Monday, 27 August

Today we started out thinking we were going to Portland to visit Gene's niece, Shelley. Before we even left the campground, we got a call from Gene's sister saying that Shelley's car was in the shop and she needed to spend an additional day in southern Oregon. We quickly decided to continue down the Washington coast and cross the Columbia at Astoria. Then go a short distance down the Oregon coast and find a campground for the night there.

So we headed further down 101. While the coast doesn't change that much from what we have already seen, it continues to be beautiful and we still like to look at it.








Along the way we passed an area that at first glance looked like another clear-cut area. But signs along the side of the road told us that some years back a storm with 120 mph winds blew down trees for several miles along the road. Sure enough, a closer look revealed many trees that had been snapped off.

About mid-afternoon we got to Cape Disappointment. That is the Washington side of the mouth of the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark got there in 1805. The mouth of the Columbia is a dangerous piece of water, with a bar that has claimed many ships. Gene hoped to be able to see the waves breaking on the bar, but the weather was too easy for anything dramatic --- at least as could be seen from shore. We drove out on a Corps of Engineers jetty and Jean walked down the broad beach to the Pacific.

We came back to the mainland for a picnic lunch close to Cape Disappointment Light.

YumYum enjoyed it, too.

Reluctantly, we pressed on and crossed the Columbia (it's huge) at Astoria and continued down the coast to a place called Gearhart. Of course, we had to go out for seafood for dinner. Tomorrow, Portland (maybe).