Day Six (9/20/2010)

After breakfast and the usual morning walk on the beach, we continued on our way south.  This is some of the most beautiful part of the Oregon coast, with long stretches of pristine beaches, sea stacks, cliffs with overhanging conifers, and miles of rolling, white surf.

 Arriving at the famous Sea Lion Caves, we stopped, paid our money, and descended the 200-foot tunnel in a small elevator which takes you down to the caves, themselves.  We were told that the sea lions would probably not be in the caves, because, at this time of year, they prefer to gather in groups just off the
shoreline. Unfortunately, they were right, and all we got were pictures of empty, albeit beautiful, caves.  We could barely see the pods of sea lions, but at that distance, they only looked like bunches of kelp, floating in the surf. 

The only sea lion that we really got to see, here
 (the one in the foreground)

 No sea lions, but the caves are beautiful, anyway

A Turkey Vulture

(I didn't like the way he was looking at me; I know that I'm looking kinda old, but hey...)

Heceta Head Lighthouse - the stuff of picture postcards

(This shot was taken from the Sea Lion Caves)

Then, just when things were seeming a little uneventful, we experienced an interesting time.  While in the caves, midway between the surf below us, and 200' feet of tunnel above us, we got word that the little elevator was stuck...with people in it.  One of the other nearby tourists said that he could smell smoke...hmmm.  After a few minute's wait, the elevator finally arrived and three or four people stepped out, with a couple of them looking a little stressed; one, in fact, appeared as though she was about ready to cry.  There was some talk about the possible need of taking the narrow, spiral stairway back to the top. The entrance to this was behind a locked door, and they said that they preferred to not use it, unless it was a real emergency; not sure what their definition of "real emergency" is, though, if smelling smoke and being stuck doesn't qualify.  At any rate, after a few minutes of communicating with each via walkie-talkies, the workers gave us the "all clear" to board the elevator once more, for the ride to the top, which proved to be uneventful.  Feeling guilty over the stress that they had put everyone through, the establishment refunded our twenty-dollar admission fee.  I thought that was kinda cheap, actually, 'cause we could probably get at least a million bucks from some kinda law suit that claimed damages due to mental anguish or whatever.

After our exciting adventure in the Sea Lion Caves, we continued on to Coos Bay, where we stopped and ate lunch at Arbys, got some groceries at the local Fred Meyer, then traveled onward to the Bullards Beach State Campground, arriving kinda late in the day, at 7:19. 

Day Five (9/19/2010)

South Beach State Park  (Newport, Oregon)

After a windy night in the South Beach State Park, we had breakfast, then went for a walk on the beach.  This park is only one mile south of  Newport, and is located right on the beach.

Beautiful beach, but I had to struggle to find even a little stick for Angus to chase.



But I finally did, after ripping it off of a nearby log.  Angus wouldn't let go. 

Bonnie, on the beach near Newport, basking in the warm, balmy weather.



Lots of good stuff to smell on a beach 

Ernest Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea"

Es una playa muy bonita

After a morning walk on the beach, we drove back to Newport and took in the Oregon Coast Aquarium, which is a pretty nice place, although not as large as some others, such as the one in Monterrey, I'm sure.  While there, one of those "six-degrees-of-separation" things occurred.  As I was buying camera batteries in the aquarium gift shop, the clerk noticed my navy baseball cap, and asked me if I had been in the navy.  When I told him, "yes," he said that he was in it, too, and had also been a guide in Bremerton, Washington, giving tours aboard a destroyer that is now open to the public.  When I asked him which one it was (knowing full well which one), he said, "the Turner Joy."  I told him that was my old ship, and that I was even a plankholder (a member of the first crew ever aboard the ship, after it was commissioned).  Small world.



An Ethereal Coelenterate


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Grooming time, which, for a sea otter, is all the time



One of those strange things you can see in an aquarium
No, it's not bad photography, it's Bonnie looking at the camera, after sticking her head up "into" a weird tank full of fish.  The tank is built with a clear plastic bottom that is built in such a way that you can squat down, going underneath, then sticking your head up, making it look as though you are under the water.  Wait...no, maybe that's actually a picture of one of those strange deep-sea fish that most people will never see in their whole life. 

Tidepool Critters, of course

After leaving the aquarium, we returned to the Starbucks where we had been the previous night.  I dropped Bonnie off at a laundromat which was about two or three blocks away, first, then settled into a wallside chair, and did the day's blog. 

Afterwards, we returned to the South Beach Campground, and settled in for the night. 

Day Four (9/18/2010)

Waking in the Cape Lookout State Campground, we had breakfast, went on a beach walk, then headed back to Tillamook.  Nobody goes through Tillamook, without visiting the Tillamook cheese factory, of course, so we followed suit, snapping a couple of photos, in the process.  However, being indoors, amid tungsten lighting, conditions aren't suitable for doing photography, as witnessed, here:



A Big Cheese, looking in the Cheese Factory






 After doing the cheesy thing, we had to take care of some mundane tasks, such as getting propane, groceries at a Fred Meyers, gasoline, and a headlight, before heading south once again, where we began looking for the air museum that sits just out of Tillamook.  It's impossible to miss this structure, as it dominates the landscape, with the words "Air Museum" written in letters that must be at least twenty feet high, painted on the roof of the building, itself.  I was amazed, upon seeing this building, as it doesn't resemble any type of structure I had ever seen, before.  It looks like a long, gargantuan barn with a vaulted roofline.  As we approached, I kept saying to Bonnie how crazy it is to have such a building, because there is no airplane in the world which would need such a huge hanger.  It just didn't make any sense.  After paying our money and entering, it did make sense, when we discovered that it had been a hanger for WWII blimps that were used along the Oregon coast to patrol for enemy submarines.  A photo on the inside wall shows it during its heyday, when it housed nine blimps, so you can imagine the overall size requirement.  The incredible thing is that the entire structure is of wood, there being no steel beams at all. 

The air museum was one of the biggest highlights for me, during the entire trip, as they have managed to collect and restore planes that I have never seen before, such as a Russian Mig, a Japanese Oscar; a German Messerschmitt (Mf-109), one of the Luftwaffe's most formidable fighters used during WWII; and a jet trainer that was used by the soviet bloc nations of eastern Europe, during the cold war.  Obviously, they had a lot of American aircraft, as well, including an F-14 Tomcat, an F4U Vought Corsair (my favorite), a Spitfire, a PBY Catalina, and many others.  Most of these planes are not only restored to the eye, but, being fully functional, are occasionally flown.



Ein Messerschmitt (Mf-109) aus dem zweiten Weltkrieg.  Dies war einer der gefürchtetsten Kampfflugzeugen in der Luftwaffe. Ich frage mich, wie sie es erhalten.


 

An F4U Vought Corsair, my Favorite Plane (I used to see whole squadrons of these things droning overhead in wingtip formation, when I was a little kid)  That's a small, white blimp in the background.

Leaving the air museum, we continued south, until we reached Newport, where we decided to stay at the South Beach State Park, one mile south of town.  However, before going to the state park, we stopped at a Starbucks, in order to do the blog.  While there, we encountered a rather strange little lady who was sitting at an adjacent table by herself. Sometimes it's hard to put into words just what you feel, upon encountering others, and it's that way, now, when I think back to her.  She was sitting alone, without any obvious reason for being there, other than perhaps to be around people; at least that was how it struck us.  She had no book or coffee at hand, but simply sat, taking in the room full of  those around her who were noisily talking, drinking coffee, and busily working on their laptops.  If I were to try to describe her with one word, it might be "wistful" or "lonely," but it was hard to tell.  She seemed to be very soft spoken and almost shy.  While I plugged our laptop into the wall and began working on the blog, Bonnie turned around in her chair and engaged this seemingly-lonely soul in a conversation.  Afterwards, Bonnie told me that the lady seems to be a person who has probably been quite capable and bright, but might now be losing some of her cognitive abilities.  They exchanged names and addresses, but Bonnies feels that, when she writes to her, the lady will, sadly,  probably not even remember their encounter.  It was definitely one of those rare chance meetings full of human interest which leaves a clear, lasting memory, even though nothing extraordinary actually occurred. 

After leaving Starbucks, we went to the South Beach State Park, and stayed for the night. 

Day Two (9/16/2010)

Fort Stevens State Campground  (Astoria, Oregon)

Woke up....well, actually, I'm not sure we really went to sleep...and had breakfast in the Fort Stevens State Park Campground, then went down to the beach, where there is a pretty cool shipwreck jutting out of the sand.  It's the skeletal remnants of a sailing ship, the Peter Iredale, that went aground in 1906, after a strong gale blew it ashore. 

All that's left of the Peter Iredale

After viewing the shipwreck, we went to the Fort Stevens State Park Historical area, where they have a great military museum, and several gun emplacements.  The fort was built to protect the territory from possible Confederate raiders, during the Civil War, but was later also used in WWI, as well as during WWII.  In WWII, a Japanese submarine actually fired about 14 shells at the fort, to no effect, then left for a patrol in the Aleutians.  There is nothing remaining, now, but the old cement bunkers, where the guns were located.

Civil War Gun Mount, in Fort Stevens, Oregon, and one of the original gunnery crew members

After touring the shipwreck and the Fort Stevens military museum, we headed back to Astoria, where we went through the Maritime Museum.  If you ever go through Astoria, be sure to stop and see this museum.  They have done an incredible job of building this place, even going to the trouble of removing a pilothouse from a WWII destroyer, barging it up the Columbia River, lifting it with a crane into the then-open-roofed museum, and building the museum around it.  And that is only one exhibit, among many others.  The main theme of the museum deals with the over 2,000 ships that have wrecked, trying to cross the sand bars, at the mouth of the Columbia River, as well as the Coast Guard's constant efforts to save the hapless sailors and fishermen.  According to their informational placard, about 600 lives are save, each year, by the Coasties; pretty good use of our tax money, I'd say.



Exhibit of a Coast Guard Rescue boat in the Maritime Museum, in Astoria

They have an entire salmon trawler, as one of the exhibits, too

Pilothouse of WWII destroyer, U.S.S. Knapp (DD-653)



After leaving Fort Stevens, we headed south, stopping at a little commercial RV park located about one mile north of Seaside.

 

After leaving Fort Stevens, we headed south, stopping at a little commercial RV park located about one mile north of Seaside.

Day One (9/15/2010)

(Not too sure about how to do this whole blog thing, but here goes; guess I'll just make it kinda like a daily log, which'll be boring as heck, but then I'm not too clever, anyway, so if you don't like it, go find something else to read) 

Finally got out of the driveway at about noon, after taking way too much time, packing.  Then, after traveling about 100 feet, we passed a rowdy-looking kid on a bike, who was cycling along the road, toward our driveway.  So, we turned around, and went back, making sure that he had gone way past our house.  And, no we're not suffering from paranoia; it was all because, about four days earlier, it was reported that a kid on a bike had tried to gain entrance to the neighbor's house.  When he discovered they were home, he hopped on his bike and took off. 

So, at this point, a little cloudy thought passes through my mind, "I hope this isn't a indication of how things are going to go, on this trip."  Oh well.

Next stop: Marysville, for a little last-minute shopping, getting some cash at the bank, gas for the RV, and a couple of Whoppers at Burger King. 

Finally, at about 2:00, we're on the road for our very-first-ever long-distance RV trip.  The RV is old and we're even older, but we're on the way.  We'll see if either the RV or we give out, before it's all said and done.  Maybe both.  Hopefully, neither one.

Next five hours: Good ol' I-5, trucks, cars, other RV's, with the only scenery being strip malls and pastureland, until hitting Longview, where we exit, and decide to give the new gps unit a try.  We type in "Astoria," and it says that we will arrive in something like 19 hours.  Figuring that's a little strange, we discover that it's set for "pedestrian."  Still learning how to use this crazy thing.

We finally arrive at the Fort Stevens State Campground at around 7:30, in the dusk.  It's rainy, cloudy, and not looking too good.  But if the state campgrounds are all like this one, then they're great.  The campsites are all separated from each other with a good amount of space, brush, and beautiful conifers.  You can hear the roar of the surf, off in the distance, as the beach is only about a mile away. 

But the rain.  It was coming down from the overhanging trees onto the RV roof in huge drops that pounded the top of the RV...waaay loud.  At first, it sounded pretty nice.  However, "at first" turned into "okay, that's nice, but enough, already."  Neither of us got much sleep, because of it.  Kinda like having the little drummer boy beating tattoos on his snare drum two feet away from your head all night long.  We learned a hard lesson: When it's raining and you're in an RV, don't camp under the trees, unless you're either deaf or have earplugs. 


First night, cooking supper