Dodge RAM 2500 (5900cc V8 engine) automatic Jayco Conversion RV 4 days ago, heading South along Highway 101 which tracks the Pacific Coast, from Washington State, through Oregon and on and on and on......
The Pacific Coast is just beautiful, (tho the water is cold), with acres of golden sandy beaches, craggy rocks and miles and miles of rolling waves – it truly lives up to its name ‘Scenic Highway’.In 1967, Oregon passed a law giving full public access to the beach so for anyone wanting to stretch their legs there is the Oregon Coast Trail just 337 miles long, (about Lands End to Dover in England).
We’ve been very impressed by the National Park campgrounds, just off Hwy 101, set in shady forests, right by sand dunes and the ocean. (particularly Nehalem Bay and Beverly Beach). We are close to the Cascadia Subduction Zone, one of the longest faults in North America and meeting the San Andreas Fault. Occasional earthquakes mean we see a lot of Tsunami escape signs pointing the quickest way to higher ground.
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We’re beginning to adjust to the scale and size of everything American, from the 5-lane highways to the gigantic 4x4s and the monster trucks. The massive RVs and trailers still amaze me and I stare in wonder at those with 4 or 5 slide-outs, towing jeeps. Even the driftwood is over-sized!
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We’ve crossed a couple of rather magnificent bridges. At 4 miles long, The Astoria-Megler bridge is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America and is costing $20 million to re-paint. Apparently, it featured in some notable films - The Goonies, Short Circuit and Kindergarten Cop. However, Rosi thinks Yaquima Bridge near Newport is rather more elegant in its design.
Having stopped at Rockaway Beach for a coffee (didn’t Richard Feynman have something to say about this place?), Rick, by chance, s
potted an unmissable opportunity – the 1.00pm Oregon Scenic Coastal Railway steam train along the coast. So I had to have a picnic on an open-carriaged steam train with one very excited Rick ...try this link for more info .http://www.oregoncoastscenic.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHncSula0EY
We have met lots of very friendly and welcoming Americans who have suggested places to stay and things to see – and nobody has yet told us to have a nice day! After we’d chatted to one delightful young couple in the next tent, they found a present for us at an ‘estate sale’ - a 1946 map of Yosemite and The Story of Sequoia. Many thanks to them both.
It seems a camp fire is essential to outdoor living so Rick has had great fun lighting fires in the iron grill pits found on every pitch…$5 doesn’t buy much firewood though, just enough to boil a pan, cook some kebabs and make your clothes smell of bonfires.
We have followed several trails around the State Park campgrounds, running through forests of ancient redwoods and spruce, so old that many have long straggly beards and fluffy jackets of lichen making them look very huggable!
We have met lots of very friendly and welcoming Americans who have suggested places to stay and things to see – and nobody has yet told us to have a nice day! After we’d chatted to one delightful young couple in the next tent, they found a present for us at an ‘estate sale’ - a 1946 map of Yosemite and The Story of Sequoia. Many thanks to them both.
It seems a camp fire is essential to outdoor living so Rick has had great fun lighting fires in the iron grill pits found on every pitch…$5 doesn’t buy much firewood though, just enough to boil a pan, cook some kebabs and make your clothes smell of bonfires.
We have followed several trails around the State Park campgrounds, running through forests of ancient redwoods and spruce, so old that many have long straggly beards and fluffy jackets of lichen making them look very huggable!
We’ve been past the rather pessimistically-named Cape Disappointment, via Dismal Point, along Windswept Road and found Cape Foulweather (so named by Captain James Cook). We are hoping to find a balance of more positive-sounding places in time for the next post……..
For more photos for this post go to the following links
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6021221515867776721
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6021223976562753105
https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6021233048180632433 https://plus.google.com/photos/112477145672617228065/albums/6021234832830521025
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