Farewell To Oregon...:-(

This is the morning that we say our good byes to a beautiful state with beautiful coast lines.  We had planned to get up early, but was so tired that we didn't budge until after 7:30am.  My sweetie loaded our bags while I took care of odds and ends in the room.  Like get my shoes on!  

But he was looking a bit tired to me........hummmm....

funny the things you don't notice when the sun is down.  We were greeted by these beautiful flowers while loading the car.

time to strap in and start the long drive back to Canada.

It wasn't going to take long to get to the state line......

We headed toward the state line and stopped to get some breakfast at a local Burger King.  The drive thru was lined with these beautiful flowers.

It wasn't long before we approached The Dalles Dam.......

ahhhhh, parting is such sweet sorrow!

This bridge was part of the Dam construction.  We were headed right for it.....

yep....  he's gonna do it....

ok, I'm good.  whoo hooo!  Hello Washington State.....:-)

The scenery was breathtaking.

It reminded me of the Okanagan in Canada......This is a shot of the Columbia River.  It's amazing how far this thing travels!

It goes on forever it seems.......

 If you look between the mountains, you will faintly spot a snow covered peak called Mt. Hood.

After our picture taking of the dam, we continued up the mountain.

And they sure know how to harness some energy.  I could have used a box of energy right about then.  I was tired already!

Hey! Looky here.....:-).  Cool beans.  I needed to grab some fruit and replenish my honey.

SCORE!!  We finally got some Rainier cherries.  And this time, we didn't get ripped off with rotten fruit.

We came upon a little town by the name of Easton, Washington.  I don't know exactly how many people live here, but if the post office is any indication, it can't be many! It's a tiny cracker box....haha

We decided to get some lunch and found this little spot off the road just outside of town.

Our vittles.....

We figured that since we were not sure if we could take oysters back across the border, we had better eat them.  We purchased these the day before at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  We ate our new cherries along with some crackers and considered how much further we had to go.

 I was also mindful of the sign that was posted.

Go West, young man!

We went West and then North so long that Vancouver, BC was starting to creep up on us......

This was a rest stop that we had visited once before in our travels and decided to stop again.  This is one of the largest trees I have ever seen.

This is the history of this tree if you care to read about it.  I'm sure it made some dinosaur happy....ha

Our stomachs starting out talking us, so we decided to stop and eat.  This particular restaurant flies the Canadian, American and Mexico flags.  Very cool.....:-)

I already knew what I wanted to eat.  I always get the jalapeno tilapia dish.

Salad, fresh bread and garlic oil to start.....

Chris ordered Cheese Tortellini with chicken..

This is my jalapeno tilapia dinner with parmigiano cheese and spinach.

we lingered a a bit after dinner and then decided to get going again.  We still had to get out of the country and back into Canada and then home.

The Squamish Highway was beautiful in the sunset.

We would be home in less than an hour with found memories of the trip we had been blessed to experience.  Now, it's time to turn our attention to other things....:-)

Thank you for coming along with us.  You always add to our joy.....:-)
See you next time!

Oregon Adventures Day 4!

I'm starting to wonder how we do all of this gallivanting!  We usually wake up sore and tired...haha. Anyway, we are headed out again to see what adventurous stuff we can get into.  Probably not much on a Sunday, but we are ready...:-)

I know it looks gross, but it wasn't too bad.  My first experience with "cream gravy" or country gravy as they call it in the Southwest was as a child eating "creamed chipped beef on toast".  Then again in the military.  They didn't do it right let  assure you!  ha

 This is the hotel's version.  Very much like the military.....:-/.

check out time....Well, actually we were early as usual.

 So, off to the beach!  Yay!!!  \o/  \o/

When we arrived and started our 1/2 mile trek toward the water, I spotted this large piece of drift wood.  Looks like someone started a bon fire and left it to burn out.

It also appeared to be a good place to sit.  That would turn the half mile trek into a 1/4 mile instead.  Besides, it was really  chilly.  We had our beach bag from Mexico complete with towel, beach mat and saddles.  Oh!  and coffee......hot french pressed coffee in our cups.....:-)..

I absolutely love being at the beach.  A REAL beach.  Not one littered with splinters and wood shavings like the one in our town in Canada.  And its not often that I get to see a light house.....:-).

I started feeling warmer than I should have with the wind being as brisk as it was.  And then it occurred to me to touch the drift wood.  When I did it was still warm and on further inspection, still smoldering lightly.

Mr. Chris decided to rekindle the flames.

I think I see a flicker....

ok...here we go....!  Yay!  my first beach fire!

Mr Chris is very pleased........that I am pleased.....:-).

 Now, he's on the hunt for more drift wood.

It only takes a spark to get a fire burning......la la....lala...la la....

yep.....the "He-Man" has flexed his muscles.....lol

He stares in amazement at his total awesomeness.....haha

After spending almost 2 hours on the beach and the drift wood getting more scarce, it was time to hit the road.

Next stop.....Corvales, Oregon.

Corvallis was a nice town.  Quiet of course since it was on a Sunday.  But nice any way.....:-)  This is one of the main streets.

This is City Hall ( I think).

The town was much bigger than the one I live in.  I believe the town has about 55,000 residents.

And a health food store.  I wondered if they were as expensive as Whole Foods?

this was a good time to check the tire pressure.....

Too bad they were closed....ha.  I would have like to see what they had in there!

Well, time to go.  We have a LONG drive ahead of us until we get to our next home for the evening.

We came across a camp site along the way.  Good thing as both of us needed a bathroom!

 The moss on the trees was just breath taking.  I love being in the forest as much as I love being by the ocean.  We found camp site number 4 and decided to stay for a few minutes.

 We found camp site number 4 and decided to stay for a few minutes.

The South Santiam River ran right past our little camp site.....:-).  Very cool.

ahhhhh,  Well.  Gotta go.  Next stop....Sisters, Oregon.  We were starting to run low on human fuel!

I know from experience that if I skip a meal, I will pay for it later with a hunger that is rediculous.  So, best to eat now.

I guess he was in agreement......

I ordered a pulled pork sandwich and some seafood chowder.  I ate the chowder before I snapped a picture.  sorry...ha

Everything was closed, but here are a few pictures of the town businesses.

We drove through to see what else the town had to offer.

Next town was Raymond.

Seems that they have been around for a while.  My grandmother would have been 10 years old when the town was established.

Chris took me to a place called Smith Rock.  It reminded me of the surface of the moon.  Very alien looking....

the rocks were quite jagged and I couldn't imagine anyone trying to climb those although I'm sure some have tried.

But it did have its own beauty......:-).

It was a quick side trip and then we headed down the road taking in the scenes around us.

We came across this tiny little town called Maupin, Oregon.  A lot of small towns often put their history on murals.

I don't know what the population was, but here is the post office....ha.  I'm thinking pretty sparse population.

Here is a street shot of the main street.

And finally, we made it to our hotel in The Dalles, Oregon.  Tired, but happy about all that we had seen and done today.  Now, time to start the trek back to Canada tomorrow.

See you on the road! Next stop, Washington State....:-)