DAY 23- Redrum, Timberline, & Mt. Hood...

Redrum!  Redrum!  I survived the night at the Timberline Lodge which was featured in the 1980’s hit movie the Shinning that starred Jack Nicholson where he played the axe carrying Johnny that went very crazy.  Actually it was only the outside that they used in that movie but it seems like its reputation has stuck with the Lodge.  But supposedly, they have one of the axes that Jack ran around with in the movie in that outside scene.  For safety’s sake, they keep it behind the front desk (I found out later on); which is literally just a stone’s throw from my room that’s down the hall from the front desk.

Photo- Look out Johnny--- Here's Jeanne!
Supposely the prop that was used in The Shining.

But probably the scariest thing that happened during the night was a 3:30AM call of nature which forced me to climb down from the upper bunk bed in a pitch black room.  I’m trying to feel my way down the end of the wooden bunk bed frame as I’m trying not to pee.  Now THAT’s scary!  I ended up coming back from the shared restroom (I got the cheap rooms at the lodge with bunk beds and shared bathrooms) and opted to sleep in one of the lower bunks.  Hey, I’ve got four twin size bunk beds in my room.  I figure I can jump bed the next four nights and not sleep in the same place if I wanted.  But I’m really thinking I’m going to stay in the lower ones for safety’s sake after this.  There were plenty of the shared restrooms within a short distance of my room.

I got up early and went up to the second floor lobby area.  They had coffee and tea set up for guests to partake of.  It looked pretty but very windy outside and people that went outside were very bundled up.  I thought I would wait inside for the restaurant that serves breakfast starting at 7:30 am. 

I had a wonderful breakfast buffet at the Cascade Dining Room here at the Timberline Lodge.  I had waffles with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries with a bit of whip cream.  Awe!  It was like heaven in waffle territory--- what can I say I LOVE my waffles!

Photo- The wonderful volunteer for the National Parks
that gave the tour of Timberline Lodge.

Next, I hung out until they did the 11AM US Forest Tour about the Timberline Lodge.  The volunteer forest ranger gave us background and some wonderful insider back stories to the building and life of the lodge to present day.  It was fascinating and made the lodge seem even more of a miracle that it was built in the 15 month time frame that it was built in.  They also very much encourage you to touch and enjoy the Lodge.  It is a living historical site.  They talked about Richard Kohnstamm who rescued the Lodge in the mid-1950’s from major disrepair and loving restored it.  He took over the management of the hotel/restaurants portion and made it a national historical site.  His son now manages the hotel/restaurant part today.

Photo- Sign on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Photos- The wonderful scenery along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Next, I went out on the Pacific Crest Trail which is an actual trail in the US that hikers can take from Mexico border to the Canadian border.  In fact, earlier on when I was waiting for the tour to start, two hikers came in with full backpacks that were looking to set down their packs and see if they could find a ride into town to get some supplies for their hike.  I hiked the Pacific crest trail but for only about 2 miles.  It was neat knowing that other hikers had done the whole thing and my steps had followed some of theirs even if but just a short bit.

Photo- Part of the main street area of Government Camp.

Then, I decided to go down to Government Camp.  It’s a small town that’s closest to Timberline Lodge.  It was originally formed when the WPA workers built Timberline Lodge; that was where they stayed as they were working.  At the time the Government Camp at 4000ft. was more accessible than the 6000ft. where the Lodge is.  Currently, Government Camp is where quite a few of the 100+ Timberline workers live.  It’s about 8 miles away. 

I opted to go down to Government Camp to check it out and maybe catch some lunch.  It’s a cute very small ski type of town.  There was one main street with a few restaurants, a couple of hotels, a few ski equipment rental places, a gas station, and one general grocery/liquor store.  Off to the side of that there were a bit of vacation rentals/resorts, and a little bit of apartments.  I found a little store that happened to be open; it’s off season right now with Timberline’s skiing being closed for a two week period right now.  So it was a bit of slim pickings of where you could eat.  It was a choice of a deli or the tavern; and I choose the deli.

Photo- A view of Trillium Lake where there's a wonderful reflection of Mt Hood.

After that I opted to see about possibly burning off the “Grilled Goofy” sandwich that I had; which was basically a Reuben sandwich without the sauerkraut.  I drove over the short distance over to the Trillium Lake where I took some wonderful pictures where Mt Hood reflects into the lake.  I then hiked the 2 miles a hiking path with boardwalk areas over swampy areas that went around the lake.  There were people fishing and paddle boating out on the lake.  There’s also a very good sized camping area at the state park that surround the lake.

Photos- Various interiors of the Timberline Lodge.

I drove back to the Lodge where I proceeded to go around on a self-guided tour of the art that is here in the public areas of the Timberline Lodge.  A majority of the 1930’s original art pieces are part of the WPA when the Lodge was built; quite a few have been lovingly restored.  There are oils paintings, carved wood reliefs, inlaid wood art and watercolors.  Some of the art is from the 1950’s when the Lodge was restored.  It all fits in well with the rustic atmosphere of the Lodge and then combined with all of the wrought iron details it makes for a wonderful tour.

Photo- Ram's Head Bar on the 3rd floor of Timberline's Octagon.

Next, I had dinner up at the Ram’s Head Bar and ended up visiting with a couple from Bend, OR.  I was trying to get the insider info. on what not to miss in the area.  Shawnee and Bruce were very helpful and I guess that Bruce is an avid wind sailor.  When I mentioned that I was a bit disappointed I didn’t see any wind surfing in Hood River.  He asked if the water was calm.  Yes, I said it was like glass.  That’s why he said it needs to be real chopping and really windy for the wind surfers.  The windy-ier the better!  Well, that explains it and here I thought they were all out to dinner!

DAY 22- Portland to Timberline Lodge

I got up early and figured I better get in a bit of cycling to work off that wonderful dessert I had the night before.  I put on my bike gear, grabbed my bike, and I was off to the bike path.  There seemed to be more commuter traffic at this time of the day.  It was chilly and there were a lot of them with bright yellow rain jackets zipped up.  I did pass a young girl that was wearing just a sweatshirt and a pair of what looked like short running shorts while commuting on her bike.  Brrr-rr-rrr!  I was barely keeping my teeth from chattering and was glad I wore my capris and my arm warmers.  I ended up just going in to Portland to a main bridge area and then I turned around.  It gave me about 13 miles but I tried to do it at a brisk pace; so I figured I might have started to burn off that amazing dessert I had last night.

I shower, changed, packed up, checked my email, and then I was off on the road.  It was about 11am.  Next I needed to fill up the gas in the car.  It’s against the law for you to fuel up your own car in the city limits of Portland; one of several strange laws that I learned on the Free Walking tour yesterday.  The first gas station that I went to wouldn’t take credit cards; debit cards only I was told in barely understandable English.  I will warn you that most of the northwest has been hit hard by the economy and as such a great deal the businesses out of necessity have gone to a cash only basis. 

So off I went to another station where they would take a credit card.  I told the guy to top it off after I asked about credit cards.  He told me that he couldn’t do that because it was a crime in Oregon and a $10,000 fine too.  He said he didn’t know how it was in Utah but they didn’t do stuff like THAT here in Oregon.  Okay, I said let me use another phrase… Filler up please!  Okay, little lady I can do that!  He then was also very helpful about giving me directions to get on the 205 freeway too.  I will say that in general I found Portlander’s very friendly and helpful if I was lost.

Photo- One of the first falls I came to along the Historic Hwy 30.

Next I was heading east along Columbia River to the gorge area.  Once in the Gorge area which was labeled with a sign on the side of the road; I took a turn off onto the Historic 30 Scenic highway.  The first section that I came upon of the Historic 30 was closed so I kept on the interstate 84 until the second section.  Off of this scenic by way there are several waterfalls that you can see.  Two of them are just off the side of the road and can easily be viewed then there are 3 others where a little hiking in is entailed.  I managed to see three of them along this section.

Photo- Bonneville Dam in background with a fish spill way in the foreground.

Then there was the Bonneville Lock and Dam that came up next.  I took the turn off and headed toward the visitor’s center.  Just before getting to the visitor’s center there’s a security check point.  The guard asked me if I had any guns and then asked to search my vehicle.  Meanwhile in my head, I’m thinking search my vehicle?  THAT could take hours dude!  I opened the back of my station wagon and went on to explain that I was sightseeing the entire country and had a lot of clothes, camping gear, and my bicycle with me.  He looked at me quizzically and then said,” Okay you can proceed ahead, ma’am. No backpacks or large purses in the visitor’s center.”  Off I went at the 15 mph speed limit driving right next to the Lock part on a narrow road with railroad tracks right down the center. 

The visitor’s center is between the lock and the dam.  I went in to the center expecting armed guards or something after the security guard at the booth but it looked like a crew of retired citizens were manning the center.  The building is labeled Army Corp of Engineers.  I watched a 5 min. video about how boats used the lock and looked around at diagrams of how the dam proceeded from a WPA program in the 1930’s to a more recent addition in 1993 because the need for more power was needed.  It was also interesting on how they designed the dam so that the salmon and other fish could still swim up the river and spawn.  I then walked around and looked at parts of the dam near the visitor’s center.  There were quite a few areas where it was authorized personnel only.

Photo- Even the Bridge of the Gods had a bit of construction.
Makes you wonder what the God's have been up to....hmmm

Next I crossed into Washington State over the Bridge of the Gods.  It only cost me a $1.  Toll bridges seem to be common in between the state of Oregon and Washington.  I drove along the two lane highway 14 and went through the town of Stevenson.  Yes, Ron I drove through your hometown.  I continued on the wonderfully scenic route until I got to the toll bridge that went across to Hood River; which is another toll bridge.  I got out two dollars and told the gal at the booth that the additional dollar was for the vehicle behind me.  I went rather slowly across the bridge; it felt strange driving my car on the metal grated surface of the bridge.  I figured it was a way to thank the car behind me for putting up with my slow driving.

Then, I did a typical Utah U-turn as I accidently drove past the turn off to the town of Hood River.  I proceed to have an Oregon driver that made me feel right at home by flipping me off and honking; almost felt like I was back driving in SLC.  I drove around for a bit in Hood River and looked over the river area hoping to see someone wind sailing but I’m guessing that they were all home having dinner as it was shortly after 5pm.  I pushed on for the Timberline Lodge where I would be spending the next two nights.

There was a bit of construction on the drive to Timberline Lodge but overall it wasn’t too bad and it was a very scenic climbing drive.  There were fruit orchards, farms, and vineyards along the way before you reach the Mt Hood National Forest.  It was a paradise in green.  Then, you are driving through evergreen forest.  I took the turn off for Timberline Lodge where it’s a 6 mile road where in winds and turns as it climbs up to the 6000 ft. where the lodge sits.  The lodge is right at the tree line area of Mt Hood.  Mt Hood is situated in Timberline Lodge’s back yard.

The building of the Lodge is just amazing!  It was built as part of a WPA program in 1936 and 1937; all using construction supplies from the local area.  It’s just mind boggling that it was built with such craftsmanship before so much of the tools were readily available. 

I quickly got checked into my bunkhouse like room and went to find a place to eat.  I was hungry!  I ended up having dinner on the upper floor area of the Timberline Lodge’s Octagon mezzanine area where I ended up being joined by a Canadian woman named Mavis for dinner.  She saw that I was sitting alone and I was at a table with a view.  She asked if she could join and I said sure.

Photo- Mavis my fun dinner companion at Timberline Lodge.

 We chatted along as we ate and I learned that she was a tiller for a boat team of an event that took place in Portland.  Her team had taken the gold medal for the category that they were in and she had decided to do a bit of sightseeing while she was in the area.  She was staying in Portland and it’s a short drive from there.  I told her about me taking the longer way along the Columbia River and sightseeing.  After dinner, we did a bit of sightseeing together in and around the lodge.  We exchanged email addresses and I gave her the link to my blog.  It was fun and she was fun to hang out with. Thanks Mavis!

Photo- The back of the Timberline Lodge as the sun is starting to set.
A very peaceful place I sat for just a bit.

Next, I went and did a bit more exploring around the Lodge and later on ended up in the bar area of the Mezzanine.  I enjoyed a hot buttered rum as I chatted with a couple that was visiting from New York.  After they left, I met some more New Yorkers (Was it New Yorker’s week and I didn’t get the memo?) and ended up talking about music.  When asked about what song I remember being a moment I told them it was Comfortable Numb by Pink Floyd and I was watching the Wall at a theater in which we were inhaling some good stuff.  Later, I discovered that they worked for a pharmaceutical company and I think that they were all on a retreat.  They were a bit off-ish after that.  Go figure!

DAY 21-- Portlandia

The house where I am renting an upstairs room is located in the Sellwood part of Portland.  It’s a neighborhood that has a small shopping haven which has a predominance of antique shops but there are a few wonderful restaurants in there too; as I discovered.  My gracious host, Jim, helped me with suggestions to local places and also directions to a biking/rec path that leads to a whole network of biking throughout the Portland area. 

Photos- The Sellwood area of Portland.

Portland is a Gold Medal city when it comes to being bike friendly and I have to say it is VERY friendly to bikes.  I took the path early in the morning and within 10 minutes and 5 miles I was in the heart of downtown Portland.  I saw several other cyclists, most of them, commuting on their way to work.  Most of the other cyclists had panniers on their bikes or loaded up backpacks; some even had various decorations on the top of their helmets. (So sorry I wasn’t faster with the camera.) 

Photo- Bike path being used by commuting cyclists with Portland skyline in background.

The main parts of the bicycle paths go right along the shoreline of the river that runs through the heart of downtown Portland.  It provides some wonderful scenery with the river, small boats, small marinas, bridges, and the city’s buildings all intermixed to give Portland its unique flavor. 

Photo- The sun above at one of the river path areas near downtown Portland.

Once I got to the downtown area, I went off the bike path and took various other bike friendly roads; most of them had a bike lane or a green lane.  I even traversed a couple of the bridges going on both sides of town.  I was amazed at how the cars were very accepting of bikes and I even had a few times I was in the wrong lane but the drivers were very patient with me.  Not at all like in SLC, where I would’ve been yelled at to get off the road along with a few choice profanities and possibly flipped off too. 

Photo- Green lanes in downtown Portland.

Bike traffic seems to have priority in this city. The bike paths were signed and told you where each off shoot went and they told you the distances to the next stop or destination.  There were even signal lights where it was just for cyclist to cross an intersection diagonally.  You would push a button on the sidewalk and they had the bike path painted through the intersection.  Just wait for the bike signal to turn green and you had right away for the whole intersection.  There were also areas where only bikes and buses were allowed in the downtown area. It was all rather mind blowing!


Photo- Signage along the bike paths.

Later I drove downtown to catch a free walking tour.  I would’ve been better off biking down to it than driving to it.  Warning- Portland is not friendly to car drivers and it can be frustrating to figure out how to get from point A to point B.  There are a combo of factors that make this so—bus and bike only road areas, one way streets, and light rail running down the center of road areas. 

Parking a car in downtown Portland can also be a real pain.  There’s not much street parking and of it much are designed for loading zones and car share vehicles.  Portland doesn’t seem to want you to bring your car to the downtown area at all.  Also, they have recently done away with the MAX’s (Portland’s Light rail & Bus system) free fare zone about 2 months ago.  I ended up finding a parking garage to park my car in for the deal of $9.95 for the whole day.

The Free Walking Tour in Portland; the Secrets of Portlandia (http://secretsofportlandia.com/ ) was a wonderful funny experience and I highly recommend it to anyone that comes to visit the city.  It starts everyday rain or shine from the front of the Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse.  The guide wears a bright green t-shirt and holds a Free Tour sign up.  He’s not hard to miss.  For about an hour and a half he takes you along the city telling you showing you landmarks and talking about all that makes Portland the very unique place that it is.  All along he tries out various bad jokes and puns.  Also, repeatedly using the one-liner of “…on a clear day you can see Mt. Hood…” among all of his other commentary.  Some of the jokes flop but some have you cracking up pretty good.  It’s a little like taking a city tour with a stand-up comedian and hecklers are welcome.  It’s an interactive fun. 

Photos- Free Walking Tour...

At the end of the tour, he stands off to the side and takes tips if you feel like it was worth the tour.  Most of the other city tour walks charge $20 and I’m betting they are not nearly as much fun.  What was even more fun about the whole thing was that at the end of the tour there were more people than what we started with.  People just joined up as we went along.  It’s well worth the $20 that I gave him, he also very willing to give tips on other things to do and where to eat in the city.

Next, I went to a “food court” in the downtown area.  It’s an open area parking lot that has been edged by these food carts that sell every kind of food imaginable.  It's like a little city of food carts that cover a block area. They are actually watched more closely by the food inspectors in Portland than the restaurants.  So thus they are safer to eat at and quite often are a better deal too.  I ordered some Thai food which there seems to be a lot of in Portland.  I had a wonderful pumpkin curry with rice. 

As I waited for my late lunch, I got to talking with another guy that was waiting for his food.  I ended up walking with him over two blocks where there was a city park we could sit down in to eat our lunches.  We visited while we ate and he gave me some suggestions for on my way to Mt. Hood.  While we were eating, I watched a homeless person start digging around in a trash can.  I made a comment and Tom, my lunch companion, said that’s Portland.  He said there was a Cop Shop over on the corner so the homeless would probably not act up or give us any problem. 

But the homeless in the area is a major problem.  They are on a lot of the corners in the downtown area by the river.  Quite often, they sleep between the river and the bike paths.  You’ll see them loaded down with their gear on bikes into the city in the mornings.  It’s sad.  Portland has the second highest unemployment rate in the country.  If you consider moving to the Portland area you should make sure you have a job first.

I walked around the city and took more pictures as I went.  I had hoped to go to the Portland Art Museum but they are closed on Mondays.  It seems like a great deal of places are closed on Mondays.  It’s like the equaling of Sundays in Utah.  Later on, when I was back in Sellwood I tried to go to a restaurant my host Jim had mentioned to me that was a 4 block walk.  But I found that it was closed on Sunday.  Instead I ended up going to a little Italian café about 5 blocks away called a Cena.  OMG!  The dessert I had at the end of a wonderful meal was to die for—Semifreddo; a frozen chocolate mousse with a warm with warm cherries!  SO Good! SO GOOD!  But I will definitely need to bike in the morning to make up for that one!

DAY 20- Chocolate, Cars, & Cheese!

I ended up staying the night at the “Hilton” of the KOA campsites.  The facilities for this KOA were deluxe and they even had a free pancake breakfast that they served in the morning at their kitchen building.  The night before, I had gone to a chocolate and wine tasting that they held at the main KOA store.  It was chocolate truffles cut up and then served with a red wine that was infused with chocolate.  It was chocolate heaven!  The wine tasted like a chocolate version of Bailey’s and was very yummy.  So yummy in fact that I bought a bottle of it and took it back to my tent site. 

Photo- My campsite at the "Hilton" KOA.

I almost drank half of the bottle while I sat at the covered picnic bench at my campsite with my plugged in computer surfing the web on my computer till it was bedtime (midnight).  Did I mention that I had a tent site where I had power and water?  It was also fenced in and rather private; too cool!

Next, after breaking camp and grabbing my free pancakes, I headed south along the coast on Hwy 101.  It was misting rather heavily most of the morning since about 7am shortly after I had gotten my camping gear packed up. (Thank goodness!)  I had asked a gal at the pancake breakfast if this was considered rain in the northwest.  “No, not yet there but it’s on its way,” she answered.

So it was some wet driving towards the south for the next 14 miles.  It never full rained but the misting got to a point of a good drizzle.  I drove about 5 miles under the speed limit because I wasn’t sure how the roads were when they were wet here.  In Utah, the roads get awfully slick when they get wet.  I think that I was frustrating some of the other drivers behind me and I took every opportunity to get over into the turn outs so they could whiz on by me.  I just didn’t want to chance it.

Photo- Car show in Seaside.

Seaside was the next town that I came to.  It’s a vibrant little community along the beach area.  They were also having some kind of hot rod car show along their main street area; only all of these cars were taking all of the parking along the street.  They also had the street closed to other cars.  It was rather fun to walk among the cars and the misting seemed to be finally waning a bit. 

But I still ended up purchasing a much needed raincoat at local store.  It’s not that I didn’t have one at all but that the one I did have was for my cycling.  It has bicycle grease on it from riding around with my bike in the back of my car.  I went to several different shops and finally found an inexpensive men’s raincoat that I liked.  I walked down to the end of the street where there was a lovely turnabout and plaza area of the town that overlooks the beach.  There were a lot of people flying kites along the beach.  T was rather fun to watch them.

Photo- The wonderful view of Cannon Beach from the south of town.

Next it was onto Cannon Beach which came highly recommended in the 1001 Places to See Before You Die book that I’ve periodically been using to help me along the way.  I lucked out and found a parking place at the end of a street just off of the beach.  I just walked over to the end of the street but didn’t go out on the beach.  I didn’t want to worry about sand in my sandals or my socks. 

Yep, I’m doing the socks with the sandals thing that is like a Utah thing.  MAN! And I used to hate that when I would see that but after living somewhere for over 20 years I guess you pick up some of the habits of the locals.  What the Heck! (Which is another Utah-ism, because they don’t say hell! They consider that swearing.  But then it doesn’t tend to hail there much either so you can’t choose to say you were using the proper word to describe precipitation either. Oh HECK!)

Photo- Cute little courtyards nested along with shops in Cannon Beach.

I walked around the main street of Cannon Beach; mainly, through some of the galleries.  I was particularly liked the art gallery in the Cannon Beach Mall called Haystack Gallery.  It had a beautiful original watercolor painting from Steve Hanks.  And another artist that I really like was Michael Schlicting who had some amazing ocean scenes done in watercolor.

Photo- A self-supported cyclist on Hwy 101.

Next, I stopped by the first viewing area just south of Cannon Beach which had a better view of the overall beach.  While there two self-supported touring cyclists I had passed earlier stopped at the viewing area too.  I talked to them for a bit.  This was their first tour of any sort and they had started in Vancouver, BC and were on their way to San Francisco where they would fly back to Ontario, Canada.  I wished them luck and when they saw my Utah plates they said that a bike tour of southern Utah was next on their list.

Photo- I took a self-guided tour.

Behold the power of cheese!  I next went to Tillamook where I took a self-guided tour of the cheese factory.  It was interesting reading about the process and then viewing some of the processing from a second floor observation area that overlooks the production floor.  Then I came back down stairs where there was an area that you could sample some of the cheeses.  I would’ve bought some cheese but I really had no way of keeping it much past the afternoon and even the smallest package was a bit much for an afternoon consumption for me.

I turned onto Hwy 6 and started heading towards Portland where I would be staying the night.  I drove through the very dense Tillamook State Forest which seemed to make a very winding road to drive on.  Then, it was on to Hwy 26 which was a double lane in each direction.  I was able to pick up some speed, and before I knew it I was near Portland.  I managed to find my way to the Sellwood area where I was renting a room for the next two nights from a homeowner that I found on the www.airbnb.com website.  A friend had given me the website to check out.

DAY 19- Longview to Longbeach & Plenty of Cars...

I left the crummy Econolodge rather early.  The weather was cloudy, overcast and looked as though it could rain at any time.  I did a quick look at the Econolodge’s  “Continental Breakfast” and opted to just have coffee.  Nothing looked good and I questioned how fresh everything was.  I drove along the Columbia River on Hwy 4, a pretty drive.  I tasted the coffee after a while and OMG; can you say bad coffee?  The person who made it must not have been a coffee drinker at all.  It was that bad!

Photo- The drive along the Columbia River on Hwy 4.

I ended up stopping at a General Store in the hamlet of Skamokawa (please don’t ask me to pronounce this name!) It was right next to a little two room post office.  I thought while I was getting a coffee I would mail a couple of postcards too.  I tried the post office and it was locked.  So I went to the General Store and talked with the clerk as I got a cup of good coffee.  I guess that the postmistress had left out on her run and would be back later in the afternoon.  I guess I’d wait on the postcards.

Photo- The General Store where I got some good coffee and directions!

I continued to talk with the clerk and discovered a cover bridge near Hwy 4 that I was on.  She gave me directions to the turn off and said that it then again looped back into Hwy 4.  It sounded great to me.  She also told me of a couple other places to check out too while in Longbeach and later in Astoria all that were on my planned route of the day.

Photo- The covered bridge.

Photo- Signage for the Covered Bridge.

I found the turn off for the covered bridge and drove 2 miles to it on a winding country two lane highway.  It was fun driving across the covered bridge.  It was dark and had a distinct nose as you drive the car over the wood planking of the bridge.  It was one of another first for me; the first time I had driven a car over a covered wooden bridge. 

It was as I was trying to get back to Hwy 4 that I ended up getting a bit lost or so it seemed.  I ended up asking a farmer that was out by the road with his pit bull mixed dog named Spud.  I thought the farmer had said Bud, when I asked the dog’s name as I went to pet it.  The farmer corrected me twice and said that his name was Spud.  The farmer had a bit of a lisp.  “Oh,” I said, “like the potato!”  The farmer just looked at me like I had two heads.  I thanked him and continued on following his directions.  I ended up back on Hwy 4.

Photos- Art along the Art Interpretive Trail at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. 

Next I stopped off at the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge just off of Hwy 4.It is tooted as being one of the most pristine estuaries in the U.S. and has over 260 square miles of water surface within its boundaries.  It has several bird and fish species; as well as Roosevelt elk, deer, river otters, bobcats, porcupines, raccoons, and black bear. I took the two hikes they have at the Headquarters: the Art Interpretive; a ¼ mile boardwalk with art displays, and the Cut Throat Climb; 2/3 mile that climbs up and down in a valley area next to a ridge.  It was a wonderful hike and just amazing that it was such a short distance from the road but you felt like it was miles.

Photo- The Cut Throat Climb Trail at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.

Then, I got out to the stretch of land that had Longbeach on it and just wandered around.  I happened to stumble into the middle of the 29^th Annual Rod Run to the End of the End of the World.  I drove by the fairgrounds area and there was a sea of fancy cars parked out on display.  There were tons of people and the road was backed up in both directions.

Photo- Backed up traffic and classic cars.

As I’m driving along, cars of all shapes and sizes are coming up in the other direction.  There were classic cars, old cars, Model T varieties, sports cars, and muscle cars; just anything you could imagine was there.  It was pretty amazing but what I thought was even more fun was watching the people on the side of the roads.  They were in chairs; whole families with their dog and kids in tow camped out with coolers and snacks.  The whole atmosphere was like the circus had come to town.  There was also a large abundance of misc. cars in all kinds of conditions that were parked along the road with for sale signs on them.

Photos- Car, car, and more cars!

I parked on a side street a couple of blocks over and I grabbed lunch; a bowl of delicious crab chowder at Captain Bob’s.  I sat down outside on a bench while I ate and also people watched.  It was all so fascinating.

Photo- Cape Disappointment.

Then, I swung by the beach for a bit.  After all, it's the longest beach being Longbeach.  Then, I moved onto Cape Disappointment about 4 miles from Longbeach.  It’s the lighthouse that served the area where the Columbia River goes into the Ocean a very treacherous area of water to navigate.  It was a short hike of ¾ mile out to the lighthouse.  I took a few pictures but now was getting to a point where I had enough sightseeing for the day. 

It was time to head on.  Off to Hwy 401, to the 5 mile bridge that crosses the Columbia River and also serves as a go between the state of Washington and Oregon.  About 2 miles out of the Washington side is when you are actually crossing into Oregon.  They have a sign above as you go through on the bridge.  Goodbye Washington and Hello Oregon!  And thus, I’ve finished one state of the lower 48.  I might need to pick up my pace a little bit now; but we’ll see.

Photo- Hello Oregon!

 

DAY 18- Mt Saint Helen's...

It surprised me but “Paradise” ended up being a very quiet night of sleeping in the tent.  I heard a bit of coyotes when I got back to my tent at 9PM but after that it was quieter than a mouse all the way to morning.  Then at 6:30AM, I felt like I was the noisy one when I took down my tent. 

The rest of the morning, I worked on writing up and addressing some postcards.  After all, the Popette** needs to know where I am since she doesn’t have access to internet.  I also have been trying to send my nephew Luke some postcards too; thinking it might make me a more interesting Aunt.  Oh, one can dream of being interesting to a 13 yr. old boy that is probably more interested in computer games.   

(**NOTE: Ms. Mary, also known as the Popette, is my 80 year old character of friend whose first in line for being the female Pope if the church ever changes their mind.)

Next, I went to the local post office to mail them.  It was a cute two room building just located a block off of Hwy 12.  The postmistress got me the stamps I needed and she hoped I didn’t mind the Disney Cars stamps that she had.  She had some of her customers complained that they were goofy.  I just chuckled and said no I don’t mind at all.  Then, she gave me my receipt and my treat as she handed it to me like she did it every day to every person that came in.  It was a fancy flavored lifesaver in a foil wrap.  It was just too precious; the small town post office.

 

It was about noonish when I finally got on the road to head to Mt. Saint Helen’s.  Jerry, the local contractor I met at the Tavern the night before, had given me a back roads direction to the Park that would save me about 35 miles.  I, also, heard from everyone at the tavern that that was the best way to go and the best place to see into the crater of Mt. Saint Helen’s.  That’s the wonderful thing about talking with the local people while I’m on this adventure; I get the inside track.

 

Photo- First damage that I saw of Mt. St. Helen's-- leftover from mudslide runs.

And the inside track worked wonderfully, I got to where I needed to be.  The first place I stopped where you could start seeing leftover damage from the 1980 blast was at Hoffstadt Bluffs where there was a restaurant and gift shop.  You could see where the mud slides had run down the North Fork of the Toutle River valley.  Most of the valley looked like ash and mud with debris from trees.  There was a small part of the river running but most of that area was dark with no vegetation at all.

 

Photo- Bridge at the edge of where Mt St Helen blast was in 1980.

My next stop was a viewing area over the largest of three bridges that were built when they put in the new highway after the blast.  It was 17 miles away and showed pictures of blow down trees from the horizontal phase of the blast.  Where that sign was standing was the edge of where that blast had occurred.  Wow, I thought.  I’m standing 17 miles away and a blast from that volcanic incident had blown down trees.  But that wasn’t all; there was still another 3 miles out where vegetation had been superheated from the blast that they died from that.  It was just mind boggling.

 

As I went further along Hwy 504, there was a small area below the Forest Learning Center where grass had been laid down in hopes to assist the large Elk population that had existed prior to the 1980 blast.  In fact, there were viewing areas to look out at the Elk who had managed to adapt to the new environment. 

Photo- Taken on the Coldwater Lake trail about how a lake is created.

 

Next, it was on to the Cold Water Recreation Center where I took the best view of the crater of Mt. Saint Helen’s can be seen from the Johnston Ridge Observatory.  That’s what the insiders told me and they were right.  At 4200’ and 6 miles away, there was a wonderful view into the crater. 

 

Photo- of Mt. St. Helens from 6 miles away.

The rangers give talks out on the patio area just outside of the building.  I got there in time to catch the end of one and then managed to do a bit of hiking around. During part of my hike, there was a woman that had a telescope pointed into the crater and you could see the steam rising from the middle section of the crater.  It was rather cool but kind of like watching a sleeping giant that you never knew when it would wake up.  But I guess that this sleeping giant is one of the best monitored in the world. 

A great deal of studying has been done with it and they are now able to monitor it by looking at seismic activity and steam color activity and be able to help predict when it will blast again.  Because I guess that it is just a matter of time.  It’s the youngest of the mountains of its type in the area and therefore the most likely to have activity.  I guess you could compare it to the teenager that is more likely to act up when they are younger than an adult.   

Photo- of me from the Johnston Ridge Observatory patio.

I caught another talk and then went to watch a 17 minute film they have in an auditorium.  All in all it’s a wonderfully informative place to visit.    I just found it all so fascinating.  Before I knew it was four in the afternoon and I needed to drive back to civilization to find a place to stay.

 

I ended up working my way south east through to Castle Rock, WA and jumped onto I-5 going south.  Shortly, after that I got off at Longview where I found an Econolodge to stay the night.  Let’s just say that I’m no longer going to consider Econolodges for places to stay.  I never heard so many arguments, doors slamming, or had so many problems with a room.