Our general travel route for these two weeks...
After arriving at Mercer Lake on Friday we took it easy for the weekend awaiting the arrival of our friends Stephen and Christina. We met our "new neighbours" Bob and Sandy in RV spot #6, a younger couple from near Eugene, who were at the lake for a kayak and sea-doo getaway. We also reaquainted ourselves with last year's neighbours, Ron and Shirley, who were now in RV spot #5. They live just in Florence but come out this weekend every year for a family get together. We remembered how cool it was to go down and sit on the dock and just watch out over the lake...
Saturday we drove back south to Winchester Bay for their annual BBQ and art show on the docks. Service was a bit slow but the bbq'd salmon, halibut and cod were very nice indeed. Saturday afternoon it was time for a bit of a dip in the chilly lake. Kris opted out but enjoyed the great weather on the beach. Sunday morning we made coffee then went and sat on the dock with the coffee, our Kindle books and the very fine view and weather. Later Sunday we took a drive around to some of the local beach areas then came back to Mercer Lake for a sit on the dock sipping some wine and enjoying some smoked salmon spread and crackers.
Monday was relax and do some laundry day.
Tuesday was the first time on this trip that we hauled out our wetsuits. The lake here is beautiful but it is a tad chilly this time of year. The wetsuits, even though they are only 4 mil, make all the difference in staying warm in the water. We had an excellent afternoon in the lake as we waited for Stephen and Christina to arrive.
They arrived later in the afternoon. We had a good confab for a bit, while they got settled in one of the lakeside cabins, then we all headed to old town Florence for a nice dinner on the patio overlooking the river at the Traveler's Cove restaurant. We had a good view of the
Siuslaw river, the highway 101 bridge overhead and the sand dunes beyond...
Wednesday we all went back down to old town for a look around and lunch on the pier, at the ICM (International C-food Market), overlooking the river. Nice again. After lunch we went our separate ways to do whatever exploring we each fancied. For dinner we bought some rock cod at Fred Meyers and had a grilled fish dinner at our campsite.
Thursday we had to drive down to Winchester Bay to pick up our order of canned tuna at the
Sportsmen's Cannery (and to have lunch at Fishpatricks Crabby Cafe on the dock). Stephen and Christina opted to do some local beach and sand dune touring around Florence and they reported back that Monty (their Border Terrier) had a fabulous time on the beaches and the dunes! For dinner we picked up a large chunk of fresh tuna while at the cannery in Winchester Bay and we all had another grilled fish dinner at our campsite.
Monty enjoyed the walks in the morning where he took Stephen and Brian out to almost get lost in the forest behind the campground area! He also seemed to enjoy being down on the dock with us. The water was so still one afternoon the reflection of the sun along with Monty made for a fun picture...
The stillness of the water made for mirror like reflections of the shoreline. It's even hard to tell whether this picture is right side up or upside down...
All in all a great week, with fabulous weather, but Friday arrived all too soon and it was time for us all to head off. We stopped in at the office, paid our bill and reserved the same spot same weekend next year. After chatting with Stephen and Christina a bit, we drove back towards Florence for a brief stop at Fred Meyer then headed north. We had planned to stay in McMinnville for the night and do a bit of exploring in the town however the RV Park was fully booked for the night. We decided McMinnville will likely be there the next time we travel the Oregon coast, so continued traveling on to Portland. As it was now after Labour Day we had not anticipated needing to make reservations. Hence our surprise in McMinnville... and hence our double surprise when Kris phoned the RV Park in Troutdale (eastern suburb of Portland) and was told they didn't have room when she asked for 4 nights. Well, she said, do you have one night... ok.. to make a long negotiation short, she had the guy rearrange a couple of spots and voila, we were in for 4 nights (he even managed to make it 5 if we wanted)!
Having made that reservation we didn't have to hurry to get to Troutdale so we stopped at the
Bridgeport Village in Tigard where we had a late lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and wandered around for a while waiting for the rush hour(s) traffic to die down a bit. We waited until about 6:30 then took highway 212 around the south and south east side of greater Portland then 282nd Ave north to Troutdale. A nice country drive rather than I-5 north then I-84 east and probably not much longer time wise. After finding our spot at the
Sandy Riverfront RV resort we wandered up into Troutdale for a couple of glasses of wine at the Shaken Martini Lounge we discovered last year. Nice end to the week.
We spent the weekend through Monday in Portland doing some end of trip shopping and just wandering around favorite neighbourhoods. Quite relaxing and pretty good weather (except for one night when it rained quite hard but cleared up by mid morning). One of the staff at the Shaken Martini recommended a Texas style BBQ place and we decided to give it a try.
Podnah's was fairly easy to find and was a bit busy for Sunday lunch, but no real wait. We checked out the menu and decided on a plate of brisket and a plate of ribs...
We would rate this as lower middle of the road compared to other "Texas" BBQ places we have visited. The serving size was pretty good. The ribs were not bad but the brisket was very dry and about the consistency of over done roast beef. The sides were way too salty especially the potato salad which you could hardly taste because of the salt. The waitress took one off the bill. If this is the best of the northwest BBQ, then probably you could develop a taste for it but it does make you realize just how good the "que" is at places such as Coopers, Smitties and others in Texas.
One of the things we like about Portland is the "artistic touch". We saw this sign on our way to the great
Saturday Arts and Crafts Market ...
After a few days of rest, exploring and shopping in Portland we decided that we were just putting in time until our travel insurance expired. Having been to Seattle many times and since the Mariners are out of town we decided to skip Seattle for this trip and head home a couple of days early to get a bit of a headstart on resuming our renovations etc. Plus by getting home a couple of days early we could catch the start of the fall sessions for two of the Pilates places we went to before leaving on our trip.
So Tuesday morning we headed off early and just hit the I-5 north. We stopped at
Shipwreck Beads just outside Tacoma then at the California Pizza Kitchen in Southcentre (between Kent and Seattle) for a mid afternoon lunch. We left there as the metropolitan Seattle rush hour was kicking off so took I-405 up through Bellevue instead of I-5 through the heart of Seattle. The traffic was very heavy but since there was two of us in the car we hit the HOV lane and whizzed past miles of 3 lanes of mostly standstill traffic. Although we saw many signs indicating the HOV lane was ok for 2+ people in the car, it wasn't until we were right at the end of I-405 (where it merges back into I-5) that we noticed a sign that said "... vehicles towing a trailer are prohibited in the HOV lane!"... OOPS our BAD! but a tad too late.
We arrived in Anacortes early evening, got checked into the
Fidalgo Bay RV Resort then headed into the town for some munchies and wine before calling it a day. Sweet little downtown main street area.
Thursday morning we caught the ferry to Sidney BC and arrived back in Canada shortly before noon. Going through customs was easy peasy. We claimed over our limit but since we had been gone quite a long time, the officer wished us well and sent us on our way. How cool is that!
After a brief lunch and wander along the main drag in Sidney we headed off. We tried to call our aunt and uncle in Duncan but unfortunately they were not home so we didn't get to stop in for a visit. We got home early afternoon, parked the wee trailer in our new home's carport, checked out our surroundings and then happily walked over to the The Flying Canoe pub to celebrate our homecoming. After sitting in those comfortable surroundings for about half an hour it already started to feel like we had not been away. Soon it will be time to start planning the next adventure....
