To The End Of Oregon

I interrupt this blog to tell everyone to PLEASE BE CAREFUL.  This truck and fifth wheel belong to my two best friends at Elks Bingo.  While traveling through Oregon yesterday, someone came around the bend on their side of the road.  He was quick enough to get the truck off on the shoulder, but the car hit the fifth wheel, ripping it from the truck, where it crashed on it's side.  The truck spun in a circle, but luckily neither one even got a bump or bruise.

The lady in the car that hit them went to the hospital.  They expect her to live.  I hate to dress down someone who is hurt, but what the heck???  Drinking??  SMOKING??  Obviously her head was somewhere it shouldn't have been.  Thank the Lord my friends are okay.  They just have to recoup and find a new traveling house.  Please watch every single car and drive defensively at ALL times.  It can save your life.

Back to regular programming .........

The huge Columbia River Bar separates Oregon from Washington.  It's an amazing story of shipwrecks, loss of life and the tenacity of people who traded here in the 1800's.  Here is where river current meets sediment and ocean waves (think fire hose), creating the graveyard of the Pacific Ocean.  The navigational channel is 2600 feet deep and 600 feet wide, narrowing to 43 feet deep inside the channel.  Try navigating that in a ship without motors and propellers!!

Since I'm on the South side, I decided to do a little geocaching and visit the South Jetty.  It's not a long drive, but there are lots of places to get lost.  Navigating Fort Stephens Park is like trying to find the mouth of the Columbia in the fog!!  The roads are rough, with lots of six inch deep holes.  I actually went slower than the speed limit after hitting the first one!!

With no one in sight, I trotted up the observation deck stairs to see the Jetty.  It goes for as far as the eyes can see.  No, it's not an earthquake ... the deck sways back and forth as you walk around, even if you are by yourself.  I was glad there weren't 25 more people around.

Up underneath the platform were several bird nests ... some kind of swallow I'm guessing.  They build their nests with barely enough room to squeeze in.  You can see her tail sticking out the left and just part of her head.  I didn't hear any squeaking, so I imagine the babies have not arrived yet.

You probably noticed these huge pilings on the way in and wondered what they were.  This is the railroad track built to haul those humungous rocks to their final resting spot, creating the 6 mile long jetty.  

Try as I might to find more information on the trains, I could only discover construction was started in 1885 and completed around 1910.  I know Mr. Chance has more information on these.  Maybe he will pass it along.  Once completed, the rails were extracted, leaving the wooden trestles.  You can still see much of the wood among the rocks.

Looking south, the jetty has created a beautiful long picnic-perfect deserted sandy beach where geocachers have hidden their log books for everyone to find.  I stopped in at two.  The first was close to the South Jetty parking lot.  No problem there.  I wasn't to be so lucky at the second one.

Pictures just don't do it justice.  You've really got to go see this one in person.  From this point, you can also see the big ships coming in to the mouth of the river where Bar Pilots take over navigation  through the River Bar.

I stopped in at the second geocache, only to find it hidden in the trees between the road and the beach.  It had a very haunted feeling with mossy misshapen trees and blood sucking vampires.  I accumulated three more nasty bites before clawing my way out.  So much for geocaching in the bushes!!!

On the way out I took a wrong turn (there are not a lot of signs) and ended up at the rivers edge just inside the jetty.  Another deserted long sandy beach.  I walked along in the morning quiet, except for the crashing of waves until I ran into a guy and gal ... both with straw hats of the Bahama Mama variety, sitting on homemade chairs of driftwood ... like King and Queen for a Day.  Remember, it's legal to smoke wacky tobaccy up here now!!

A little further along was this tree, deposited during the last big storm.  Other than dead crabs, it was the only thing on the beautiful soft sand.

And then the itching began.  I don't understand how you can't feel a thing when these blood suckers drain your veins.  The hot spoon trick hasn't been working for me, so I'm off to buy Windex.  Yes I have those bug stick things (they don't work), cortisone cream (doesn't work) and Tea Tree Oil (also doesn't work).  Oh wait .... meat tenderizer!!  If that doesn't work, at least I'll be even MORE tender for their blood sucking pleasure!!

Tip of the day ... you've all probably heard of The Solution?  Someone here was selling it recently.  One of his sales pitches included cleaning your glasses.  Spray on a rag and wipe, then wipe again with a dry rag.  I didn't have to clean my glasses for three days.  That's a miracle since I'm usually washing them three times a day.  You might want to give it a try.  Hey, maybe it will work on mosquito bites!!!