Tuesday, August 22, 2017

8/22/2017 - Crossing back into Washington

Tuesday - We assume the traffic from the eclipse has abated, so we hit the road today.  We wanted to let the 8:00 traffic settle, so we left the campground about 9:30, hoping for the best.  We stopped at the local General Mercantile for Joe's soda.  A group was there airing up their tubes to go down the Clackamas.  Obviously, we didn't get the full benefit of our campground.  Oh, to be young again.



We made our way to the 205, then I-5, then the 405, then the 30.  The problem with the interstate traffic in Oregon is that they don't have enough interchanges, so at every interchange merging traffic backs up the freeway traffic until it has time to get spread out.  So we hit some stop and go traffic on the 205 and I-5.

Once we got through metropolitan Portland, we were on Hwy 30, which had stoplights but moved along pretty well.  We saw lots of logging trucks, lots of campers on the road.  We passed the turnoff to Sauvie Island, which grows a lot of vegetables.  Joe thinks we might have to come back there to drive that island, but maybe not.
We passed 3 or 4 bridges, crossing the Williamette and Columbia Rivers.  We didn't know there were that many bridges, and they were all quite lengthy and tall enough to allow big ships to pass under.  And we saw a few ships and barges.



We finally got to our bridge, which is 4.2 miles long.


There were tons of fishing boats out here at the mouth of the Columbia.  We assume they were salmon fishing, but they literally were scattered all over the river.  This first one looked like a charter, and everyone on there was well bundled up.  Joe said he didn't think he had that many clothes with him.





We crossed the state line from Oregon to Washington somewhere on the bridge, around 1:00 p.m., and headed to Ilwaco, where our campground is located.  The town of Chinook is about 10 miles south of Ilwaco, and we found a place to stop for lunch, with street parking, there, called The Roadhouse. Joe had clam chowder, with actual clam shells in the soup, but he said it was delicious.


We found our campground, which is a resort.  It has a pretty fancy lodge, with game tables where we could have played cards, but all our card players have left us.  We are in a very shaded spot, and the temperature was 61 degrees at 2:30 p.m.  We may have to turn the furnace back on tonight.  After we got set up, we rested a bit, then took a drive about 5:00 down the Long Beach Peninsula.  But the sea mist was so heavy that we couldn't see the water, even from the beach.

Since we drove the Peninsula tonight, we don't have to do that again tomorrow (it's only 20 miles long), so we will concentrate on Cape Disappointment, Long Beach, maybe try to find the cranberry bogs here, and maybe explore some of the museums and the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center.

Report from the Brundiges, they hope to have their motorhome repairs finished tomorrow, and they can see the smoke in Junction City from the fires over by Sisters where they have begun evacuations.  This may affect their route out of Oregon because their plan is to head to Boise.  We wish them safe travels.



8/21/2017 - Eclipse Party

Monday - Today's Main Event was the eclipse.  Joy, Rich, Dixie and Jim drove out to our campground to share this auspicious occasion with us -- we had a great viewpoint, no trees or brush impeding our view, and we woke up to a cloudless sky.  Our guests brought donuts, and we had a great time watching through our Eclipse Sunglasses.






Alaska Airlines had flights available to view the eclipse from the air, and we saw several jetstreams as we watched the changing sun.  And we saw the planet Venus as the sky darkened.

 The rope lights under this neighboring RV came on as the sky darkened.
And these two had a birds-eye view!
This has been an excellent campground for our visit here.  We are about 6 miles from Joys, but the campground is very roomy, very quiet, lots of open areas for kids, nice showers and restrooms, and close to the Clackamas River.  If we ever come back through here, we would stay here again.


After the excitement was over, our guests headed back to Joys and Joe pulled a little maintenance on the RV in preparation for our departure tomorrow.

The McDonalds in Oregon have an interesting compost offer.  They save their coffee grounds and customers can take bagfuls home with them to put in their gardens.  One McDonalds we were in actually had one-gallon freezer bags of grounds out on a table for customers just to take.
We drove on over to Joys, visited and worked on reservations for next week, and eventually went to dinner at Shari's Restaurant.  We came back to Joys, played cards and had some watermelon, then said our goodbyes and headed back before curfew.  We've had a great time here but are ready to get back on the road and do some more sightseeing. 

Sunday, August 20, 2017

8/20/2017 - Portland's Saturday Market

Sunday - We got up early to make sure we could see Collins and Marilyn off, then Joe went down and dumped our tanks to avoid the possible rush on Tuesday morning.  We don't know if a lot of people will come to the campground tomorrow for the eclipse, so we decided to get that task out of the way.  I had in mind to get the laundry done, so we loaded it up and headed to Joy's, thinking we could either do the laundry there or find a laundromat.  We stopped for fuel in the car, and Joe was missing his credit card, so we called the restaurant we went to last night, and sure enough, he had left it there.  They weren't open yet, but said we could knock on the door and they would let us in, so that's what they did.  The gal met us at the door, asked to see an ID, and gave him his credit card. 

Our agenda item today was Portland's Saturday Market, on the waterfront in downtown Portland.  Joy called just as we were leaving the restaurant parking lot and suggested we meet at one of the train stations and take the MAX downtown, so we put that shopping mall in the GPS and off we went.  They got there just a few minutes after us and we bordered the train.  MAX is Portland's light rail system, which stands for Metropolitan Area Express (for those inquiring minds out there).
(Rich was with us, but he was the photographer)

Along the way, we passed the Moda Center, the stadium where the Portland Trailblazers play.
The MAX let us off right beside the Saturday Market (which is open Saturdays and Sundays).


This was craft booths, artsy stuff, pretty good variety but nothing like the Mesa Marketplace by our house.  "Nationally recognized as the largest continuously operating open-air arts and crafts market in the country, Portland Saturday Market is proud to provide a marketplace for small businesses creating locally handmade arts, crafts and foods from the Pacific Northwest."



This is set up right along the Williamette River, shortly before it joins the Columbia River.
There were a few musicians scattered around, playing for tips.  One duo was on stage in the eating area.



There was also a little water park or splash pad here for the kids.

We spent a couple hours wandering through the market, then headed out to get some lunch and go back to Joy's where I started my laundry.  Jim, Dixie, Joe and I played Hand and Foot while I processed my laundry, much better use of my time than sitting in a laundromat.  And Joe had a chance to feed his addiction (they still have blackberries growing up the back wall).
Joy and Rich spent the afternoon working, Rich on his building, and Joy watering plants.  But they took a break and made a pitcher of strawberry daiquaris for us cardplayers. 
Rich grilled some brats from the local meat market for dinner, then we called it a night.  I had to stop at the grocery store for a few items, and we had laundry to put away, so we were glad to get home a little earlier tonight.  They are coming to the campground in the morning in the hopes of seeing the eclipse (it was pretty cloudy this morning), so we will see what kind of luck we have with that tomorrow.  We have much more open space at the campground than they do in their yard.