Beautiful and empty Pacific Northwest.
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2010
1
7
16
Trip End
Aug 27, 2010
Moclips Washington USA, Washington
Sunday, August 15, 2010
We stocked up at Safeways and then set off along highway 101 along the coast from Astoria towards Moclips. We went through several sleepy, unspoilt hamlets, some of which had obviously seen better times, there were a number of properties up for sale and several small cafes and diners were closed. We also went through Willapa, home of the local delicacy, Willapa bay oysters, yummy! After driving for a couple of hours, we stopped for lunch at Aberdeen. Aberdeen is the home town of Kurt Cobain, which he left as soon as he could and it is perhaps easy to see why as the town, like so much of what we had seen seemed rather depressed with many industrial sites rusting or closed.
We continued on the windy 109 highway and ended in Moclips at about 4.30 and our first view of the glorious beach was obscured by either marine layer, sea mist or just plain old fog so it was difficult to appreciate our vantage point. Our accommodation was on a bluff a 100ft above the beach and was very comfortable - this is the only part of our trip when we are sharing together. The resort has a very nice pool, sauna and hot tub so after a breezy walk along the beach in the fog, we spent a relaxing couple of hours in the pool, which we had mostly to ourselves. We had a simple meal in, a glass or two of wine and an early night, listening to the waves crashing down below us.
Comments
Last year I visited Washington for the first time (live in Pittsburgh PA) and I was just taken by the breathtaking beauty of the area. We were in Seattle and then went to the San Juan Islands for a whale-watching cruise (San Juan Safaris) to see the orcas. Simply amazing. http://www.usatourist.com/english/destinations/washington/sanjuans/san-juan-islands-main.html. I can't wait to go back.