So we woke up on Seattle today and it wasn't all that bad. Sleeping as strangers in a stranger's house is weird, but at least we could shower and get going without having to pack up our tent. The 'kitchen' provided for us (I think it was the first electric toaster ever made) some delicious toast that Gord gobbled up quickly and we were out the door before Gizmo the cat could say 'Bob's your uncle'. We stopped at a grocery store to get mama some coffee, topped up the Jetta, and headed South.
We jumped on I-5 and headed south, apparently right through down town Seattle. We were a little worried about traffic given our experience the day before, but it didn't last long at all. We moved slowly when we got on the 5 and moved steadily if slowly towards the city centre, and before long we were moving freely while the suckers who live in the Southern suburbs crawled by going the opposite way. Before long we could see the stars of the Seattle skyline including the space needle, Century Link Field and Safeco Field. I looked for Fraiser's building but I couldn't find it.
It wasn't too long before the I-5 took us to the next star of the trip, hiway 101, AKA The Pacific Coast Hiway. I'm not sure if T was looking forward to this part, but I'd seen enough car commercials to now what was in store. And right away it impressed - giving us a view of the Pacific and a twisty, windy, picturesque view. We'd be on this until we got near Oakland in a few days, so the photo ops were only beginning.
Before we got too far we decided to stop for lunch. We were just passing through Gearhart OR when we saw the Gearhart Junction cafe, it would do the trick.
Looks cute from the outside.
We found a spot at the bar.
Theresa and I both had the veggie burger and were pleasantly surprised with it. Gord munched on bun and fries until he caught the eye of a member of the management and smiled his way into a free scoop of ice cream! We ordered a deep fried apple pie (a la mode) and hit the road.
The Pacific North West is known for a rugged coast, but the rain forests are amazing too.
One thing was markedly different today - it was the first day in almost three weeks where we got rain. It wasn't a lot, but it was on-and-off, and it was overcast all day. Now we got through 10 days in BC, including a handful in the rainforest, with nothing but sun, so we weren't about to complain, but it was noticeable. Fortunately, Gord wasn't phased and was in a great mood as we made runway towards our home for the night - Oregon's South Beach State Park.
Gord welcomed the rain with a smile.
When we arrived at the park we were surprised with a few things: first, it was much busier than we expected; and two, there were not a lot of trees. We've camped a lot, but we're used to trees - trees over the tent, trees blocking you from your camping neighbours, trees to remind you that you're outside. Without those, not only could we see all our neighbours (fortunately we didn't have many where we were) but it had a strange feeling. I felt like I was pitching a tent in a mall food court. But we were quite literally on the beach, so we just rolled with it and appreciated another unique locale that we've encountered along the way.
No trees made for a different camping experience.
We had a little time before we wanted to eat so dinner so we headed to the beach.
My immature wife enjoyed is family's last name!
The beach wasn't far away and we enjoyed some interpretive signs as we got closer to the surf. The final bits of the trail were an all access boardwalk - very nice to walk on.
And then we were at the beach. We enjoyed the sounds and sights, looked for baby seals who apparently swim up on shore to rest this time of year (we saw none) and turned around for dinner.
Dinner was soup and cheese bun, yum! We had a short fire (it's not easy splitting hard wood on sand) and jumped in the tent. Tomorrow we'd make our way into Cali, so we drifted off listening to the sound of the crashing surf and dreaming of the sunnier beaches just around the corner.
TOTAL FUEL FILL US: 7
DAILY WILDLIFE: dogs, sand pipers, a porcupine on the side of the road, and lots and lots of sea birds (mostly gulls)
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