We have decided to celebrate Geo's retirement by hooking up our 5th wheel trailer and travelling down into the USA for a month or so. Our winter seemed so long and spring was so late in coming this year, we figured we would head south to find some sun and relaxation.
BRAGG CREEK TO CRANBROOK, B.C.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
We still have some snow banks on our lawn and it is raining this morning. Crazy weather!
We left Bragg Creek at 10:30 this morning to travel to Cranbrook for the first night - approx 400kms. It was a nice drive thru the foothills and then thru the mountains today. The distance was about right - not too long. The Mount Baker RV Park at Cranbrook is just right for an overnight stay and is far enough away from the highway noise.
CRANBROOK, B.C. to SPOKANE, WA 188 miles, 3 3/4+ hrs drive
Friday, May 20, 2011
We got up and were back on the road at 9:30 this morning so that we might avoid the long week-end traffic that will probably start later today.
We arrived at the Canada/US border just before the lineup to go thru got too long - about 10 vehicles ahead of us. We had read not to try to take any meat or fresh fruit and vegetables with us across the border and so we decided to just pack enough fresh food for the first night, along with dry and canned food, and then to get groceries in Spokane.
We made sure that we got our dog Jake's vaccination and vet papers up to date before we left home and had his papers and our passports ready for inspection. The border officer hardly even looked at our passports, didn't even look at Jake or his papers, but was really interested in what food we were bringing with us into the United States.
I told him that we had an apple in the truck and part of a head of lettuce and a couple of tomatoes in the trailer fridge that we didn't finish at supper last night - but that we didn't bring any meat. He told us to pull our truck and trailer over into a side lane and he would send an inspector out to check our food. The inspector told us he wasn't worried about the apple in the truck but wanted to look inside our trailer fridge.
He confiscated the couple of tomatoes that were in a bag which showed that they were grown in an Alberta greenhouse, didn't care about the lettuce that was just in a plastic bag and then took away a brand new full bag of dog food. Apparently the dog food has to be made in the USA and show all the ingredients in it. It cannot say beef and bone meal. Beef by itself is okay, bone meal is not okay, lamb is not okay. I never gave it a thought that dog food would be a problem in crossing the border. The inspector was friendly and just doing his job. Oh, and he told us it would have been okay to bring beef across for us to eat - but not lamb!
So now we are in the USA driving south and laughing "guess they don't question you about the guns and drugs you might be bringing across, just don't try to bring Alberta tomatoes and Canadian dog food with you."
Before we left home we had heard that diesel was still cheaper in the USA. So we couldn't believe the signs saying that diesel was $4.29 to $4.35 USA gallon. When we converted this to litres it actually was about the same price as Alberta diesel at $1.16 a Canadian litre.
The drive along the river from Sandpoint to Priest River was really nice. On the south side of the river there are several beach side cabins/houses. Looks like it would be a nice place to spend a summer. The weather is warmer here - temperature is 23C.
SPOKANE,WASHINGTON
May 20 to May 22, 2011
Spokane is the second largest city in Washington.
The Alderwood RV Resort in Spokane was easy to find coming in on the #2 Hwy. The resort is very clean and organized. We found that we should have asked for a spot further away from the highway as we got a lot of traffic noise in the one we were given.
We are spending the week-end here just resting. We drove thru the downtown Sunday at noon and were going to walk along the river there, but the Lilac Festival and the Military Parade had all the streets blocked off and parking was at a premium. We then decided to stop at a mall and go for our walk inside as the wind had come up and it had started to rain.
SPOKANE TO BOARDMAN 190 Miles - 3+ Hrs driving
Sunday, May 22, 2011
We got up early and left Spokane to head to Boardman, Oregon.
South of Spokane the land is covered with wind turbines. Great place for them as it is very windy here.
Our first look at the Columbia River was going over a huge bridge by Umatilla - the river was very wide and swift here. It is the biggest river I have ever seen.
On the way to Boardman we passed Umatilla which has a big army depot for miles along the #84 Freeway. This is a really big chemical warfare depot and has interesting igloo type buildings covered with mounds of dirt. While driving alongside this depot, my curiosity grew and I had to find out more about this depot.
THE USA ARMY CHEMICAL AGENT DISPOSAL FACILITY AT UMATILLO
rebar. The igloo like huts are then covered with dirt, keeping the inside temperature at 50 to 60 degrees F year round, helping to maintain safe storage conditions.
The chemical weapons originally stored at the depot consisted of various munitions and ton containers containing Sarin GB or VX nerve agents or Mustard Agent HD blister agent. It is reported that the army has safely stored 12% of the nation's original chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical Depot since 1962.
The Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility is a 19,728 acre military facility which was designed and completed in 2001 for the sole purpose of destroying the chemical weapons stored there. The disposal began in 2004 and uses high temperature incineration technology to destroy weapons. The CMA US Army Chemical Materials Agency says that " 6,290,998 pounds of total agents destroyed to May 4, 2011 includes GB,VX and HD nerve agent." and the UCADF states " on May 5, 2011, that it's 1,635th mustard agent filled ton container was destroyed, leaving 1,000 ton containers remaining in inventory."
"As of Jan, 2010, the US has destroyed 22,322 tons of the original 31,500 tons" said Greg Marshall,chief of the US Army Chemical Materials Agency. I guess my thinking is who manufactured the 31,500 tons of chemicals weapons in the first place and then - why???
Reading further, a person has to question - how safe is it actually?? There are numerous articles on the various leaks of mustard gas at the Umatillo site and there are also various articles on the lawsuits that have been filed in attempts to stop the burning of mustard gas.
From the New York Times, published July 30, 2000 an article written by Christoher MarQuis stated that "A group of workers who were overcome last year by fumes at a chemical weapons plant in Oregon is accusing the Army of covering up leaks of highly toxic nerve agents and mustard gas on the day of the incident" and that "lawyers for the workers at the Umatilla Chemical Depot charge that investigators from the Army and Raytheon, a defense contractor, concealed 4 leaks of sarin and mustard gas that occurred just hours after 34 workers became ill on Sept. 15th. The lawyers, citing Army documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, also said chemical agents had leaked at the site 22 times during a 6 day period, including the day the workers were sickened. The Army denies that any of the workers stricken at the Depot were exposed to leaks from the chemical weapons, although it had failed to identify the specific source."
I found this interesting from the Nov 20, 2009 Northwest Labor Press (owned by 20 Unions in Oregon). It stated that "Umatilla chemical depot workers are to get $3.6 million back pay. As many as 900 workers at the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility are expected to get back pay checks totalling 3.6 million, thanks to some serious union persistence, for putting on and removing safety gear, and for irregular meal and rest breaks." It also states that "in Jan. there was 4.1 million paid to settle a class-action lawsuit over the same issues at a facility in Utah".
This found me wondering and reminded that it was Saddam Hussein's regime that used a mustard agent against the Kurds in Iraq. The USA, who were at the time- 1988, allies of Iraq in their war with Iran, and who turned a blind eye to the atrocity and said the images could not be verified to be the responsibility of Iraq. Wikipedia states that "The Halabja poison gas attack was a genocidal massacre against the Kurdish people on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iran - Iraq War, when chemical weapons were used by the Iraqi government forces in the Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan, killing between 3,200 to 5,000 people and injuring up to 10,000 more, most of them civilians. The incident, which has been officially defined as an act of genocide against the Kurdish people in Iraq, was and still remains the largest chemical weapons attack directed against a civilian populated area in history. "
BOARDMAN, OREGON
May 23, 2011
The town of Boardman doesn't have a lot in it, but the Boardman Marina and RV park is along the Columbia River and is set up nice. We look right out of our trailer windows to a great view of the river. Each trailer spot is as big as a city lot and the lawn and areas are well groomed. There is a long paved walking/biking path that runs along the river. It is cooler here and it is very windy. Luckily we found that the wind covered up the noise from the railroad and freeway.
There are several Canada geese and their babies swimming in the sheltered swimming area for kids. The geese have the whole area to swim in as it is still early in the season. Later at night we see them out swimming in the main river which is still very swift and high.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
We get up early to drive from Boardman to Cannon Beach.
The #84 follows the Columbia River all the way to Portland. I just can't believe how wide this river is! Construction of the Historic Columbia River Highway began in 1913, and was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the modern age. The Columbia River Gorge is 80 miles long and up to 4,000 feet deep, cutting the only sea level route through the Cascade Mountains. Lewis and Clark traveled through the Gorge on the Columbia River on their way down to the Pacific Ocean.
Along the side of the river we see several vineyards on the banks.
Around the Dalles area there are some great distant views of Mount Hood, a dormant volcano which looks like the mountains in Japan. The elevation of Mount Hood is 11,245 feet and it is the highest point in Oregon.
PORTLAND, OREGON Population 540,520 appr.
We were warned by another RVér that when we get to Portland to make sure that we watch and don't miss the Beaverton exit which would take us to Cannon Beach. As we got closer to the inner ring road which circles around the downtown area of Portland we are sucked into a vortex of freeway spirals and Geo white-knuckles it thru and is spit out on the right exit. We are lucky that we were told about the sign as there are no exits off that say "Cannon Beach #26". Warning -"This route is not for the faint of heart".
Once we are thru the maize of the centre of Portland we are back onto a good freeway #26 that takes us back up into higher elevations of forest. It is 80 miles from Portland to Cannon Beach.
After driving thru the forest for a while Geo points out to me to look deeper into the forest. He points out that if you start looking around you see that there is extensive logging of the trees. It looks like the plan is to leave a buffer of trees along the road. They have then clear cut all the trees behind the buffer of trees running along the road. They must think that leaving these trees will be a way of disguising the clear-cutting from the tourists. But don't the people who live in Oregon realize or see the damage they have done to the forest here!!! This logging goes on for miles and miles and is virtually destroying the forest here.
CANNON BEACH, OREGON
Cannon Beach is a real neat town. The beach is very scenic and I took a lot of pictures here -even though the weather was windy and rainy. We walked along the beach and took pictures of "The Haystack Rock (235 ft tall) and the Needles Rocks" both Cannon Beach landmarks. Jake loved to run off-leash here as the beach was basically empty.
The RV Resort at Cannon Beach is really nice and clean, it has large spaces and lots of trees and grass (but is not right on the beach). Our site #25 is nice because it is in the back corner of the park and there isn't any traffic or noise here. The beach and shops are within a bike ride or a close drive. There are a lot of interesting art galleries and little shops to browse in here.
We stopped for a late lunch at Mo's Restaurant in Tolvana Park for their famous chowder and a plate of mixed seafood which was very tasty. This area is filled with picture-perfect grey shingled houses and shops.
ASTORIA, OREGON
Wed., May 25, 2011
We got up this morning and decided to drive 26 miles North of Cannon Beach to Mile 0 and see where the Columbia River joins the Pacific Ocean at Astoria. The Astoria-Megler Bridge is over 4 miles long and is the longest continuous three-span, through- truss bridge in the world. Construction began in 1962 and was completed in 1966. This bridge completed Highway #101 to make it an unbroken link between the Canadian and the Mexican border. We drove over the bridge into Washington and turned around and came back to Astoria, Oregon. Critics called it the "Bridge to Nowhere."
Astoria is the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies. It's Victorian era homes hug the steep hillside like San Fransisco. Astoria is a working seaport.
From Astoria on Highway 101 we crossed Youngs Bay on a 4200 foot lift-span bridge which is used for very large ships to go thru. Just east of this highway is Fort Clatsop, one of the major sites in the Lewis and Clark expedition. This is where the expedition spent the winter of 1805-1806. Because of the rainy weather we did not venture off to see the fort.
CANNON BEACH to LINCOLN CITY, OR
Thursday, May 24, 2011
We left Cannon Beach at 10:30 this morning to drive south along the Oregon Coast to Lincoln City. It is 85 miles from Cannon Beach to Lincoln City. The weather has been at a constant 12 to 13 degrees with showers and rain since we reached the coast.
A short drive out of Cannon Beach to the South there are several road-side turn-outs with spectacular views of the ocean side. The rest of the drive is thru pouring rain, thru small fishing villages and towns.
South, the highway goes slightly inland thru several flat grassy areas where several dairy farms surround Tillamook. This area is known for its Tillamook cheese which is very good cheese. After Tillamook we find ourselves back winding thru the forest and back along the coast, again.
LINCOLN CITY, OREGON
We are booked into the Lincoln City Premier RV Resort from tonight thru till Tuesday am (5 nights). Our site #35 is quiet because there are a few big motor homes blocking the road noise. The facilities here are really good. This will cover us thru the Memorial Day long week-end as spots are booked up during this time and the roads will be very busy. The weather forecast is still for rain.
Thursday, just before supper we take Jake and find a road leading down to a quiet beach for our stroll. While walking on the beach we come across a guy and a baby seal that is up on the beach by itself. The seal appears to be abandoned and washed up there. We take a quick picture and then leave as we have our dog Jake with us and do not want him near the tiny seal.
Later, we read that the Oregon Coast Officials say not to touch abandoned and lonely baby harbour seals on the beach because their mothers are hunting or waiting nearby in the water. Well-meaning people who remove seal pups from beaches are eliminating the chances of the pup being re-united with their mother. They are also violating the "Marine Mammal Protection Act" and can face criminal charges. The best thing for you to do is keep well away from the seal pup, thereby reducing the stress on the pup and alarming it's mother. They are just fine on land and their mothers won't come back for them until the people are gone."
After our walk we go to take a look at the Chinook Winds Casino Resort. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz own and operate this casino. I found it to be just to smoky inside there. We had thought about having a buffet supper in the hotel restaurant there but they had cancelled their seafood night because of renovations. We decide to stop for a pizza on the way back to the resort.
DEPOE BAY and NEWPORT, OREGON
Friday, May 27, 2011
It has been pouring rain all night and it is still coming down in buckets this morning. We laze around for most of the morning and then decide to get out and drive down towards Depoe Bay.
We found several road side view point turn-outs and stopped to take several pictures. We got somewhat wet as the rain showers persisted .
We reached Newport next and decided to pull off the highway and went down towards the ocean. Here we found Nye Beach and an interesting art gallery called "For Artsake" which is a co-op type of gallery with interesting contemporary and traditional art. We had a good lunch at Nana's Irish Pub.
We also stopped at the Freed Gallery on the very south end of Lincoln City which had some very interesting paintings and some furniture made from tree branches.
LINCOLN CITY
Saturday, May 28, 2011
It poured rain again several times thru the night. By 9:00am it was nice and sunny out - in fact it was one of the nicest days we have had down here. Lincoln City has got very busy as it is the Memorial Day week-end and it seems like everyone from Portland has come out to the beach for the day or week-end.
We went down to the beach right across the highway from the Premier RV Resort where we are staying. To get there you have to go about 40-50 stairs down a steep bank. The beach has got a lot of big logs washed up on it but it is beautiful. Once again, Jake ran off leash and loved it. The hard part was climbing back up those steep stairs to get back to the trailer.
We then spent an hour+ at the laundry room doing up our clothes and sheets.
After this, our next thing to do was take in the open house at the "Artist Gallery" a co-op gallery in Lincoln. They put on a really nice show with lots of art, wine, food and music from a solo jazz guitar player.
Later we walked a different part of the beach. Weather has cooled off again tonight.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
It was a nice day today. But my energy level was way down. We started out by going down to the beach at Siletz Bay this morning. The road was full of long weekend traffic and the parking lot was filled. Luckily most of the people must have been at Mo's Restaurant having lunch as the beach was fairly empty here.
Later we drove back to the north to drive the "Three Capes" scenic loop. We made our first stop at the Oceanside Beach where the sand was so thick and the path was up a steep hill and then down a steep hill to the beach. Well I made it to the top of the hill and my back was killing me so I stayed there and took in the view, while the troop went on down and Jake had a run.
There were several 4x4 vehicles driving up the hill and down onto the beach. It is legal to drive on the beaches in Oregon.
We only made it a third of the way around the loop and turned back. The rain had started coming back in and we were both tired.
Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 2011
This morning we went to go to the "Fleet of Flowers" Memorial Service down south at Depoe Bay. The history that was told goes "On October 4, 1936 Roy Bower, an older captain and young Jack Chambers died in the ocean near Depoe Bay. In the evening they went out in the Cara Lou to find the Norwester, which was supposedly lost in the fog and storm. The Norwester returned but the Cara Lou did not, and so it is in the memory of Bowers and Chambers that the locals first cast flowers in the sea.
This tradition became the "Fleet of Flowers" which took place today for the 66th time in history. Two to three hundred people lined the bridge and the town seawall to watch the ceremony. A short parade of the flags, then a heartfelt national anthem was sung, a few poems and speeches said and the twenty boats left the inner harbor and headed out to sea.
The boats made a circle out a mile in the rough water, into which the US Coast Guard helicopter dropped a diver with the first wreath down into the ocean. After that, all the flowers and greenery were removed from the boats and tossed into the Pacific in remembrance to not only fallen military in the wars past and present, but to fishermen who have died off the coast.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
We left Lincoln City this morning to travel to Florence, the furthest south point in Oregon that we plan to go to.
