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July 24th - While in Washington I had some great Clam chowder from Doogers made from razor clams. On Sunday morning, we left our camp site in Long Beach and found a church called New Life in Ilwaco for worship services. It was a sweet service. Ilwaco has a beautiful harbor where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. After Lunch we headed toward Astoria, Oregon which was only about 25 miles away. Astoria has been called “a little San Francisco on the hill,” Victorian architecture, river front trolley and ships passing by the city on their way out to sea. We visited a down town market and the Columbia River Maritime Museum, home to one of the finest displays of model ships and artifactgs. . We visted a Fort where Lewis and Clark built for their group to spend the winter during their exploration trip out west.

July 25th - We left Gearheart, Oregon and drove through Cannon Beach, a charming community knows for its art and seaside vistas. Haystack Rock, a 235 foot rock towers over the beach and is the state’s most photographed natural wonder. We had to photograph it in 58 degree weather in a thick fog. I had always heard the ocean views were amazing. I was still able to get some shots through the fog. They look kind of erie. The coast of Oregon is one of the most beautiful places on our trip. The Byway hugs the coast for the first few miles out of Cannon Beach, climbing to 700 feet above the Pacifc. The road then drifts slightly inland to Tillamook. Oregon’s unofficial dairy capital. Much of the county’s annual milk production of 25 million gallons is made into natural cheddar cheese. We stopped at Oregon’s largest cheese factgory for a tasting tour I hope we can go back to the beautiful Oregon coast someday and maybe the sun will be shining J

July 26th –
We only drove 50 miles today. We stopped in Troutdale and found a beauty salon for me to get a hair cut. At the edge of town was the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Loop. Construction of the Historic Columbia River Highway began in 1913. The Loop showcases the many waterfalls and other “beauty spots” on the highway. We hiked to the Latourell Falls, saw the Bridal Falls, Horsetail Falls and one of the great displays of waterfalls in the world is Multnomah Falls. Its 620 foot drop makes it the second highest year round waterfall. An easy, five minute hike on a paved trail brings you to a stone bride with a spectacular up close view of the upper falls. We stopped for night at Hood river so we can take the Hood River Loop tomorrow.

CAPE DISAPOINTMENT OVER LOOKING THE BEAUTIFUL PACIFIC

July 20 - We were about to finish our journey of Canada after driving through Vancouver. Vancouver is a beautiful city and hopefully we can visit there again someday. We literally drove straight through the town, got lost and used our gps to get out of the city. I read about wonderful areas around the city....that we missed but there will be another day. Around 8:30 pm we crossed over the border of Canada in into our wonderful USA! We spent our first night in Bellingham, Washington and on to Long Beach, Washington, the beautiful coast of Washington.

July 23-24 - I had never seen the Pacific coast so as soon as we arrived in Long Beach we parked and walked out the board walk. The sand was very dark compared to the white sand on the East coast. It was a chilly 63 degrees and as beaches usually are, there was a strong wind blowing. We slept and got up the next morning and we had a strenuous hike through woods and over hills to the Cape Disappointment Light House. The view was amazing from the top. There was a sand sculpturing contest in the town, and the creative side of my personality has always loved sand art.

Tomorrow we will leave after lunch...Boyd will take me out for some more of the amazing clam chowder that we bought a few nights ago. We will travel south toward the Oregon coast.

Most updates later.....

more pictures of Whisler Village....