Long Bridge to Long Beach!!

If you're squeamish about bridges at all, these pictures may not be for you.  It's a long bridge to Long Beach where we will put down stakes at another Thousand Trails Park.  Early yesterday morning while the Chance rig fueled up, I continued on across the Astoria Megler Bridge from Oregon into Washington.  It's an amazing feat this bridge, and just as amazing if you can cross it without butterflies in your stomach.

After the first half above, you drive around a corkscrew and up the ramp to the portion of the bridge that lets those big ships into the Columbia River.  There's quite a sideways slope to this section, causing me to white knuckle it when I got stopped at the worst possible spot a couple years ago.

The car way ahead of me is at the very highest point on the bridge where it heads back down.  

As usual, there is construction going on, but at least it's further down the ramp instead of at the beginning where it was two years ago.  That's progress!!

Still in the construction zone, which is why I'm driving in the left hand lane, I headed downhill rather quickly and out on to the flats.

I actually had many more pictures, but as usual, the internet service in this park is nonexistent.  My poor little Sprint MiFi either has NO bars or is roaming at a terribly slow pace.  

Once on the North side of the bridge, it seemed like I was the only traffic around!!  Through the tunnel and around a few corners and voila!!!  I'm in Seaview before I know it ... the outskirts of Long Beach!!

I sought out a particular site Nick Russell and his beautiful wife Terry spotted a week before when they were here, and after unhooking my car, sat like a vulture, just waiting for them to leave!!  In the meantime, I scouted for a Chance site, as well as one for Nick who is coming up today.  I think I'm going to play the "phone-to-my-ear ... he's-on-his-way trick"!!

Once settled in, Patty, Dan and I went into town to Doogers for lunch.  Dan's burger was good he said and our salads with clam chowder were passable.   A quick drive to the world's longest beach found a suburban stuck not 30 feet off the gravel part of the road.  I sniveled and Dan turned around.  There's nothing worse than getting stuck in this stuff, which seemed heavier and fluffier than I've ever seen at a beach!!

Back at the rigs, I took Miss Jessie for a walk to our beach.  It's rather a long walk, and after the first quarter mile, she put on the brakes and refused to budge, so I snatched her up and carried her until we got close.  When I put her down, she immediately did her Jack Russell thing ... she dug up a nasty dead crab and rolled on it before I could stop her!!  Bad Dog!!!!  A little leery of the water, she didn't want to get her feet wet, so we headed back home.

Not sure I will post every day due to the slow Sprint internet.  I may be having breakfast at McDonalds every morning ... I think they have WiFi!!

Treasure Hunting!!

Off on another treasure hunt for things we couldn't live without, we left Seaside amid bumper to bumper traffic for the Astoria Sunday Market.  It must be nice in Portland, because I think everyone that lives there, came here for the weekend!!  One of my favorite things at the market are the flowers.  Towards the north end there is a vendor who makes spectacular bouquets with gorgeous flowers for $10-15.

As we walked along, Dan pointed out the ship at the end of the market.  Not as spectacular as the cruise ship at the end of the Skagway docks in Alaska, but amazing to see, none the less.   He's anchored out, waiting for a River Pilot to take him to Portland.

There were beautiful hand blown glass balls in every color imaginable, a perfect Christmas gift.  I already have three of these at home, so none made it into my backpack.

I've never seen a bouquet with these colors ... Oregon just grows beautiful flowers!!  

                                         

I had a mind to purchase one of these cigar box banjos, even though I have no idea how to play one.  Although along the lines of my ukulele, the price tag was considerably more ... around $300 ... crossing it off my list.  

Along the route is the Liberty Theatre.  Stop in if it's open.  This 1920's vaudeville silent movie theatre has been restored and is now a venue for musical and theatrical productions. 

The lavender sold at the market for $5.00 was so fragrant, that all along the three blocks, I could smell everyone who bought some.   

This is what Dan does while Patty and I shop!  Okay, not really because he goes through all the antique stuff just like we do, he's just a lot faster at it!!  Actually, we were of a mind to eat at the Bowpicker below, but as he sat here, Dan timed the line.  When you only move 10 feet in 15 minutes with the line 40 people long, it's a no-go for us.  I'd starve before I got to place my order!

Bring lots of patience and come early if you plan on eating at this 5-star Yelp boat-on-a-trailer kitchen.  All the tuna fish and chips (steak fries) are cooked to order, so your normal wait time in line will be around 60-90 minutes.  We ate at Pig N Pancake .. Denny's to Californians!!  That might not have been the best idea we had!

The geese and seagulls were napping in the morning sun.  There was a bird on each and ever pillar sticking up out of the water all along the waterfront.    

The Astoria Riverfront Trolley runs the lengths of the docks here.  For one or two dollars, you can ride all day and hear some of the interesting history of the area, including the canneries of long ago.  This puppy was enjoying the ride ... nose in the breeze!!

Down on the docks we discovered another little flea market where I picked up a few treasures.  Only open on the first Sunday of the month, things are much cheaper there than the crafty market above.  I'll post some pics of my treasures tomorrow.  There was also a great antique store/home salvage business that's a must see.  If you're renovating and need some old door handles, doors or even windows, they have it all.

On the way home, we took a side road between Hwy 101 and the water to the high rent district.  There were some nice places there, but I'll have to check the CC&R's first to see if I can park my motorhome on the lot!!!  On the road back to Hwy 101, we spotted these beautiful elk.  I've seen lots of warning signs for elk, but these are the first animals I've seen here.  

For dinner, we went to one of those places you'll want to tell your friends about.  Nick Russell recommended this one, so we joined he and Terry at 4:00 (they close at 5:30 on Sundays ... check their website for hours).  This is the Bell Buoy fish market.  There is lots of parking for the restaurant on the North side of this sign.  This is another one you might not stop at ... kind of like the Relief Pitcher ... but you would be making a BIG mistake!! 

This is the front door of the restaurant, kind of nondescript.  Waiting inside however, is lots of great seafood.

This was what's left of my $12 three piece crispy, moist halibut with waffle fries!!  It looked so good I just dove in, forgetting about taking a picture!!  Even their cole slaw was one of the best I've eaten!!

Today we pick up stakes and again move North to Long Beach.  This last two weeks has gone by entirely too fast!!!  I guess that's what happens when you're with good friends, having fun!!

Doggie Bags For My Friends!!

Yesterday, I gave FULL doggie bags to my friends here at the RV park.  What's a friend for, if not to offer small tokens of friendship.  If I find a treasure, I want to share it with EVERYONE!!!  Unfortunately, the Chance family and the Russell family weren't as excited about the whole thing as I was!!!  But I'm getting ahead of myself ...........

Time flies when you're having fun, and this week has been no exception.  Our second week is coming to an end as Patty and I went back to Ilwaco just to make sure we didn't miss anything at the Farmers Market.

The weather couldn't have been better!!  I finally found the yarn shop I walked by two or three times the previous week, but didn't purchase anything.  Since I don't have a project in mind, I have no idea what to get!!  After how many years, I'm finally learning to be patient ... okay maybe not, but I refrained from buying THIS time!!

This huge stand of fresh vegetables was our real destination, where we picked up fresh sweet corn, green beans and some white nectarines.  YUM!!!

They had big boxes of little potatoes, some I had never seen before!!  There was also weird things like asian pears and long beans.

This market has definitely gone to the dogs.  They were everywhere!!!  Many were making new friends and some were just too shy, like the sheared English Sheepdog ... what a beauty!!  This little baby named Boo was just a doll!!  Her owner said she usually likes to walk, but today wanted to be a snuggle bunny.  She could go home in my pocket any time!!!

We went to find the handbag lady, but she wasn't there this week.  There were a few new vendors, including fresh lavender from a local farm, fresh fish that just came out of the ocean that morning, treasure chests made from wood pallets .....

and rocks .... lots of different kinds of rocks.  This gentleman's family owns a big company that produces the machinery to cover hay bales with plastic.  He's also into rocks and crystals!!  These are desert crystals, some of which come from around Quartzsite!!  He also attends the Gem and Mineral Show there, so we'll look him up this winter to say hello.

What about those doggie bags??  Wouldn't you be pleased to accept a gift like this???  Neither was Patty or Nick ... in fact, I could hardly get Nick to even take the bag in hand.  Here I spent all this time gathering up these treasures and they weren't the least bit happy or excited about it.  

Patty had a terrible look on her face, after all, she knows exactly what my doggie bags look like!!  I finally convinced Nick to take the bag, which he did with two fingers very gingerly!!  Hey ... share the treasure is my motto!!!  They both finally opened their bags to find these little gems of goodness ..... fresh blackberries straight from the vine.  I finally found a small patch way in the back that no one had discovered yet, when I was walking the dogs.  Since I had nothing else to put them in, I used a CLEAN doggie bag.  SURPRISE!!!

After washing, I dumped mine in a pot with a little sugar and cooked them up for pie filling.  

That rock hard pastry I've had in the fridge for two weeks wasn't exactly tender, but the fresh berry filling smothered in whipped cream was mighty tasty!!!

I'm sure anyone watching me carry several doggie bags from the back lot to my rig were wondering what the heck I was doing!!  The good part is I doubt ANYONE will go back there to see what was up, so there should be one more batch of berries before we leave!!!

It's Sunday, so we're off to the Astoria Sunday Market to wander around and enjoy the cool weather!  I think I'll take a couple of doggie bags with me!!

Camp 18 for Food and Fun!!!

When Nick Russell mentioned something called Camp 18 for dinner, I wasn't sure what to expect.  When I looked it up on the internet, it said Camp 18 Restaurant and Logging Museum.  I was definitely up for that ... not only do I love food (maybe too much) but I love poking around old heavy equipment!

A few miles inland on Highway 26 at Mile Marker 18 (hence the name) this place had something for everyone.  Being kitty lovers, we all noticed the empty cat beds under the benches out front.  It didn't take Patty long to find this beauty snoozing in the cool bushes right behind us.

Once reservations were made (just in case) for a nice window table, Patty, Dan and I wandered around the premises checking out some really cool HUGE equipment.  This is a double saw used to slice eight foot logs into lumber.  Sitting over a pit (or maybe on the second floor of a building), the bottom half would be below, out of sight.  

This being a Double Saw, the long continuous blade would have teeth on both sides so it cut coming and going instead of having to reset.  This amazing piece of machinery cut millions of board feet of lumber for 48 years, finally coming to a stop in 1977.  

Here's a picture showing how it would have been used to cut logs into manageable sizes.  These machines were pretty temperamental.  Each saw had it's own idiosyncrasies to be learned by every man who worked on or around her in order to stay at maximum production.  If she wasn't treated nice, she could cause MAJOR problems.  Sound like anyone you know??

This is some scary stuff, working where this blade was going around so fast it could cut your arm off in a second!!  Even though the men worked behind metal shields, this was a dangerous job!!!  Well before OSHA, I'm sure!!  Powered by a 300 hp power electric motor, the blade moved at over 9,000 feet per minute.  You can imagine the devastation if something in a log caused her to come undone!

The Ohio Steam Crane is another biggie ... the undercarriage here weighs in at over 90,000 pounds.  This is probably what was used to load all those massive boulders for the jetty, not to mention loading logs on trucks and trains for the trip to the sawmill.

Used to drag logs and equipment around, this steam donkey is the biggest I've ever seen!!  The sled it rides on has logs that are taller than I am!!  I wonder what was used to move IT around??  I seriously don't think there is a tractor big or strong enough to move this baby!!  

For those not interested in heavy equipment (I realize I'm odd in that respect), there is always an unusual picture to be found among the rust, including the rust itself.  These little weird green ferns were growing from the dirt in the tracks!!  

Waterwheels predated the electrical company around here, providing electricity to a farm near Jewel Oregon.  This farmer used a turbine first, but fish kept getting stuck inside, causing it to stop, so he decided to make this waterwheel instead.  It provided all the power he needed at his home for over 10 years.

You don't see many steam train/equipment water towers intact any more, but there's one here, and she's a beauty!!  Besides that, like everything else around here, she's BIG!!!

To enter the restaurant, just pull on the ax attached to the 500 pound solid wood door.  Hand carved, these beautiful doors make for a spectacular entrance.  As you enter the room, you wait in front of the Stump ... the cash register stand that was once a ten foot wide tree stump!!

Once inside the restaurant, we found it was built from some of the biggest logs in the nation.  That ridge pole over Dan's head weighs in at 25 tons and is 85 feet long.  Although our waiter seemed to be in la-la-land, getting three out of five orders wrong, the food was excellent.  

My country fried steak and mashed potatoes were perfect and Patty's clam chowder bowl was enough to feed three people.  Guess what I'm having for breakfast!!  Besides good food, we were entertained by the squirrels eating sunflower seeds in the many containers hung outside the windows.

Just East of the restaurant is the Loggers Memorial, but we ran out of time.  If you're ever on Highway 26 from Portland to Seaside, be sure and stop in at Camp 18 and check it out!!

Another great adventure under our belts, and new oil in my car from yesterday's early $39 oil change, Patty and I will probably head back to Ilwaco for another farmers market day!!