Days are starting to run together for us. I have to write each day or I wouldn’t be able to sort out events. I have enjoyed traveling across the country and seeing new things. After a time, it all starts to look alike. Once you have seen a rock, you have seen a rock. I wouldn’t be one who would be happy sitting in a campground somewhere for months at a time like the snowbirds do down home. I have to be on the move every few days. Darlie and I both seem to know when it is time to move on.
Some of the people you meet make the trip special too. Today we met two couples from Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. We had all stopped at an overlook to view the “haystack”. One of the ladies offered to take our picture together. Many people along the way have done the same and we have reciprocated.
Haystack Rock
One of the couples were driving a Toyota Winnebago class c camper. It was in very nice condition. We have seen many vintage RVs up in the northwest. They all look in very good condition.
I asked them about their unit. They bought it on ebay from a guy in Pennsylvania a year ago. It is a 1993 with only 40,000 miles on it. They were very proud of their purchase. They told of flying from Vancouver to Pennsylvania to pick it up and their trip back across the country in it. They were like parents bragging about their children.
They said they got about 19 miles per Canadian gallon. USA would be 80% less as the Canadian gallon is larger. The other couple traveling with them had a diesel pickup towing a new 5th wheel. They said they got 21 mpg Canadian. Impressive being we get only 7.5 to 8 with our bread truck.
This big rock had a hole through it and the waves came right through.
We visited for quite some time. They wanted us to go up to Vancouver and tour that area. We told them nothing was out of the program and we might just do that.
They said if they were headed home they would invite us to stop in for a beer. It was a nice offer of hospitality. We all said our goodbyes and were on our separate ways.
Oregon is a beautiful green state. Everything is so neat. You don’t see any junk lying around. Homes are neatly kept. We had one final thing I have always wanted to visit. I am an American history buff. I have read about the Oregon Trail, the mountain men and the Lewis and Clark expedition. Fort Clatsop is on our way. It was the winter quarters for Lewis and Clark over the winter of 1805 - 06.
The fort itself is a reconstruction as the old one has long rotted away. It has been constructed from the drawing the expedition made. Its location is very near where the original fort stood.
The visitor’s center had movies running every hour that depicted the trip across country as well as life at the fort. The woodlands surrounding the fort look much they did when Lewis and Clark visited here. I stood by a very large douglas fir tree that would have been alive when the men were cutting logs for the fort. It was probably spared because it would have been too small 205 years ago to be used. It was there though. Watching over all the activities as fort life that winter took place beneath its limbs. I wish it could tell me the story of what it witnessed.
The museum had displays of tools, clothing, weapons, dugout canoes, and other things that related to life at that time. When these men set out on this adventure, no one back home thought they would ever see any of them again. It was like man going to the moon but even more unknown.
How would you like to lug this thing around?
One group of men from the expedition were assigned to the salt camp. It was located about 15 miles away on the coast. They used large pots, drift wood and sea water to make a supply of salt for the camp and for the return trip. It was a very slow process but it was vital work.
After leaving the fort we drove through Astoria. That was the location on the Columbia River where John Astor sent a group of men to establish a fur trading post. It was one of the first settlements on the Pacific coast. It was instrumental in the procurement of the northwest for the USA. That is another story.
At Astoria we crossed over the Columbia River. It is a very high bridge. I don’t like high. A freighter was passing beneath it as we were going over it. My eyes were glued to the road. Darlie was happily snapping pictures.
We drove out to Cape Disappointment. So named because of the difficulty in entering the mouth of the river from sea. I guess there were some pretty disappointed sea captains over the years.
We are camped at Cape Disappointment State Park. It is a very large park right on the ocean. Darlie and I took a walk out to the beach bundled up as usual. People were swimming and doing other beach things. The day is overcast and cool.
There was another lighthouse out there for Darlie to take 50 photos of. Some people were playing with their dogs in the water. Every time I see them playing I get homesick for my Buddy. I miss my dog. She would have loved some aspects of this trip and hated others. She would have loved the water.
We walked to the other end of the beach where the lighthouse was. A mist began coming in from the sea. It was not rain or fog. Just a mist. It ever so slowly soaked our clothing. We headed back to the MH. We had failed to take note of where we came out on to the beach. The beach is piled high with large logs and other driftwood. It all looks pretty much alike. After some trail and error we finally found our way to the campground.
We put a pot roast in the pressure cooker. We have settled in for the night. We don’t have a clue where we are going in the morning but the adventure goes on.
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