The drive from Crater Lake National Park to Eugene, OR was picturesque. The trees towering over the road and rugged mountain peaks were cause enough for a few photo opportunity stops. 

Marc’s second cousin Shari (yes, it seems he has cousins sprinkled all over this part of the country) and her husband Howard were very gracious to put us up for a couple nights. A real bed and a hot shower, boy oh boy were we in heaven!

A friend of theirs took us on a boat cruise across the beautiful Fern Ridge Lake at dusk. 

Fern Ridge Lake

Shari, Marc, and Mary Carol

One of our goals while in Oregon was to enjoy some fresh Oregon oysters. Shari knew just the place. We went to Sam’s for Oysters and Ale where I fell in love with Barbequed Oysters and Marc and I tried our first ever Oyster Shooters! They were delicious and sufficiently satisfied our cravings.

After leaving Eugene we drove up the coast on the recommendation of our hosts. They promised us the highway here was not as slow-going as the Pacific Coast Highway in California.

We were soon glad we chose this route. The views and the seafood were out of this world! 

A little seafood market where we enjoyed Dungeness Crab and Clam Chowder. Yum yum! 

 Oswald West, former governor of Oregon had the right idea. He set aside close to 400 miles of the Oregon shore for public use. Because of his foresight, today this entire stretch of the coast is filled with day use areas and public beaches.

One of our stops along the coast was Agate Beach to see the dock that had washed ashore from last year’s tsunami. This 150 ton concrete dock floated 5,000 miles across the Pacific from Japan and landed on the beach just North of Newport, Oregon on June 5^th. Its journey is hard to fathom. 

After a quick overnight stop inland we headed North to one of the very lasts available camping spots near the water, ironically enough, Cape Disappointment State Park just across the border in Washington. I had been more than a little “disappointed” before we found this park, knowing we were traveling away from the coast after this and it was our last chance to camp close to the ocean. But this State Park definitely came through for us, with our campsite just steps from the dog friendly (yahoo!) beach, beautiful views, and a great trail, we decided to stay an extra day to enjoy it all.

The beach at Cape Disappointment State Park

We woke up early and took the dogs down to the beach. They ran like the wild animals they wish they were!

After that we hiked a very slippery trail through the lush green forest to the North Head Lighthouse. North Head is considered the windiest place in the U.S. They say it’s not a question of if the wind is blowing, but how hard. I guess this explains all the kite shops in this part of the country.

When we returned from our hike we headed to the beach and spent the afternoon relaxing inside a hideaway that someone had built out of driftwood. 

After dinner we were lucky enough to catch a spectacular sunset almost unencumbered by the clouds. It was a perfect last day on the West Coast.

 From here our next destination was Olympic National Forest. Along the way we took a wrong turn and saw the World’s Longest Beach!

Although we have so far been conditioned to seek out National Forest campgrounds, we checked out the National Park accommodations and we were glad we did. The Staircase Campground at the Southeast point of the park was $12 a night and very beautiful.

Our campsite sat alongside the Skokomish River which provided a wonderful white noise to fall asleep to. I told Marc we should record it and bring it home with us!

Our second day there we tackled the Mount Rose trail. At the trailhead there were signs warning hikers to watch for aggressive mountain goats that “crave the salt found in human sweat and urine”. Recently one had charged a hiker. Unfortunately we were distracted by the mountain goat warnings and didn’t notice the other sign describing the trail as “extremely difficult due to steep grades”. 

So on we climbed, quickly becoming very sweaty, and wondering how much longer the trail would go straight up. This was by far the most physically taxing trail we have hiked. We ascended an elevation of 3,900 feet in 2.9 miles. 

Though the hike was very difficult, the scenery was worth every step. The trees were covered in thick green moss and for the majority of the hike the landscape was draped in fog making us feel as though we were walking through a movie set. 

 

We made it back down the mountain, exhausted but thankful to not have had a run in with Billy Goat Gruff!

A dip in the majestic Cushman Lake cooled us right off.

Today we took the auto ferry across Puget Sound to Seattle and we are headed East to Idaho, where we are hoping the potatoes are as plentiful as the Espresso is in Washington.

Love to all! Until next time…