Monday, September 18, 2017
Hammond, Oregon to Amanda Park, Washington
Distance: 139 miles
Campsite: Quinault River Inn - Space 4
Cost per Night: $44.72
Duration: 3 nights
Weather: 53 and raining
I had hoped to take a quick walk and see the Wreck of the Peter Iredale before we headed out in the morning, but it was pouring. I knew we'd be spending another night on our return trip, so I wasn't too disappointed. Check-out time wasn't until 1:00, but we wanted to get on the road and get to Quinault before dinner, so we headed out at 11:00.
As you can see, it's not always glamorous, especially on a travel morning!
Heavy rain and a huge bridge (4 miles long) over a huge expanse of water (the Columbia River).
It doesn't look quite so bad with the window down. Lots of cargo ships on the river.
The Astoria–Megler Bridge is a steel cantilever through truss bridge in the northwest United States that spans the lower Columbia River, between Astoria, Oregon, and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington. Opened 51 years ago in 1966, it is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.
Located fourteen miles (23 km) from the mouth of the river at the Pacific Ocean, the bridge is 4.067 miles (6.55 km) in length, and was the final segment of U.S. Route 101 to be completed between Olympia, Washington, and Los Angeles, California. (Wikipedia)
Once we were across the river, we decided to stop for a few minutes at Dismal Nitch and take in the view. "...waves, strong winds, and torrential rains of a Pacific Northwest storm." Pretty much the same 212 years later.
Onward.
The weather started to improve the further north we drove and we decided to stop for lunch at Willapa Bay, near South Bend. The view was beautiful from our vantage point in a large, empty parking area. It's actually a field, but there was another RV parked there when we pulled up, so we figured why not?
We stopped in Aberdeen for gas and then took a random detour when I decided to pull off the road to let some cars pass. A large dump truck just happened to pull up right behind us, so I couldn't maneuver my turn back onto the highway and decided to just continue on down the road and turn around when I found a wide enough spot. Well, that wound up taking us several miles and twenty minutes out of our way! I'm just thankful we found an area large enough to make a wide turn without getting stuck in the mud. We were out in the middle of nowhere. And, of course, without any cell service on either phone. (And, yes. We have now purchased a CB radio.)
More rain, but very beautiful.
After that little adventure, it wasn't too much further before we pulled into the beautiful Quinault River Inn. It felt so good to have arrived and to know that we wouldn't have to leave for another three days.
The Quinault River Inn borders the Olympic Peninsula and is within just a few miles from Lake Quinault and the Quinault River Valley. In addition to the Inn, there are 5 RV spaces, each with electricity and water, but no sewer hook-ups. There aren't any shower facilities, either. Not quite dry camping, but somewhat limited. Each RV space backs up against a large grassy field and includes a picnic table and a gravel parking pad. The sites are fairly close to each other, but easy enough to back into. There were only two other RVs during our stay, so it was nice and peaceful. My dad and stepmom (who were traveling with us on this trip) were on one side and a couple from Texas were on the other side. The inn is right off of 101, but the traffic wasn't too terrible later in the evening. The only real noise was a little bit of road traffic from the logging trucks driving past during the night.
After we checked in and got set up, we wandered down to the Quinault River, which is just a few yards away from the campsites. There were several chairs set up around a large fire ring, as well as a gazebo and a couple of adirondacks scattered off on a large, grassy slope. The view of the mountains and the river was breathtaking! Unfortunately, it was a little too damp for a fire.
Click on the photos for a larger view of the image.
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Depoe Bay, Oregon to Hammond, Oregon
Distance: 123 miles
Campsite: Fort Stevens State Park - Space C25 (pull-thru)
Cost per Night: $30 (plus $8 transaction fee)
Duration: 1 night
Weather: 61 and rainy
This was our first big adventure, if you don't count the maiden voyage, which you can read about here. This trip was two full weeks on the Olympic Peninsula! Other than the first and last night, we had reservations at each site for three nights. Now that we're back home, we've been talking about the great places we visited and know that we'll go back, hopefully for more than just a few days at each spot. We could easily spend a few weeks, if not longer, in a couple of those campsites.
So, to the first leg of the trip. We stopped to put air in the truck tires in Lincoln City and it took us an hour to get all the way out of town! (It usually only takes 20 minutes.) The traffic was terrible. We've learned that even in the off-season, there is a lot of traffic on 101 on Sundays, especially traffic heading north. When we got to the 101/Hwy 18 split, most of the cars headed east toward Salem, which was nice. I would have really hated to get stuck behind a long line of cars on 101.
Fort Stevens is about 10 miles west of Astoria and about halfway between home and our next stop near Lake Quinault. If we were driving the truck without the trailer, we could have easily made the entire distance of 250 miles in one day. But what's the rush? 101 is slow and full of twists and turns, not to mention beautiful scenery. Thus, the short drive up the coast up to Hammond.
We stopped in Tillamook to get gas and again in Garabaldi to eat lunch (in the trailer since it was still raining). It rained on and off the entire afternoon. We pulled into Fort Stevens just around 4:00 pm.
We reserved a pull-thru site, which had ample space for both the trailer and the truck. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of grass and the dirt area near the picnic table and fire ring was quickly becoming very muddy.
Fort Stevens is a fairly large state campground with 174 full-hookup sites, 302 electrical sites with water, 6 tent sites, 15 yurts and 11 deluxe cabins. There are flush toilets and (free) hot showers and each site has paved parking, a picnic table and a fire ring. There's also a RV dump station near the ranger station. All in all it's a very nice campground. There are a lot of trees and most of the back-in sites looked a bit more private than our pull-thru. Now that I know how to back up the trailer, back-in sites might be more desirable. Ours one was kind of out in the open. The campground was pretty quiet, maybe 1/3 full, but I'm sure weekends are a lot busier.
We didn't do much exploring since the weather was uncooperative. I did, however, take a walk around several of the loops and spotted another Escape! The owners weren't around, so I didn't get a chance to chat with them about their trailer. Rod and I went back later but they still hadn't returned, so it was a missed opportunity to chat with another Escapee.
We had our drinks under the trees when the rain let up, but it started up again, so we ate dinner (I haven't a clue what I made!) inside. Nice and cozy!
Click on the photos for a larger view of the image.
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
Memoir
2012 Random House
Finished on December 7, 2016
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
In this irresistible memoir, the New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Anna Quindlen writes about looking back and ahead—and celebrating it all—as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more.
As she did in her beloved New York Times columns, and in A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen talks about
Marriage: “A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn’t believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation.”
Girlfriends: “Ask any woman how she makes it through the day, and she may mention her calendar, her to-do lists, her babysitter. But if you push her on how she really makes it through her day, she will mention her girlfriends. Sometimes I will see a photo of an actress in an unflattering dress or a blouse too young for her or with a heavy-handed makeup job, and I mutter, ‘She must not have any girlfriends.’ ”
Stuff: “Here’s what it comes down to, really: there is now so much stuff in my head, so many years, so many memories, that it’s taken the place of primacy away from the things in the bedrooms, on the porch. My doctor says that, contrary to conventional wisdom, she doesn’t believe our memories flag because of a drop in estrogen but because of how crowded it is in the drawers of our minds. Between the stuff at work and the stuff at home, the appointments and the news and the gossip and the rest, the past and the present and the plans for the future, the filing cabinets in our heads are not only full, they’re overflowing.”
Our bodies: “I’ve finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come. It’s like a car, and while I like a red convertible or even a Bentley as well as the next person, what I really need are four tires and an engine.”
Parenting: “Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: We are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us.”
From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen uses the events of her own life to illuminate our own. Along with the downsides of age, she says, can come wisdom, a perspective on life that makes it satisfying and even joyful. Candid, funny, moving, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is filled with the sharp insights and revealing observations that have long confirmed Quindlen’s status as America’s laureate of real life.
I knew this memoir was going to be good when I reached for my Post-It flags before I finished the first page. Some of the chapters weren't as interesting to me and my interest waned, but then toward the end of the book, I regained enthusiasm and once again reached for my Post-It flags. This may be best to read a little here and there, rather than all at once. I think I'd like to live next door to Quindlen. I can see us walking around her pond, sipping tea or wine, solving the world's problems. :)
Some favorite passages:
"I feel like I'm not alone," some of those who wrote to me said, and that sentiment changed my life. That's what's so wonderful about reading, that books and poetry and essays make us feel as though we're connected, as though the thoughts and feelings we believe are singular and sometimes nutty are shared by others, that we are all more alike than different.
On Aging:
Many of us have come to a surprising conclusion about this moment in our lives. No, it's not that there are weird freckly spots on the back of our hands, although there are, or that construction guys don't make smutty comments as we pass, although they don't. It's that we've done a pretty good job of becoming ourselves, and that this is, in so many ways, the time of our lives. As Carly Simon once sang, "These are the good old days." Lots of candles, plenty of cake. I wouldn't be twenty-five again on a bet, or even forty. And when I say this to a group of women at lunch, everyone around the table nods. Many of us find ourselves exhilarated, galvanized, at the very least older and wiser.
On Friends:
And in the end we wind up with the friends who really stick. Being female, we pride ourselves on doing for them, on listening to them complain or cry, on showing up with a cake or a casserole and taking charge when disaster strikes. But the measure of our real friends, our closest friends, is that we let them do the same for us. We've been taking charge for decades; to let go, to take help instead of charge, is the break point of friendship. And it comes to us, finally, when we are older and wiser, when we've got bigger things to think about than where to buy a coffee table or whether the new guy at work will be collegial. One of the most important parts of tending our friendships is working our ways, over time, into the kind of friendships that can support cataclysm, friendships that are able to move from the office or the playground to hospital rooms and funerals. Some of my married friends are widows now, and some are single, and some have lost parents and had kids who were lost to them for a while. And even those of us who so far have been relatively unscathed know how important the bonds of love are, how they make a net so we don't hit the ground when we fall from the wire.
I have just spent the last half hour re-reading all the passages I marked (choosing not to share all of them) and they all are worthy of reflection and contemplation. This book is a keeper and one that I hope to return to in the coming years.
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Nonfiction
2014 Random House Audio
Read by the author
Finished on November 29, 2016
Rating: 3/5 (Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.
Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.
Well, if you look at all the 5-star ratings, I think I'm in the minority. I liked the book, but it didn't call to me when I wasn't listening. Not only that, but it took me almost an entire month to finish. Maybe the audio wasn't the best format. My mind wandered far too often as I was working and listening (yes, this is an old review from when I was still working at Barnes & Noble!). The individual stories blurred together to form a sad story of our history of jailing (and committing to death row) minors and minorities. A terribly sad account, yet very thought-provoking. In spite of my middle-of-the-road rating, I think this would make for a great book club discussion.
It was very difficult to leave our beautiful campsite at The Arboretum, but it was time to start making our way home. We left Cinebar around 11:15 and made it to Astoria by 1:45. It was a beautiful day for a drive back to the coast.
Astoria is a vibrant port city on the Columbia River, where it meets the Pacific Ocean. We've passed through the area on several occasions, but haven't spent much time exploring other than stopping for lunch a few times. It's definitely a place we hope to visit while camping at nearby Fort Stevens State Park.
Beautiful flowers outside Fort George Brewery and Public House. I think we may have found the name for our trailer while standing here waiting for our table...
As we were waiting for our name to be called, one of our neighbors from Lincoln walked up the street toward us! What a great surprise to see John! (He and his wife have a dog named Belle and she and Annie were the best of friends.) It truly is a small world.
Happy travelers.
Katherine and John with the two former Lincolnites. I've always thought John and Rod look like brothers.
Ahhh. I love the beer at Fort George Brewery. I had the Cavatica Stout, which was delicious.
They have a great menu and it's always difficult to make a decision. This time, I decided to try something I've never had. (I usually get fish tacos or fish & chips.)
Shrimp N' Grits! It was love at first bite. It was such an amazing meal that I decided to search for a recipe as soon as I got home. (I've since made it twice and it's a winner!)
Another shot of one of the huge container ships on the Columbia River.
And now we head south toward Tillamook. I think this was taken somewhere near Cannon Beach.
I love all the haystacks in the water off the coast of Oregon and Washington. We didn't have anything like these in Southern California.
Boondocking at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company in Tillamook, Oregon. It looks crowded from the angle of the pictures, but there was really plenty of space between RVs. There were only three of us, but there's also space in an upper field which had a few tent campers.
This was a great place to stop for the night. The Blue Heron allows for one night of dispersed camping, but when you go inside to register with Harvest Hosts, it's almost impossible to walk out without buying something. I think we bought a bottle of wine, some crackers, jam and a cute hand towel. Suffice it to say, our "free" night wound up costing us closer to $75.
Our morning view. Not only does the Blue Heron sell food, wine and specialty gifts, but it also has a petting zoo and antique farm equipment. Pretty cool place. You can learn more about it here.
We made it back safely to our storage facility, just a few miles south of our home. After five nights of "pull-thru" campsites, this was a test of patience. I have never backed up a trailer or boat, but I was pretty confident that, with Rod's guidance, I wouldn't have too much trouble. Well, I didn't hit that Scamp on the right, nor did I drive off that cliff behind us, but I was definitely ready for a glass of wine when we got home.
August 6-7, 2017
Astoria and Tillamook, Oregon (boondocking at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company)
Click on the photos for a larger view of the image.
We had a quiet night at The Arboretum, although we both woke up a few times when the propane furnace and refrigerator kicked on. I'm sure it won't take too long to get used to all the noises of the trailer.
I fell in love with this coffee that I found in Lynden, WA. Nice to know that I can buy more from their website!
A beautiful morning. So nice to have this place just to ourselves.
I could get used to this!
Sunrise over the mountains. We were very happy that the smoke hadn't followed us from Lynden.
Simply a lovely location.
Beautiful sunrise. Not a sound around us other than the distant rooster and the chirping of birds over by the pond.
Our view from the back window.
Breakfast time!
A simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, avocado, cheese and corn tortillas. Why does everything taste better when cooked outside on a campstove?
I couldn't get enough of this view!
Ah. This was such a peaceful place. I wish we could've spent more than just one morning there. A comfy chair and a book would be all I need for an entire day!
There were dozens of swallows diving in and out of the water, catching bugs. I've seen them do the same sort of thing near me while mowing when we lived on an acreage, but I've never witnessed them diving into water!
Yep. Another happy place.
Very cool art on the side of the barn.
August 6, 2017
Bear Canyon West/Cinebar, Washington (boondocking at The Arboretum) to Tillamook, Oregon (boondocking at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company)
Click on the photos for a larger view of the image.
