Trip Memories 2 – some previously unpublished pictures

Yesterday’s post we covered the first part of our Washington trip from the Port Angeles area through La Push.  Today we start with South Beach, were I will start with a panoramic sunset…nothing like a sunset over the ocean, and we had some real nice sunsets in South Beach.

South Beach where the campsites have no boundaries, camping is cheap ($7.50 with senior discount), and the campers are as friendly as can be.

   

Where people come to walk, fish, relax and just kickback listening to the ocean, basking in 72 degree weather.

And the sunsets can be out of this world…

And we have now exited Olympic National Park…but we have the rest of the Washington Coast and half of the Oregon Coast to go…

Our next stop was at a Casino in Ocean Shores where we were surrounded by Seahawk Fans, but it gave us a chance to do laundry.  Then we had an overnighter in Long Beach (above), and all of our stops from here on out are one-night stops until we reach the Sacramento area.

Besides, after spending all that time with the Seahawk Fans, EVERYONE else looked pretty friendly.

Our next stop was in Tillamook, and we had some nice ocean views…

….and some very nice taste buds explosions.

Next we went to Newport, and on the way, Marcia was surprised that we stopped at one of her favorite Ocean views…this little waterfall to the right off-set by the motion of crashing waves all around.

Even the birds enjoyed the view….

And Newport brought our last sunset along the ocean.

On our way to Coos Bay we got a dose of reality again as to what some Ocean Days look like.  Thank goodness we had seen this area back in 2012, but it would have been nice to enjoy to its fullest again this time.

Inland we find I-5 near Roseburg, and we find a couple of covered bridges in the Tri-City area.

And although we had not encountered smoke from the fires yet, we did encounter some helicopters which are fighting the fires.

But as we get close to Medford, and on into California, the smoke is thick at times…yep, the fires are bad, real bad.

There are many reasons we choose going to Washington and visiting Olympic National Park and cruising down the ocean shores.  We had not been up into Washington like this before, we knew it would be cool, we knew it was doable in four weeks, though five or six or even seven would not have been enough to get a full feel of it all.  But high on the list was that it would get us out of the heat, and had we known that so many fires were going to blow up in the areas, staying away from the fires would have been high up there too.  Along the ocean the fire dangers were there, but not as high as east of I-5 was. Overall, we enjoyed the trip immensely, and are in awe of that which has been provided to us for enjoyment.  Next trip will be a number of week away as we spend time with family, and with mom’s surgery next week.  But something tells me that our next trip might also be along the coast…because I am fairly sure these fires will still be burning….

Long Beach Area, Washington

We drove down to the Long Beach area, just above the Oregon boarder.  It was an uneventful, and not very picturesque drive of 92 miles.  We are at the Thousand Trails Long Beach RV Campground because I knew that fellow Blogger, Nancy Kissack who writes the Kissack Adventures blog that I read very faithfully, was camping here.  We lucked out and found a spot right behind her beautiful Tiffin Phaeton that she drives pulling her Jeep.  I have high admiration for these lone female RVers, although many times Nancy does team up with another RVer to do her travels with, along with traveling with her RV club, but she really does it all on her own.  If you look very closely in the picture above there is a person walking dogs on the left in the distance…that is Nancy…she travels with two dogs, a poodle named Cooper and a Jack Russell named Jessie.

Unfortunately she had plans for dinner, but that did not stop Marcia and I from going out.  We went to Castaways Seafood Grille, and it was good.  Marcia had Cioppino while I had Fried Clams and Fries.  We shared a bread bowl of Clam Chowder, and it was all very, very good.  After two big meals in the last two days, and having shared a plum, pear and nectarine for breakfast/lunch,  having a 4:30 dinner was just right for us today.  

And Castaways is a nice, fun little place….if you don’t believe me, ask that guy in the corner there…

All along the coast of Washington we have seen sites and heard tales of the sea…the importance it is to the Indian, to the fisherman, and to the economy.  Some areas the fishing has been hard, the rivers are dried up and people wonder how the Salmon will swim up stream.  Other areas we hear they are catching their limits…with the big Salmon run coming upon the area, we sure hope they get a bunch of rain after we get out of here.

We will only be stopping one night from here on until we get to the Sacramento area.  We have traveled the Oregon Coast before, and we will enjoy it again…but it will be pretty fast.   Our next stop will be in Tillamook for a overnighter and a “cheese” stop (maybe Ice Cream too).  Planning on a stop in Newport for Tuesday, and we will be in Coos Bay by Wednesday…Thursday we head to I-5, and plan to be back in Sacramento by Saturday.