Short Visit

Our original trip plan was to continue up the Washington coast on route 101 to the Canadian border and then go east via the Lewis and Clark trail into Montana and Glacier National Park. Well, those plans have changed. We are having issues with the couple living in our home in Pa, so John made the decision that we should start east sooner. We traveled into Washington as far as Ocean City and then headed east. We stopped for 2 days at Lake Easton to dump, do laundry and get water. It was a very  nice little park.

 

We used Camp Wal Mart across Washington, Idaho, Montanna and Wyoming until we reached the Hart Ranch in Rapid City South Dakota. We are staying here for a week to make some phone calls and arragements for some unexpected issues. Two problems have popped up.... or should I say down. The dash board air conditioner freon level is down and needs more gas. In addition John's side of our sleep number bed won't stay inflated. We are trying to find places along our way across the country to have these issues addressed, soon. In between we have managed to visit  some neat places around Rapid City South Dakota.
Custer State park was my favorite so far. Here are some pics...

 

 

We sure were glad we were driving the Jeep ( not the motorhome) when we came through this tunnel. There were at least 6 of these along the route, right thru the mountains.

 

We also visited the Badlands National Park.

 

 

As soon as we receive confirmation of appointments we will be headed east again.

 

 

 

Movin on up.... the Oregon Coast

We arrived in Florence Oregon on June 20th at a Thousand Trails resort called South Jetty. The town of Florence is located on a bend of the Siuslaw River, where it turns north to flow to the Pacific. It is the northern gateway to the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, 47 miles of coastal dune habitat rich in unique plant and animal species. We spent time exploring the waterfront shops and docks, watching sea lions fish and play and the locals crab. Here is John treging over the sand dunes to the ocean.

 

We visited the Darlingtonia Gardens to see the carniverous plants that grow wild there.

We visited the Heceta Lighthouse and climped to the top to see the inner workings.

 

As we were driving thru town one day we were treated to the antics of a mother black bear trying to get her 3 cubs to the other side of the road. By the time John got his camera out and functioning we were only able to get a picture of the last one scampering across.

 

On June 20th, we moved further up the coast to Newport to a preserve called Whaler's Rest, also a Thousand Trails Resort. We ran into 2 couples who had been at the previous park with us and discovered that it is a common route for people from this area. Al and Frances Young from California told us about all the neat things to do and see like the Sea Lion caves. Unfortunately none of my pictures turned out, so I just have the memories.

Newport is the largest town on the central Oregon coast with a population of nearly 10,000. Bayfront, the older part of town, is home to Oregon's largest commercial fishing fleets. We walked the docks and smelled the fish as long as we could. We found a good place for chowder called the Chowder Bowl.

There was an aquarium that we visited, and John got up close and personal with the tide pool creatures. The colors were spectacular.

 

He also had to joke around with the sharks.

 

 

And here is the official picture of my feet in the Pacific Ocean.

 

We visited a place that Al told us about called the Devil's Punchbowl. It was neat. We arrived at low tide so we saw it empty and then watched it start to fill as the tide came in.

 

These are some kids that climped into it at low tide.

Here is the tide coming back.

We did some tidepooling (looking for sea ceatures in the pools left when the tide goes out) along the shoreline.

Our next stop was Seaside, in the northern part of the coast. We went with Bill and Pat Wheeler (the 2nd couple referred to earlier) to the town of Astoria on a day trip. Astoria is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific. We drove around to see some old victorian homes.... I think the Williamsport mansions are more impressive. We walked around an outdoor market that was very nice. A wide variety of items from fruits, vegtables, arts, crafts to flea market stuff. There is a tower in Astoria that has the history of the town engraved in the stone all the way up to the top. Pat and I walked up the 164 steps to the top while Bill and John sat on a bench.

That's Pat in the right hand corner.

 

Here is where the Columbia and Pacific meet. I took this from the top of the tower.

 

This is the bridge we need to cross to get to Washington state, our next stop.

 

On July 3rd we said goodby to Al, Francis, Bill, Pat and our Seaside next door neighbors, Ron and Cathy and headed toward that bridge and another state.