Rain soaked adventurer’s log at 2:32pm on Wednesday this 3rd day of October in the year 2013. My current location:

My mission: to get our clothes clean and finally, thankfully, blissfully DRY at least for some amount of time. Although I don’t want to jinx it, today is shaping up to be our first full day without rain for at least the last 5-7 days. My brain is waterlogged so I can’t recall exactly.
Since it has been some time since my last blog, I will attempt to get us caught up. Some days ago we left Mt. Rainier after our day of partial sunshine and decided to head to Hood River, Washington which is in the lower part of Washington, near some wineries. Yes, Ye Ole Fermented Grape has been our salvation when plans have had to be altered. Found a decent campground across the river with only two sites left. Site 11 sounded good to me but I didn’t really take the time to look closely at the map before selecting our site. As you can see, our site isn’t wasn’t really that bad. There is some room between you and your neighbors and there is even a patch of grass that they monitor in a slightly obsessive-compulsive fashion.
As long as you stood on the correct side of the camper, all was right with the world. But if you ventured to the other side which also happened to be the door side, UGH

We were literally 4 feet from the restrooms and showers! I am certain all the campground residents were pleased to receive a smile and greeting each morning as they went to complete their morning toilet’. We only stayed a day and then finally headed into Oregon. Which was a good thing since Kim had been giving me the business because we were about ½ way through our trip and hadn’t managed to make it out of Washington.

After much discussion, we decided to head to the Oregon coast even if it was going to rain for days. About the time we passed Portland, the wind kicked up and started pushing Harriet and Big Lil all over the highway. Acu-weather Kim checked and they were forecasting 70 mph winds on the coast. Discretion being the better part of valor, we decided to find the closest Oregon State Park and hunker down for a bit. Kim found us this really nice park with water, electric and some really nice sites.

We found we had inadvertently but happily camped very near the Willamette Valley so we had plenty of things to do in the rain. Traveled into Newburg and Dundee and went to

where we met some nice folks and sampled some delicious wine.

The next day, there was a break in the rain so we went for a long, overdue walk around the park.

We saw a few birds we couldn’t identify, some deer and a black rabbit near one of the yurts.

We discovered a dock down along the Willamette River

along with the flood mark.

Guess almost no place is immune if it rains enough. We saw old street signs where there are no longer roads
along with some huge trees

There were all sorts of historical markers and a Pioneer Women’s Museum which sadly was closed for the season. It was great to get out and walk.
With the forecast brightening, we packed up again and headed for the coast. We are going to spend some time at the state parks up and down the coast until we hear if the National Parks we intended to visit will be open or not. We decided on Nehalem Bay State Park so we could take some day trips north and south. It is a huge park and we are a walk over the dunes from the ocean. Way cool! Drove through some nasty storms and on some crazy little roads to get here but the sun came out when we got here. So we headed to Manzanita to walk around a bit and see the ocean.


Yesterday, we awoke to more rain and felt so sorry for the folks who were tent camping. Our neighbors said they were here when the 70 mph winds hit and they thought their tent was going to collapse. They have dogs and had the two yellow lab puppies out running since they had been cooped up for days in the rain. We decided to head to Tillamook to take the cheese factory tour.

We actually had a really good time walking through the self-guided tour as well as strolling the second story observation floor where you can watch them make and package the cheese. It reminded me of veggie go’s as I watched the packaging machine go out of alignment. One guy fixed the machine while the other person hand loaded cheese to keep the line going. I saw another lady take scissors and open the mis-aligned packages so that cheese could be repackaged. Gotta repackage those uglies!!
Then we decided to drive to Cape Meares. Our guidebook said there were three capes out that way but that Meares was one of the nicest. We got to see the lighthouse which I have dubbed the “mini-light cottage”

There were some amazing views along the path

We also saw the Octopus Tree (apparently nobody knows why it grows the way it does)


We made our way to Oceanside and had a bite to eat.

The couple next to us asked if we had hiked through the hole in the cliff (I was thinking Utah and the Hole In The Wall) to Agate Beach. We said we had not and she told us it was just down the beach. So we walked right down to the beach and saw the opening


Even though Kim is a bit claustrophobic, she was up to go through the tunnel.

It was really kind of amazing. We had the beach to ourselves.



When a class of 5th graders poured out of the tunnel and transported us back to reality, we decided to head on back.


This morning, after some 7 days or so, we awoke to sunshine. We celebrated by going for a walk on the beach by the campgrounds.




Please note that Kim is wearing her Red Feather Lakes sweatshirt. Shout out to the Burris’. We have come to find out through Stacy and Craig that sweatshirts are known as the State of Washington winter coat.
After our walk, we decided it was too late in the day to drive up to Astoria (recommended by Jacki and Bonnie among many others) and hit some of the sights on the way back so we are going to save that for tomorrow. So Kim agreed to give Big Lil a good cleaning, lay out our shoes to dry and plan dinner while I hit the laundromat .
I believe that is all the news that’s fit to print at this point. We are thinking good thoughts for Jordan who is in the hospital in South Carolina. Happy Birthday Month to Sperry! Missing you all but having a wonderful time. Thanks to Michel Hendricks for blowing out the sprinklers before the snow and to Ken Hayes for tackling the wild grass in the backyard. Our IOUs are piling up and we are looking forward to repaying all the favors when we get back home. Hugs to all and to all a good day!