May 30, 2015. Last Day in Grayland, WA.

May 30, 2015.  It has been another cool day in Washington.  The sun came out this afternoon for a couple of hours, but most of the day has been overcast.

We biked and walked around the area.  The first few pictures show a less prosperous part of Grayland.  But, once one enters the park all that is left behind. Both needle and leafy trees color the campground.  Beyond the dunes is the Pacific.  Today was an active day on the beach.  The campground is filled to capacity and many campers chose to spend their day near the sea.  Kite flyers, fishermen and children all enjoyed the day there.

Annie and I walked the beach twice today, first when it was crowded, then later this evening when many beachcombers had returned to their campsites.  On our morning walk, a young woman driving along the beach with her boyfriend got stuck in the sand.  She spun her tires until the frame came to rest on top of the sand.  Luckily, a park ranger came along with a shovel.  He scooped the sand in front of and behind the wheels.  The boyfriend, the ranger and I pushed while the woman tried to reverse the car from the sand.  It worked.  She made it back to the hard surface and was thankful to the ranger and the friendly beachwalker.  Annie told me I looked like Earl from the Pickles comic strip.  I think I deserved better, don't you?

We leave tomorrow morning for Cape Disappointment State Park, less than one-hundred miles south of here.  Cape Disappointment is at the mouth of the Columbia River where it discharges into the Pacific.  There is a Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center there.  Fort Clatsop, the Corps of Discovery's winter camp in 1805-1806, is several miles upstream on a tributary of the Columbia.  That river, formerly called the Netul River, is now aptly named the Lewis and Clark River.  It was renamed in their honor in 1925.

They deserved that, don't you think?

May 29, Grayland Beach State Park, Grayland, WA

 

May 29, 2015.  We like it here at Grayland Beach State Park. While the weather was a little gloomy and cooler than desired, it was a good day.  The temperature rose to the mid-fifties with overcast skies.  Still, it wasn't uncomfortable so long as we moved around or sat near the campfire.

We like it so much that we extended our stay two additonal nights.  We will have tomorrow to knock around again then we will leave Sunday for Cape Disappointment Campground at the extreme southwest corner of Washington. From there, we will go south to Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon.

One story is that Cape Disappointment was named by a member of the Corps of Discovery (Lewis and Clark Expedition).  The story is that the Corps was hoping to spot a ship and sail back to civilization. They were "disappointed" that no ship was sighted.  The Corps spent from March, 1806, until September returning overland to St. Louis.  Upon arrival, they discovered that they were thought to have perished.  Only President Jefferson and a few other impractical optimists believed they were still alive.

Nehalem Bay was our last stop before heading home at the end of the eight-week Great American Road Trip of 1988.  We spent two or three nights there before returning to Missouri.  I recall it as an idyllic time which capped the most memorable trip of our family life.  On that trip, our daughters swam in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic, a Great Lake, the Great Salt Lake, and the Pacific.  The Pacific dip came at Nehalem Bay State Park.  Cape Disappointment is also on the Pacific.  Both parks offer long stretches of beach.

We have carted the bikes 2500 miles and today was the first day we rode them. We circled the campground, biked into the town (village?) of Grayland, then to Westport, an access  used by some to get to the beach in their vehicle.  It seems odd to see trucks and cars driving on the beach in a state park.  Evidently, it is common here and in other places.  Maybe it seems odd only because I haven't seen it done before.

Look for more of the same tomorrow.  Goodnight.  

May 28, 2015. Nanaimo to Grayland, WA

May 28, 2015.  Not so many miles, but lots of hours in Harvey was today.  We left the campground at Nanaimo at 6:45 this morning.  We arrived at Grayland State Park at 7:30 this evening, just in time to take the critters for a walk on the beach.  Yes, that is the Pacific in the distance.  The park has a mile and a half of ocean frontage.

The drive time was necessarily extended due to a massive traffic jam above, in and below Seattle.  We spent nearly four hours covering about 60 miles.  There were times when it was stop and go.  Other times we reached breakneck speeds in the twenties.  If today was typical, I could not live in Seattle.  And, there was a clip on the news last night which announced another 120,000 people will move to Seattle by 2020.  I feel a crush of nostalgia when I reflect back on the rush minute at Ash and Austin in Nevada.

We had lunch with Barb in Blaine, WA.  She suggested a very nice place on the water, Semiahmoo Resort and Spa, which is very close to their home.  She will pick up Emo and Miles tonight at SeaTac airport just south of Seattle.  If she has as much traffic difficulty as we did, it is good that she planned to leave early.

The dog in the picture is Betty Lou, a whippet mix rescued by her owner from the streets of Redding, CA.  The two-year old pup was well disciplined although she took a liking to BJ's green monkey.  She wanted to play with the monkey and her owner had a little difficulty restraining her.  Most of the other pictures are self explanatory, with the exception of the border crossing and Seattle traffic with the skyline and Space Needle peeking out of the right side of the photo.

We will continue to make our way south of here.  However, we may stay another night here.  The campground is nice with the ocean just over the dune behind us. This is the first campground where the area is flat enough to bike around.  On top of that, I am not sure I can get Annie back in her passenger seat for another drive tomorrow.

May 27, 2015. A Day at the Mercedes Dealership.

 

May 27, 2015.  The title to this page pretty much describes the day.  We arrived at the dealership at 8:45 this morning and left at 3:30 this afternoon.  I spent time handling email, talking to the office and buying a new camera online.  Just before noon, the service manager suggested we go to a nearby diner for lunch. We were preparing to do that when another customer, one long of tooth, wearing overalls and sporting a farmers' co-op cap, said, "Don't go there.  Go to Earl's Cafe.  It is closer and the food is top notch.  We eat there all the time."

"Oh, is that right?  So, what does Earl serve?" I asked.

"Why, they have everything there.  You name it, Earl has it.  I like the Caesar salad.  One of those fills me up the rest of the day."

"Well, thanks," I said.  "We give Earl a try."

So, spurning the recommendation of the service manager, we set off in search of Earl's.  It was described as "just down the street" between Wendy's and Tim Horton's.  Across a Mitsubishi car lot, through a busy intersection, down an asphalt sidewalk, we trekked.  We found Wendy's and Tim Horton's but Earl wasn't in between them.  A little further away was Earl's.  We noticed the parking lot was not exactly jammed with cars.  We also noticed the front door was propped open with a two-by-four.  Earl wasn't serving anything today.  Earl was closed for remodeling.  I am not sure what the old-timer meant when he said they "eat there all the time".   It appeared that Earl had been shut down for a lot of the recent time.

So, we ate at Wendy's.

After T-Harvey was repaired - we hope - we stopped by the grocery store near the campground.  A shot of the conveyor belt may suggest to you that we are enjoying ourselves.  Overeating is one of the few vices I have left.  I sure do hate to give that one up; especially on a road trip.

We say goodbye to the Living Forest Oceanside Campground in the morning.  It has been our home for the last eight days.  On to the United States tomorrow. We'll catch the 7:45 ferry and meet up with Barb for a mid-morning brunch. We aren't sure where we'll spend tomorrow night.  We do know that we will explore the Pacific Coast in northern Oregon and we will do that soon.  I'll know more tomorrow night.

So, goodbye Nanaimo and goodbye Vancouver Island.  Hello USA.

May 26, 2015. The Answers.

May 26, 2015.  The results are in.  The three boys got 9 of 18 correct.  The two sisters got 13/18.  The sister and brother also got 13/18 correct.  So, L & P get $15, E & M get $15 and E, L & B get $10.  Since there was a tie for first, Annie decided to award both teams first place money.  According to her, since there was a tie for first, the other team must have finished second, so that team gets second place money.  Annie is pretty free with her money, I think.  Oh, the answer, "beer booty" should be "bear booty."  However, "beer booty" was a literal transcription from the entry.  I guess it doesn't matter since both answers are incorrect.  But, maybe the three brothers will want to dock their scrivener's pay.

Congratulations to all entrants.  I hope you had as much fun as we did.  That Annie, she has a lot of great ideas, doesn't she?