The Great North West

Monday, October 3rd

Packed up – again, headed to the ferry – again.  We sailed from Victoria to Port Angeles, WA.  We drove on the 101, the Pacific Coast Highway through Olympia National Park.  We stopped to eat lunch at the Storm King Ranger Station next to beautiful Crescent Lake that was a gorgeous turquoise color.  We saw a family of deer just enjoying their lunch by the lake as well. 

Some of the things that amazed us on this drive were: how tall the trees are, how green and mossy everything is, and how sparse it was to find civilization.  We drove down into the rainforest and as we drove further along the road, the darker it got, and the more the rain fell. Our destination was to see Big Sitka Spruce in Hoh Rainforest.  Even with the pelting rain and the panic to get in a few pictures, it was worth it. 

We did (for my sake) stopped at the sign for Forks, WA, only long enough to get a few pictures by the city’s welcome sign. In this one day, we made it all the way through Washington state – barely.  As the day got later, the more worried we became about find a hotel, being again the lack of civilization.  Our last adventure before finding a hotel in Astoria, OR was crossing the Columbia River, spanning 14 miles. 

Tuesday, October 4th

We started off by heading back into Washington to go see a lighthouse, but the road was closed and we were – disappointed, which was likely to happen, since the lighthouse is at Cape Disappointment.  Oh, the irony, especially since the night before we had passed by the Cape of Foul Weather in a rainstorm.  We went into Lewis and Clark National Park and learned about the explorers and saw the home they made for themselves in the winter, saw a wooden canoe replica of what they travelled in, a dog which is the same breed (Newfoundland)as the one that travelled with Lewis & Clark, and a little historical video.

  

While in Astoria, we drove up and saw the Astoria column, and ate lunch by the 36th Street pier serenaded by the sounds of sea lions! 

As we drove down the coast further, we followed visitor brochures to hit some sites on the way, making sure to stop for me to get a few pictures of Haystack monolith at Cannon Beach.  The weather was cloudy and a little bit rainy, so we didn’t stop for too long – we were also in the search for a bathroom for the kids. 

Our last stop before our next hotel was – drum roll please – the Tillamook Cheese Factory!  We had fun seeing the cheese be cut and packaged, sampling various cheeses, and enjoying some Tillamook Ice Cream, yummy!  We drove into Newport, OR and checked into hotel #5 and settled in…Here is where we ended up staying for the majority of our time, and loving it….more in the next post.