Author: Leah

I love lighthouses, well, I enjoy visiting them, I doubt I’d survive living in one for more than a day. Near point Destruction we visited North Head lighthouse.We had an unusual bright sunny day.This time we skipped the paid tour, I already know about Fresnel lights and how they changed the industry. Of course, these days, lighthouses are a reminder of an older time, before GPS and up to date weather and terrain forecasts.

We then drove through the towns of Cosmopolis and Aberdeen. No I didn’t take any pictures, it was rather depressing. Clearly their heyday was long ago. Once again, along the main street of Cosmopolis I saw lovely old commercial buildings from the early 20th C.  But trade and business have moved elsewhere. There was even less to see in Aberdeen.                     The Western coast of the Olympic peninsula is empty and desolate.  A few towns along Grey’s Harbor, then large portions of the Olympic National Forrest and Indian reservations.  This area receives 12 feet of rain a year!  We happened to drive through on a sunny day but we did stop to take a walk in the rain forrest.The soil up here must be much more acidic than what we have in CA. No matter how much acid I add to my hydrangeas, they are never this blue.I love a good camera, I’m learning the ropes and I even managed to capture this butterfly.Mushroom like growth and ferns.We stopped at a few of the beaches but were too lazy to hike down, or should I say, we were concerned about climbing back up.Love the rugged coast line.Other people have more stamina than we did.

We drove close to 200 miles and by the time we arrived at our motel in Forks we were ready to stop and rest. No pictures, I haven’t read or seen the Twilight series so had no idea how important this town is. To me, it was the only place that had a motel for the night. Good thing I booked ahead of time, the ‘town’ was completely booked up, some bikers who hadn’t made any plans were turned away and had to go back to Port Angeles for lodging.

The motel was clean and comfortable, the food was awful. So the next morning we got up early and drove the 70 miles to Port Angeles for a nice crepe breakfast with good coffee.A park and mural in Port Angeles.  Not as sad as Forks, there is a ferry that leaves often for Victoria BC, just half an hour away. So they do get some business coming through.Putting Joel into a mural Once again, we didn’t go down to the beach but enjoyed seeing the early morning fog make it’s retreat from the coastline.Old spinning wheel at Sequim’s farmer’s market. Yes, the woman is spinning, this old beauty isn’t only for show.

Sequim is lovely, the geography is such that they get a lot more sunshine than most of Western WA. Therefore a lot of people retire here and enjoy a great standard of living. It really is an adorable town, with lovely rolling hills around it. We visited the local Saturday’s farmers market, enjoyed some cute shops (including a quilt store) and spoke to people who just raved about their town.

From there, onto Port Townsend.

Leah

We left the Columbia Gorge and headed north west.  On advice of our friends in Astoria, we took the 5 Fwy up into Washington and backtracked into Oregon. Either way, Astoria is isolated out on the northwestern point of the state.

What once was a vibrant port town is now a sleepy, funky area.This is the most common sight, The Astoria-Megler Bridge. Probably the original bridge to nowhere, it goes across into the Olympic peninsula. Today it gets a lot of use, but probably not enough to justify it’s cost, or the cost of constant upkeep. (notice the white huts – they are repainting there). It is very clear to see why this is now the symbol of the town.What used to be a bustling port, fisherman and fur trading town is now simply a ‘holding tank’ for the large cargo ships from Asia. These are waiting for an open berth at either Vancouver WA or Portland OR.The original Hotel Astoria, an eight story Beaux Arts building is one of the tallest buildings on the Oregon coast. Built in 1923, it is a symbol of a busy prosperous town. Another claim to fame is that an antenna on the roof in 1948 is the birthplace of cable television. An ingenious resident figured out how to get reception from Seattle and run a cable to his own home. Of course friends and neighbors wanted in on the invention.

As Astoria declined, the hotel closed and the town declined as well. In 1984, the vacant building went through an adaptive reuse process and reopened as low income apartments

Aside from the bridge, the big landmark in town is the Astoria Column.   Vincent Astor, great-grandson of John Jacob Astor (for whom the town is named), in conjunction with the Great Northern Railway commissioned and built this town. Based on Trajan’s column in Rome, this tower commemorates important dates in Oregon history. The nascent Cable TV antenna moved here as well.  Inside are 164 spiral stairs, yes I climbed them, despite my fear of heights.  The climbing wasn’t bad, the observation deck was a little more difficult for me.No way would I lean out over the railing like these people did!!  It was a very windy day, many people came up with little bolsa wood airplanes and sent them soaring down. Most caught the breezes and gracefully glided down, some quite a distance away. The view from the column

Then it was on to Fort Clatsop the final stop for Lewis and Clark on their expedition. One thing I learned there is that Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacajawea, led a very interesting life, unlike his mother, who died young after returning from the trail.

We took a lovely walk out to the Netul River TrailThe pilings are the remnants of a busy industrial port that fell into disuse. Today it has been reclaimed by nature and is part of the park. Throughout Astoria you see more old unused piling than any active sea port.

After a lovely dinner, we walked along the pier to watch the sunset.A beautiful end to a wonderful day.

 

Leah

We left Portland and headed east into the Columbia Gorge.  Our first stop – Multnomah Falls.All one waterfall. We got there early enough so that the bridge had no one on it. 20 minutes latter, it was packed with people.

We took the challenge and hiked the mile and a half to the top. We were told there are 11 switch-backs, there were more like 15. Here’s the view from the top.No I didn’t lean over the edge of the railing to take a picture of the falls, fear of heights!        But as a Californian starved for water, even a small fall in the river is worth taking a picture.

Then it was on to Hood River Or. We spent two nights at a lovely BnB.Hood River is the windsurfing capitol of the world.  Now joined by Kite surfers.

We went on the Fruit loop about 30  local farms have created a map  and gave it this wonderful name.  We stopped at about 5 of them and tasted  peaches, hard ciders and a loganberry pastry.I’m a sucker for a large hanging basket of flowers.Love the arrangement of the chairs.Unfortunately the Glassblower was closed.  In the distance you can see Mt. Adams in WA.Lavender fields with Mt. Hood as the backdrop.In the evening we sat on the deck and watched the sunset over Mt. Adams. The red is due to a local forrest fire, which we saw the next day.Took this from the car, yes, it was very close to the highway. We did see helicopters collecting water in the river and dropping it on the fire.Hiking on Mt. Hood, well, actually taking a leisurely walk.Which necessitated a little rest behind the lodge.

Our next stop was a total surprise out in the middle of nowhere.  The Maryhill Museum.An Italian style mansion in the middle of the desert.Complete with gorgeous lawns and gardens.And an incredible view of the Columbia.

The art was nice, completely out of character with the area. The locals love this place, understandably so.  An island of culture. They recently added a new wing and have many local events here.  This is one of the things I love so much about traveling in America – you really have no idea what is around the next bend in the road.

Leah

Had a wonderful 10 day vacation in the Pacific Northwest. So now I really have a lot to share, starting with Portland.Yes, obligatory photo op.  Portland is weird, in a very nice way. We took a tour on this pedicab, our driver (and photographer) was quite the aging hippy. What we experienced that was so unusual was hot sunny days.

The line of people waiting for a donut, I took pictures, do not need the calories or the carbs.I do like the neon sign they have.It was fun to see one of these brewcycles, this was early in the evening, I wonder what they looked like by the end?Saturdays and Sundays in the summer this place is packed.One of the many bridges over the Willamette river. I would love to see the center ‘elevator’ section go up. I can clearly see the counterbalances on both sides.

If you know me by now, I love architecture and Portland has some good examples.Recently refurbished Union Train station. We  didn’t go inside, but the outside is lovely, I’d say late Victorian.

Beaux- Arts are very well represented.As is industrial Art Deco.Wonderful old water tanks on the roofs.A fabulous mosaic owl on the floor of a store. Today they sell wonderful handmade items.  This used to be part of the West Coast chain of Pharmacies – Owl. One can find all kinds of relics of this chain up and down the coast.After the Vanderbilt’s  built the largest private home in America in Ashland NC, the name Biltmore came to mean elegance and wealth. We have a lovely Biltmore Hotel here in downtown LA, this looks like an older, simpler example.This sign is clearly from the days when no one cared about anything PC. We have a Chop Suey sign in little Tokyo, I guess that was a common name for a Chinese restaurant, what isn’t common is “Hung Far Low” that seems to be the punch line to a joke.A few of the 700 food stands. No, we didn’t eat there – there is no where to sit and I do enjoy our food trucks in LA, but lets be honest, I’m sure there is good food to be found here,  but there is only so much one can do with  a tiny little kitchen.This is Portlandia – no one ever sees here cuz she is up on the 5th floor of a rather ugly 1980’s building. No one ever looks up.I preferred these two elephants in one of the many green parks.

It is also very important to look down, this is a common sight that no one really sees.And here is the real thing

To prove that this is indeed the city of Roses, we went to the Rose Test Garden.  We were very lucky that the garden was in full bloom.

We also ate good food, enjoyed good beer and saw other wonderful sights, then it was on to the Columbia River Gorge.

Leah