2017 - START IN FLORIDA, END IN FLORIDA

CALIFORNIA to WASHINGTON STATE

Thursday, May 18, 2017 - Santa Clarita, CA, to Kettleman City, CA

Landed at LAX late last night and took an Uber ride back to Carol's house in Santa Clarita where my car has been sitting tucked up in her garage.

After the early morning commuter traffic had cleared, drove to San Gabriel to be reunited with the Airstream after service work at Los Angeles Airstream - most significantly adding a "lift kit" to improve clearance at the rear and therefore reduce "tail dragging".

Back in Santa Clarita by early afternoon, I loaded up with groceries, moved back on board the clothes Carol had kindly let me store in her spare bedroom, mailed some US tax documents and then jumped right back into RV touring mode, heading north up I-5...

...which turned out to be an unexpectedly long uphill slog, getting out of the Los Angeles area - up to an elevation of 4,000 feet before dropping down a little into the San Joaquin Valley.

The widespread green on the hills around LA that I had seen before I left to head back to the UK mid-April now giving way to more typical summer arid conditions - which require controversial amounts of water for crop irrigation in the valley to sustain the many thousands of square miles of fruit, vines, nuts...

With a limited selection of free overnight spots available, I pulled over at the rather hokey Bravoland Farms at Kettleman City, a classic tourist tat place with a "gold rush" theme..

...but they served a huge "single scoop" ice-cream (reward for a long day's driving on top of jet-lag) and parking was far enough away from I-5 to be quiet, so a good choice as an overnight spot.

Ice-cream shortly followed by beer and chips, then a little tidying up and stowing of items required to get the Airstream back into full operational order.

The combination of ice-cream, beer and chips, jet-lag, a fairly long driving day and the effort of clearing up rather took away my energy and appetite, so despite buying some nice fresh salad earlier, supper consisted of only a couple of snacks and another beer before I called it a day and had an early night.

Friday, May 19, 2017 – Kettleman City, CA, to Santa Rosa, CA

I seem to be adjusting to the 8-hour time difference reasonably well, waking only a couple of times during the night and eventually getting back to sleep. Up fairly early nonetheless, with a little route planning to be done for which I was too tired yesterday evening.

Decided to make a long day's run to get well north of the San Franciso area by the end of the day so that from then on it would be a more relaxed meander up Route 101 and the northern California coast.

Fairly unremarkable drive up I-5, through tens of thousands more acres of fruit, nuts and vines, pulling over after driving 3 hours in Tracy to have a coffee, catch up on e-mails and decide on final travel and destination plans.

Traffic now getting rather heavier and my route skirting wide around the San Francisco area was slightly complicated - and expensive, with a $15 3-axle toll for the rather modest bridge over the Napa River.

Lots of water and swamp and marshes, herons, transiting above SF, the pillars of the Golden Gate Bridge barely visible on the misty horizon. Missed an early turning north to get to Petaluma to join Route 1 - which would take me all the way up the west coast - and this resulted in getting into an extended traffic jam further south on Route 101, putting me at least an hour behind schedule.

With the day dragging on, close to 300 miles driven, and more slow traffic on Route 101, I decided to abandon my planned destination (free parking in a casino parking lot in Redwood Valley) and pulled off at Santa Rosa to take a $31.50 spot in the fairground RV campsite.

Saturday, May 20, 2017 – Santa Rosa, CA, to Eureka, CA

Quiet overnight, slept well, jet-lag apparently mostly gone.

Taking advantage of being in a largely residential area, out for an early run around the quiet nearby streets. And with a water hook-up in the RV park, took an indulgently long shower.

Spent some time doing a little route planning, courtesy of WiFi connection via my iPhone, installed the tire monitoring system for the Airstream I bought recently and then stopped at a shopping mall close by with a Starbucks for morning coffee and usual post-run reward of bacon and gouda toasted sandwich.

When all this was done it was 11:00am so it was straight on to Route 101 to head up to Eureka.

Scenic drive, mostly on 4-lane freeway but occasional stretches of winding 2-lane roads. Initially driving through open rolling landscapes with lots of vineyards, then into more hilly terrain, the road often descending into steeper canyons, following the twists and turns of the south fork of the Eel River.

Took a detour from Route 101 to drive a portion of the Avenue of the Giants, an old alignment of Route 101 now maintained as State Route 254 on which there's a scenic drive "Auto Tour" passing through redwood groves, with several pull-outs at notable spots.

On the final 40 miles of the drive into Eureka the weather changed, 80 degree temperatures and clear blue skies giving way to clouds rolling in from the ocean and temperatures dropping to the low 60s, typical of the weather I would see along the coast.

Overnight at the Redwood Acres RV Park, another RV park beside a fairground, this one a little shabbier than last night, but with the benefit of WiFi.

Sunday, May 21, 2017 – Eureka, CA, to Klamath, CA

Made full use of the impressively fast WiFi connection in the RV park for a couple of hours of e-mail catch-up, route planning and Skype calls home before heading to old town Eureka, though the day was still rather overcast and chilly even by mid-morning.

The old downtown area not quite as cute as billed, with an older renovation effort now appearing a little jaded and only a few blocks of the historic area and its Victorian architecture still with life in them - meaning a prevalence of art galleries and coffee shops that indicate a tourist town.

A rather striking illustration on the back wall of the town's arts center...

... but the renowned "Carter House" I went out of my way to find was rather too fussy, and yet dull in color, for my taste.

Back on Route 101, the rugged north Californian coastline soon came into view and I pulled off after a relatively short 15 miles to check out the town of Trinidad, perched on cliffs overlooking the ocean and with a small native fishing fleet anchored in the bay.

Walked down a steep cliff path beneath the light-house to the gray-sand beach, had a good workout walking back up and then strolled down to the harbor and pier - neither quite as photogenic as I had hoped.

Another 15 miles further north on Route 101 brought me to the Visitor Center for the Redwood National Park where I collected a map and decided where I would go for redwood tree viewing.

Dropped off the Airstream in the parking lot so that I could take the Jeep up the steep and winding Bald Hill Road (i.e. RV-unfriendly) to walk the loop trail at Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

Once back down to the Visitor Center parking lot and hooked up to the Airstream again, it was back onto Route 101 north with a detour onto the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway, carving through old-growth redwood stands, before pulling over in Klamath at a slightly seedy but friendly RV park where I was given a pleasant spot right beside the river.

Monday, May 22, 2017 – Klamath, CA, to Brookings, OR

Chill mist rolling in from the ocean first thing, so much internal debate as I lay in bed with the furnace running as to whether I would go for a run, but in the end I decided to brave it.

With the sun high enough to clear some of the inland hills by the time I set off the run was an interesting mixture of warm sunlight, cool shadow and swirling mist.

After my usual post-run ab routine and getting cleaned up the day was warming nicely.

First quick stop was at a nearby gas station that I had noticed on my run was new, clean and spacious, and had easy access to the air pump for an overdue addition of air to all tires.

It was then a fairly short drive to Crescent City, first stop for coffee and breakfast sandwich before a brief grocery top-up, confirmation from the information center that I would have to drop off the Airstream to go to the day's redwood destination, then a drive down to the seafront to walk across the causeway to Battery Point Lighthouse.

The lighthouse stands on a very scenic - and no doubt functional - spot on the headland and offered a quite dramatic display of vivid pink wildflowers carpeting its rocky slopes.

Then up into the hills to the Jedediah State Park Visitor Center to drop off the Airstream and drive up the increasingly narrow, twisting and rough Howland Hill Road (an old stagecoach route) to Stout Grove.

Here the redwoods are on display in all their glory with little surrounding undergrowth as floodwaters from the Smith River floodplain inhibit the growth of other trees and plants usually filling in the spaces between the giants.

Took rather longer than intended strolling around the circle trail through the redwoods so by the time I had returned to the Visitor Center and retrieved the Airstream the ETA at my planned overnight was receding towards 6:00pm, rather late to get situated in an unknown spot that would require a modest payment.

Still pondering alternatives as I crossed over the border into Oregon, where the first retail store beside the highway shouted out from billboards the question "NEED WEED?" - personal use of Marijuana being legal in this state. I soon drove into Brookings, keeping a lookout for possible RV parks.

On the way out of town was a sign for Harris Beach State Park and - courtesy of the wonders of smartphones, Google and the Internet - I was able to assess this as a viable overnight stop and duly turned off the highway.

Found a quiet site in the park, not quite cliff-top but still with a view of the ocean, and after setting up I headed out for an exploratory stroll down a cliff path to the beach and its scattering of rocks of all sizes.

One of the larger rocks at the edge of the beach, maybe 50ft tall, had a vertical slit in the center that allowed swells from the ocean to run rhythmically through into a semi-circular pool between the rock and the beach.

Very cool and quite mesmerizing to stand there and watch the "breathing" of the ocean, short video of this here.

Walked back to the RV via the beach road, had a salad dinner, watched a little news on the cable hook-up at the camp-site - unfortunately headlined by an apparent terrorist attack at a pop concert in Manchester.

For a slightly more uplifting experience, I switched off the TV and headed back down to the rock-strewn beach to watch a slow and gentle sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017 - Brookings, OR, to Sunset Bay State Park (Coos Bay), OR

Fairly slow start to the day, catching up on gruesome news from the UK where a terrorist bomb at a pop concert in Manchester had killed 20 people, many of them young girls.

Got a little work done while watching the news and then did the rounds of the tires to check pressures, rather surprisingly finding the Airstream tires a few pounds below where I had set them yesterday morning. Out with my 12v tire inflator, managing to feed the power line through the galley window on one side and, stretched taut through the door on the other side, got both tires slightly over pressure, planning to check again tomorrow morning when they are cold.

All of which led to a late departure, so I stopped for coffee at a local coffee shop 20 miles down the road in Gold Beach, where an overly dry Cappuccino and a similarly dry muffin were my reward - though at least it wasn't Starbucks for once, and they did have a WiFi connection.

Another fairly short drive brought me to Port Orford, where I had originally been planning to stop yesterday evening - and what a lucky miss that was, as the slightly shabby town had an equally shabby quay and harbor where I would have stayed without any hook-ups.

Very breezy on the hillside looking down on the harbor, but nothing compared to the next stop at Cape Blanco Lighthouse - out on the cliff-top of a promontory (or cape, as suggested by the name...!) it was blowing close to a gale, though good views down to the deserted shoreline.

The weather had been getting windier all day, with hugely contrasting temperatures - over 80 degrees when inland and only high 50s on the coast.

Another lighthouse was my next stop, at the mouth of Coquille River, where again it was windy and chilly, with clouds offshore opening up only occasionally to let a weak sun break through.

Cloud cover had pretty much socked in by the time I arrived at my overnight stop at Sunset Bay State park campground - one of three campgrounds here that would undoubtedly be very scenic in the right weather, with which I'm not blessed today...

But it's quiet, I'm plugged in (so have heat and plenty of water) and it's made for a second relatively short driving day for a change.

Took a rather hilly late afternoon bike ride into the adjacent state parks, which lasted longer than planned and was a little dampened - quite literally - as the mist and low cloud turned to drizzle, the stiff wind whipping it around and making for tough picture-taking in some spots.

The Oregon coast looks like nothing so much as the coast of Maine, though...

Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - Sunset Bay State Park, OR, to Carl G. Washburne Memorial State Park, OR

Morning run over the same route as last night's bike ride - the hills still there, as is the stiff northerly breeze, and the distance rather longer than I thought it would be, just over 5 miles.

But a very scenic run, trees and dense undergrowth on one side and cliffs dropping down to the ocean on the other.

Stopped on the way out of the park to take a couple of pictures at a spot I had visited on the bike ride last night, and the brighter morning version a little more attractive...

Made a detour and stop in North Bend, only to find the coffee shop/book store wasn't serving coffee, so rather than chase all round town for further disappointment I brewed up in the Airstream.

A fairly short drive before peeling off the highway to see Umpqua Lighthouse - not particularly special, and surrounded by some kind of residential development, so not great for photos either.

Then back onto the highway, deciding not to stop at the Oregon Dunes as the stiff north breeze would have made it a rather gritty experience and they didn't seem so spectacular as seen from the road.

Final stops in Florence, to top up on groceries, grab a sandwich at Subway, take the car and Airstream to a car wash - both looking a little grubby after the 1,000 miles we've covered since leaving LA - and fill up with gas, learning that in Oregon you're not supposed to self-fuel...!

13 miles further on, just past Heceta Head Lighthouse, pulled over relatively early (just before 4:00pm) to find a spot in the Washburne Memorial State Park. And it was a good thing I had decided to stop early as the park was filling rapidly and there were only a handful of spots left.

Dropped off the Airstream and drove back down Route 101 to stroll up to Heceta Head Lighthouse, very similar in style to the Umpqua Lighthouse but in a rather more scenic location, standing on cliffs above a wide crescent beach, though seas are still rolling in vigorously as they have been for a couple of days as a result of the stiff northerly wind, breaking on the off-lying basalt rocks.

Then back to the park for a quiet evening - no TV signals, no cable, no cell service...

Thursday, May 25, 2017 - Washburne Memorial State Park, OR, to McMinnville, OR

One of those rare mornings where I woke and dozed, woke and dozed - all most pleasantly - but didn't seem able to rouse myself. Probably a combination of the amazing stillness in the campground and the dim half-light outside as I were under the thick canopy of trees.

Eventually forced myself to stretch out an arm and check the time - 8:00am, very late for me.

Hopped out of bed to turn on the electric heater and take the overnight chill off the interior while sneaking back to bed to rehearse the day's plans.

Eventually out of the park just after 9:00am, via the dump station on the other side of the highway, and then drove 35 miles along scenic coast roads to Newport and the Oregon Coast Aquarium there. Having pulled over in their parking lot, I then went on-line to check out the aquarium and decided to give it a miss - general on-line review consensus being that it was rather small, kid-oriented and expensive.

Drove on a short distance, across the long bridge over the Big Elk River...

...to Yaquina Bay Lighthouse overlooking the mouth of the river.

Decided to detour into the town of Newport itself so headed down to the waterfront area, managing to find a convenient parking spot for the Jeep and Airstream along the main drag.

Walked on down to the waterfront, which was an unusual combination of a working fishing fleet on one side of the main street and tourist tat on the other.

Around town were lots of murals on the sides of buildings, all painted by one artist, Rick Chambers. Not technically murals, I guess, as they are all painted on panels that are then attached to the side of buildings.

The harbor seals had their own dedicated floats on the river, with a good deal of raucous argument amongst them as to who would get to sun themselves on the floats - barking, pushing and shoving, and even occasional biting, being the means of settling disputes.

After a somewhat mediocre coffee in an independent coffee shop - a little surprising as I'm getting closer to the center of the coffee universe and espresso stands are dotted all along the highway...

...it was back onto Route 101 north, passing US Route 20 on my way out of town, the longest road in America, apparently, stretching right across the continent from the west coast to Boston, MA, 3,365 miles to the east.

Just out of town, pulled over to Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the tallest on the Oregon coast, stopping at the interpretative center there before walking out along the cliff-top pathway to the lighthouse.

A little further on, Depoe Bay claims to have the smallest harbor in the world, but I doubt they've seen some of the small harbors in Cornwall...

After passing through Lincoln City, I turned off Route 101 for the first time since joining it north of San Francisco, 6 days and some 750 miles ago.

Route 18 took me inland to McMinnville where I pulled over for the night in the parking lot of the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, which houses the enormous "Spruce Goose", designed by Howard Hughes.

This is the largest flying boat ever built, with the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history, and is just enormous and unreal up close.

Friday, May 26, 2017 - McMinnville, OR, to The Dalles, OR

Very quiet overnight, but unlike yesterday morning's camp site buried in the undergrowth our parking lot is open and exposed to the early rising of the sun, waking me at 5:30am. Lay in bed for half an hour before turning on the heater for 10 minutes to encourage me to hop out of bed, pull on my running gear and head out - all flat terrain today.

Left the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum a little after 9:00am, pulling over in Newberg shortly before 10:00am for a convenient one-stop location for coffee, breakfast sandwich and a little grocery shopping.

Then on into an area on the outskirts of Portland to stop at an Airstream dealer for advice on a couple of potential modifications to the stability of my table set-up, though I think I've now worked out a simple and low-cost first step.

And indeed after waiting an hour for the dealership service department lunch break and a further 30 minutes after that with no attention, I finally had an obliging sales girl nab a service person who gave me 5 minutes of consultative advice, which resulted in me doing exactly what I had thought I should do in the first place... but at least I know I'm not missing an obvious trick anywhere.

Then a tediously slow drive in traffic out of Portland onto I-84 and east into the Columbia River Gorge, with snow-covered Mt Hood in the distance.

Decided to skip Bridal Veil Falls, as the slow traffic had begun moving by this point, and then forced to miss out on the better-known Multnomah Falls as the area was packed with cars and there was no way to park the Airstream, even along the roadside.

But on working my way back to I-84 I stumbled entirely unexpectedly across another waterfall, called Horsetail Falls.

Pulled over beside the road and took a walk up to the head of the falls, where the trail actually passes behind a roaring upper section of the falls - this picture taken from that trail, looking out from behind the waterfall.

Made one final stop in the late afternoon at a scenic overlook above I-84 which revealed the full breadth and majesty of the Columbia River...

...apparently wider here now than would have been the case 100 years ago due to the multiple dam system on the Columbia River, designed to improve navigation and also generate hydro-electric power.

Finally pulled off the highway at The Dalles (pronounced Dalls) where I'm spending the night in a Home Depot parking lot, which seems to be surprisingly empty given that all the campgrounds around are full at the beginning of this Memorial Day weekend.

WiFi signal from the store helpfully reached out to my parking spot.

Saturday, May 27, 2017 - The Dalles, OR, to Beacon Rock State Park (Skamania), WA

Surprisingly quiet overnight, to the extent that this was another morning when I couldn't rouse myself from my slumbers without a concerted effort to stop dozing, and had to force myself to get out of bed at 8:00am.

First stop was at the nearby Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum, where I hoped to learn a little about the expedition of Lewis & Clarke that first opened up this area to the white man, American Indians having been living here for 10,000 years.

But this probably ranks as the worst presentation at a modern "discovery center" that I've seen - the promising entrance foyer design of a shining ribbon of polished stone embedded in the floor (representing the Columbia River) was the highpoint, after which I was exposed to slick presentations of trite material, none of which was really in a helpful expository order or timeline, so the education I was seeking was unfortunately not realized.

And the air conditioning in the place was turned up absurdly high. All very disappointing - at the cost of $9.00, too.

To revitalize my spirits, and restore some body heat, I drove west back up Route 30 and the switchback curves to Rowenta Crest Viewpoint and took a long stroll along the trails there before making a late morning coffee.

Then drove back through The Dalles, fueled up, and took the bridge crossing just north of town to head into Washington State and then back west along the northern shore of the Columbia River with stunning views of Mount Hood from one of the detours off the main road that wound up into the hills above the river.

Back on the main road heading west, I stopped in Stevenson, rather conveniently parking opposite a local hardware store that sold propane, one of the two Airstream's bottles having just run out.

Stevenson was originally established as a lumbering town where steamships stopped to load the cordwood that fueled their boilers for the arduous journey upstream.

Now offering paddleboat cruises, and also a rather tasty and welcome ice-cream...!

Next stop was a late afternoon and somewhat rushed tour of Bonneville Dam, viewing the bank of huge hydro-electric generators and learning a little about the "fish ladders" installed to allow migrating salmon to swim upriver to spawn.

The intended overnight parking destination was a grocery store in Washougal, but on a whim I pulled off the highway to check out the RV campground at Beacon Rock State Park which I was certain would be full as the sign indicated only five full hook-up sites there - only to find one of the five sites was actually vacant... on a Saturday... on Memorial Day weekend.

It seemed too good to be true, but the vacancy was confirmed by a Park Ranger who drove by as I was completing the registration paperwork and depositing my $35.

So I have the comfort of a peaceful spot in the woods (though the highway and railway tracks not too far away) and, importantly, electric hook-up so that I can run the air conditioning to cool the 90 degree interior of the Airstream and thus guarantee a comfortable evening.

Sunday, May 28, 2017 - Beacon Rock State Park (Skamania), WA, to McMinnville, OR

Frequent freight trains passing through beside the campground overnight rather interrupted a good night's sleep.

Out for a run, mostly on a scenic walking path down beside the river which formed a convenient loop of just over a mile so three loops plus the distance from the campsite down to the river and back gave me my required 4 miles.

I had been contemplating the idea of going back to Multnomah Falls on the Oregon side of the river, as the Bridge of the Gods across the river was only a few miles back up Route 14, the falls themselves only 10 miles or so down Route 30 on the Oregon side, and if I took just the Jeep I should easily find a spot to park...

Campground checkout of 1:00pm certainly seemed to offer enough time for such an adventure so after showering and breakfasting I dropped the Airstream, headed over the bridge, a short distance down I-84 and then onto Route 30 to the falls, only to find that half of Portland had decided to do the same thing...

So not only was there no parking to be had but cars creeping along Route 30 looking for non-existent parking spots slowed everything to a crawl. And, to add insult to injury, the only entry back onto I-84 in an attempt to return to the campground would have taken me west instead of east.

To try to make a little lemonade out of these lemons I drove on down Route 30 past Horsetail Falls - parking also jammed there - and onto Bridal Veil Falls where I did manage to park and took the fairly short trail down to the falls and back.

A long drive west then back east on I-84 finally took me back over the Bridge of the Gods and then west to the campsite, where the first order of business - after hooking the Airstream up to the Jeep - was brewing a coffee.

Broke camp just before the 1:00pm deadline and headed into Portland to the Lan Su Chinese Garden in the historic Chinatown area of the city - a recreation of the courtyard garden of a wealthy Chinese family in Suzhou in 16th century China, built by 65 artisans from Suzhou using materials sent over from China.

The garden's tranquility rather disturbed by crowds on this holiday weekend, but it was impressive to see what had been created within a single city block.

Then took a walk around some of the Chinatown streets.

Maybe it was just an unlucky choice of that specific area in Portland, but I seemed to have stumbled on a particularly sordid part of town - a tacky street market, donut shops with lines outside them and, to top it all, there seemed to be a bum's convention in town.

Every other shop doorway and every shady spot under sidewalk trees had someone camped out in it... and a corner block of wasteland had been taken over entirely to an encampment, emanating a strong odor of urine...

A little Googling later revealed that apparently there is a genuine homelessness problem in Portland.

So it was with relief that I drove out of the city, heading back towards the Oregon coast to take up my northbound route where I left off, stopping overnight at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville again.

Monday, May 29, 2017 - McMinnville, OR, to Nehalem Bay State Park, OR

Quite a change in the weather, cloudy and cool this morning.

First stop was the Safeway in town to stock up on a couple of items, then Starbucks on the way out of town for coffee, chocolate croissant and some WiFi time - including a Skype call back to the UK.

Then a return drive down Route 18 back to the exact point on the Oregon coast where I had detoured inland last Thursday.

A pleasant drive headed west, but traffic heading in the opposite direction - from the coast back towards Portland - was very heavy, with one section of at least 10 miles moving at barely a crawl. Amazing numbers of RVs among the line of traffic, too, maybe one in 4 or 5 vehicles.

Not long after re-joining Route 101, turned off to drive along the Three Capes Scenic Byway, stopping at the third of them, Cape Mears, to see the lighthouse there and the "Octopus Tree".

Then back on Route 101, through a few small coastal towns, including Tillamook - apparently the cheese capital of the west coast - to Nehalem Bay State Park, situated right on a 5-mile long stretch of beach, the campground practically empty now that Memorial Day weekend is over.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - Nehalem Bay State Park, OR, to Fort Stevens State Park, OR

Managed to get my run in this morning between a couple of light showers, making two loops of the wooded bike trail in the park.

Spent a couple of hours doing some forward planning, trying to resolve the conflicts and excess of options in the next stage of the trip to Washington State: destinations, weather forecast, campground availability, roads that might be closed - either to all traffic or just to RVs of my size - excessively high mountain passes, ferries between San Juan Islands north of Seattle...

In the end, I couldn't piece together a workable plan before I was up against the deadline to break camp and leave the park, so I decided to move a little further north today - though not so far as to prejudice one plan or another - and review options again later in the day.

Stopped in Cannon Beach for a bite of lunch in the RV, a stroll along the beach for a closer look at Haystack Rock and a second coffee (an overly strong and rather bitter dry cappuccino, made with "organic" beans...).

Then a fairly short drive on to the tip of land forming the southern arm of the entrance to the Columbia River and the state park there.

Took the bike out of the Jeep and rode around some of the bike trails in the park, few other people around.

Stopped at the fort after which the park is named - originally set up at the end of the American Civil War and rebuilt for both World War I and II to defend the entrance of the Columbia River against potential Japanese submarine attacks - and then rode on to what little is left of a 1906 wreck of a steel-hulled sailing ship on the beach.

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 - Fort Stevens State Park, OR, to Seaquest State Park, WA

Another dithering day... as no immediately obvious plan had entered my head overnight.

But I decided that further dithering would be best accomplished with coffee and WiFi, so left the park at 9:00am and drove into Astoria where unexpected breaks in the cloud encouraged me to pull over for a walk around town - some interesting architecture, from grand to deco, and quite a number of coffee shops and bars, the usual sign of a tourist town.

The town is named after John Jacob Astor, the magnate, who was the first millionaire in the US and the wealthiest man in the country when he died in 1848.

The Astoria waterfront still has some charm to it, and offers views over the mouth of the Columbia River where a large number of surprisingly large ships were waiting at anchor, all lined up.

After my short stroll, I drove on to the east end of town to a Starbucks store in Safeway and settled in for some pondering of options, with the benefit of WiFi to check on weather forecasts, state of roads in parks (some still not open for the summer, some closed for construction...), and access constraints for my rig - either length restrictions in campsites or self-imposed restrictions of excessively winding roads, high passes, or non-paved roads.

Still with no very definite plan, I decided to make something of the unexpectedly reasonable weather and head to Mount St Helens, only about 75 miles away.

Not a great deal to see at the Visitor Center there, at least not without stopping for expository films, and as the weather was slowly closing in I dropped off the Airstream in their parking lot and drove the 45 miles up into the foothills of the Cascades to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, stopping at viewpoints to see Mount St Helens sitting grandly under a crown of clouds.

Watched a very well put together film describing and showing the 1982 eruption of the volcano, with a very neat final touch - after the credits had rolled and the projection screen had rolled up, the stage curtain behind was lifted to show a broad panoramic window with Mount St Helens in full view.

Back down to the Visitor Center, hitched up the Airstream and drove across the road (literally) to Seaquest State Park for the night - having to navigate not only the wooded RV sites but the confusing multi-tiered pricing and facilities structure, finally quitting my search for a more economical site and paying $40 for a premium site with an electric and water hook-up that I didn't need.

No cell signal and no TV signal, so plenty of time to try to resolve the conflicting options in our next stage route planning - though no ability to research on-line...

To see where I eventually decided to go, click on the link below to the next chapter.

Go to top of page

Go to the next chapter, Washington State to Wyoming

---