Silver Creek to Seaview

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Silver Creek to Seaview

This entry incorporates 3 days. It has been so busy I just haven't had time to sit in front of the computer.

8-24 Monday, I left Silver Creek for my final western leg of the journey. It was a glorious day, bright and sunny and comfortable temps. I had to travel on I-5, locally known as "The 5", and found it not too bad, 3 lanes in each direction and traffic but not too congested. I had to travel through a small city that was very busy to get onto 30 W and I dropped into Oregon for this part of the ride. It was a beautiful ride along the Columbia River, over mountain and down, through snow zones and beautiful forests. It took about 2 1/2 hrs to go the 114 miles because of traffic in town and slow going on rt 30. I got to the campground about 12:30 and was settled into my new site by 1:30. I'm not fond of the campground, it's really packed and there is very little room between campers but people are more friendly here so it makes it tolerable.

I had a busy afternoon planned so I hurried along with getting the camper settled and making the beds, yes 2 beds, my granddaughter Megan was coming from Maryland to visit. I left the campground and drove 2 hrs to Portland to have dinner with a friend who lives here. We had a delightful dinner outside on a terrace with gorgeous plants all around us. I had salmon and it was delicious.

Too soon it was time to say good bye because I had to pick Megan up at the airport. Her flight was on time and we met each other easily and headed back to the campground only this time in the dark. We talked the whole way so I didn't get tired and we arrived safety about 11:30 pm. I brought Oscar with me on this excursion so when we got home he threw himself into bed and didn't get up the next morning til 10 am.

Tuesday: Megan's first day here so we retraced some of the driving from yesterday so Megan could see what she missed. We drove over the 4 mile bridge that spans the mouth of the Columbia River where it joins the Pacific Ocean. There were over a hundred fishing boats in the river, the salmon were running. There are also big ocean going ships coming in with goods and going out to who knows where. There was construction on the bridge so I was stopped and could take some pictures of the views. Part of the ridge is really high so it can accommodate the big ocean freighters, the rest is high enough for the smaller boats.

Next we went to Fort Catslip. It has been on my bucket list for a number of years and since this was the year for Lewis and Clark activities there was no way I was missing this. When Lewis and Clark wintered over they did so at the mouth of the Columbia River and finally settled on a spot up river a little so they would be safer from the fierce winter winds off the Pacific Ocean. They built a fort and their first day was Christmas 1804. This fort has been reconstructed 2 times as it has burned down twice. It looked like it was supposed to and I felt I was right there with them. It was a special day at the park and admission was free and they had reenactors there telling special stories about the expedition, showing how they gathered salt from the ocean and a fellow demonstrating 2 guns that were along with the men. He very creatively told the story of hunting a grizzly bear. Six of the men all armed with muskets went after a grizzly and thankfully they had a plan about what to do if the first shots didn't kill it. The men ended up putting 8 shots into the bear, that still didn't do the job. 2 men jumped into the river, the bear followed and as it was jumping in someone shot it in the head. That finally did the bear in. Needless to say, they didn't go hunting grizzlies after that. It was a spellbinding story and we all felt closer to the expedition members after that. Pictures

On the way back to camp we stopped at St Mary's Church along the river and enjoyed walking around that. Pictures

When we got back home our neighbors invited us to come over for dinner but we had just had a delicious late lunch so we did go over and have cocktails with them. They are a fun bunch who live about 2 hours from here in Vancouver, WA. We stayed for a while, came back home, watched a movie and fell into bed.

Wenesday 8/26 Following along in the Lewis and Clark theme we went to Cape Disappointment to discover all the treasures there. First a scenic overlook where it was explained that half of the land we could see was once underwater but when the jetties for the Columbia River were built it changed the way the water came into the bay. Before the jetties it was extremely dangerous coming from the ocean into the river because of all the currents, shifting sands and hostile and varying winds. Many ships were wrecked 3 within 2 weeks of each other. The jetties seem to have done the job of making navigation safer along with 2 lighthouses. Of course, we had to see those.

First we went to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and were greeted with a terrible smell. The air is so pure here you notice any odor right away and this one was disgusting. Come to find out it is the cormorants nests on the cliffs. The birds build their nests all over the cliffs and in order for them to stick to the rock they use their excretions to wet the sticks and grass and it hardens and sticks well to the rock, leaving a nasty odor. Pictures

Megan and Oscar took a trail along the top of the ridge to our next destination and I went down and got the car and met them there. We then went to the North Lighthouse and hiked just a short distance to it. We were on a bluff just off the ocean and the air smelled SO good, just pure and sweet. Pictures.

We then went to Waikiki Beach, no not in Hawaii, and enjoyed the late afternoon sun, gentle breezes and the people relaxing and enjoying the surf. All of the beaches here have an abundance of driftwood that some enjoy sitting on and others build a shelter from the wind.

It was then time for dinner and we wanted pizza so we headed to town only to find the pizza place we wanted to go to was closing so we headed into town and found a poor substitute. Oh life.

We went back to the campground, said goodnight to our neighbors and hit the sack.

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