Family Travel

This morning we decided to drive the "Three Capes" scenic drive.

The name has me a little confused. When we were driving down the eastern seaboard, we learned that major headlands that jut out into the ocean enough to impact currents are often called 'Capes". Other types of headlands include penninsula's and promitories. Here in Oregon it seems that every spit of land is called "Cape" such and such? Maybe they really are 'Capes', or maybe the west coast naming schemes are just a little different, I'm not sure. Looking at our atlas however, it's hard to picture the NW coast of Oregon as having the same impact on ocean currents as Cape Cod, Cape Fear or Cape May on the east coast.

At any rate, going with the map names, our route today took us by Cape Kiwanda, Cape Lookout and Cape Meares - "The Three Capes".

First, we started by driving south a few miles from the campground to check out Pacific City. It was pretty cold and rainy out, so we didn't do much there, but I wanted to have an idea what it looked like. I softened Mom up a bit with a couple of donuts (she's not too fond of cold, damp weather). We passed this Great Blue Heron along a river that didn't seem any happier with the wind then we were.

The wind makes for more dramatic ocean shots of course, such as this one from "Anderson View Point".

On the above shot, you can slightly see three rocks in the distance. These are call Three Arches Rocks National Wildlife Refuge. We saw them again later from Cape Meares on the other side. It's hard to see from this angle, but all three rocks really do have openings in the arches. It's also hard to believe, but in the early 1900's it was considered a big sport (or entertainment?) for boats to take people around the arches so they could shoot at the nesting murres and puffins. Finally some naturalists convinced Teddy Roosevelt to declare the rocks a N.W.R. and got other legislation passed to stop the slaughter. Today, the Three Arches has the largest nesting colony of murres south of Alaska.

Back to the Capes for a moment, we had stopped at Cape Kiwanda last night also, which is a cool place but doesn't seem to consist of much more than a sand dune? The road goes past Cape Lookout somewhat inland and the only way to see the actual Cape is to hike out to it. Cape Meares is another story - you drive out most of the way to a large parking lot. It has a lighthouse, which is an easy walk from the parking lot and lots of signs about the cape including this nice little welcome area:

In spite of the nasty weather, two volunteers from the Whale Watch group were on duty (in yellow vests below) and stayed for their entire shift! And even though there weren't any whales to be sighted (we had learned before that high winds make it almost impossible to spot whale spout) - these brave folks stayed on duty and chearfully greated visitors and offered to show them (including me) some whale baleen, pictures from previous sightings and tell us about all things whale! I have developed a whole, new admirations for volunteers of all sorts!

After leaving the whale watch overlook, I headed on down to the lighthouse. While it isn't open for touring this time of year, like most of the other west coast lighthouses - it is up on a bluff and so the building isn't very tall. You can easily see the First Order Fresnel Lens just by hiking down to it. Also, this turns out to be one of only two, eight sided Fresnel Lenses with a Red glass covering every other panel - the other is in Hawaii. This creates an alternating Red/White light pattern. (Sorry the pictures are so dark, it was hard getting good shots today.)

As I hiked back up from the lighthouse (after searching unsuccessfully one more time for whales of course), I couldn't resist one more shot of the wind blowing across the waves. Interesting sight, but I'm glad I wasn't in a small boat down there!

Of course Mom was waiting in the RV during all my hiking around, so I didn't really want to leave her stranded for too long (she does have all the comforts of the RV, but still) - but there was one more sight I had to check out. Cape Meares is also home to the Octopus Tree! This is a giant, old Sitka Spruce that has just been deformed over the years by all the rough coastal weather. Each of the six candelabra limbs is about 12 feet around and some extend out about 30 feet from the base before turning upwards. The base of the tree is about 50 feet around (in circumference).

Mom may have been getting a little bored in the rig, but she was really glad I got the pictures of the Octopus Tree since she'd been a little curious about this also (not enough to brave the weather, but curious). I was dressed OK for the weather so was fine, but was also ready to stay warm and dry for awhile, so we headed back out on the road towards Tillamook.

Yes, we have gone in a circle again and returned to where we were yesterday - Tillamook! However, today we decided to visit the Pioneer Museum, having already visited the Cheese Factory yesterday. Ah, the places we go in search of campgrounds (and scenic routes). Anyway, back to the Pioneer Museum. Are you ready for a surprise?

Think back to all those beaches we didn't visit in Florida because the local communities didn't allow any RV parking near their beaches. Look what we drove up to right across the street from the main entrance to the museum! Not "No RV Parking", not "RV Parking OK", but "Recreational Vehicle Parking Only" (emphasis added, ho, ho)

RV Parking Only - Oregon is rapidly becoming my new, favorite RV'ing state!

Pioneer Museum - this may be a little misnamed. They do start out with a "Steam Donkey" outside - one of the earliest attempts to mechanize hauling lumber during the timber days of early Oregon (and WA for that matter).

Inside the Museum were also lots of displays about the pioneer days. Upstairs however (without any photos by me for some reason) was a very large room with display's about natural history - stuffed birds mostly. It was all very educational and informative, signs about what was what and why. If you had a few weeks to study this room, you'd probably come away very well informed. A small room off to the side also had displays about rocks, what they look like before & after polishing, where they're found, etc. Again, very well marked and described. (I did take some pictures here, but thought better about uploading them - pictures of rocks just didn't seem worth showing off.)

Finally, on the first floor and basement were lots of displays about how folks lived in early Oregon (e.g. Pioneer Days). We've seen rooms set up as in earlier era's, what make this one interesting was the information. A book was set up in this room with a diagram showing every object in the room and a list describing the objects.

Unfortunately, this was the only room they had documented this thoroughly - but my guess is they'll keep working on it until more of their exhibits are as well described. They did have a kitchen set up for display also. I'm not sure why it was behind glass but it was.

In the basement were several old vehicles actually used in this area. The first one seems to be missing it's top, but it's a 1906 Stagecoach. The next one, a 1902 Holsman is an automobile, not a buggy (but it looks more like one). It wasn't very powerful, whenever they had to go uphill, the passengers had to get out and help push it! Finally, there is a 1909 Buick - to have any of three of these would make any museum proud!

There were more exhibits tucked around different corners in the basement. They were all interesting, but not as well organized or marked as the ones upstairs (I wonder if these exhibits can get promoted to higher levels if they behave themselves and improve their signage?) Anyway, here is an interesting collection of washing machines from different era's. I'll spare you my photo of the horse bits...

Of course by the time I got back upstairs from the basement, Mom had already finished going through the Museum and the gift shop and was more then ready to hit the road. (I seem to take longer in these sorts of places, maybe it's the camera?)

The next stop was Rockaway Beach. We saw this on the map and I thought with a name like that, it had to be a cool beach for rockhounding - Not! This is what we found, more like Cape Kiwanda (I forgot to mention it had a brand new set of Condo's overlooking the Sand Dune):

So we just kept heading north on Hwy 101. My goal was to get to the general area of Fort Clatsop tonight so we could tour it in the morning. We had a little time, so when I got to Arcadia Beach I decided to go ahead and check it out. I picked up a few more agates there as well as some petrafied wood. Having way too much fun beachcombing - even in the rain.

There isn't any camping at Fort Clatsop, so Mom checked the atlas and found Fort Stevens State Park, near Fort Clatsop (Lewis & Clark Pacific NW Winter HQ) and Astoria. Surprisingly, the Rangers Station was still open even though it was 30 minutes past the posted closing time. They still had space although there were a lot of campers here in spite of the lousy weather. It turns out Fort Stevens is one of the most popular state parks in Oregon! In the summer it's often booked up well in advance, but more on that tomorrow.

It was very cold and rainy most of the day, so Mom wasn't interested in doing too much, but she enjoyed the Pioneer Museum in Tillamook. We also played some rummy cubes tonight, so I think that perked up Mom a bit (as well as the hot cocoa).

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 105, Cumulative -19,383
Camped at Fort Stevens State Park, near Astoria (Full Hookups, no charge for Showers, what's not to like?)

Provisions: Gas $46.38 for 12.886 gallons at 129,174
Donuts at Pacific City...

We left Salem Monday morning. On our way out, but not too far from my Uncles house, is an interesting ranch so I stopped to take a picture. They take care of bactrian Camels for zoo's. It seems the Zoo's have trouble breeding this type of camel (the ones with two humps) because they are native to cooler climates (like Western Oregon). This ranch has provided a place where the camels can breed effectively. So here you are just driving down the road near the state capital, and what do you see?

We then navigated through downtown Salem with only a minor hitch, and drove over Hwy 22 to the coast, stopping at a couple of places briefly. One of these was a State Park called Fort Yamhill. This sounded interesting so I thought we might give it a look, however, it turned out there wasn't much to look at but beautiful scenery and some interpretive signs. Again we are learning things about our history that somehow got overlooked in the history books.

After white settlers started arriving in western Oregon in the 1850's, Native American's in the area succumbed to the newly arrived diseases in large numbers, in some areas as many as 70% of the Natives died. Those that survived weren't exactly appreciated by the white settlers and conflict became the norm. The Willamette Valley Treaty was signed in the mid 1850's, which required the Native American's to move to the Grand Rhonde Reservation.

Fort Yamhill was built in 1856, along with several other Forts in western Oregon, to keep the white settlers and Native Americans apart - to enforce the line separating the reservation from the white areas. Many of the officers who served time at Fort Yamhill went on to serve as generals during the Civil War. The Army abandoned Fort Yamhill in 1866. Most of the buildings were sold and moved, today the park consists of the site, paths and interpretive signs.

Without any buildings, there wasn't too much to see here - so I took pictures of the interpretive signs and we headed on towards Tillamook. First we passed the Tillamook River and some beautiful scenery of the Oregon coastal areas - they get a lot of rain and mist, so everything is really green.

As we drove on towards the town, we passed this lovely dairy along the river. I don't think I'd mind being a dairy cow here.

We got to the Tillamook Cheese Factory about mid afternoon. Outside the main building is a full scale replica of the first ship built in Oregon, the Morning Star. It was built by the local farmers to ship their butter to Portland.

This factory has over one million visitors a year, but it is primarly a cheese (& Ice Cream) factory. While we were there, several large tank trucks pulled in to offload milk for processing.

Like the Cabot Creamery we visited back in Vermont, Tillamook Creamery is a cooperative, it is owned by 150 dairy farms in the area. Inside the main building, you can take a 'self paced' tour of the creamery. This consists of some rooms set up with exhibits about cattle and the milk industry, cheese and the history of the Tillamook Creamery operations in Oregon.

One of the signs listed the different kinds of dairy cattle, the farmers choose what kind of cattle he/she wants to manage based on his/her own preferences. These are Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Dutch Belted, Guernsey, Holstein and Jersey. Another sign pointed out that over 1/2 the cost of a gallon of milk goes to feed for the cows!

Upstairs is a long room with glass windows that overlook the main areas where cheese is processed. This is basically what the tour consists of, wandering around watching the process through the windows. There are also computer kiosks around where you can learn more about the process and cheese in general.

After looking at all that cheese being made, of course we had to stop at their cheese store. Mom also did some damage at the gift shop, but somehow I managed to escape with nothing more than a squashed penny.

I had made reservations at a membership camground down near Pacific City, so down we headed. Once we got checked in, we drove over to Cape Kiwanda to check out their sand dune.

The beach was nice, but it was getting a bit chilly and Mom wanted to get some rest, so we headed back to but the RV to bed for the night (e.g., plug in and such). There was also a beach across the highway from the campground, so I decided to check it out while Mom (or the RV) rested. On the way, I made friends with one of the many semi wild rabbits living there. The look like easter bunny's that just found a new home here - I don't think these are naturally wild rabbits. But it was fun giving it some of my carrots.

From there it was a fairly short walk to the beach. Some folks told me there were a lot of fossils on this beach. I don't know if this is one, but it was a really interesting looking rock. Some of these holes are over an inch across, so the rock was a bit too big to try to bring home, a picture will have to do.

Finally, I hung out long enough to see the sunset - not bad at all.

Plan is to head north again today, probably visit Fort Clatsop (Lewis & Clark replica of fort they built to winter over near Astoria, Oregon). There are a couple of other Lewis & Clark sites along our route, so we'll probably try to visit them also.

No internet signal again last night (I am impressed with how remote so many area's of our country still are!).

Later...

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 121, Cumulative - 19,279
Camped at TT RV Campground, Pacific City, OR

Provisions: Gas $30.00 for 8.931 gallons at 129,055 in Salem
Cheese, Cheese and some more Cheese at Tillamook

We've been enjoying our visit with my Uncle Bill and his wife Gen (for Genevieve). They live just outside of Salem, Oregon in this nice ranch style home.

Saturday Gen had a previous engagement so Bill took us to see the Salem Carousel.

The top of the carousel has wood carvings with scenes from around Oregon. I don't know who picked the colors, but they are quite unusual and very beautiful.

The horses are a work of art, each one is unique and has a special name.

I was really impressed with the detailed carving also. Did you know they even offer classes in how to carve carousel horses! Of course, it helps if you live in Salem...

At first, neither Mom nor Uncle Bill wanted to ride the Carousel, so we just looked around a bit and visited the gift store. Then just as we were leaving they changed their minds - so off we rode! Some people just never grow up

!(Hopefully I'll upload some video of this at some point...)

Then Uncle Bill took us to the Deepwood Estate. There are several historic homes in Salem, but he feels this is the most interesting one. It also happens to have a some of his work - such as the spindles on the handrails. (I wonder why he wanted to pose here?)

First, we couldn't help but notice the gardens, which are almost more famous than the home. In fact, there was a special spring tour going on when we visited - only for the gardens.

Fortunatly, the house was also open for tours. We were the only people in the house tour but our tour guide was very nice and loaded with information. The house was built in 1894. In 2002, Sunset Magazine named it one of the top four historic homes to tour in the West! There is a surprising amount of stained glass in the house and of course, lovely woodwork. Unlike most homes we've toured, you are allowed to sit on the chairs! (... and don't miss that door hinge - who decorates door hinges like that!)

On the way back to Bill & Gen's place, we passed by the old Salem Train Depot. However it has been restored recently, so hardly looks old anymore!

Later while Mom was resting, I took some time with Bill, then with Gen to fill out some more information about their family history. I still have a fair amount of work to do on this, but the family tree project has a few more twigs on it (Uncle Bob did most of the work, but maybe I can add a twig or two?)

We then went out to eat at the Marco Polo Global Restaurant, interesting in that they offer different menu's depending on what style of food you want from Asian to European, get it, Marco Polo?

Saturday, the weather was actually fairly decent, so of course I waited until Sunday to try to take pictures of the birds who frequent one of the thousands of bird feeders they keep up (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration there). With Mom's help and Sibley's, we were able to identify most of them - the last one of a small grey bird eluded us. If you know what it is, please post a comment and let me know - we really tried hard to find it in Sibleys! (ps - I have a couple different angles, if it would help I could post more shots or email them to you?)

Of course, we also saw a couple of other common animals, which isn't surprising because Bill & Gen surround their house with feeders & food, although this deer seems to prefer the bird seed.

While it was cold and rainy most of Sunday, we got to see/meet another long lost cousin - Denise. She and her husband Ken and Cale (Mom thinks it's Kale) came over for a short visit.

Bill showed Ken around his shop where Denise is helping Bill build a new canoe (smaller & lighter then the one he gave me).

I also enjoyed seeing this antique treadle band saw out there!. Watch out for woodworkers, who know's what they've got stashed out under their sawdust!

Mom and Uncle Bill always seem to have a good time when they get together, Gen and I try not to get in their way too much (I think Gen's better at it then I am though).

Tomorrow we're heading back to the coast again and will continue our journey northward, stopping at least at Tillimook, Fort Clatsop, and who knows where...

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 0, Cumulative - 19,158
Camped at Bill & Gen's near Salem, OR

Provisions: Dinner at Marco Polo (I had to contribute something?)

The campground we stayed at last night was only about 20 miles south of the Oregon Sea Lion Cave. This is a large coastal grotto that Sea Lions use, sometimes with as many as 200 sea lions in it. I didn't count how many were there today, but there were a lot. The cave is privately owned and is the largest sea cave in the America, and one of the largest in the world. The floor covers about 2 acres (flooded) and the ceiling is about 125 high.

You start at a gift shop at the top. Out back is a nice statue of, what else, Stellar sea lions!

From the overlook behind the statue, I could see sea lions swimming in the surf below. I guess sometimes they like to rest inside and sometimes they like to play outside - just like us.

From there, you hike down to the top of an elevator that takes you down to the cave. Here is the trail between the gift shop and top of the elevator.

When you get to the bottom, you are in the cave. They ask you not to use Flash photography so you don't disturb the animals. It's pretty dark inside, but this gives you an idea of what it's like (it is a cave afterall). The first shot is a 'full view'. You can also see the opening at the far end of a smaller tunnel that also leads into the cave.

This is a slightly closer shot of the rock pile at the back of the cave.

And finally, a closeup of a bull sea lion on a rock on the near side (which is as close as I could get with my zoom).

I stayed in the cave quite a while taking pictures, tried to take some video also, but mostly just enjoying the sea lions.

Also before leaving the overlook outside the gift shop, I took a long distance shot of the lighthouse at Heceta Head. It's probably a good thing I did because when we drove by it later, the road out to the lighthouse was closed, so this is as close as I was going to get today.

I also planned to try to make it to my Uncle Bill's near Salem and wasn't sure how long it would take, so tried not to stop too often (it was also quite cold and sometimes rainy, so Mom really didn't want to stop too often if it meant she had to get out). However, a little farther north from Sea Lion Cave, we stopped at a place called Seal Rocks. We didn't see any seals while we were there, but we did see a couple of other interesting things. First was in the parking lot was another couple who had come out to collect rocks on the beach (maybe I'm not the only one with rocks in my head?). The wife went back out to the beach to look for agates while her husband and I compared 'treasures'.

Perhaps more interesting is what was going on in the surf. The rain had blown away and the wind was celebrating. The surf was hitting the rocks so hard it seemed to be exploding. I took a lot of pictures and video, it might be hard to tell from this but this rock is probably 15 to 20 feet tall.

In Newport, we turned east to head to Salem. Newport is the home of the Oregon Aquarium - we've visited this before and it's probably worth the look, but since I was trying to make tracks we just drove through today (May come back this way after leaving Salem however, we'll see). Mom was able to get a picture of the bridge while I drove - several of the Oregon bridges we've crossed are rather scenic but have no pullouts for taking pictures before you cross them!

The drive across Hwy 20 between Newport & Salem was lovely and wasn't difficult in the RV (wasn't sure what to expect, some of the routes across the Oregon coastal mountains can be quite rough). We got to my Uncles house faster then I'd expected, so had plenty of time to visit this afternoon. Uncle Bill is Mom's younger brother and they love getting together and cracking jokes and telling stories about their childhood, some of which might be true.

Aunt Gen came home from work a little later and took us all out to eat at McGrath's Fish House. This is a local establishment, but was quite large and very good. We are just eating way too good on this trip!

Not sure how long we'll be in Salem, probably until Monday morning - then head back over to the coast and continue our journey north from there. Mom isn't sure why we just don't take a more northern route back to the coast from Salem, but I'm thinking we drove up the coast all the way from Border Field SP in SW California, why not continue from where we left off so we can see the entire coast route from Border Field SP in CA to Cape Flattery, WA?

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 146, Cumulative - 19,158
Camped at My Uncle Bill's house in Salem, Oregon (Live is rough, no?)

Provisions - Gas $40.00 for 12.015 at 128,906

Again with the slow internet connection, but that's not why I'm again falling behind on the blog, more just plain laziness (or writing burnout?) Either way, same affect...

Tonight I sorted and repacked all the rocks & stuff I collected while beachcombing. Maybe got a handful of agates, but mostly quartz. That's OK, but not sure what I'll do with it. I think Mom would like to bury me under a pile of rocks. However she got into the spirit a bit and made the big killing of all the beach combing - she found a dime!

Also when we got up this morning at the Harris Beach campground, we got really lucky for a change. For the last several weeks, I've been trying to get a nice picture of a Steller Blue Jay, which are quite common in the Pacific. So far however, my efforts were pretty unsuccessful. So imagine my surprise when just outside the RV door, maybe 4 feet from me and my camera, was this fellow who even stayed relatively still and maybe even posed a little bit! Maybe the birds are finally reading the blog (just kidding of course, but I actually had to zoom out to get all of him...)

It was quite cold and rainy today, even hailed a bit. At least there was no snow on Hwy 101 as the radio said there was further east on I5. Maybe we should have stayed south a couple weeks longer? I did take Mom down to the beach, but it was so wet and windy, she refused to get out of the RV, that is until she found it surrounded by seagulls, then she couldn't resist using up some of our excess bread to warm them up a bit. I braved the elements a bit to enjoy the beach a bit more and took a few more Oregon coast shots. (This was about 10 AM, so you can see how dark the storm makes it look.)

Also, notice the creek running into the Pacific Ocean in this shot, also at Harris Beach State Park.

And of course, the windy weather can create some fantastic surf shots - so bad weather can be good (although Mom may not agree with me).

A little bit farther up Hwy 101 we drove over the Thomas Creek bridge, which is the highest in OR. I decided to try to get a better shot of the bridge, so turned around (driving back over the bridge to the parking lot to the south of it) and tried hiking down part of the coast trail, not too successful as every shot I tried was screened by trees. Mom didn't know why I was gone so long, so started out to look for me. Fortunately, she just walked as far as the second parking lot - she didn't try going down any of the trails. I've decided I need to be more explicit about how long she should wait before starting to worry - e.g. If I'm not back by 1 PM... Maybe there's some trip fatigue setting in, she didn't seem to worry as much when I took off on a hike earlier in the trip (Idaho seems to come to mind, but maybe she did and I've just forgotten.)

As long as I'd hiked down so far to try to see the bridge better, I took advantage of the position to get more shots of the coastline and the beach at the bottom of Thomas Creek.

A little bit further north of Thomas Creek, we passed a small cascading waterfalls at Reinhart Creek. My waterfall shots were too screened by underbrush and trees to bother to upload, but the coastline shot came out pretty nice. Also I'm beginning to see a pattern as we get further into Oregon where there is a lot more underbrush along the coast, more like WA then CA. You can also see the odd weather we had today, mostly overcast and raining, but occasional sun breaks such as here.

I seem to be posting a lot of shots of the coastline here, but of course that's what the big attraction is - the coastline! So one more, the turnout was for "Spruce Island", which was a different larger rock then the one I liked. However it was my camera, so I took a picture of the one I liked (which may or may not be Spruce Island, but probably isn't).

Turns out the SW Oregon coast is good for growing Myrtlewood trees (bushes in other areas?) These are popular for woodworking as it is a very hard wood and can have a beautiful grain. Of course, I had to buy a couple of items at some of the ever present gift shops.

I spent so long at the beaches and the weather was so unpleasant that we skipped the lighthouses and sightseeing in 'quaint coastal towns'. We had to stop for the Oregon Sand Dunes however, even if only briefly. Mom collected some sand for her friend while I took a picture of an old familiar friend. Well not to mislead you, but I mean Western Skunk Cabbage. This grew in abundance across the road from my previous home up in Lynnwood, WA. It is fairly common in wet, marshy areas - now in Oregon we are beginning to see it fairly often.

There was a nice overlook for the Oregon Dunes, but it required climbing a lot of steps, so Mom waited in the RV while I got this shot. It was raining, but also windy - if you look closely you might be able to see the blowing sand? Note that this is only a very small portion of the dunes - we drove through them for miles, both today and again tomorrow. These are the largest area of sand dunes in the U.S. and extend over about 40 to 50 miles long and as much as 2.5 miles inland.

We are camping in Honeyman State Park, in the sand dunes and just south of Florence - about 1/2 up the Oregon Coast (Hwy 101). Our plan is to drive on to my Uncle Bills in Salem, arriving either Friday night or sometime on Saturday. We'll visit their until Monday morning, then drive north again - probably along the coast.

I will someday get this caught up - but almost positive some of it will be after we get home... Lots of great pictures (or at least pictures) to upload yet...

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 154, Cumulative - 19,012
Camped at Honeyman State Park in the Oregon Dunes!