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| March 20-21, 2004 - A Weekend in Westport | |
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Spring roared in with a GREAT weekend, so I took advantage of the
continuing 'non-typical' weather, and headed back the Pacific Coast
again, this time, the Washington Coast. This is one of the things I
like about living where I do... 1-2 hours in just about any direction
gets you into a completely different environment... this time, I went
to West port, which is almost due West from Olympia, through the Coast
Range, and uplift of low mountains between the valley that I-5 uses, and
the Coast. |
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I stopped in McCleary, to get some espresso's and Italian soda's, and in front of the stand, this tractor, an old John Deere, seemed like it had seen better days. You could still see hints of the green and yellow paint job here and there... |
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Entering Gray's Harbor area, you drive over an interesting bridge in
Aberdeen, which is one of the oldest communities in Washington,
predating Olympia by about 5 years. |
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Westport it, in a word, small. Transitioning from a Commercial Fishing and logging port, industries that have consolidated at Aberdeen, Westport now is catering to sport fisherman, and doing quite well at it... and doing a good job of it. Its 18 miles of beach, though, have largely been left undeveloped. Condo's and hotels are creeping in, but Ocean Shores, not far north, has a commanding lead... |
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... which is great for me, because there's much less crowding. The town was quiet, with mostly locals, and the beaches were largely empty. Even in the summer, the crowds go to Ocean Shores, and the quieter life can be found. Westport is home to the Westport Lighthouse, tallest Light in Washington. |
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I walked along a trail from the lighthouse to the beach, and came across
this interesting gaggle of ants...
I don't really know what they were doing, but they were massed outside the holes to the nest... they had read heads, which seemed bad, so I didn't linger long...
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When it was constructed, the Lighthouse was only 400 feet from the
water... Over the years since, sand has accumulated on the beach,
forming large dunes, and now, it stands more than 3000 feet back... It made for a good walk, though... and there were a variety of birds living on the dunes. |
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| The University of British Columbia was doing a sediment study of the area... most beaches are losing sand, while this one almost can't get rid of it fast enough! |
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It wasn't for the beach, obviously, that I came here... but it was quite
nice!
The water was COLD... |
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| I ended up running across a considerable variety of shells... including more sand dollars than I remember seeing in a long, long time. |
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After walking a mile or so along the beach, I got hungry, so I headed back to the truck, and scouted out a nice place to eat... On the way, I stopped at a tower built for an overlook in town, and took some pictures... The view from the tower was quite stunning.
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Even from here, Mt Rainier stood on the horizon... it was impressive! the Olympic, also, put on a show for us... |
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I ran across the Museum, where they have a couple of Whale Skeletons on
public display... the one's of the Blue Whale were quite large, and very
impressive... There were several species... they looked almost prehistoric... |
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The museum itself was an impressive structure... it was closed, so I don't know too much about it... it looked like it used to be a city hall, or courthouse, or something. |
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After dinner, it was off to the pool in the hotel. The view from the
window was pretty good... you could hear the surf in the distance, but
it was too far to view it. The next morning, though, I were treated to a nice view. I ate breakfast at the hotel, then went back to the beach... |
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The weather was even nicer... the surf was incredible! |
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While I were walking, I saw a seal watching the surfers... one can only imagine what he was thinking... |
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| I walked to the South Jetty, where the beach ended, climbed on the rocks for a bit, then headed back to check out of the hotel. |
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