And we are of!!!

On Sunday morning we met the Bradley’s and Parrish’s at the Junction shopping mall where we took a couple of photos and bought a Tim Horton’s coffee for the road.  

Our 5th wheel

Vonnie & Russ's trailer

That would be Kathy & Brent's car in the middle

The group!!

We left the parking lot at 8.00 and were through the Sumas border crossing by 9;00.  As we had packed our trailers appropriately (no fruit, vegetables, dairy or meats), the crossing was smooth with no issues.  Rather then drive through downtown Seattle, we chose to take the 405 which skirts the downtown traffic.  Even though it was Sunday, you never know what might cause a back up in the traffic.  Ray and I had never been on the 405, so it was a slightly different drive through Seattle.  We hooked up on the I-5 again just north of Tacoma.  We stopped in Centralia for fuel and to have a bite to eat.  The clerk in the Chevron recommended the Country Cousin for a home cooked meal.  It was a very interesting restaurant.  They had a gift shop and also a very old looking one armed bandit.  Vonnie was looking for some change to drop into it, when we were called to our table.  Food was very good, with the exception of some turkey salad that was in Kathy’s salad.  She ordered a turkey and cranberry salad and thought there was going to be slices of turkey, but instead of slices, there was two big scoops of finely minced turkey salad.  It had no turkey flavour that I could taste.  Other then that the meals were very good.

We continued down the I-5 until we got to Keslo, where we turned onto highway 30 which was going to take us over to the coast.  We had opted for the less scenic route to Seaside as we just wanted to arrive at our campsite and get things set up.  As we crossed the Lewis bridge which crosses the Columbia River and also connects Washington to Oregon, it started to rain.  The Columbia River is 2000 kms long and starts in the Rocky Mountains of BC. Port Longview reminded me of crossing from Saulte Ste Marie in Michigan to Saulte Ste Marie in Ontario.  All you can see is the pulp mills.  There was a pulp mill on one side of the road and another mill of some sort on the other side.  I would have to say the two mills are most likely the main employer of Longview.  The drive on the south side of the Columbia River was very pretty with the Fall colours.  The biggest issue was the rain.  By the time we got to Astoria it was coming down in buckets.  Arriving in Astoria, Russ was looking for a fish shop that sells smoked sturgeon.  He wanted some to take to his buddy whose place we would be camping at for a couple of nights.  We found the fish shop and were lucky enough to find an empty parking lot to pull into and not obstruct anyone.  We continued driving through the town heading towards Seaside.  One thing of note as you come into Astoria from Highway 30, you get a perfect view of the Astoria-Megler bridge.  This bridge, which connects Point Ellice Washington to Astoria Oregon is about 4 miles long.  It kind of reminded me a bit of the Confederation bridge in PEI.  The Astoria-Megler bridge took four years to build and was open in 1966, replacing the ferry service that had been the only way to connect Astoria to Washington without having to take the highway to Longview. 

Astoria is the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies, and is named after German/American, John Jacob Astor.  Astor was a businessman who made the majority of his fortune in the fur trade.  His business empire extended to the great lakes into Canada and eventually to the Pacific coast, where in 1811, he set up a fur trading post.  Prior to this, the Clatsop Indians lived here for thousands of years.  A hundred years ago, Astoria was the 2nd largest city in Oregon. Salem is now the official 2nd largest city. And now with a population of just under 10,000, Astoria now stands at 52nd largest city.  There have been a number of movies filmed in Astoria, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, The Goonies, Ninja Turtles and Into the Wild just to name a few.

As it was Thanksgiving weekend, I thought it would be nice to get a small turkey or ham to cook for dinner on Monday.  So we stopped at the Fred Meyers in Astoria to pick up what we would need for our Thanksgiving dinner and to also buy the things we were not able to bring from Canada.  I love the Fred Meyers stores,,,,they as so big and have everything from food to small furniture.  Us girls could spend hours browsing in there, but it was not to be!  We wanted to be in Seaside before dark so that we could set up our campsites.  And we were hoping that it would quit raining.  No, that was not about to happen!!  Other then the stop at the fish shop and a trip into Fred Meyers, we continued south to Seaside.  

Seaside is one of Oregon’s most visited ocean front towns with its 250 foot wide beach.  It is 80 miles from Portland and boasts a population of approximately 6500 year round residents.  The historic Promenade runs a & 1/2 miles and is used by joggers, cyclists and walkers.  There is much to do in Seaside for locals and tourists.  Bird watching, surfing, kayaking, fishing, digging for clams and watching for the grey whales when they migrate along the coast.  There are art galleries, restaurants and shops.  Something for everyone!  We did not however get to tour the town itself as we by the time we arrived at Circle Creek RV park the rains were unbelievable!  Our first night found us hunkered down in Vonnie and Russ’s trailer sharing apples and a few drinks.  Around 10:00, Kathy and I left Brent and Ray in the capable hands of Russ and Vonz, and off we went to prepare for bed.  So Brent and Ray walk in about 30 minutes after us and promptly sat down and had a glass of wine.......not that they needed it and it didn't seem to bother them that they were disturbing poor Kathy who was trying to sleep on the hide-a-bed!!!

This photo is our campsite the next morning.  The sites were very large with lots of grass.