Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 9

Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 9 – July 18th:

There’s nothing like a good nights sleep by the ocean, and then starting your day to the smell of bacon.

Marley agreed. Especially since I poured the bacon grease over his food, and gave him a few strips of bacon.

I packed everything up, and then took Marley for a walk. We stopped and talked with a young man camping with his family. I had met him and his family the night before. They were on the other side of the family that I had dinner with. We talked about his family vacation, where Marley and I had been, and where we were headed. I don’t know how old he was, but he was pretty smart, and definitely knew his geography.

We finally left the campground and headed north on US 101. I spotted some motorcycles ahead of me, and one of them had a sidecar with a dog in it. When they stopped for a light, I saw that it said ‘Budmobile’ on the rear, and Bud on the side. The dog was loving it. Maybe we need a Marley Harley….

We came to another beach access about 20 miles north of the campground. I decided to stop and let Marley play on the beach one last time. Again, he had a blast chasing the waves.

You can see the Yaquina Head Lighthouse just south of the beach…

After spending some time at the beach, we continued our journey north. The Pacific Coast Highway travels away from the ocean near Nehalem Bay, crosses the Nehalem River, and then returns to the coast line.

(Nehalem River)

At the south end of Oswald West State Park (along US 101) is the Neahkahnie Viewpoint. There is an amazing view here. I felt like I should have been in Hawaii overlooking the shoreline.

I sent the photo above to my daughter in a text message that said “Drove to Hawaii”. She sent me a reply that said “That’s an island, don’t try to trick me”. I told her “I know it is. That’s why I took the bridge”. She said “There isn’t a bridge”. By this time I had came to the bridge over the Columbia River in Astoria Oregon. How convenient.

I sent her the above photo with the message “Bridge to Hawaii”. She responded with “I don’t believe you”. Being persistent, I replied with “Just ask anyone”. She said “you have to fly or cruise to Hawaii”. As luck would have it, the Seven Seas Navigator (Regent Seven Seas Cruises) was docked here, so I sent her a photo of that with “Actually, Marley and I took a cruise. Here’s the ship”.

She said “hahahaha stop”. I just couldn’t get her to fall for it.

Reaching the other side of the bridge, We were now in Washington. We continued north on US 101 to SR 6 in Raymond, and then followed that east to IS-5 in Chehalis.

I was looking for a campground to put me near Mount Saint Helens, and searched an area just southeast of here. I found one, but there wasn’t anyone there, and nowhere to self register and pay. There was a sign on the door that said to register online, but there wasn’t any cellphone service in the remote area. I looked around the campground to see if I could find anyone working there, but there were just a few people camping. It looked like an ok place to camp, but it’s the first time I ever saw a pay shower.

Since there wasn’t any way to register, I decided to just leave and find something else. I ended up heading back to the interstate. Marley and I had stopped to eat and take a break back in Raymond, so I really wasn’t hungry. I decided to head to the Love’s truck stop off IS-5 in Napavine, and just spend the night in the truck. I ended up parked next to a guy that decided to sleep in his Ford truck as well, but he had a slight advantage…….

While I was getting comfortable in the front seat of mine, he got out and climbed in the camper on his. I’m sure it would’ve been nice at that moment, but I have no desire to hit the back roads of America lugging a heavy camper around in the bed of my truck.

Another day has came and went. Tomorrow we will be exploring Mount Saint Helens and Mount Rainier.