Being our last day of vacation and a LONG day of travel for us, we rose early and left the hotel. What a cold miserable rainy day in Seattle... we had a nice breakfast, filled up the rental car and then headed to the airport. We arrived quite early to the airport, but it worked out really well for us considering the security line was 500+ people deep! We stood in that line for well over 30 minutes... we made it to our gate and waited... and waited... and waited. It was all well and good until some lady and her cockatiel showed up at the gate. She kept holding the bird in her hands and kissing it in the face and the bird just kept squealing.. almost screaming in these short yelps... not chirping or any very domestic bird-like behavior... I am here to tell you how ANNOYING it was! This went on for well over an hour while we waited for the plane... we finally left the gate to grab a snack. Fortunately, we were about 15 rows behind the bird lady... and we could not hear them! Unfortunately, there were two babies near us.... so we had to listen to them instead. Oh well, the flight was over 4 hours and at least this time I had a window seat! Our flight arrived around 8:30pm and I am so happy to be at home typing this on my Mac... until the next trip... this is "Scoops" Wilson signing off...
P.S. The "Scoops" nickname was bestowed upon me by my husband during the trip because of all my blogging...
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Day 9- Seattle, Washington
Today we woke up again to less than desirable weather conditions here in Seattle. The skies were overcast most of the morning and it rained off and on pretty much all day. I really wanted to get some shots of Mt. Rainier but the clouds just would not cooperate… we were able to see the monster volcano when we first got on the road this morning and there were definitely clouds all around it… but, by noon it disappeared totally in the cloud cover. We drove all over downtown trying to get to the Pike Place Market area of Seattle… this seemed to be THE place to be in this city. There were so many people there that you could hardly maneuver the car through the streets. We parked and then walked the entire market. We saw the first Starbucks… of course, the line into the store was 50+ folks deep… they had an interesting duo out front of the store strumming and singing for the crowds…
We also stood and watched the Fish Market stand where the employees stand out front of the seafood and take your order and then the ones behind the counters THROW the orders out to the front… just like on TV!
We had clam chowder and fish and chips at Jack’s Fish and Chips in the middle of the market… On our way back to our car, we even saw two street-worn gentlemen sharing a nice big marijuana joint... it always warms my heart to see folks sharing in these times- even if it is illegal!
Next, we drove over to Redmond, WA where Mike’s maternal family is from… the traffic was again horrendous today because of the college football games as we drove over the "floating" bridge. But, since the leaves are already changing here for the autumn season, all of our driving around was somewhat enjoyable.
We finally made it back to the hotel and enjoyed a nice latte from the Starbucks in our hotel! Yes, with all of the 100+ Starbucks in this town, the lines are just TOO long for us to wait for coffee… and there seems to be a coffee shop on every corner and in every parking lot here. Here is Mike looking like a typical Northwesterner…
We ended the day with supper at Fatburger… some western burger chain that Mike has been yearning for since we arrived in California 9 days ago…
We also stood and watched the Fish Market stand where the employees stand out front of the seafood and take your order and then the ones behind the counters THROW the orders out to the front… just like on TV!
We had clam chowder and fish and chips at Jack’s Fish and Chips in the middle of the market… On our way back to our car, we even saw two street-worn gentlemen sharing a nice big marijuana joint... it always warms my heart to see folks sharing in these times- even if it is illegal!
Next, we drove over to Redmond, WA where Mike’s maternal family is from… the traffic was again horrendous today because of the college football games as we drove over the "floating" bridge. But, since the leaves are already changing here for the autumn season, all of our driving around was somewhat enjoyable.
We finally made it back to the hotel and enjoyed a nice latte from the Starbucks in our hotel! Yes, with all of the 100+ Starbucks in this town, the lines are just TOO long for us to wait for coffee… and there seems to be a coffee shop on every corner and in every parking lot here. Here is Mike looking like a typical Northwesterner…
We ended the day with supper at Fatburger… some western burger chain that Mike has been yearning for since we arrived in California 9 days ago…
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Day 8- Lincoln Bay, OR to Seattle, WA
Day 8 was pretty uneventful... our day started with make-your-own waffles at the hotel's "free" breakfast... we met a lovely older couple from Liverpool, England who were on the last week of their 5-week vacation- must be nice! We then went to the Grand Opening of the Columbia outlet store in town (this was advertised and talked about all over town so it must have been a really big deal!). We bought us both a rain jacket, Mike a pair of pants and me a sweater and spent less than $80- what a deal! Once we left town the rain started... and it rained and rained and rained the entire way to Seattle. Then, it started hailing once we were on the drawbridge over the Columbia River crossing over into Washingston state.
This is our view of the drawbridge in a hail storm...
We did not even stop in Mike's birhtplace, Portland, Oregon because of the wet weather and the traffic congestion... We pretty much spent our entire trip from Portland to Seattle fighting rain and traffic... we did chase a rainbow along the way near Tacoma...
We ate supper at a nice restaurant along the Puget Sound... hopefully tomorrow will be more eventful.
This is our view of the drawbridge in a hail storm...
We did not even stop in Mike's birhtplace, Portland, Oregon because of the wet weather and the traffic congestion... We pretty much spent our entire trip from Portland to Seattle fighting rain and traffic... we did chase a rainbow along the way near Tacoma...
We ate supper at a nice restaurant along the Puget Sound... hopefully tomorrow will be more eventful.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Day 7- Coos Bay to Lincoln City, Oregon
After our more than excitable night with the racoon robbery behind us, I woke up to again very cold conditions outside the tent... we packed up camp and headed to the showers... very nice shower facilities compared to the others by far. We took off up Hwy 101 stopping every so often for pics... at first the coastal scenes were very "beachy" compared to the usual cliff-like borders...
We had to hike high up the sand dunes to get some of our photo opportunities... these dunes were difficult climbing and I know we gained at least 10 pounds of sands in our shoes along the way...
We eventually made it to the Sea Lion Caves just north of Florence... and were so disappointed when they informed us that the sea lions were out to sea and not in the caves! Mike had been looking forward to this cave adventure since we crossed the Oregon border... at the same time we were leaving the caves area a huge fog settled in on the coast... making for some pretty neat photos of the coastline... almost boggy?
We came across a few more lighthouses...
We finally arrived in Lincoln City and checked into a hotel- Woohoo! No camping tonight!! It was laundry night and sit-down seafood supper at a restaurant for the Wilsons... shopping wasn't that great in town but how nice is a bed vs. the tent going to be tonight???
We had to hike high up the sand dunes to get some of our photo opportunities... these dunes were difficult climbing and I know we gained at least 10 pounds of sands in our shoes along the way...
We eventually made it to the Sea Lion Caves just north of Florence... and were so disappointed when they informed us that the sea lions were out to sea and not in the caves! Mike had been looking forward to this cave adventure since we crossed the Oregon border... at the same time we were leaving the caves area a huge fog settled in on the coast... making for some pretty neat photos of the coastline... almost boggy?
We came across a few more lighthouses...
We finally arrived in Lincoln City and checked into a hotel- Woohoo! No camping tonight!! It was laundry night and sit-down seafood supper at a restaurant for the Wilsons... shopping wasn't that great in town but how nice is a bed vs. the tent going to be tonight???
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Late Night Day 6 at Sunset Bay Campground, OR
Violated at Sunset Bay
Just a quick blog regarding our "experience" late night on Day 6... we found this campground just SW of Coos Bay, Oregon... the Sunset Bay Campground... nice place with non-toll shower facilities... we roasted our weenies and our s'mores for supper and then settled in for a nice long winter-like night... about 5 minutes after we were settled we heard something just outside our tent taking the top off our cooler.. almost like another human... we jumped up and started to open all the tent zippers to see who the culprit was... I finally got the flashlight to the screen part of the front tent door... there were two racoon shadows- one on his hind legs and digging in our cooler and the other on the ground under the picnic table must have been the lookout! We made hissing noises at them.. well I did at least... Mike just kept laughing... we finally get the stupid tent open and he goes out to the cooler to discover the masked robbers had stolen our remaining hotdogs! Of course, I was all worked up at this point and sleep was the last thing I could think about... all I know is that they had to be watching us to know a) the hotdogs were in the cooler and b) that we were gone to bed and the coast was clear... yes, we were violated at Sunset Bay by racoons...
Just a quick blog regarding our "experience" late night on Day 6... we found this campground just SW of Coos Bay, Oregon... the Sunset Bay Campground... nice place with non-toll shower facilities... we roasted our weenies and our s'mores for supper and then settled in for a nice long winter-like night... about 5 minutes after we were settled we heard something just outside our tent taking the top off our cooler.. almost like another human... we jumped up and started to open all the tent zippers to see who the culprit was... I finally got the flashlight to the screen part of the front tent door... there were two racoon shadows- one on his hind legs and digging in our cooler and the other on the ground under the picnic table must have been the lookout! We made hissing noises at them.. well I did at least... Mike just kept laughing... we finally get the stupid tent open and he goes out to the cooler to discover the masked robbers had stolen our remaining hotdogs! Of course, I was all worked up at this point and sleep was the last thing I could think about... all I know is that they had to be watching us to know a) the hotdogs were in the cooler and b) that we were gone to bed and the coast was clear... yes, we were violated at Sunset Bay by racoons...
Day 6- Redwoods, CA to Coos Bay, Oregon
Llamas, Deer and Steers Oh My!
After our $1.00 per 10 minutes showers last night at the Redwood National Park campground… yes, I required 5 quarters to wash, rinse, and condition and then re-rinse this long hair of mine and bathe myself too! We went to bed in an almost eerily silent forest… strange it seemed for such big trees but there were practically NO usual forest noises… no crickets, no frogs, no birds, nothing…unless you count the large winged animal that cried out around 3am six different times… Mike keeps saying it was an owl… I am saying maybe an owl the size of an airplane… that noise was made by some winged raptor like creature I am sure…
Anyway, again this morning I woke up almost freezing it seemed… at least the tent wasn’t wet this time. We packed up, spotted some nice antlered deer on the way out of the park and then stopped for a short hike through the redwoods for some photos.
Next, we headed north stopping in Crescent City, CA for breakfast at Denny’s (too bad they do not have Waffle House here… a chicken melt would be really good right about now…). We finally crossed the Oregon border around 11:30am and were really surprised that they offer wireless at all of their rest stops! Finally! We scored wireless for next to nothing. (Note: We spent quite a while yesterday in Eureka trying to find wireless to post the Day 4 blog… we finally wound up stealing from the local Super 8 motel remotely from the laundry mat parking lot next door). We signed up to post Day 5 this morning. We left there and started our venture up the PCH through southern coastal Oregon… we stopped many, many times to see the beautiful ocean and rocks…
We seriously could have stopped every ¼ mile it seemed…
We finally made it to Port Orford for some of the best clam chowder I have ever eaten. The fish and chips were great too! When we stopped for gas we were very surprised to be greeted by a full-service only gas station… turns out the state of Oregon law does not allow self-service gas stations! Very odd… I have not seen a full-service gas station since my childhood days in Pine Mountain. As we made our way toward the Coos Bay, Oregon area we saw farms with llamas, cattle, and sheep. It is pretty wild for me to see llamas behind the same fencing as the cattle. Oh, and I finally found my first Baptist church yet on this trip in Harbor, Oregon… I guess CA just doesn’t have any Baptists?
Finally, we made it to the Sunset Bay State Park campground near Coos Bay. We set up camp and then went to Simpson’s Reef to watch the sun set over the sea lions on the reef… We roasted weenies on the camp fire tonight and Mike is now making s’mores for me as I compose this blog… Isn’t life good?
After our $1.00 per 10 minutes showers last night at the Redwood National Park campground… yes, I required 5 quarters to wash, rinse, and condition and then re-rinse this long hair of mine and bathe myself too! We went to bed in an almost eerily silent forest… strange it seemed for such big trees but there were practically NO usual forest noises… no crickets, no frogs, no birds, nothing…unless you count the large winged animal that cried out around 3am six different times… Mike keeps saying it was an owl… I am saying maybe an owl the size of an airplane… that noise was made by some winged raptor like creature I am sure…
Anyway, again this morning I woke up almost freezing it seemed… at least the tent wasn’t wet this time. We packed up, spotted some nice antlered deer on the way out of the park and then stopped for a short hike through the redwoods for some photos.
Next, we headed north stopping in Crescent City, CA for breakfast at Denny’s (too bad they do not have Waffle House here… a chicken melt would be really good right about now…). We finally crossed the Oregon border around 11:30am and were really surprised that they offer wireless at all of their rest stops! Finally! We scored wireless for next to nothing. (Note: We spent quite a while yesterday in Eureka trying to find wireless to post the Day 4 blog… we finally wound up stealing from the local Super 8 motel remotely from the laundry mat parking lot next door). We signed up to post Day 5 this morning. We left there and started our venture up the PCH through southern coastal Oregon… we stopped many, many times to see the beautiful ocean and rocks…
We seriously could have stopped every ¼ mile it seemed…
We finally made it to Port Orford for some of the best clam chowder I have ever eaten. The fish and chips were great too! When we stopped for gas we were very surprised to be greeted by a full-service only gas station… turns out the state of Oregon law does not allow self-service gas stations! Very odd… I have not seen a full-service gas station since my childhood days in Pine Mountain. As we made our way toward the Coos Bay, Oregon area we saw farms with llamas, cattle, and sheep. It is pretty wild for me to see llamas behind the same fencing as the cattle. Oh, and I finally found my first Baptist church yet on this trip in Harbor, Oregon… I guess CA just doesn’t have any Baptists?
Finally, we made it to the Sunset Bay State Park campground near Coos Bay. We set up camp and then went to Simpson’s Reef to watch the sun set over the sea lions on the reef… We roasted weenies on the camp fire tonight and Mike is now making s’mores for me as I compose this blog… Isn’t life good?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Day 5- Fort Bragg to Redwood Natl Park, CA
This morning we woke up to a VERY chilly and wet tent at our coastal campground spot just north of Fort Bragg, CA. I had to sleep completely under the sheet, the blanket and two sleeping bags with one nostril hanging out to breathe or else freeze to death… the entire side of the tent closest to the ocean and the rain fly were completely wet… that made it even more challenging to break down and pack up camp in the low 40’s temps.
This is foggy northern coastal CA in the morning…
We left camp and ventured north stopping for breakfast in Garberville, CA… very expensive egg and pancakes needless to say served by again more hippy-types… I felt kinda nasty waking up this morning and not showering… and I thought my hair was greasy-looking? Puh-leeze! I am a good 4 days less of taking a shower than most of these people around these parts… I have never seen such dirty looking, grungy people in my life and it seems like every town we go through is just crawling with them!
Anyway, we spent the next few hours again driving winding, curvy, narrow road conditions on Hwy 1 but finally entering redwood country. We just gawked up at these massive tree trunks as we curved in and out of them.
We finally made it back to 101 and then to Eureka… after a pretty bad Chinese food lunch (who makes Moo Goo Gai Pan with brown sauce and what looked like sea kelp for crying out loud?) we ventured into the Redwood National Parks area… we kept seeing signs about all the wild elk but never really saw any until we got to the National Park Ranger Station and the whole pack of them seemed to be hanging out there!
We found a nice campground right in the middle of the Redwood National Park… it is amazing how big these trees are… oh, and this time for camping out at our third campground we bought firewood… see Mike setting up camp… now we just need the s’more fixings to complete the outdoor experience… oh well, maybe when we hit Oregon.
This tree was right across from our campsite...
This tree is right next to our tent...
This is foggy northern coastal CA in the morning…
We left camp and ventured north stopping for breakfast in Garberville, CA… very expensive egg and pancakes needless to say served by again more hippy-types… I felt kinda nasty waking up this morning and not showering… and I thought my hair was greasy-looking? Puh-leeze! I am a good 4 days less of taking a shower than most of these people around these parts… I have never seen such dirty looking, grungy people in my life and it seems like every town we go through is just crawling with them!
Anyway, we spent the next few hours again driving winding, curvy, narrow road conditions on Hwy 1 but finally entering redwood country. We just gawked up at these massive tree trunks as we curved in and out of them.
We finally made it back to 101 and then to Eureka… after a pretty bad Chinese food lunch (who makes Moo Goo Gai Pan with brown sauce and what looked like sea kelp for crying out loud?) we ventured into the Redwood National Parks area… we kept seeing signs about all the wild elk but never really saw any until we got to the National Park Ranger Station and the whole pack of them seemed to be hanging out there!
We found a nice campground right in the middle of the Redwood National Park… it is amazing how big these trees are… oh, and this time for camping out at our third campground we bought firewood… see Mike setting up camp… now we just need the s’more fixings to complete the outdoor experience… oh well, maybe when we hit Oregon.
This tree was right across from our campsite...
This tree is right next to our tent...
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