Montana traffic jam

Happy September everyone! Can you believe we are nearing the end of summer!?!?

While on our travels through the Big Hole River valley, we had to wait for the local traffic to clear at the intersection.

This is enjoyable gridlock traffic. The kind I could spend hours in, watching the world go by.

These are truly hardworking people with hardworking dogs and horses, moving their cattle to another pasture.

Legendary Big Hole River Valley

Not too long ago we decided to take a road trip to see and try our luck on another river.

World famous and one of the most popular rivers in the area is the Big Hole River and since it is so near we thought we'd spend the day exploring.

 The drive through the Big Hole valley was a beautiful drive and my photos don't do the area justice. It took us all day to make the loop, about 160 miles.


 We stopped at most of the river access points to look around and fish of course. Most access points have large parking areas, boat access, picnic tables and restrooms.

The Big Hole River is legendary, a fabulous fishery, in a scenic valley. We ended the day with dinner in Melrose and then returned to Maiden Rock to fish out the evening.

Life is a highway...

Sometimes life is a busy interstate highway ~ which we try to avoid

Sometimes life is a scenic back road ~ which we prefer

 Sometimes life is a gravel road ~ more of these if only we had a jeep

Tom Cochrane music video on YouTube

A River of Asphalt

As I drove in the rain on Highway 101 from Tillamook to Seaside, I felt I was navigating a river. The road was wet and with a lot of imagination I was on the river. I took it at a slower pace than allowed by law and pulled to the side to let the "jet boats" rip past us. There weren't many vehicles on the road; and in fact, there were more headed south and I wondered what they knew that we didn't.

I looked for color changes on the surface of the asphalt that would indicate a change in depth, like on a river. I looked for smooth, shiny places that would indicate a change in current, or water running across the road. I looked for rocky spots that would cause our land yacht to porpoise like a, well, like a porpoise. Thank goodness for those new Koni shocks, but it was still a bumpy ride.

The wind was not blowing at gale force and I was comfortable with the hills disguised as ocean swells. The bridges and tunnels were thankfully taller than our tallest "mast" although I still feel the need to crouch down a little in my seat when I see 14' clearance signs. All in all it was a good voyage and we made it to our safe harbor in time for lunch.

Say "Tillamook"

We couldn't be so near Tillamook without stopping in for a couple samples of both cheese and ice cream! We bought small blocks of smoked cheddar, habanero jack, and smoked black pepper white cheddar. The habanero was spicy good in a quesadilla.


I was going to correct the color on these photos, but thought it was appropriate for the occasion - the manufacture of cheddar cheese. They have a nice store to buy all things cheesey and a popular cafe where you can get, well, grilled cheese sandwiches and more. They have a large parking lot big enough for RV's if you're just passing through and want to visit.

The Air Museum is nearby if you are into air museums. We didn't visit, but I liked the photo with the snow in the background.

Views from the road

On our way back to the campground we stopped a few times along the road to look at the ocean.

It was getting late in the day, maybe 6 PM or so. The off-shore storms made the waves brown and foamy with the sand being churned up - we called it "broil-y".

Why would anyone shoot a lighthouse?

I get my interest in lighthouses from my mom. When she was a child her family would visit Cape Hatteras on the east coast as part of their vacation. As Rick and I have traveled along the coast we've stopped to visit the old lighthouses when possible. Some we get to go into and up the spiral staircases, some we only get to walk around the outside. When you get the chance to go up inside, take it. You see some breathtaking views of the ocean and coastline that probably won't be available forever.

We were very sad when we visited the Cape Meares Lighthouse because it was closed to visitors. We were able to visit the Oregon state park and walk to the lighthouse, but not tour the inside.

Back in January vandals shot out more than a dozen upper windows of the lighthouse and damaged the irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind, 1890 Fresnel lens. The current cost to repair the damage is more than $550,000! Two men have been arrested and charged with the crime, but it's hard to understand why anyone would shoot a lighthouse. Another senseless crime. Sad to see such a sentinel standing on the rocky coast, put there to keep ships and sailors safe, now with it's windows shot to pieces and boarded up. Sad, but worth the trip to see the lighthouse.

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_181.php

Sunday drive to Cape Meares Lighthouse

We took a drive in the CR-V north on Sandlake Road and Cape Meares Loop up to the Cape Meares Lighthouse. Not Highway 101, but the curvier, tighter, I-don't-want-to-drive-the-motorhome-here, scenic road. Of course it was a little rainy (when does it NOT rain in Oregon?) and there weren't many other people out driving in the rain. When we got to the big, empty parking lot at the end of the road there was only one other car.

There are a couple vista balconies built right at the edge of the parking lot that took my breath away! Yep, I'm a little bit afraid of heights, but the views are fantastic looking north and south at the Cape Meares coastline. You could see the waves crashing against the rocks. We walked down the paved path to the beautiful lighthouse and the ocean.













After spending time at the lighthouse we made our way back to the parking area and then we took the muddy path to the Octopus Tree. Tradition handed down by the Indians is that the eerie giant, a Sitka Spruce, is a burial tree shaped when it was young to hold canoes of a chief's family. Archaeologists have found evidence that the Indians who lived along these shores placed their dead in the trees in canoes.

Branches of a forest tree normally reach straight upward, toward the light, but those on a burial tree were forced, when young and pliable, into a horizontal position beyond which they grew upward. Once the pattern was set, the tree might grow to a great size but always kept the shape, as did the Octopus Tree. Burial trees for many years could be spotted here and there in the virgin forest. The Octopus Tree is more than 60 feet at its base. No one can tell its age without counting the rings. Some theorize it could have been a young tree at about the time of Christ, but no matter how old it is, the prehistoric tree is amazing to see.
(Details of the Octopus Tree from capemeareslighthouse.org)

Pretty neat! And more scenic vistas.A very nice way to spend a Sunday.

The Cape Meares Lighthouse has been closed for awhile and I'll tell you why in the next post.

Every Day is a Beach

I feel sort of like I'm in Montana, where we fly fish everyday and I try to find something other than fishing to talk about. But why fight a good thing.

Cape Kiwanda at Pacific City, Oregon. You can see the huge sand dunes in the distance.

No, we're not fishing, but every day we're at the ocean and there's not enough space on this blog to post all the beach pictures I take. I don't get tired of stopping to take pictures just like I don't get tired of fly fishing all summer.

More of the Oregon coast.
Just another beautiful beach.

Oregon travels

It seems my goal on this trip has been to get to the Oregon coast. As the weather got warmer we left California, leaving SoCal and family behind. We made our way up I-5 with a quick stop near Lake Shasta. That was snow-covered Mt. Shasta in an earlier post. As you drive north it just POPS into view like I'm wearing 3D glasses. It is so white against the dark forests and the blue sky. It just appears and it is amazingly huge!

We took a left turn at SR 138, then SR 38 and made a beeline for Florence, Oregon. There is a Thousand Trails Preserve there (South Jetty) and not many people at this time of year. The parks and campgrounds are much busier in the summer so spring and fall are a good time if you want to avoid the crowds. But I'm beginning to understand why there aren't many people here. With no crowds at South Jetty we choose the same site we'd had 2 years ago. It faces the morning and afternoon sun, a good idea when the temps are in the low 50's. We'd given up a few days at TT South Jetty to stay at Pacific Surf, but we enjoyed our 4 nights. Its a friendly park.

I've gotten in the habit of watching the 10-day forecast for planning travel days. We made it to Thousand Trails Whaler's Rest and had a couple of nice days to walk on the beach and through the park.

Looking again at the weather, we picked a nice day to travel an hour north to Thousand Trails Pacific City. We plan to stay in The Tillamook area for a week or so. Seems like we get 3 days of rain to every 1 sunny day. Savor the sunny days!

Newport, Oregon

This would be a nice place to take a summer vacation.

Newport, Oregon

There is a lot of history in this region and interesting sites to see.

This is a great place for local fresh seafood.

Great for fishing and crabbing.

Lots of history and interesting places to visit.

Plan a trip to Oregon!

Think about it!

Here we are! Hint #5

Beach-combing.

Scenic coastlines that go on and on.

Lighthouses on the jetty.

Driftwood.

A couple years ago I stumbled upon someone's Internet story about staying here. For 2 years I had hopes that we would be near it and able to find a way to visit.

More than a few months ago Tim Cooke, the service manager at our wonderful RV dealer, Guaranty RV, sent us a note and an invitation to stay at Pacific Surf Motorcoach Estates. Unexpected and unbelievable! We were planning our Spring 2010 itinerary and when I looked at the maps I realized that we would probably be in the vicinity. Knowing that plans can quickly change, I hesitated to make a firm reservation at my dream location. When we were a month away I sent an email to the broker, Scott, and asked about availability. He said we were early in the season and it would be very possible. When we were about 2 weeks away I looked at the weather forecast and I could see that there would be a window of sunshine between weeks of probable rain. So we rearranged our Thousand Trails reservations and picked 3 sunny and bright days to spend at this remarkable "campsite". It was wonderful and I challenge anyone to find a better view from a motorhome!

Where are we? Hint #4

"She flies with her own wings"
is the state motto.