The Road has Always Led West

After leaving Portland, we again headed West toward the coast, this time it would via be the dramatic Oregon section of Pacific Highway 101. Our crossing toward the coast took us via the fertile vineyards of McMinville, where we duly sampled a few of the local grapes. After a very scenic morning drive, we again hit the coast and some overdue sunshine. We subsequently decided to celebrate our arrival onto the road that would ultimately take us all the way to San Diego with a seaside, seafood feast. Our first stop on the Oregon coast was at a spacious state wilderness area set just inland separated from the sea, only by a few hundred meters of sand dunes and coastal forests. Chris and I, whilst finishing our fireside night cap were visited by two brazen racoons adamant on foraging for leftovers and leftover trash. It was here also, that two of our bags accidentally fell out the unlocked underneath storage area on our RV en route to the bottle store. After frantic searching along the roadside,  a visit by the local police and ultimately disappointed resignation at having lost many of our belongings, we were surprised the next morning with a knock on the door from a couple who had found the bags strewn along the roadside and had spent the morning wandering the RV parks looking for the owners after discovering our Cruise America receipt inside our bag. This was to be our first taste of Northwest hospitality and honesty.  The next day was filled with a bike ride in and around the town of Newport sampling local candy, conversing with crab fisherman and browsing antique stores before ultimately setting off again down the sparsely populated and dramatically beautiful Oregon coastline.

Cape Disappointment, Portland and a Pale Ale.

After leaving Seattle, we cut directly Southwest toward the rugged, wet and wild Washington state coast. Braving slick roads and chilly winds, we ended up in the beautiful, remote state park of Cape Disappointment - a rugged windswept section of beach with full hookup RV campsites just over the dunes. It was drizzly and windy but we'd anticipated our first braai long enough and thus not even some wet wood and blustery winds would dampen our spirits as we hunkered down for our first real night camping out on the coast. The next day we cruised along the coast through the quaint but still very wet seaside towns of Astoria and Seaside crossing huge spans of bridge adjacent to pristine inlets, bays and river mouths. At Canon beach we had to reluctantly head back inland with our rendezvous for Portland. After arriving in a more generic RV or trailer park (a necessity when visiting bigger cities) we trained into downtown Portland with her quaint, clean streets and selection of artisan coffee cafe's, bookstores  and micro breweries. After several of said beer samples later, an authentic Thai restaurant dinner we stumbled into a local street party which was an eventful and insightful glimpse into the liberal Portland midweek party sect. 

 

Seattle

End of (A) Chapter

3 Days ago, we said our goodbye's to Whistler, our home for the past 5 months. It was an emotional departure after having had such an incredible time there. The sounds and sights of spring were what bid us farewell. Thankfully - although it was with heavy hearts that we packed up our house - our RV roadtrip down the entire Western US seaboard for the next month was top of mind and so even though our ski season chapter has come to an end, the next installment of our travels is beckoning; 2000 miles, 3 states and an ever changing horizon.