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| February 2004 - Drive to Seaside | |
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Let's be honest... it rains quite a bit in the winter here in the
Northwest. Waiting for nice weather to do something is like waiting
for your coffee to cool off before you start drinking it... sometimes, you
just have to do what you want to do, regardless... I took a trip to
Seaside to start out the "Mid-Winter Break" season, and thankfully,
the weather held out for the most part... |
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The trip took me on a rather ho-hum drive down the I-5 corridor,
which I've done tons of times, down to Portland, then out to the
coast. After a stop in Seaside, I went up 101 to Highway 30, then
along the Columbia, across the Lewis and Clark Bridge in Longview, then
back up I-5 to home. I got kind of a late start, but the weather heading down was VERY nice, especially for winter. |
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Just as I were passing the US 12 interchange, to Mossyrock, two state patrol vehicles came up behind me with lights flashing. A few miles later, I saw something sort of odd... about seven patrol vehicles of various types (2 SUV's, even) stopped around a red Explorer... I didn't get a great look, but it sure looked to me like one of the troopers was in the vehicle, basically laying on the driver... it was pretty odd. But, I drove by without incident, thankfully enough. |
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Now technically two bridges, the Interstate Bridge was first installed in
the 1930's... the right bridge, built to resemble the original bridge, was
built in the 1960's. Its a major artery between Oregon and
Washington, and provides a vital link between the Cities of Portland, OR,
and Vancouver, WA. Its a draw bridge, which is sort of odd for an Interstate, and at times, it can get stuck "up", which really snarls up traffic, although that hasn't happened for quite some time, now, since a major renovation was completed a few years back. Portland is a big city that doesn't want to be big... it has tried very hard to keep the smaller feel about it, and I think its done a pretty good job of it. Lately, this has been made more difficult by an "Urban growth boundary", which it imposed on itself to stop sprawl, which the residents in the environmentally conscious city sees as more of a threat. |
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Like Seattle, Portland has a volcanic Neighbor... only Portland's is a bit
more active. The USGS monitors Mt Hood closely, and its been called the "Most Dangerous" volcano in the Northwest, largely because of its proximity to Portland, and its apparent impending eruption. |
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While in Portland, I looped around a bit, partly because I missed the exit to US 26 East, and partly to drive through the downtown area to get a feel for the city itself... The drive along US 26 was pretty nice... not much traffic, and of course ample scenery. |
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Yep, that's snow in the picture on the left... I stopped in a rest area along the highway in the Coast Range and stretched my legs a bit and took a look around. I also took advantage of the opportunity to catch up on the signs near the latrine area... I'm the guy they put those things up for... you can learn a lot off of those things! |
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Just before getting on US 101, I stopped by the largest tree in Oregon,
which also happens to be the largest Sitka Spruce in the USA.
They've put up a walkway around the tree, which is actually quite
impressive. This tree is some 750 years old, and its more than 50 feet around, and 200 feet tall... Its still growing, even though it's been hit by lightening, and still bears a fairly hideous crack and scarring from that event, which happened a few years ago. |
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After that brief stop, it was a short jaunt to Seaside. |
| I grabbed a meal at Girtle's Seafood and Steaks, a family-owned restaurant that serves an AWESOME bowl of clam chowder... possibly the best in the Northwest, in my opinion. |
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The hotel I stayed in was AWESOME! It was right on the beach, facing the ocean, on the main strip in town... you can't ask for a better place to stay... |
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| The view was fantastic! |
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| After the gulls were fed, I went to a kite store, and picked up some really cool kites... then spent the majority of the morning and early afternoon on the beach, enjoying the scenery, and practicing kite-flying (or is it kite-crashing?) skills... |
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There was a cold front closing in on the coast, which provided the winds,
but unfortunately, as the morning went on, the wind got so strong that it
became too difficult to keep the kites up, and I had to pull them in. Once i wasn't flying kites, it got 'cold', so I left for a drive, and pushed on to Cannon Beach, 12 miles to the South (or so) from Seaside. Seaside is one of those places that have scenery that you can't get enough of... |
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Taking my last looks at the scenery, and doing my best "Arnold"
rendition of "I'll be back", I packed up, and headed out for Cannon
Beach.
The drive from Seaside to Cannon beach is about 14 miles along Highway
101, and it was pretty uneventful... how much can happen in that short of
time??? Cannon beach is a bit more remote than Seaside, and it has significantly less development done on the beach... so its more rustic and pristine. |
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In my opinion, its a much more beautiful beach... the scenery is far more
'real'... Tillamook Rock lighthouse is visible on the North End... its also visible on the South End of Seaside's beach, just out from the big head at the end of the beach. Its a remote lighthouse, but its quite striking on a sunny day... |
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| On the North end of the beach, a river meets the ocean... with each tide, it has to find a new way across the bar created by the effects of the tide... its quite the picturesque scene! |
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The shifting weather made for an excellent photograph opportunity on Haystack Rock, which is the primary landmark at Cannon Beach. Haystack Rock is the second largest standing granite monolith in the world... the largest being the Rock of Gibraltar. The third largest is in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge, Beacon Rock, which is about 2/3 the size of Haystack. |
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Haystack, and the pillar-like rocks around it, called the "Needles", are
the remainders of what was once a large head, or a portion of land that
juts out into the ocean, that has eroded away to become a stand-alone
island of sorts. The surrounding rocks, most of which broke off the former headland, provide habitat for a variety of creatures... I think its neat to see these animals in an aquarium, but its REALLY cool to see these critters in the wild! All part of the learning process. |
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After checking out the tide pools for a bit, I finally accepted the fact
that I had to head home... work, unfortunately, is a necessary evil. The climb up the steps off the beach was a good workout! Its like a stair-stepper, only you actually go somewhere. I loaded up the truck, and departed, eyeing the mirrors the whole way... I'll be back - sooner rather than later, I'm sure! |
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Heading North on 101 towards Astoria is a public scales, set up by the
state mostly to enforce weight regulations by the logging industry...
I stopped on the scales, mostly to see just how much my truck weighed with
me and my stuff in it... 6,250 pounds... not too shabby... The drive to Astoria is fairly mundane, but traffic was light, and I made good time. Unfortunately, I didn't really have time to stop at Ft Stevens, which is also a favorite stop of ours in the area. |
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I managed to get a decent shot of the Astoria Bridge, over the Columbia Estuary, on my way into Astoria. |
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Astoria is one of those small Northwest towns that has managed to preserve
the history of itself, and most of the downtown buildings are from the
late 1800's, early 1900's... The main road through town has managed
to preserve the look and feel of the 'old west', with high sidewalks, and
awnings over the store fronts to protect customers from the rain. Astoria is also where they filmed "Kidnergarten Cop", in case you didn't realize that... its a fishing village, and is the Customs Headquarters for shipping entering the Columbia River. |
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From Astoria to Longview, its a trip on Highway 30, once known as the Columbia River Highway, and part of the US Highway System. Highway 30 stretches across the country, and passes fairly close through Des Moines, and ends on the other coast (I think) in Philedelphia. It rained a bit, but was otherwise pretty uneventful... which describes the rest of the trip as a whole, actually. |
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In Longview, I crossed the Columbia on the Lewis and Clark Bridge, and
joined up with I-5, and headed off North, back home to Olympia. In all, I traveled about 350 miles, and had a relaxing weekend... just what a road trip is all about! |
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