August 23rd

THE WEATHER: Gorgeous. Highs in the 70’s and sunny. Strong wind off the ocean.

THE DISTANCE: 184 miles south to Otis, Oregon. Staying at the Lincoln City, KOA

We began our journey today thinking we would see some very picturesque ocean views as we traveled the Pacific Coast Highway. Other than a few spots that were spectacular, we have been driving in and out of small towns. There has been moderate traffic and due to either distance or buildings we were unable to see the ocean. A bit disappointing. When we crossed the Washington/Oregon border we made our way across a 3.7 mile bridge that spanned the Columbia River. What a river!

For lunch we stopped at a place called Cannon Beach and walked about a ¼ mile to get to the ocean and found the world’s largest monolith jutting straight up out of the water! It was impressive and the waves were crashing against the rock mass. There were a ton of people on the beach even though it was quite cool with a 20-25 knot wind off the water. Many of them were flying kites… and were quite good at it! A few guys were even surfing.

The road winds along the base of mountains and it was interesting that a few times we even entered tunnels that were cut into the mountainside. It was pretty cool. Other than that, our drive has been forested, sometimes driving through very dark canopies due to the thick, tall trees. We did see pelicans floating in the ocean today! Unfortunately not in a place where we could get their picture.

August 22nd

THE WEATHER: Warmer start to the day than the last 2.… 57 degrees. The highs today were in the high 60’s. Partly cloudy. A beautiful day.

THE DISTANCE: We drove 196 miles today to Hoquiam, WA and are staying at the Hoquiam River RV park.

Yesterday was spent resting and relaxing at the KOA campground. We didn’t want to move on one of the last weekends of the summer because we may not have gotten a spot at the next place. Things are much more crowded down here in the lower 48. I used the time to catch up on some paper work and Gary did some maintenance items. We also played 3 games of pool, Gary beating me 2 to 1(however I am beating him by one game of cribbage), and then we rented a movie from their store. All in all, it was a very relaxing day.

Today we were up, refreshed and ready to roll again. We have been traveling route 101 around the Olympic Peninsula and will continue with this route all along the west coast right down into California. So this begins our Pacific coastal tour! On our way to Hoquiam we made a stop at the enchanting valley of the Hoh! It is set in the Olympic National Park and is one of the few rain forests in North America. We walked amongst the giant cedar, Sitka spruce and Douglas Fir trees. They were all covered with moss that looked like it was dripping off their branches. The forest floor was blanketed with lichen and large ferns. It was a partly cloudy day, however when the sun would break through it would send streams of light through the branches and moss which gave it a completely different look than when it was in the shadows of clouds. At times it even appeared to be something out of "The Lord of the Rings" and the talking trees! It’s interesting that when we toured the Butchart Gardens it was a manmade garden of finely manicured color and in contrast, this was a forest of just greens and browns but it was God’s “gardening” that made it equally as appealing. We felt like Lilliputians’ in the land of Lilliput!

Route 101 continues south along the coast and is a refreshing change from the trees we have been in for so long. It seems strange to have dense tall forests run right down to the sandy shores of the ocean. It also seems strange to see a sun set over the ocean rather than a sun rise! I was surprised to see a mass of rocks that jutted out into the ocean that waves would break against. So all in a short distance there was forest, sand and rock! Interesting diversity.