Oregon Washington

We were up at 2:45 am, showered and finished packing.   We loaded our stuff into the truck and picked up David and Gwen at 4:15 am. We drove to FlyAway parking and took shuttle to airport, arriving at 5:00 am.  We checked our bags and went through security using the TSA-Pre-check line, finishing up around 5:45 am.  We grabbed some breakfast and ate at the gate at 6:00.  We began boarding at 6:45 am.  Flight left Nashville at 7:25 to Denver.  We landed in Denver 9:00 am MDT.  It was pouring down rain and a couple of planes (or one plane hit twice) by lightning, backing up a lot of flights.  We were lucky.  We grabbed a snack and found gate C64 to wait for 10:30 boarding for Portland.  We left Denver around 11:00 am and arrived in Portland at 12:40 pm PDT.  Once we left the clouds of Denver the weather was partly cloudy giving some great views from the plane.  We could text (limited) on plane so Tim was tracking us from the ground.  It would tell us when we crossed over into Idaho - to see some great mountain/snow terrain.  Outside Boise Tim had us looking for the Snake River.  We crossed the Blue Mountain when we got to Oregon. It was little more cloudy as we got close to Portland but could easily pick out Mt Hood and the Columbia River.  After getting our luggage and the rental car we drove to Residence Inn Clackamas, dropped off our luggage and had dinner at the Claim Jumper in Clackamas.  After dinner we drove to downtown Portland to see world's larger bookstore.  Traffic was very heavy but Waze bypassed what she could and sent us through neighborhoods.  We did not see as many homeless as we thought we would.  We did see some impressive graffiti.  On way back to hotel we drove by The Bible Project to just see where it was.  We arrived back to hotel and called it a night.

We were up at 5:00 am, showered and dressed for breakfast at 6:30 am.  We were in the Honda by 7:00 am.  We headed toward the and arrived at the Vista House by 7:30 am.  It was windy and 59 degrees so needed a jacket for start of the day.  It is great place to view the Columbia River, I-82 and railroad going through the gorge.  Our next stop was the Latourel Falls which was a short hike to reach the base.  It was our first falls so we were in awe.  Our next falls were Bridal Veil Falls.  There were 2 trails, one to the falls themselves and one interpretive trail.  We split up - I went to falls and David and Gwen and Patsy did the interpretive loop.  These falls were pretty awesome, better than Latourel.  We left and arrived at Multnomah Falls a little after 9:00.  Parking lot was already full, but after waiting around 10 minutes we were able get a spot.  Well, this was the grandaddy of the falls.  It was impressive to say the least.  We stayed a while, grabbed some pictures and some souvenirs and headed east toward Hood River (the city).  We grabbed a quick bite at the DQ before heading down Hwy 35, better known as the Fruit Loop Drive.  There are so many fruit trees and processing plants.  However it was too early in the season to get any fruits, jellies or jams.  As we drove south Mt Hood kept popping her head up.  at 11,000 feet she is beautiful and can be seen from miles around.  She still has much snow.  Photos do not do her justice.  We drove to Trillium Lake where you get those great photos with the reflection of Hood.  However the road had not been plowed so it was still closed.  We did drive up to base of Ft Hood (about 5,500 ft elevation).  There were a lot of skiers.  We grabbed a couple of pics and headed back toward Portland.  We got to hotel.  I went to get gas at Costco.  The lines were so long I decided to go elsewhere in 5:00 traffice where 3 miles takes 15 minutes.  I found a station and got out to pump but not allowed to. In Oregon only station attendants can fill up your tank.  OK - so I gave him my credit card and got out to wash windshield.  After he filled up tank for $40 (funny it came out even at $3.97/gal) I got back in the car and started back to hotel.  Well... the gas gauge had not moved.  I backed up and told the attendant I did not get any gas.  He was polite and said he must have forgotten to turn on pump.  Well, what was receipt for $40 for?  Anyway we needed gas so I pulled back up to pump and asked him to fill it up.  He said I could only get $40 worth so I said fine.  The tank was almost full so I just took the receipt and headed back to hotel.  So far I only see one charge of $40.  We had dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory (mirror of one In Nashville).  We called it a night to get ready for a surprise at beach condo tomorrow.

We slept in until 6:00 am, showered and dressed for breakfast at 7:00 am.  We were in the Honda by 8:00 am.  We headed toward the Oregon coast.  After leaving Portland we hit a two-lane Hwy 6 through the Tillamook National Forest.  We arrived in Tillamook, well known for its cheese.  We turned north on Hwy 101 and began hitting the beaches and vistas (Rockaway Beach, Neahkahnie, Hug Point, Silver Point, Cannon Beach.)  I flew the drone with another friend I made at Silver Point (you can see it on YouTube here.) Of course in Cannon Beach we had to get pictures of the famous Haystack Rock (you remember it from the Goonies movie).  We arrived at Seaside, OR, had lunch at Mo's Seafood and Chowder.   There is a road that ends at the beach and makes a circle turn-around (it is where Lewis and Clark "turned around" before heading back east.)  There is a statue of the two in middle of turnaround.  We checked into the Sand and Sea condo and spent some time resting.  Because temperature rarely gets above 70 degrees none of the buildings (including the condo) have a/c.  Today - it was 89 so was glad for ocean breeze.  We'll wait on the sunset tonight and some temperature drops.

Saturday was a day all about the Oregon coast.  Today was all about Lewis and Clark.  But first - we started out with a great breakfast at Pig n Pancake.  After breakfast we headed to Astoria where we drove to highest point to see the Astoria Column and a 360 degree view of surrounding area.  The Colum was constructed in honor of  Lewis & Clark and Robert Gray.  Your goal is to learn the relationship between the Columbia River, Cape Disappointment, the Dismal Nitch, Station Camp, Ft Clatsop and Salt Works.  History lesson will be for another day as the time is late.  We left Astoria and drove across the long bridge over the Columbia River to Washington state.

Of course we could not go back through Astoria without finding the Goonies house.

The greatest feat of the day - we made it to our 50th state as Cape Disappointment, the Dismal Nitch and Station Camp were all in Washington, the final state of our quest to visit all the United States.  We donned our 50-state t-shirts and made the picture under the Welcome to Washington State sign.  We wore the shirts like celebrities the rest of the day.  People would walk up to us and congratulate us.  One lady wanted to take our picture (it's the one in the woods).

Today we said goodbye to Oregon and headed north to Washington.  We drove back through Astoria and headed east towards I-5, crossing the Columbia River into Longview, WA.  The abundance of timber around Longview provides the city's two largest employers, Weyerhaeuser and Kapstone with timber products.  There are acres and acres of cut timber waiting to be placed on barges on the Columbia River.  We picked up I-5 and headed north until the exit to Mount St Helen.  The state runs a Mount St Helen's Visitor Center about 5 miles off I-5.  The Johnston Ridge Observatory at Mt St Helens is another 50 miles on WA-504 (Spirit Lake Drive).  We were sad to find out the final 10 miles up to the observatory was closed as the unusually warm temperatures had caused an avalanche that blocked the road.   We toured the Visitor's Center , watched the movie and then drove as far as we could towards Johnson Ridge  Observatory.  There are several places to pull off and take pictures of snow covered Mt St Helens.  To see where new trees were planted after the eruption and signs stating when new trees can be harvested.  It is hard to get your mind around the immense destruction caused by the volcano.  We left Mt St Helens and drove to Olympia and had main mean meal on the water at The Oyster House.  We were going to eat at Bud Bay but a blown transformer had fried their kitchen appliances.  Some days you just have to roll with the punches.  We drove past the state capital and headed north to FFI in Sea-Tac, WA.

Another early morning - breakfast at 6:30 on the road by 7:00 - driving the 2 hours to Mt Rainier National Park. Weather was not looking good-rain overnight and appears to be foggy with possible rain today.  That did not deter us at all.   We headed down I-5 past Tacoma and exited on Hwy 512 to pick up Hwy 7 to the park.  By the time we starting climbing in elevation at Elbe, WA, fog had moved in.  So much for seeing Rainier.   We drove on towards the Nisqually Entrance.  We drove through the entrance, showed our pass.  Ranger said weather should clear and Rainier would be visible.  We drove on and the sun came out and the fog lifted except where snow was still on side on the road (looked like steam floating across road).  This was near the Longmire Visitors Center.   As we got deeper into the park, there was dense forest (they call it old growth) that made it almost dark. We saw the creeks and streams running from the snow melt.  Around Longmire we lost all internet connectivity until we got to the Henry M Jackson Memorial Visitors Center at Paradise. We arrived by 9:45 and waited at the base of Rainier for the center to open at 10:00. The visitors’ center is at 5200 feet. We watched the mountaineers begin their climbs to the summit (14,000 feet). We watched the Rainier documentary, which was very well done. It showed the different parts of them park - tree line, alpine, mid-forest and rain forest. The park was built with a plan - every road curve was built for a reason and the entire park is well laid out to get the most views of the volcano.  We headed back down the mountain, stopping at the Longmire Visitor’s Center.  It all has to do with the town of Longmire and when it was formed and how much it has changed since the park roads were built. We did a short hike and learned about plant-life like the Skunk Cabbage and Horse Tail.  Patsy can tell you what each does medicinally. Driving back down to Tacoma, I could hear voices from the back, "the I got 1 bar, I got 2 bars, I got SOS".  We arrived back in SeaTac and had a great dinner at Sharps Roast House.

This is a short blog today.  Most of our day was spent in Seattle.  We drove to downtown around 10:00.  We parked our car in public parking and walked over to Space Needle.  It was not busy so we purchased tickets and grabbed elevator to top.  There were beautiful views and there was a cool seat that angles back so you sit and put your back to the clear glass.  It was a little scary.  We grabbed lunch at a hot dog stand and then caught our bus for the city tour.  The tour was great driving through the city past Pike Place Market, stopped at Starbuck's headquarters (in Sears old headquarters) and UPS historic water garden.  We drove past Google cloud storage.  Other giants in Seattle are UPS, Microsoft and Amazon.  Nordstrom and Boeing also got their start here.  We got a picture of the Fremont Troll under the Fremont bridge.  We finished up the tour at Kerry Park.  We drove back to Tukwila for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

Another early morning - breakfast at 5:15, on the road by 6:00. We left early to beat the traffic as we had to go through downtown Seattle on I-5 to get to the park.   Traffic was heavy but no major slowdowns.  After an hour we found a rest stop near Arlington, WA.  The rest area had a hollowed out red cedar tree that was cut in this area when settlers first came here.   It was 20 feet around and 200 feet tall (of course only the base was on display).   At Exit 232 we exited I-5 to Cook Road towards Sedro-Woolley to find the admin offices for the park. The admin offices did not open until 9:00 so we drove on towards  Concrete, WA.  This is the reservation for the Skagit Indians. Most of the drive we followed the Skagit River.  At Concrete you can see Mt Baker which is 3,286 feet high.  Looking straight you can see Mt Shuksan which is 9,200 feet high.  The next town, Marble Mount, WA, was last service for next 74 miles so we stopped at a Shell station for restroom break and snacks.  The lady who checked us out asked where we were from. We said Tennessee and she asked if we knew where Smyrna or LaVergne was --- well, yes we do.   She lived in LaVergne and worked at Pilot truck stop off I-24.  Next, road construction held us up for 10 minutes.  Finally a "Pilot Car Follow Me" truck showed up and led us through some new paving.  We stopped at the official Visitors Center, but it was closed for the season with plans to open May 21.   We did find a short hike and practiced our selfies.  We're not very good.  We drove on and stopped occasionally to view waterfalls and the dams of Diablo Lake.  Because of some fires in Canada many of the mountains were not clear but smoky (just like the ones we had with fires in Glacier NP a few years ago). We got to the Diablo Lake Viewpoint and took some selfies with McMillan Spire (7,992 ft) flanked on its right by Elephant Butte (7,380 ft) and on the left by Mt Terror (8,151 ft) in the background.  The lake is a dark green caused by rock flour, which is fine silt from the grinding down of the rock by other rocks.   We turned around at the viewpoint and headed back to Seattle. We did make a quick stop for our cancellation stamp at the Cascades Admin Office in Sedro-Woolley.  After leaving admin building we drove to Everett, WA and had dinner at Anthony's Homeport (it was next to Naval Station Everett).  The meal was excellent.  We headed back to SeaTac but traffic was pretty bad, although Waze tried to route us around it.  We made it by 6:00 pm, pretty tired.

A short day today.  We began packing for trip home Saturday.  We headed to Seattle abound 9:30 and arrived at Pike Place Market a little after 10:00.  Pike Place is a place to experience, not a place you can describe.  It was pretty crowded and the views of the Puget Sound are the best part.  We did get to see them throwing fish at the fish market.  The fresh flowers are amazing.  If you put your pocket change in the pigs, the money goes to help those less fortunate.  We had lunch at Lowell's Seafood Restaurant - it was excellent.  Tired of seafood, we had Beecher's Cheeseburgers.  OBTW Beechers cheese is made across the street (you can watch them make it).  The line to go in was way too loo long for me. Just down the street, the line to go in the "first" Starbucks was also too long.  We did visit the gum wall - it was not crowded.  I did not participate of putting my gum on the wall, but Gwen and David did.  We left Pike Place and stopped at the Klondike Gold Rush National Park located in the old Cadillac hotel.  It was free and very well done.  We headed back to hotel and later had dinner at Dukes in Bellevue with Patsy's niece and family.