Trees of Mystery

And welcome to state number 3!

My mom is learning how to dress herself (this is usually my job) She is also improving in this aspect. 

There were billboards for this place for a long time leading up to it. We enjoyed reading them in mysterious voices.

A thank you to John and Renee for helping us get a picture with this giant redwood tree.

There were signs all down the 101 warning about the elk and we had yet to see any. Then boom! There was a whole herd in this campground just hanging out.

And we drove through a tree! Oops!

We found a pizza place called Frankie's for dinner. It was alright, but I was starving so all of it disappeared.

We spent the night at the Vann Dam campground in California. No cell service, no soap or paper towels in the bathroom, and some very loud drunk old neighbors. There were hitching posts though! And a nice write up about what to do in a bobcat encounter... We survived though.

Hello Hebo!

This rainbow! It was giant.

We left Cape Lookout campground early in the morning and came to Hebo, Oregon (population 231) and got breakfast at a fish and tackle/ deli place. Our table had fishing lures on one side and a soda fountain on the other. The little fridge with the bottles of milk had bait on the bottom shelves. Pretty cute? 

On the way out of town we were passing lots of farms and cows and then boom! Rainbow! It was lovely.

Brenda is really working hard at this selfie thing. She practices a lot and I'm seeing improvement.

Then on to the Devil's Punchbowl! When you park there is a nice view of the ocean and you walk over to the fence and look around some more and then Wow! You look down and there is a huge hole with swirly water! It's pretty cool.

Yaquina Lighthouse

Selfie at Indian Beach

We pretty regularly stop at outlet malls just to get out of the car and get some walking in (while looking at pretty clothes) Oregon is pretty consistent with their nautical theme. I enjoy it.

Devil's Churn.

They seem to be a fan of the Devil stuff here....

It's an inlet with some very crashy waves.

This photo is dedicated to my mother. She was not a fan of me going to the edge of a cliff to get this picture. I thought it was fun.

 More selfies at beaches

This sunset was beautiful. We had been driving for a very long time looking for a campground and were trying to get there before sunset, buuuut we decided to not miss out on this awesome view and stopped for a bit to get pictures. We eventually found our home for the evening and got set up while the sky was still light enough to see. Harris Beach campground has decent showers and was surprisingly quiet for the number of people there. 

Seaside... for real this time

Ok, when I made the "Sunday Spent Seaside" post I was not aware that we'd actually be going to a town called Seaside. So, sorry if you are really confused right now and are questioning everything you know about the Universe--I know the feeling.

The morning started off with (What else?) A selfie with some deer

Then on to Seaside Oregon! I love it there.

It's super touristy and had a carousel inside this mini mall thing. Brenda rode a pig and I'm so behind on blogging that I don't remember what I was riding (best bet is that it was a horse). 

This is probably my favorite thing I've eaten so far on the trip. Asiago bagel with turkey, brie, bacon, and cranberry jam. THANKSGIVING on a BAGEL. Thank you food gods for this marvelous creation. And thank you to Seaside Bagels for selling it. We got very lost trying to find this place and we finally figured out that it was a block from where we had parked. I'm getting really hungry looking at the picture of that bagel, are you?

Indian Beach

I was pretty fixated with getting a picture of this little waterfall

Haystack Rock from a view point a little bit South

Because what else would you do in front of this sign?

Whaaa????? I didn't even know this was a thing!

Interesting to see how many people touch my cheese in the production process. (At least 6)

Cheese sampling bar. Yeah. We enjoyed the "Squeaky Cheese" curds so much we bought a bag for the road

And of course ate ice cream too

We set up camp at Cape Lookout for the night. This is how we "rough it"

If you read Brenda's Blog you can see how I got this selfie angle

It's pretty advanced and I wouldn't want any of you to harm yourselves. Use caution.

A gorgeous sunset right across the trail from our tent

I was really excited when I saw two parachutes coming to land on the beach during the awesome sunset so I booked it down the beach for a quarter mile in hopes that I could get a picture of them with the sun in the background. I got this far and realized that they were kites... then felt pretty silly.

Our "campfire food" Some fancy oregano olive oil paired with a blackberry balsamic vinegar from the Olive Oil and Vinegar Bar in Cannon Beach, salami, asiago dill cheese, and sourdough from the cheese factory. On a silver platter of course. (We got it at the dollar store for occasions like this) I've gotta say, so far Oregon has been the best tasting state...

Lewis and Clark should have asked me for help

 This morning was laundry time! It's so nice to have all of my clothes clean (for the moment) So we ended up getting a "late start" 10 am is when "half the day is gone!" according to Brenda. Our first stop was The Coffee Girl for (wait, what?) coffee and some breakfast. Brenda got a drip coffee and a muffin-something (not quite as healthy looking as Seattle's breakfast) and I got a mocha and a lox bagel. Brenda asked "How is yours?" to which I answered "It's not Highliner." Maybe that will be my ultimate quest for this trip. Finding a replacement for my beloved Highliner coffee and bagels.
After coffee the Bumble Bee Cannery "Museum" was right next door. It's a free, self-guided walk through. There was no one there and it was just a little creepy.

On the upside they did have giant tuna cans so.....

Up the hill is The Column...

The outside is decorated in pictures depicting the history of Astoria. Thinking about it now I forgot to look at them because these gliders

Were so distracting. For a dollar you can buy a glider to let go of at the top of the tower. I wrote on mine just in case somebody else found it so they could come read my awesome blog....

Ready for take off!

It did a nose dive then circled around for a few minutes only to land ever so gently on the top of this woman's car.

 She looked up, I waved, then she held onto it for me until I got back to the bottom. Thank you, kind stranger!

From there we went to check out some places we'd seen on maps at the Maritime museum.

My hair was not prepared for the breezy day

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

My mother is FABulous

I feel my roots showing

Dismal Nitch is an actually quite lovely little area. Lewis and Clark named it and I feel like I could have helped out with the sassy naming of places. I texted that to Rosie and she replied with "Bay Is There A Hotel Somewhere Close By" Yes, I would have served them well... And oh how different these places would be named...

 Cape Disappointment was not disappointing at all! That is until we realized we forgot to take a picture with the sign (the real reason we drove the extra 15 or so miles out there) but there was a nice hike and a good view. 

After our site seeing we went to Fred Meyer to remedy our sleeping pad situation. Two twin air mattresses and a battery powered fan should make our next camping night much nicer. While in line to checkout the woman behind me started asking about my headband and then all of the sudden a stranger is touching my head and asking me questions. What a day.

Dinner at the Travers' house was some awesome tacos tonight! Thank you guys again for the excellent housing! It will be with a heavy heart to leave a house that I know is so nice and clean... But on to the next adventure!

The days have blurred together and I realized earlier tonight that I'd gotten 3 days behind with the blog. Time flys when you're flying by the seat of your pants... That's almost the right saying, right? Something about fun goes in there? It has been very fun and I picture this trip only continuing to get better. 

Tomorrow morning is off to Canon Beach and maybe Tillamook? We'll see how nice the water is tomorrow

Sunday Spent Seaside

After leaving the campground in Washington it was off to Astoria Oregon we went! Our friends the Travers were going to be housing us for a few nights so we stopped at their house and then rode to church with them.

Right after we crossed the bridge into Oregon we stopped for another hood picnic. Bananas and almond butter, bread and Nutella on the menu today.

"Scenic Overlook"

After mass we headed to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Not gonna lie, I was not super excited, but there ended up being tons of hands on stuff. 

Like dressing up like Blue Footed Booby birds and dancing!

Or playing dress up with the clothes that are bolted to the wall...

Inside part of the U.S.S. Knapp

I'm not cut out for this

Random Air Force shirt in the maritime gift shop? 

We also did a trolley tour on a 100 year old + trolley that is operated by volunteers. Very interesting and the conductors have cool stories about the history of Astoria. We stopped by Frite and Scoop, a new ice cream shop/ french fry place. No french fries yet, but the idea is fabulous. Kristen Travers had her first day of work, so the whole family (plus Brenda and I) went to get some ice cream. I had a strawberry oreo ice cream sandwich, it was delicious! 

A big thank you to the Travers Family for housing us! Using a shower without shower shoes made the day just that much better :)