5/17 - I've crossed over into Washington and I'm really just over the bridge and it feels different. More green. Hmmm. The areas I was driving through today in Oregon were really beautiful in the clouds and misty rain. I didn't get any photos, but the green hills with the fog were so pretty.
I started considering going to Alaska again yesterday. A friend is doing it and I just am afraid that if I don't do it this year, I may never do it. I'm right here. I don't have any real plans for the summer. I was resistant to going due to the political climate and I do protest and post anti-trump stuff on social media. But I'm sure it will be fine.
I wonder if my license could be an issue. And I need the registration for the van to be renewed.
I stayed in a rest area instead of going to a campground. I was pretty comfortable there as there were a couple of other RVs and vans. There was a couple in an old Audi that were fighting, but thankfully they left. I slept OK, while I slept. I went to sleep late due to doing Alaska research. When I woke in the AM around 6, a car drove in a guy was yelling "Anna", "Anna" Shortly after there were cops there talking with the guy in the same Audi as last night (tape over one taillight). The cops were there until about 9:30 and I think they took the guy away. I wasn't paying too much attention, but I didn't want to get out of the van while this was going on. I would say this is one reason to not sleep in such places, but I've also experienced this kind of stuff in campgrounds, so you never know.
Went to Cape Disappointment. You had to pay either $10 for the day or $30 for an annual pass, so I figured I'd do the latter. This way I'll be more open to stopping at the state parks even if not camping there. :o) Zoe and I walked to the Cape Disappointment lighthouse and down to the beach at Deadman's Cove. Zoe had a hard time getting up the trail because the soil was worn away under the roots, making it difficult for a four legged animal, plus the jumps were pretty big. I put her back on leash and hauled her up. After that she was super slow walking up the steep path so I was concerned that maybe she got hurt, but I think she was just tired from the exertion. Hills are hard on her. She does really well at first, then gets very slow. After that we drove to the trail for the North Head Lighthouse, but I let Zoe rest in the van. I did that and another short trail. It had been raining on and off while I was still at the rest area, but it was only partly cloudy when at Cape Disappointment, so that was a treat since it was supposed to be raining all day.
Cape Disappointment
 |
| Dead Man's Cove |
 |
| Dead Man's Cove |
 |
| Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. Still in use, but could use some TLC |
 |
| Cape Disappointment Lighthouse |
 |
| Not bad lodging for the crew that tended the North Head lighthouse |
 |
| North Head Lighthouse |
 |
| "The Original GPS. Ship captains carried charts describing the unique signature (light pattern), daymark (color), and coordinates of the lighthouses along their route. Once a lighthouse was observed, they could verify their location." I didn't know that the paint job of the lighthouse was used as part of the identification. |
 |
| Moss/lichen everywhere! |
We then went to Long Beach, which was just another tourist town. I got some Thai food (great reviews, so-so food in my opinion) and sat and listened to a guy in a pirate suit playing the guitar and singing. He was actually really good.
Town of Long Beach - too touristy for me.
Then went onto a HH - Woohoo Winery. Did a tasting. So so wine. Very nice people. Another HH guest here in their tiny Airstream Basecamp with two large labradors. I wonder where they all fit! On and off rain tonight. Donna, at the winery said that it had been a dry spring until about a week ago. I said you can thank me for the rain! Haha. Sunny California was mostly true to that. Gloomy Oregon is what I've mostly been experiencing and the next week is showing rain here in WA.
 |
| No impressed with being left behind as I did my wine tasting! |
 |
| View at the HH Woohoo Winery |
After traversing the huge state of California, I realize how little coast Oregon and Washington have in comparison.
Today the letter showed up about my license renewal and that I have to do it in person. Ugh. I'll have to call on Monday and see if there is anything they can do for me. There has to be some accommodation for such cases, right? Right???
5/18 - We took a nice walk near the winery through an old road that it looks like the town decided to not maintain anymore. Nice for us! It goes along a creek and was very rainforest - like due to all the ferns, moss, and lichens. Zoe could be off leash so she could sniff and I could walk and then she could run and catch up with me. It is so good for both of us!
I caught up with my friend, Beth, who works for the state of VT. While we were chatting, I mentioned my thoughts of going to Alaska and my concern with my license. I said I wondered if they made exceptions on needing to be there in person for a new license/photo. She said she is actually the person who makes such decisions! OMG! I can't believe this. So, Alaska is again a very real possibility. I'm not 100% committed to it yet, but I can't really come up with a good reason to NOT go. I know I wasn't going to go due to the current administration and I don't like the idea of the crossing borders, but what the heck. If I don't go this year I don't know when I'll go. Though I've always wanted to go to Alaska, I don't have any specific places I'd like to go (other than the ones that you can't get to by car). I certainly have some planning to do! I've got a couple of weeks to do that, but since I tend to wing it all anyway, I probably won't plan too much. It is daunting doing it on my own!!!
I went to the Carriage Museum in Raymond, WA and really enjoyed it. They are all original carriages, but have been restored. No remakes. Carriage used in Gone with the Wind and other carriages in other movies. I didn't leave the winery until noon and then went to the museum. Then I was very hungry so went to the Willapa Brewery to get the raved about pizza. I did not like their beer, but loved the pizza. I decided to stay there as they are with Harvest Hosts (how I found them). It's not very exciting and with the long days (not dark until after 9) I definitely could have moved along, but wasn't in the mood. Which is a shame because I think tomorrow is going to be quite wet and today wasn't. Oh, well. I just went with how I felt in the moment.
 |
| $2000! Expensive back in the early 1900s! |
 |
| Wagon used in Gone with the Wind |
 |
| This looks very awkward as the seats are facing each other and the driver is not facing forward. |
 |
| Chuck Wagon |
 |
| Stage coach |
 |
| Road Coach used for long journeys before railroads |
 |
| "To go 30 miles with the road coach, it required 30 horses, 10 coachmen, 5 post houses, 2 coaches, 3 hours. Now we go 30 miles in 30 minutes and use ~1.5 gallons of gas. The Road Coach is a heavy carriage and even heavier when loaded. Often traveling on poor roads, both the carriage and horses experienced "wear and tear". Horses needed to be groomed, fed, and rested. Therefore they changed teams at each post house. Multiple coachmen are needed to smoothly run the operation and a backup carriage is recommended in case of an emergency/accident." All that to go 30 miles!! |
 |
|
 |
| Rules and lashing chart for teachers. Basically teachers weren't allowed to marry, date, be out past 8, travel beyond city limits without permission, no riding in carriages with a man other than father or brother, no loitering at ice cream shops, no smoking, no dressing in bright colors, no dying your hair, must wear at least 2 petticoats, dresses can't be shorter than 2" above the ankle, must sweep and mop the classroom floors at least once a day. This does NOT sound like a fun job! |
 |
| The horses and men are made of metal. All around town are these metal sculptures, including a mountain lion as you enter town, and deer on the side of the road. Both of these scared me each time, thinking they were real! |
 |
| Walk down by the river. |
 |
| In South Bend, WA. My trusty model. |
 |
| Beautiful Courthouse |
 |
| This makes me think of the Prospect House in Blue Mtn Lake. I've seen many of these giant hotels that were built for the elite in far away places requiring trains, steamboats, and coaches to transfer the guests. Most of these burned down, but this one never even opened because times had changed by the time it was complete and was torn down several years later. Sad! |
5/19 - I drove to Tokeland, thinking this would be an interesting stop (again, no research!), but there was really nothing here, so we went onto Grayland. Not much there either, but I decided to stop at the Grayland State Park to go to the day use area, but I couldn't find it. Since I had purchased the year pass I didn't have to pay for visiting, which is the only reason I went there. And glad I didn't pay for it since I couldn't even find it! There was a beach near the entrance to the SP, so I went there. I could have driven onto the beach because they had a packed gravel road out onto it, but I didn't know that until we walked down there.
Though the weather prediction was for rain today, I found that the rain is often just a light mist and doesn't really stop me from doing things. And it's usually on and off too, but you definitely want to be prepared with a coat and hood.
 |
| Cute tiny ducks |
Cool patterns in the sand
We drove on to Westport and that had a pier with lots of restaurants and shops. A little more interesting than Tokeland and Grayland, but we just went to the nearby state Park and walked on the trail there until the rain (a very heavy fine rain) rushed us back to the van.
 |
| Such pretty flowers. Usually they are only yellow and I really like this version! |
Aberdeen - Pilgrim Heights. I had seen a sign for this, not knowing what I'd find, and decided to drive around. So glad I did. Beautiful houses and amazing gardens!
In Aberdeen, I decided to do my laundry. I considered putting it off, because it was now sunny, but I didn't know when I'd find a laundromat again, so decided to go ahead. I'm glad I did. The woman there was super helpful and I find that the commercial washers do a way better job on really dirty and dog stuff than a household washer. When I was there, we had a very heavy downpour, so not so sunny after all!
We went to Pacific Beach State Park and grabbed a site by the water. I couldn't really see the water, but it was fine. Time for a shower! The shower near my site was very questionable, so I went to the other bathhouse and had a lovely hot shower!
5/20 - Filled up water and headed to the Olympic National Park. We stopped by Quinault Lake at a picnic spot. I'm glad I stopped as it was really beautiful and rainforesty and no one else there. We had some heavy rain on the way there, but it stopped for our walk. I guess I shouldn't have taken Zoe there (no dogs on trails), but I didn't think of it as a trail... No one else was there, so no harm I guess.
 |
| I'm too lazy to get out of the van for a proper photo! 😂 |
 |
| Deteriorating picnic table in the rainforest |
 |
| Lake Quinault |
We went onto the Quinault Rainforest Trails and I did a hike there that was really lovely. Even though I try, pictures just don't do it justice when walking through the forest (rainforest in this case). And, yes, I left Zoe in the van this time.
 |
| Ferns under water |
After our time at Quinault rainforest, it was time to find a place to park for the night. I had seen a South Beach campground, so we stopped there. You can park right on the water (though most of those sights were taken, but still a decent one or two available), but it was small and nowhere to walk Zoe other than the beach and there wasn't really much beach and it wasn't even high tide yet. I decided to move along to Kalaloch campground because it had a Tree of Life that I had marked as a sight to see in my Google Maps. I'm glad I did as I got a great site (not quite level, but close enough and none of them seemed to be level). We walked to the Tree of Life. Come to find out, just in March, it started to collapse as the bluff was eroded after a bad storm. I guess there is concern that it won't be there much longer, but it still appeared to be healthy.
 |
| Not the Hole in the Wall, but close enough. |
After Rialto Beach, we drove over to La Push and went out onto the beach here.
 |
This trunk certainly looks like it's rooted in the sand. I wonder if it is. |
 |
| I use Zoe a lot to try to get the perspective on how big these trees are. Plus she's CUTE!!! |
5/22 - Stayed at a Forest Svc Mora campground last night. Only partially open for FCFS (first come first serve) since it's before Memorial Day weekend.
 |
| Trees playing twister |
 |
| This snake wasn't interested in leaving |
Decided to drive to Cape Flattery, which is the farthest NW point in the lower 48. It was a looong drive on a pretty bumpy/frost heavy road. I decided it was good training for driving to Alaska! I didn't feel like it was worth the drive, plus the $20 recreation fee (for the rest of the year...), but I did stop at this overlook in Sekiu on the way and there were about 5 bald eagles flying around, so there's that.
Cape Flattery hike
 |
| Rustic boardwalk on way to Cape Flattery |
 |
| Lighthouse off of Cape Flattery |
I decided to go to Sol Duc Hot Springs to camp and then take a soak in pools.
