Our general travel route for this week...
Since we wanted to try out the "Glass Blowing - Make your own art piece" place on Monday we decided to stay an extra day at Mercer Lake as you have to leave your "piece of art" to slowly cool down in their kiln overnight. We asked at the office and they said we could stay as long as we wanted because the RV part of their resort is basically empty the rest of the year. Indeed, by late Monday morning we were the lone trailer in the place (except for some permanents a bit further up the hill).
Anyway, off we went to the glass place and had a real fun time there. Kris made a paper weight and Brian made a glass float. Actually, saying we made them is a bit of a stretch. The guy helped us pick out our colors then he started the big glob of molten glass going. Then he handed us the rod and told us how to hold and rotate the glass in the furnace and how to add the different colors. Once all the colors were done he took over and we were assistants the rest of the way. What a blast!!!
Here's Kris adding some of the color to what will be her paper weight...
...and here's Brian showing how full of hot air he can be by blowing into the tube to create the float...
Later Monday when deciding what to do for lunch, Brian proclaimed that he had a hankering for a hamburger, so off we went to the Hot Rod Diner on the Florence main drag. Warning... be wary of diners that have convertible cars, with the interior converted to a dining table (we did not sit in one). Although the hamburger craving was satisfied, it was pretty well the greasiest spoon joint you might image. Kris had a taco salad which was mostly left behind.
Tuesday morning we picked up our personal glass pieces. Nice souvenirs for a fun thing to do...
Afterwards, being in a glass piece frame of mind, we drove to Old Town where we purchased a couple of antique glass Japanese fishing floats then returned to Mercer Lake for what will probably be the last swimming day of this trip. Since all the cabins and RV spots (except for permanents) were now empty we had the beach area all to ourselves. A little spot of paradise to be sure. We finished off the day, and our Florence stay, by going back down to Old Town and having some wine and munchies at our favorite little cantina overlooking the river.
Wednesday we drove north up 101 through all the great little seaside towns to arrive at Tillamook where we stayed at the Pleasant Valley RV park, a nicely treed place about 6 miles south of town. We set up the trailer then toured around Tillamook. Not too much to see. Nice dinner at a local cafe.
Thursday we did a day trip north to Seaside. On the way back we stopped for a walkaround,had a brewpub lunch and watched a glass blowing artist in actin in Cannon Beach. We also stopped at a lookout just north of Manzanita for a fabulous view of the coastline with the hovering fog...
After quick tours of Rockaway, Garibaldi and Bay City we found ourselves back in Tillamook and decided it was laundry time. For dinner we drove up to Bay City to go to the Fish Peddler for fish and chips and fish tacos.
Friday we planned to do the Three Capes loop west of Tillamook. Unfortunately part of the loop highway between Oceanside and Netarts is closed due to a landslide taking out a section of the highway. We drove up to
Cape Meares and visited the lighthouse there. Great little lighthouse but it was so foggy and windy walking down to the lighthouse that we almost got soaked from water being blown off the nearby trees. It was clear at the lighthouse...
... but all around the fog prevented viewing any of the shoreline. The lighthouse is not fully open for viewing due to some idiotic vandalism last year when a couple of guys thought it would be cool to shoot out the light.
The drive out to the lighthouse goes through a very eerie forest that makes you think you have entered the Lord of the Rings territory. Unfortunately the road is so narrow it is virtually impossible to stop for a picture and it was too cold and windy to walk back up the hill from the lighthouse parking lot to take a pic. Maybe next time.
Leaving the lighthouse area we continued on the loop to Oceanside where we had an excellent lunch at
Roseanna's Cafe overlooking the beach and rocky shore. Since the road to Netarts was closed, just south of Oceanside, we drove back north around the peninsula and up to Netarts from the south for a bit of sightseeing in that area. Later in the afternoon we went back up to Bay City to the Fish Peddler for an excellent dinner of Shrimp/Crab Louie and baked Oysters Tillamook (baked oysters with bacon and Tillamook cheddar).
One of the real fun things they have done in Tillamook is to add a touristy touch to the regional tradition of quilt making. Tillamook is the home of the
Latimer Quilt and Textile Center. Many local businesses have joined a program called the
Tillamook Quilt Trail in which they have taken traditional quilt block patterns and reproduced them in the form of large square paintings and attached them to the outside of the various business buildings. They then published a brochure showing all the businesses which are participating with a picture of their quilt block and a blurb about their business. As you drive around the town and the surrounding country side it is quite fun to watch for the blocks being displayed. Here's one from a local pharmacy...
Saturday we packed up and traveled along the beautiful Wilson river valley inland to Portland. The weather was fantastic and many inlanders were obviously taking advantage of it to head to the coast as the traffic coming the other way was heavy and continuous. When we left Tillamook it was 12C... when we arrived in Portland it was 30C.
We had planned to stay at the Portland/Fairview RV park on the east side since we had stayed there last November. We arrived to an entirely different attitude from a mere 10 months ago. Apparently when the park is mostly bereft of seasonal business they overlook their unpublished rule of "must be self contained" and will gladly take the money. (Note... in our wee trailer we decided to be plumbing free... ergo are not "self contained"). The young lady at the desk tried to tell us we couldn't possibly have stayed there last november because she would have gotten into trouble for it and then "corrected" herself by saying she probably did get in trouble but couldn't remember!
While we were there she took a telephone reservation from someone and at no time asked if they were self contained. Our situation was irritating enough but imagine if you made a reservation and arrived late in the evening to be turned away because of this stupid rule. At one point we asked the young lady why they had restrooms and showers if all rigs had to be self contained. She said it was because some people don't like to use their on-board facilities while at the park. We said exactly the same thing. We don't need on-board if we always stay at places that have the facilities! We actually felt that they would rather have only permanent residents but put up with tourists just to fill some empty spots. So... do not patronize this place!!!
We went a bit further down the road to another place that had open spots but upon driving to one of the available ones we realized that it was really an immobile mobile home park with all permanent trailers and a few empty spots to pick up a bit of day money. What a stink! It smelled like the sewers had definitely runneth over... we skedaddled out of there in a hurry. Lucky we viewed before paying.
Using our trusty Trailer Life Directory we looked up the location of another park about 10 minutes further east in a little place called Troutdale. We arrived there to find a most pleasant reception. To cut to the short of it, the
Sandy RV park in Troutdale turned out to be a gem and a lot more pleasant than the Portland/Fairview RV park along with larger and better kept restrooms, showers and laundry facilities, and a bit cheaper to boot. Nicer location, walking distance to the charming little downtown of Troutdale and beside a great river in which many, many people go swimming when the weather is quite hot. On Sunday afternoon we went down to the river to check it out. Looking up and down the river we estimated there were close to 1,000 people enjoying the fabulous weather and, what turned out to be, an excellent swimming/floating river. A two block walk up to the town is a great little place called the Shaken Martini Lounge owned and run by Andy a friendly fellow who is an avid James Bond fan. His prime drink offerings are all based on Bond drinks and he can tell you which movie featured which drink etc etc etc... We dropped in there every night during our stay. Very nice. Not much on the food side of the menu but, as Andy says, it is a lounge and the law requires him to sell food so he provides things that he would like to eat, in a lounge. He has good taste and the sandwiches and munchies (baked brie, bruschetta, etc) we tried out were all excellent.
Earlier Sunday morning we drove downtown and went to the Portland Saturday Craft Market under the Burnside Bridge. Yes it is the Saturday market but it is also open on Sunday. What a great place. The array of creative crafts showing skill in woodworking, glass making, clothing, etc is wonderful. In total we picked up a couple of cool wood puzzles, a funky t-shirt, a neat belt buckle made from a chunk of old bicycle chain and several very nice fused glass pieces.
