Our time in Oregon

September 27, 2012---Thursday--

We will leave Washington today after spending a lot of time here.

We headed towards Portland, OR but got off interstate before that city.  We crossed the Columbia River in an industrial area.

 

 

Bridge over the Columbia River.

 

We headed west until we hit Highway 101 again heading south along the coast of Oregon.

This highway, although a very pretty drive, is filled with traffic and many bikers, as in bicycles!

We drove through dairy farm land.  We also noticed that they wrap the hay bales.

One of the views of the ocean from the highway.

 

This is a view of the wrapped hay bales.

 

We finally make it to Newport, Oregon where we will spend a few days for rest, grocery shopping, and doing laundry.  This is a busy seaside town.  After setting up camp at South Beach state park, we take a walk on the beach which is a short walk from the camp ground.

 

 

 

We spent part of the evening watching a wind surfer take on the ocean.

 

The next morning we took a three mile walk, part in the campground, part on the trails to the beach, and part on the beach.

 

 

This is the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.  This is the lighthouse and living quarters that was in use only three years.  A new lighthouse was built in a better location.  It was pretty interesting how they restored it from an almost distroyed building to a nice historic site.

 

After visiting this lighthouse, we ate at a nice resturant called Newport Cafe.  They had a great senior menu where we ate a good serving of popcorn shrimp for only $5.00 each.  We went back again the next day.  Best deal in town!

After lunch we headed to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, but the fog rolled in and we couldn't see anything so we decided to come back the next day.

 

Luck was with us the next day.  It was clear at the light house and views were great.

 

 

This lighthouse replaced the one we saw before.  It is still in use, but automatic.  We went inside and walked the stairs to the top.  The wind was really blowing out there!

Don and I walked on the black lava rock beach down from the lighthouse.

 

This beach does not have sand, this is small lava rocks that rattle together to make a noise as the waves go out.

 

 

We spent part of the time here viewing the harbor seals swimming and laying in the sun.

 

After spending 3 nights in Newport, OR, it is time to head down the highway towards California.  We continue along highway 101 with ocean views most of the way.

 

We stopped at one point and watched these wind surfers take on the waves.  They used a different type of sail than the ones in Newport.

I had to hold on to my hat to keep it from bolowing off!  Views were beautiful.

 

 

Don in front of the many rocks we saw along the way.

 

We crossed into California this afternoon and decided to camp at the Redwoods KOA outside of Crescent City, CA. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mt. Rainier National Park

September 26, 2012---Wednesday.....

We ended  staying in a state park about 50 miles away from the Mt. Rainier National Park.  The day we visited the park, we got up and drove into the park, spending the day there before driving back to the campground.

The day started out foggy but after we got out of the river valley, it cleared up nicely! We thought at this point that we might actually see the peak of Mt. Rainier.  Like many mountains, it makes its own weather and many people do not get to see the peak.

Entering the park. 

 

As we drive into the park, we start going up and up.  We ended up driving up the mountain.  Steep, curvy roads lead us to Paradise visitor's center.  There were turnouts along the way with views of the peak.  It is a good day for the mountain, with clear views all the way to the top.

 

Don and I pose in front of the peak on the way up the side of the mountain.

By the time we get to the visitor's center, we will be quite close to the peak.

 

Once at the visitor's center, we take off and walk some of the paved trails on up the mountain.  In summer, this parking lot is overflowing with cars!  There were still a lot of people here, but not near as many as in the summer peak.

 

 

One of the alpine meadows we saw.

 

 

 

 

 

Some black tail deer that were right on the trail!..

 

Don in front of the Peak!

 

 

Who is this mountain climber!  We had such a beautiful day for our visit to Mt. Rainier!

 

 

 



Olympic National Park

September 24, 2012--Monday

After getting groceries and doing some laundry, we headed to the Olympic National Park.  We choose the area that is the Rainforest part of the National park.  We throught this to be a very pretty area with trees and moss all around.

This area is called the Hoh Rainforest because the Hoh river runs through the park.



Sign at the entrance to this part of the park.

 

The Hoh River.

 

What some of the rainforest looks like.

 

Moss hanging off the trees in the forest.

 

Amy in front of some of the trees.

 

 

Don in front of one of the Big trees.

 

 

These trees grew from what they call "Nursery Trees".  When a tree falls over, tree sprouts out of the tree.  The strongest grow into big trees.  These three trees grew from the same nursery tree. There were many of these in the park.

Long tree trunks!

 

 

We hiked a little ways down this trail.  About a mile up the trail, we could hear Elk bugle to each other from two sides of the river.  There were pretty close but we never did see them.

 

The ferns really grow big in a rain forest.

 

 

Amy inside of one of the trees.

 

We enjoyed our afternoon in this national park.

On the way out of the park, we saw two black tail deer beside the road. 

 

 





First day off the ship

September 23, 2012-- Sunday----

We had no trouble disembarking the ship,,,, except I would have stayed if I could have!

We decided to take the ferry across the bay towards Oylmpic national park instead of driving the interstate down and around.
We had a pretty ride out of Seattle.

 

Our view of Seattle from the ferry.

 

Don on the Ferry.. notice he has his sweatshirt on because it was a little cool on the boat even though it was a beautiful sunny day!

 

 

 

Here I am on the Ferry.... I even had to put my hood up, but we enjoyed the ride more that a highway drive!

 

View of the shoreline across from Seattle.  Many people come across the bay on the Ferry for the weekend to visit this area of Washington.

 

Someone enjoying the beautiful day with a sail on the bay



Some views along the road towards Olympic National Park.  Pretty but very congested!!!

 

We drove to just past Forks, Wa.  Good weather was still with us even though Forks is one of the wettest areas in the United States.  Forks is a sad looking little town, hanging by a thread with the Twilight fame.  Everything was very expensive here. 

 

We camp at a State Park just outside of Forks.  We got the last camsite with electricity which is important because it gets pretty cool at night and we need to run our little heater.

This is a rainforest type camp and is quite pretty.

Tomorrow we will do jobs and go into the Olympic National Part.



Ketchikan

 

View of Ketchikan from our stateroom.  There were 4 ships docked there today.  We were here for only a few hours.

We first went to an area called Creek street. This is an old area of town that is now a shopping area.

 

 

Ketchikan was a typical Alaskan tourist town, but we still had fun looking around the town.

 

After we got back on the ship, we ate lunch at an outdoor "Salmon bake" they were having by the pool.    After that, I had a wonderful message and facial... so relaxing!

 

Next, Don and I participated in an Alaskan beer tasting on the ship.  We had a good time at that. 

 

We had burgers by the pool then attended a musical show later in the evening.



Sitka

September 20, 2012 

First thing I found out about our day in Sitka is that we would not be docking, but we would anchor in the bay and tender to shore.  We were the only ship in Sitka.

 

Our fiew from the ship as we were entering Sitka.

 

 

We walked to an area that had totum poles.  It is actually a National Park with rain forest trails.  We enjoyed the tranquiel walk through the forest.

 

A view of the forest trail we enjoyed.

We met a man walking the trail who lives in Sitka and he gave us some good information.

 

We walked back into town for lunch at good sea food place off the main tourist street.

 

 

 

 

We went back to the ship for a dip in the hot tub.

This was one of the days that the roof was open in the pool area.

Tonight was formal night and we had surf and turf...  steak & lobster, which was very good.

We went to another comedy show which was good.