Are We There Yet?

Welcome to California!

Wait -- weren't we supposed to be going East from Tillamook?  Well, here's what happened.  I was lying awake thinking.  And there's a lot to think about when you're homeless and unemployed.  And one of the things I was thinking about was that the car needs something fixed on it.  I knew this leaving Sitka.  My mechanic there told me about it, but it's an air conditioning issue, and being the fabulous hometown mechanic that he is, he said it would be cheaper to get it fixed once we left Alaska, since they don't really do much air conditioning work there.  So I'm thinking "how do I know that a strange mechanic will take care of me like my beloved hometown mechanic?"  and "where could I go to get my car fixed, where I know somebody, and I know I won't be taken advantage of?"  And then I had this brilliant idea "My sister works for a Kia dealership!"

So our trip has taken a turn for the South.  And since there are a couple of things south of Tillamook that we are interested in seeing, we will stop  there on the way to Lori's.

#1 -- Vandenberg Air Force base to see Cassie's friend, Chris.

#2 -- Disneyland.  Because where else would you go if you were homeless and unemployed?

This change of plans means we'll be turning the entire road trip plan around and driving it backwards.  Daddy would enjoy this, as he thought that car in the movie "Smoke Signals" that could only drive backwards was hilarious.

The change of plans also means there was a LOT of driving this day.  NOT what we have set out to do, but it's okay.  Here's what we saw along the way:

We had to make a u-turn to get a photo of this sign.

The coastline looks a lot like Oregon, so far.

You Are Here.

A quick stop for a picnic breakfast of contraband bananas.  Sorry, California!  When you asked if I had any produce I forgot there were bananas in the car!  We ate them right away, though.

And a Shout-Out to John and Renee (and their puppy Romeo) from Florida for helping us take a photo with this gigantic redwood tree.

We kept seeing signs about the dangers of approaching the elk and we weren't seeing any elk, until this place...

One of several "famous drive-through trees" you can pay to drive through.  

Note to fellow travellers:  This was a first night of tent camping in California, at Van Damme campground.  The campsite fee was double what we paid in Oregon, and the Oregon campgrounds were much nicer.  In Oregon, there was soap and paper towels in the bathrooms, for example.  And there were showers.  Van Damme campground had flush toilets and toilet paper, at least.

More Oregon Coast -- And some Lighthouses

Rising bright and early from our campsite in Cape Lookout, we continue south.  Our first stop?  This little deli/fishing gear shop in Hebo for breakfast.  I had a biscuit and gravy, Cassie had a blueberry muffin.  Nice, friendly people.  Then on to Lincoln City where we stopped at the Goodwill (to donate a couple of things that were taking up space in the car, and to waste some time until the outlet mall opened).

After shopping we stopped at this little park to have a picnic lunch.  They had picture frames all ready for shots of the rocky shore,

and some more selfies!  I think I'm getting better at this.

This is called Devil's Punch Bowl.  We just had to stop.  This photo isn't that great.  It was kind of amazing.

And I don't remember where this is, but the whole Oregon coast is quite breathtaking.

This is at the Yaquina Lighthouse.  Cassie is pretty good at Victorian games.  We tried that one with tossing rings from sticks.  I don't have very good aim.

And more beautiful coastline.

This one is the Yaquina Lighthouse.

This is Cassie taking photos of crashing waves at Cape Perpetua.  I think she was trying to give me a heart attack.  The drop off was pretty scary.

I don't know the name of this lighthouse.  If you look in the center right of the frame, there's a doll-like thing.  Some older woman was posing it for pictures.  First I thought it was a flat Stanley.  But it was not flat.  We stopped here for a picnic of chicken sandwiches and berries.  Quite delicious.  Thanks, Fred Meyer!

This one is really old and dysfunctional.  

Lighthouse Selfie! It was actually very windy at this one.

Note to anyone planning a road trip:  That stuff you think you'll bring "just in case"?  Don't bring it.  The less you have in the car, the better.  We are very near being organized for this trip now.  And we've been travelling for a week.

Oregon Coast

First of all, another Shout Out to the Travers family -- Thank you for housing us!

And next, Shout Outs to the fine people of Warrenton, Oregon:  Howard at Staples, who helped us obtain "business" cards with our blog addresses; and Heather and Cari at tjmaxx for the road trip tips!

Here are a few photos of our trip from Astoria to Cape Lookout, Oregon.

We passed these deer as we left the Travers' house.

Me practicing the art of the selfie with Snoopy (for Annie).

Cassie on the carousel at Seaside, Oregon.  We got some people to wave at us!  They were reluctant, at first, but they caught on.  From here we went to Bagels by the Sea (recommended by Cari at tjmaxx).  I had the BLT and avocado bagel on a cheddar and bacon bagel, and it was seriously delicious. 

Indian Beach (just north of Cannon Beach).

My favorite photographer.  That purple stuff around her feet that looks like flower petals?  Yeah, that's not flower petals.  Turns out it's thousands of dead jellyfish that came there to stink up the place.

The Oregon Coast is beautiful!

And then -- Say Cheese! 

Cow selfie.  Moo.

The Oompah Loopahs of Cheese, hard at work.  Okay, actually the "factory tour" was a little disappointing.  You get to watch a video about cheese-making, but all the action you get to see is the packaging of the medium cheddar.  Maybe we were there too late in the day.    We were too late for lunch (I really wanted a grilled cheese sandwich, but I had that bagel earlier), but it's never too late for ice cream!  Heads up -- the 3-scoop "sampler" size is huge.  These are not SAMPLE sized scoops.  They are regular size ice cream scoops.  I couldn't finish mine. 

This dead tree on Cape Lookout beach  near our campsite looked like it wanted a hug.

Here's Cassie taking selfies with the hugging tree.

We're waiting for sunset.  And it was beautiful!  I didn't take pictures, but Cassie did.  Check her blog....

Dismal and Disappointing

Actually, today was great, but we did stop at Dismal Nitch and Cape Disappointment.

Me trying to look dismal on a gorgeous day.

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Trying out all the cool stuff at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

Photo op on the short hike up to the lighthouse.

This butterfly led the way for us!

Lighthouse!

Still need selfie practice.  Was trying to get us and the lighthouse in together.  

Overlooking Dead Man's Cove. 

St. Mary (something) church along Highway 101 between Cape Disappointment and Dismal Nitch.  Cute church.  Some historical/interpretive signs around there about an early settlement.  The church was locked, though.  Services are only held in the summer time.

We started the day at Coffee Girl and the Bumblebee Cannery Museum, then over the bridge to Washington.  

Before heading back to the Travers' home, we stopped at Big 5 and Fred Meyer so I now have better hiking shoes, and we have air mattresses for the next camping night.  Woot!

Welcome to Oregon!

Astoria is a cute little town!  So happy to see our friends, the Travers' family, who are graciously hosting us for a couple of nights here.  We enjoyed mass and lunch together, then headed to the Columbia River Maritime Museum with C.C. and Jenna.  

Here are Cassie and Jenna performing the dance of the blue-footed booby.  Beautiful choreography from both of the girls made this quite breathtaking.

My fashionista trying on the fishing gear that was bolted to the wall.  Would she let a few bolts deter her from fashion?  Not Cassie.

Catch of the day!

From the trolley (which I didn't get a picture of, but it's a trolley and it's over 100 years old), we got to see some of the 2,300 male sea lions who didn't get lucky this spring and are just hanging out here moping. They are quite vocal about their disappointment.

Also seen from the trolley -- the Goonies house (the cream-colored house at the top center-ish).  Posting this photo for Heather, who loves the movie.  xoxo

And then a stop for ice cream at Frite & Scoop (they will have french fries AND ice cream once they get approved to use the fryers -- a brilliant combination!).  It was Kristen's first day on the job, so of course her whole family had to have ice cream.  She provided excellent customer service!  Stop by there and have some ice cream.  It's yummy. I had mine in a krumkake cone!  Brought back memories of holidays in Sitka at the Horan's house.

First night in the tent!

Millersylvania State Park, just south of Olympia, Washington.  Cute little campground!  There was a lake and some trails, but mostly we just set up our tent, re-organized our bags, and relaxed.  Our sleeping bags are plenty warm, but the sleeping pad situation isn't good.  Will have to remedy that before the next camping night!

All set up!

Ready to relax.  (Thanks, Lindsay!)

Breaking down the tent in the morning took 13 minutes.  

Seattle Saturday

We got up super early on Saturday.  Found a grocery store with a Starbucks (thanks for those gift cards!), picked up some fruit and coffee, then headed for Pike Place Market. 

 Arriving very early made for very little traffic, and it was super easy to find parking!  It was fun to walk through the market while the flower and seafood vendors were setting up and there were very few other people around.  Downtown Seattle has some really interesting architecture, so just walking around was fun.

From the Market, we walked over to the Space Needle and the Chihuly Gallery.  Both were still closed, as it was early in the morning, but we took lots of photos, found a museum we wanted to go to, then walked another mile or so to a crepery (recommended by Siri -- thanks, Siri!).  A shout-out to Ruthie, whom we met at Citizen Cafe and Bar -- just wanted you to know we got our fitbits!  Excited to start using them. 

After a lovely breakfast of crepes and pumpkin bread, it was nearly time for the EMP Museum to open.  Star Wars costumes were on exhibit -- very cool.  I learned to play a song on the bass and Cassie had a guitar lesson in the Sound Lab.  So fun!  Other exhibits featured costumes and props from horror, fantasy, and science fiction films; a 12th man exhibit; and a gigantic tv screen with music and art.

Touching the turf from the Super Bowl.  Aaaaah.

After the museum it was a nice walk back to the market, where we strolled through the shops, and bought salmon spread and hummus at a deli.

Picnic on the hood of the car in an empty parking lot.  :-)

And some more pictures from Saturday that I can't figure out how to get in the right order:

Oh, look!  Is that the Space Needle?

Queen Amidala's dress!  One of many, many Star Wars costumes in the exhibit.

Cassie's guitar lesson.

One of hundreds of pictures I took of the Space Needle.

I think this was a hot dog stand.