Day 24 – 27th Annual Long Beach Sand Sculpture Context July 23, 2011

 

Today is our last day in the Ilwaco Washington area. The morning was spent at the Ilwaco Saturday market where Raija stock up on fruits and vegetables. Lunch at the market was smoked salmon chowder and desert was huckleberry ice cream.

The afternoon saw us back at Long Beach for their 27^th annual sand sculpture contest. Entire families / groups were busy working on their sculptures. The Kiwanis Club provided free hot dogs. The annual event is a weekend event with a variety of activities for the whole family including family pets.

Sculptures in progress

Completed Sculptures

 

Sculpture Work in Progress Video

Day 23 – Cape Disappointment – July 22, 2011

 

There seems to be some confusion on just how Cape Disappointment received its name. One version is the cape was named by British fur trader John Meares who was sailing south from Nootka in search of trade. After a storm, he turned his ship around just north of the Cape and therefore just missed the discovery of the Columbia River. Alternatively, the cape may have been named by a member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, after have succeeded in reaching the Pacific, found no ships in the vicinity.

At any rate since most of Cape Disappointment is now a Washington State Park and we spent the $30 for the an annual state park pass, we explored some of the Cape’s highlights’ today.

One of the jetties built to control Columbia’s Bar

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Fort Canby

Cormorants

North Head Lighthouse

Columbia River Jetties

Benson Beach

Along the trail to North Head Lighthouse

Cape Disappointment Video

Day 22–Camp Day at Ilwaco OR–July 22, 2011

 

An easy blog day as we mostly spent the day at the RV Park expect for a quick ride to Ilwaco to see their Heritage Museum. Thursdays is free admission.

I did for to mention that yesterday we did see a little of the sun. Today is another overcast day with on and off drizzles. It did manage to get up to 60 F today. The nights are still in the lower 50s F.

Day 21 – Astoria and Cannon Beach – July 20, 2011

 

We did a little back tracking today to tale in the sights of Astoria and Cannon Beach Oregon. As it turns out, Astoria was home to many Finns and even has a Finnish District. Many of the businesses bear Finnish names.

Our first stop was the Astoria Column that sits high on Coxcomb Hill where one can have a panoramic view of Astoria and the Columbia River.

The markers were the pet project of Ralph Budd, president of the Midwest based Great Northern Railroad.

The Astoria Column was the last of twelve built in the early 1900s between St. Paul, Minnesota and Astoria, Oregon. Ralph wanted to properly salute America’s early explorers and settlers.

 

Town of Astoria and Columbia River as seen from the top of the Astoria Column

 

Indian Burial Canoe

 

We also visited the Columbia River Maritime Museum. No pictures were allowed in the museum.

Retired Columbia River Lighthouse Ship

Our next stop was Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach was originally named Ecola, after the creek that empties into the Pacific Ocean to the north of the city. In 1922, it was renamed Cannon Beach at the insistence of the Post Office Department as the name was frequently confused with Eola. Cannon Beach is the beach adjacent to the town. The beach received its name after a cannon washed ashore from one of the many ship wrecks in the area.

Cannon Beach is its well-known landmark, Haystack Rock, located southwest of downtown Cannon Beach. This igneous rock has a height of 235 feet. Near Haystack Rock are the Needles, two tall rocks rising straight out of the water.

Haystack Rock and the Needles at Cannon Beach

Day 20 – Long Beach Washington - July 19, 2011

 

Long Beach began when Henry Harrison Tinker bought a land claim from Charles E. Reed in 1880. He platted the town and called it "Tinkerville." Long Beach was officially incorporated on January 18, 1922. From 1889 to 1930, a narrow gauge railroad called the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company ran up the whole peninsula. A resort village from the start, Long Beach enjoyed summertime travelers on the narrow gauge “Clamshell Railroad” that ran up the length of the peninsula from 1889 to 1930.

For 41 years narrow-gauge railroad made thousands of journeys from one end of this peninsula to the other.  The passengers were local residents going to “town” to shop, summer visitors coming to enjoy a vacation by the sea, and even students traveling to high school in Ilwaco.  Freight hauling was important too, and the bounty of farm, forest, beach and bay started its trip to distant markets on the little railroad.

Like many other small railroads across the country, the Clamshell Railroad struggled to survive as automobiles and trucking lines became more dominant forms of transportation.  The old tracks were pulled up and sold long ago but train buffs, history fans and curious visitors all enjoy retracing the route of the vintage train and recapturing a little piece of our past.

The Peninsula is also known for its cranberry industry. Cranberry farming in the SW corner of Washington State has a more than 100-year history.

Cranberry Bog

Driving on the beaches of the Peninsula is a tradition dating back to the early days of the automobile. For years, beachgoers have enjoyed a leisurely drive on the wide, hard-packed sands.

 

Long Beach Washington

North of Long Beach, in the mid-1800s, the village of Oysterville began to prosper after Chief Nahcati introduced the town’s founders, R.H. Espy and I.A. Clark, to oysters. The rich oyster beds of Willapa Bay were soon responsible for Oysterville’s growing riches, as the town became a major competitor with other oyster companies.

Oyster Beds

Oysterville

We stopped for lunch in Oysterville, Raija had clam chowder and I had oysters on the half shell.

To the Beach

Day 19 – Ilwaco Washington – Where the Columbia River Meets the Pacific – July 18, 2011

 

This morning we had a break in the rain so I was able to take some pictures of where we are staying.

Eagles Nest Resort upper deck

Eagles Nest Resort Video

Mid-morning we explored downtown Ilwaco and Ilwaco Harbor.

Harbor Front Shops

Harbor

The harbor is filled mostly with pleasure, privately owned boats and tourist fishing boats.

A Comanche without wings

We had lunch at one of the local eateries on the boardwalk. Raija had halibut fish and chips and I had deep fried oysters. The oysters were some of the largest that I have had in a long time. It looks as if we will have ample chance to partake of seafood during our stay on the coast.

Ilwaco Harbor

After lunch we took a ride to Cape Disappointment and the mouth of the Columbia River. The first thing that we discovered is that Washington State Parks now we require a $10 day pass or a $30 annual pass. One cannot even take a picture or view an overlook without a pass. As we will be in Washington State several more weeks, we opted for the annual pass.

Sailing ships had a terrible time getting into the Columbia, since the two natural channels through the broad, sediment-choked river mouth, particularly the North Channel, forced ships to turn sideways to the wind and waves. Some 2,000 vessels of all types and about 700 lives have been claimed by the treacherous waters off the Peninsula over the past 300 years.

Some of the early shipwrecks are:

1792 Chatham British tender
1798 Small boat from the Hazard American brigantine, 5 lost
1811 Small boat from the Tonquin American ship, 10 lost
1813 Raccoon British sloop of war
1829 William and Ann British barkentine, 26 lost
1830 Isabella Hudson Bay Co., British supply brigantine
1839 H.M.S. Sulpher British Royal Navy ship
1841 U.S.S. Peacock U.S. Navy ship
1846 U.S.S. Shark U.S. Navy survey schooner, crew lost
1848 Maine American whaler
1848 Vancouver British barkentine
1849 Josephine British brigantine

Lighthouses Cape Disappointment, built in 1856, and North Head, 1898, drastically improved the safety of mariners near the mouth of the Columbia River. These two lights significantly reduced the number of vessels and human lives lost in the waters of the Pacific. This area is often referred as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

Cape Disappointment Light House

 

Waikiki Beach

Waikiki Beach is one of the few beaches in the area where it is safe to swim as the other beaches have strong undertow currents.

On the way home, we stopped at a seafood shack and purchased a crab for my dinner.

Mik checking out dinner

Day 18 – North Plains OR to Ilwaco Washington – July 17, 2011

 

Today’s Mileage: 98
Mileage to Date: 1723

We woke to the sound of rain. It seems that this summer will be a repeat of last summer when the rain followed us for four months through Alberta, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska.

We packed up in the rain and headed west and then north up the coast to Ilwaco, Washington. The rain followed us the whole way. We will be staying here at Eagle’s Nest RV Resort for the next seven days. I will try to take some pictures as soon as we get a break from the rain. The current temperature is 59 F, a few degrees warmer than North Plains, Oregon.

Ilwaco is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. Ilwaco was first settled by Henry Feister in 1851, and was named for Elwahko Jim, the son in law of Chief Comcomly a Native American chief of the Chinookan. Ilwaco was officially incorporated on December 16, 1890.

A narrow gauge railway, Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company, ran for over thirty years. The railroad ran north up First Street in Ilwaco.

Ilwaco became a favorite port of salmon fishermen and a transportation hub for all of Pacific County. Travelers from Oregon or inland Washington could take a steamer down the Columbia River to Ilwaco, where they could travel by stage, and later by the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company train, also known as the ‘Clamshell Railroad That Ran With The Tides’, to the ocean beach resorts on the Long Beach Peninsula. 

Days 15 – 17 North Plains Oregon July 14 – 16, 2011

 

We continue to enjoy the cool days and cooler nights. Friday we had a break from the clouds and the sun came out for a while. A few brave souls even went swimming but the pool was a little to refreshing for us desert folks. It rain all last night and is still raining as of 10:30 AM today. Hopefully we will catch a break in the weather today, at least long enough for me to stow the grill in preparation for tomorrow’s drive to our next destination, Ilwaco WA.

There has not been much to write about during our stay here. Due to the remoteness of the RV Park and the weather we have not taken any side trips. It has been very relaxing to just stay put and enjoy the facilities here. The residents of the park, those who have permanent cabins, are very friendly. We have attended several parties and are invited to a pot luck dinner tonight.

Day 14 - North Plains Oregon – July 13, 2011

 

Today was a relaxing day in the RV Park. It has rain on and off throughout the day with the furnace cycling throughout the day. Who would have thought that we would be using heat during mid-day in the middle of July? The high today was 60 F.

The pool is covered and a little too refreshing for us desert people but the hot tub is nice. One can cycle from the hot tub to sitting outside especially when the sun peeks through the clouds. The Park also has a sauna which I am sure that Raija will get around to using before we leave.

The RV Park is situated on 104 acres of private forested land. There are large fir trees along with maple and other hardwood trees. To Mik’s delight there are hiking trails with lots of scents to explore.

Pool

Club House

Hot Tub

Sun Deck

Day 13 – Stanfield to North Plains Oregon July 12, 2011

Today’s Mileage: 217
Total Miles to Date: 1625

We continued west from Stanfield Oregon to North Plains Oregon, a suburb of Portland Oregon. This stretch of I-84 runs parallel along the Columbia River. We will be staying in the Portland area until Sunday morning. Our travel days will now be shorter and our stays longer.

Today started out cloudy and just before Portland it started to rain. The mid-afternoon temperature was 59 F. For now at least we have found the cooler weather that we are seeking.

 

Columbia River

Power Turbines above the Columbia River

Columbia River Video

Day 12–Marsing ID to Stanfield Oregon July 11, 2011

 

Today’s Mileage: 232
Total Miles To Date: 1407

We left the River Haven RV Park around 9:00 AM MDT after topping off the propane tank. We arrived at the Pilot RV Park in Stanfield Oregon around 1:00 PM PDT. The drive was all interstate and scenic as I-84 follows the Snake River and then winds through Oregon’s mountains.

The RV Park is next to a Pilot Truck Stop so we topped off with diesel before setting the coach up for the night. The park is well kept and has grass plots between each RV pad. There are full hookups including 50 amps for $25 per night. The only downside might be the noise as the park is adjacent to the Pilot Truck Stop’s truck parking lot.

 

Pilot RV Park – Stanfield Oregon

Today is a travel day so we will only be spending the night here.