Day 6 – Sunday 18th August
Peter, Triss, Carol and Dave drove up to the end of the beach and out to one of the oldest lighthouses on the coast, in a scenic reserve. There were dozens of seals in the water just off the beach and seabird colonies on the rocks just offshore. After lunch carol and I walked down the beach to the river mouth and up to the old bridge in Newport. Although it was sunny, the temp was only about 16 degrees and the water was freezing – no wonder nobody swims in the area. The four of us went to the supermarket to get supplies for dinner and were amazed by the specials and low prices for lots of the items.
We joined the Banks family for a meal and had more time to get to know our Yank cuzzzies. They all had to leave early in the morning, so we were in bed by 11.00 pm.
Day 7 – Monday 19th August
We said our goodbyes to the family and Carol and I headed north towards Washington. We stopped at the Tillamook Air Museum, which is housed in a WW2 Blimp hangar that is supposedly the largest wooden building in the world. There is a fascinating display of aircraft from pre-war up to the last jet bombers to be decommissioned from the USAF. I received a 30 minute lesson from another museum visitor about the detailed workings of a Lycoming engine from a Vietnam era Huey helicopter. He had spent two year in Vietnam during the war and I now know how long it takes to undo the 128 bolts that support the crankcase and sundry other bits of useless information.
Photos include a ‘pregnant guppy’ that was used to carry things eg helicopters. It splits open from both the front and the back end.
We then drove into the Tillamook Forest and an interesting Forestry museum that had an interesting movie on the devastating forest fires that have hit the area. We then carried on through the forests that make Kaingaroa look small to Astoria on the south bank of the Columbia River and the border between Oregon and Washington We stayed in a cheap motel and ate at a local restaurant. We had a meal of Razor Clams and Halibut. The clams (3) were huge [photo below] and quite tough, but very tasty and the Halibut was quite dry, but also tasty. We drank a local Pinot Noir that was drinkable at $16, but not what we would accept at home. (Incidentally the local beers are really good with a huge range of craft breweries to choose from)
Three clams for dinner
Wow, looks like the mushmallows were hugh.