Oregon and Washington

Overnight stops (in date order): Cape Blanco State Park; Cape Perpetua (x2); Amity (x2); Fort Stevens State Park (x2); Tahuya (x3); Seattle (x11)

Our first over-night stop on the rugged Oregon coast was at Cape Blanco.

 

 

 

The following day, we passed the massive dunes that line nearly 50 miles of the coast of southern Oregon,

and visited Sea Lion Cave, an enormous sea cave packed with Steller sealions jockeying for space on the rocky ledges.

 

There was a view from the cave of the Heceta Head lighthouse.

We spent two nights camped at Cape Perpetua; named and charted by James Cook in 1778. 

The sea has weathered the volcanic rock, creating rugged inlets,

 

chasms and water-spouts.

 

 

Even on a wet day,

the hiking trails were full of life;

 

 

 

though the view from the top of the Cape, the highest point on the Oregon coast, did not include the 70 miles of coastline promised by the information board.

 

 

 

 

The many farms in the fertile Willamette Valley produce more than 100 types of crop.  It is most famous for its vineyards.

We visited one close to Amity

for lunch and a tasting.

We had a view of a distant Mount Hood from the terrace.

Back at the coast, we visited the site of Fort Clatsop; where William Clark and Meriweather Lewis spent the winter of 1805/06 having crossed the continent for the first time.  They travelled upstream along the Missouri River, crossed the Rockies, and the continental divide, and then travelled downstream along the Columbia River to the Pacific coast.

The site includes a replica of the fortified log cabins they built.

 

Lewis and Clark reported that it rained every day during their stay at Fort Clatsop. 

It rained too throughout our two-day stay at nearby Fort Stevens State Park.  The moss-shrouded trees suggest that this is not unusual.

 

 

The wreck of the Peter Iredale, a British sailing Barque, sits embedded in the sand at Fort Stevens where it ran ashore in a storm in 1906.

A more recent wreck, a mile down the beach, shows that this is a treacherous coast.

The following day, we crossed the Columbia River via the Astoria-Megler Bridge into Washington State.

 

Our final stop (in the RV) was on the banks of the Hood Canal which, despite its name, is a fjord that connects with the Salish Sea which, in turn, opens into the Pacific Ocean.

 

The Hood Canal is famous for its oysters.  The stony beach was littered with live oysters at low tide –

and they were there for the picking.

 

Seattle was our last stop.  After returning the RV, our plan had been to take a four-day holiday before flying home.  This was extended to eleven days after we both went down with COVID shortly before arriving in Seattle.

Once out of isolation,

we could enjoy the sights;

 

with views of the cityscape from the harbour

from the Smith Tower,

and from the top of the Space Needle –

 

the ‘futuristic’ centrepiece of Seattle’s World’s Fair in 1962.

At the foot of the Space Needle, the Chihuly Garden and Glass

showcases the striking

and colourful

 

 

studio glass creations of the local artist, Dale Chihuly.

Pike Place Market, close to the waterfront, is Seattle’s biggest tourist attraction

 

and a good place to celebrate the end of our trip, and our 33^rd wedding anniversary;

before finally flying home.