Maritime Museum – Astoria, Oregon

Thursday we took a ride to Astoria with friends Jeri and Terry.  It was a very interesting museum.  Never knew that the mouth of the Columbia River was so dangerous.  It’s called the Graveyard of the Pacific.  It is so treacherous that no barge can enter without a pilot.  These river pilots must memorize every little nuance of the ‘bar’.  We watched a short film on the river pilots and how they get out to the barges.  That can be the most dangerous part of their job!!
        
Ed still remembers his morse code.   
     
 
  
He wants to make this model.
 
On the way home, we stopped to get some lunch at Astoria’s Ship’s Inn.  We were able to sit at a table and watch the river.  We had some very good fish and chips. And Jeri said the chowder was very good.  Ed liked it too.  It was an enjoyable day with good friends. 

Seaside Aquarium

We went to visit the Seaside Aquarium.  It’s a very inexpensive aquarium, very small but also very enjoyable.  First thing we did was feed the seals. Or should I say Ed did. 

   

This was the first aquarium where I have actually seen an octopus.

  

Look at the size of this Halibut.  Some good eating there.

Once we left the aquriaum, we walked around the town.  Here’s the turn around with the statue of Lewis and Clark.

        

Friends Terry and Jeri Williams are here so today we are taking a drive to Astoria.  Looking forward to seeing another quaint seaside town.

Route 101 thru California and Oregon

This is the second time we have done this trip and will probably be our last.  It is a very beautiful drive and if you haven’t done it, you should at least once.  We left the Elks lodge at Walnut Creek on Wednesday afternoon and stayed the first night at the Petaluma Elks.  They didn’t have any spots so we boondocked for the night.  We left early Thursday and drove to Fortuna California and the Bear River Casino.  We drove the “Avenue of the Giants” on Friday with the car.

  
   
These were some big trees and the drive was very pretty. 
We left there on Sunday and drove to Florence, Oregon.  We stayed at Three Rivers Casino.  I wanted to go to Sea Lion Caves, which we did on Tuesday.  For the admission price, we were very disappointed. 
    
We left Florence on Thursday and are currently in Seaside Oregon at the Thousand Trails park.  On our way we did stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.
It was a bigger place than the one in Loleta but their vats are all enclosed so you couldn’t see as much.  We did purchase some more cheese and also tried their ice cream.  It is very good.
Since we are here for a couple of weeks, we hope to be able to do a lot of sightseeing.  Hope the weather cooperates with us.

Loleta Cheese Factory

We took a ride today to the small little cheese factory in Loleta.
         
Happy California Cows make good cheese.  We purchased a brick of Havarti Herb and Spice Cheese.  Need to get some salami and crackers.  Yum!!

We then took a ride to the small town of Ferndale.  Its a small Victorian town.   Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive Ins and Dives comes from there.  He did a show from the cheese factory and from a bakery in Ferndale where we purchased 2 huge cinnamon rolls for tonight.  Yum Yum!!
      
Tomorrow we leave here to continue our trek up the 101 into Oregon. 

More Family

We spent 5 nights at the Walnut Creek Elks Lodge to visit with Ed’s daughter, Tina.  Tina lives with her boyfriend on a sailboat.  Currently they are sitting in a boat yard getting some work done.  Just like a motorhome, they are able to still live at home while the work is done.  They have taken the masts off so that Jay can sand and repaint them. 

We had a real good visit though.  Jay cooked some great meals, a roast on Saturday, we cooked Pork Chops on Sunday, and he cooked Salmon on Tuesday. Sunday Jay took us into San Francisco to sing Karaoke.  We had a great time.  When we left, Jay drove us down Lombard Street. So fun.

            

That’s a picture of their dog.  I have never been a fan of pit bulls but this one is a love. 
But now we are on our way north.  We are currently at Bear River Casino.  Will post our next blog about it soon.

Yosemite National Park

We have spent almost a week here at Yosemite Lakes Thousand Trails park.  We have had no internet, other than what we get at the family center which is very weak.  We have no cell phone service at all.  We drove into the town of Groveland to see if they had cell coverage.  No.  Guess we won’t talk to anyone until we come out of these mountains.  Just before we left Bakersfield we discovered that we had an oil leak in the car.  So when we went into Groveland, we stopped at a mechanic and discovered a leaking gasket.  They are going to replace it Monday, so we will be spending some time at the local coffee shop that has free wifi.  Hopefully it will be a little better than it is here.  I will post this blog then.
On Friday we went into Yosemite.  The park entrance is only 6 miles from us.  However, once inside the gate its another 16 miles of winding road to what is called Yosemite Valley.  On the way we saw Bridalveil  Falls.  We walked up to the falls but the sun was right at the peak, so this picture was taken from the road.  The on the same road is El Capitan. 
                                          
My son told me that we could not miss the Ahwahnee Hotel.  This hotel sits in Yosemite Valley an anyone can stay there for a mere $400 a night!!! Maybe when we win the lottery!! These pictures of from the back side, the lobby and the view.
                         
Today we went back to Yosemite to go to Glacier Point.  I’m not sure of the exact elevation, but we were high enough that there was enough snow that some people were stopped to build snowman!  From Glacier Point we saw Half Dome and at a distance, Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls.
                        
This was not anything that I expected.  There are really no words to describe this park.  When you are in the Valley is seems like everywhere you look you see sheer walls of granite.  Everything is either green trees or granite.  I could see why Ansel Adams always shot this valley in black and white.  This has been a once in a lifetime trip and even though we have been with cell phones and with the bad internet, I am very glad we came.


Update:  The mechanic decided it was to much of a hassle to fix our car when we arrived this morning.  Guess he didn't want the work or the money!  We went to breakfast anyway and the wifi there was just as bad.  I am up at the clubhouse now and since no one else is here it isn't to bad.