Last Days on the Oregon Coast

Well, today is Friday and we fly out tomorrow night, so this is the last post for the blog.

On Thursday, we spent the day traveling up the beach, taking pics of lighthouses, waves, etc. We also stopped at the OSU Marine Science and the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The Science center was really neat - all kinds of experiments and research set up for the kids to play with or to try. They also had a really nice pool with sea stars and other tide pool animals for gently touching.

The Aquarium had sea lions, seals, otters, an octopus, lots of fish, sea horses, jellies, etc. - we had fun and kids were running everywhere.

We also stopped at the Sea Lion Caves - noisy to say the least.

We stayed in Lincoln City for the night, slept late Friday morning because it started to rain yesterday evening and didn't let up until mid-morning Friday. We even stayed at the beach last night but the waves were very noisy - crashing all night. The Pacific is definitely much rougher and wilder than the Atlantic - the water, the landscape, the entire environment.

We drove up the coast to Tillamook - milk cow country. The land is green, green, green, and there are the biggest, more colorful flowers everywhere. They make my porch flowers look pitiful. But I do love Oregon.

Tomorrow, we will explore the Tillamook Cheese Factory and the Latimer Quilt Center before heading to Portland for the plane.

I did pick up a new quilt and pillow shams for my bed - I keep giving all my quilts away and I loved it the minute I say it. Oh well, at least I didn't buy any new fabric for myself - our quilt group challenge for this year.

See ya at home sometime Sunday....

The South Oregon Coast

We made it to the Oregon coast - it is beautiful but cool - today's high was 64, yesterday was in the 80s - what a change.

The coastline is very rugged with lots of rock and not as much beach as the East coast. The rocks are very neat and the waves crash against them in spectacular fashion. There are little towns all along Rt. 101. We stopped for pictures at various places including 3 lighthouses and we waited for a glorious sunset. We also ran into a bunch of ATV funactics - there is a Dune Fest starting tomorrow that is basically ATV races for everyone - men, women, and kids. There is a park full of all kinds of campers, tents, and ATV vehicles. A took a few pics of them from a lookout point above them. It goes to show that rednecks are not geographically bound to VA and the east coast. :):):) It's a joke, ok?!

For tomorrow, we plan on exploring more of the coast --
dune buggy rides, whale watching, beach walking, etc.

Thru Walla Walla and to Mt. Hood

Today we made in across WA and OR to Sandy, kind of a base town near Mt. Hood.
It was a very neat drive - it was pretty much thru gorges along various rivers. The sides of the gorges were primarily rock and a light golden moss/grass. When we reached the Columbia River gorge, one side began to change to more and more trees until they were all trees and everything was green.

We also stopped along the gorge for several waterfalls and an overlook for pictures, of course. I didn't take very many today until we reached Multnomah Falls.

Although I did like the farming areas of WA and OR, and it seems that everyone in those areas have horses, I was nice to see green trees over 5 feet.

We did try to get good pictures of Mt. Hood today but it started to rain and the mountain was covered in fog. We did see Mt. Hood on the airplane into Portland and this was our first real rain. Hopefully we will get the pics tomorrow before we leave for Florence - sea lions and dune buggy rides, maybe.

Lolo Pass and the Valleys

Well, we didn't make it to Oregon today, only to Clarkston - the drive over Lolo Pass and thru the valleys after that took longer than expected and we did stop a few times for pics, etc.

The drive was primarily in Idaho and it was definitely better than our first view of the state. Remember the high desert that began in WA and ended in MT, well, Idaho was covered in nothing but sage brush and yucky grass along the northern route. This route took us thru tree filled valleys that ran along one river after another. We also crossed the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. Mom did get tired of looking at trees without much change.

It was a nice drive but long. So will see the Multnomah Falls and Mt Hood

The Geysers of Yellowstone...and the stink....

Yellowstone very much fulfilled everything that I have ever heard or seen about it - massive, geysers blowing, water smelling, animals all over, and absolutely beautiful. We saw a lot of bison, a few elk, antelope, a wolf, and a bear. I didn't get pictures of the wolf or bear, and I don't know how good by antelope pics will be, but those animals were all over the farm land.

We made it to Old Faithful about 10 minutes before it erupted - what timing. It was wonderful and of course, I took too many pictures, but I will be able to delete those I don't like. Speaking of pictures, I have pretty much filled up this disk, over 1000 pics. Just call me shutter bug, but I will be able to pick the best and trash the bad. The various geysers, basins,and lakes were all very different. Some were of different colors depending on the mineral make up - red, yellow, orange, and blue. Some were bubbling, some erupting, and some just sitting there. We visited Fire and Hot Lake - Fire is red and cool but Hot is hot. Names in the west seem to be more adjectives and fact than names - Thunder Mountain, Beak the Duck, Rhino the horse, Big Mac the horse, Fire Lake is red, Hot Lake is hot.

All in all, Yellowstone is an absolute wonderful treasure and shouldn't be missed.
The park is a combination of open rolling fields for the bison, elk, and antelope for grazing. The water from the snow pack, glaciers, and springs, is every where. The thermal areas are primarily in West Yellowstone but the animals visit them regularly. Apparently they like a steam bath and a cool breeze - just kidding but standing by some of the hot spots will give you both.

On to Oregon...

Bozeman and Billings

Today we drove to Bozeman and the route took us through more cattle country and Mom did get tired of seeing irrigated fields and cattle. We saw more of the rolling hillsides, some with good grazing areas and others with just sage brush. We stopped at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman to see the dinosaur history and more Indian history, it was a very nice place. We also went to the Pictograph State Park however the pictographs date to BC and very little of them remains today. I took some pictures around the cave but they won't show very much. Today was primarily about getting in place to drive the Beartooth Highway tomorrow - this road has been named 'the best scenic drive in America' by many people. It is supposed to be the highest driving elevation for both MT and WY. It was on Mom's list of things to do. We should also have the time to go into Yellowstone for a few hours.

Rt. 89 to White Sulfur Springs

This area of Montana is primarily gentle rolling hills and basins full of lakes, ponds, or low lying water. It was very different from the MT of Whitefish. We went thru farmland, wheat fields, alfalfa fields, hops, and eventually cattle country. We did go thru a small but very beautiful area called Monarch Canyon and ended up in White Sulfur Springs. A lot of the area had little to no trees because the land can not support their growth. In talking with a gentleman, I found out that the barren land of WA, ID, and MT was in fact, a high desert and doesn't support any thing other than sagebrush, which also occurs in some specific local areas. Go figure!?

Right now, there are green rolling fields for as far as I can see .....

Tomorrow is a quick drive to The Museum of the Rockies and Billings, but we may add to the day...