Chimacum

From the pages of the local tourist guide to the area

 We are in Evergreen SKP park, a commercial park by Escapees the rv group we belong to. Very nice, 55+ community so very quiet. A welcome change from Ft Stevens. Today was laundry day so not touristy stuff. Instead some photos from around the park that they have decorated very nicely.

 Tomorrow brings a tour of Fort Townsend unless something changes. Speaking of Ft Townsend, remember the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman" with Richard Gere and Deborah Winger? A lot of it was filmed here.



carpe diem

Catch up videos

 We have said our sad goodbyes to Oregon and returned to Washington. This park has wifi and seems to be working so will catch up on a couple of items


 TRAVEL MAP

Peter Iredale as it looked in 1909

109 years later not much left

 I promised videos in the title, guess I lied.

Full confession time:
 On the whole I enjoy doing this blog. Some people follow along to live vicariously thru my postings, other curious about what we are up to, others just plain bored. When I have good internet speeds I can share pictures straight from camera, videos and other good stuff. When we have poor internet, the vast majority of this trip, it frustrates the crap out of me.  Think trying to upload a video and it says '1 hour 20 minutes remaining' Take a picture then shrink it by 75% in hopes it will upload. Take a high def video then dumb it down and hope it uploads. If I was not already a drinker, this would drive me to drinking. I really want to post something worthy of your time. When I look back at it a couple of years from now I want fond memories. Not a memory of losing my temper and throwing the computer out the window. I will keep trying because I am a stubborn SOB.

 Yes, I have wasted an hour trying to get stupid, short videos uploaded and I give up. Maybe another day...

 We are in Jefferson county, home to eight marijuana retail stores, two breweries, three cideries, three wineries and one distillery????

 Now factor in median household income of $44,753 for Port Townsend with median housing cost of $301,000.

 How the hell can they afford to drink and smoke?


double checking those rosebuds we have gathered...

Cape Disappointment

 Well we have been all about Lewis and Clark while here on the Columbia. Thursday we made a return to Seaside for a look around and a little shopping. Friday took us to Washington and Cape Disappointment. It was my original plan to stay in that state park but it was full when I tried to reserve. (this was last October!). As luck would have it my second choice turned out to be the better option.

 We took a little hike and visited an interpretive center. While all these various museums cover the same basic story, we manage to learn something new at each one.

 Sunday finds us moving to Port Townsend Washington on the Olympic peninsula. We will be there for two weeks before crossing into Canada.

sunset over the Columbia

 Will be glad when we once again have good internet connection...


carpe diem

A fourth of July we will never forget

2pm on July 4th, 59 degrees and starting to rain. That alone would help you remember. People up here take the fourth of July very seriously. Warrenton is a small town near us. Chairs were lined up for over a mile to watch their parade. Who was left to be in the parade? It was starting to drizzle near the beginning of their parade, otherwise we would have found a parking spot and watched it.

 As promised we spent most of the day touring history.

old Glory over Fort Stevens

some facts I had never heard of before

my pictures fail to do them justice. beautiful roses

corps home that winter. 33 people, less than 2500sqft total

old Glory over Ft Clatsup

 We ended the day on the beach of the Columbia river watching fireworks. A magical day



 Hope you enjoyed the July 4th holiday.


Let us see what today brings....


gathering rosebuds, making memories

Astoria

 A day of museums is the best  way to describe our day. A lot of history is this old seaport. Today we will try and avoid the crowds an just visit two old forts.

 As always, a couple of pitiful pictures to share

  the murals on the tower depict various scenes of the history of the area. Astoria is built on the side of the hill with roads steeper than San Francisco. And the Jeep is a standard transmission. No Mary refused to drive!

  I found this to be an interesting and surprising fact. Any number of cities I think would have been first

 160 plus steps later we made it to the top. The staircase was so tightly wound dizziness was the bigger problem for both of us

 A lot of facts summed up in one photo

 A very nice museum, well worth your time and money

 Interesting note is that there are drive thru coffee shops everywhere. Not just here in Astoria but all over the Pacific northwest.

Have a Happy Fourth of July everyone. We have jackets on, how about you?

seize the day

Yes, we are in love...

 No, not us silly! We are just two old people who put up with each other. Too late to start over now.

 We are in love with Oregon. When we first entered Oregon I said first impressions were good. Then at La Pine I said we could see ourselves spending summers there. Well we are back om the coast and the love affair continues.

 The coast highway 101 is not the best in places, but makes you forget with the scenery. If not natures beauty, then picturesque  little fishing villages and towns along the way. They look just like you would want and expect them to look. They draw your attention, make you want to stop and walk around. And yes, they are prepared to help eliminate all that excess greenbacks you have cluttering up your wallet.

 Cannon Beach is the Sedona of the Oregon coast, the place to see and be seen. Too crowded and too expensive for us. Just up the road a piece is Seaside, just as pretty but more to our liking. We will return again before the week is up.

 A few more of my terrible photos

the ONLY way to do wine tasting!

some of natures beauty

on the beach, July 2nd and she wanted my jacket as well!!

Stay tuned for more from Astoria Oregon area today.

carpe diem

Corps of Discovery

Did you pay attention in American History class back in school? I have spent the last several years trying to learn now what they tried to teach me then.

 We are camped as close as we can to where the Columbia River reaches the Pacific. A lot has happened here

 Those erstwhile explorers, Lewis and Clark and friends spent the winter of 1805 -1806 here. Fort Clatsup is a mile or so away

 June 21, 1942 a Japanese submarine shelled Fort Stevens. First time the mainland had been attacked since the war of 1812

 This area is rough, over 2000 shipwrecks along this coast.

 A very busy time ahead for us the next week

 Fourth of July, summertime, beach time. Once camped in a nylon tent over the fourth. It was a 106. As I tell people it was not Hell, but you could see it from there.

 Forecast for home lows in mid 70's, high around 104. Typical

 Forecast for here lows in 50's with highs in 60's!!! No bikinis on this beach

Weak internet/phone but at least we have TV!

Keep your fingers crossed, Ada is back in the hospital. Bronchitis...


Hopefully much more from a place far different than we are used to.


carpe diem....