A Winter Drive Down the Pacific Coast

    Three days after the skin doc cut a 50-cent-size melanoma from Doug's chest, we drove to Davis for early Thanksgiving with Marilyn's children and grandchildren: son Stephen and bonus daughter Jessie, son Andrew, bonus daughter Emily, grandchildren Leah and Hudson, along with Emily's family. Two days later, the doctor elongated Doug's incision and sewed it up, and a couple of hours after that, we were on I-5, a least favorite road, driving north to Seattle for Thanksgiving with Doug's children and grandchildren.

Space Needle & Mt Ranier from Kerry Park, Queen Anne, Seattle.\

    Daughter Katie, bonus son Javier, and grandson Diego postponed Thanksgiving at their house until Friday. They had little else to do anyway...they'd just made their second move of the year, this time to their own home in the wonderful Queen Anne area of Seattle, and were soon to fly to Chile—Diego's fifth trip—to visit Javier's family. Diego, just turned 3,  was thrilled to see Tata, and he and Grandma Moo were soon playing with his train set on the floor. 

    A few days in Seattle were followed by a week with Doug's son Andrew and bonus daughter Devon, in Bellingham.

Marilyn, Devon, Andrew walking at Lake Padden.

There was no excitement there either...just some flashing and popping of lights and circuits and a feared gas leak. The gas company declared no problems after a thorough testing throughout the house, and a circuit breaker was soon replaced.

Lake Padden.

    Then we were off to meander down the Pacific Coast, starting with the ferry from Coupeville on Whidbey Island to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula.

We had our favorite campsite at Port Townsend Marina. 

From our campsite, Mt Baker behind Bellingham, NNE 46 miles as the crow flies.

Coupeville-Port Townsend Ferry, with Cascade Mts behind—also from our campsite, the reason we like it.

Northwest Maritime Center & Wooden Boat Foundation across the marina. Note the bald eagle on the post, upper left.

Not many people were on the streets of Victorian Port Townsend.

Old buidings have been converted to apartments, condos, restaurants, & shops.

Ornate details are typical.

Looking at Port Townsend's lower town from top of stairs to upper town—yes, we climbed all 138 steps.

Camping on the Water
    As we continued down the Coast we were on or above the water each night.

Port Townsend Marina, Port Townsend, WA.

    We had wind, rain, and even hail, but between the van's house heater and our small electric heater when we were plugged in, we kept plenty warm.

Fort Stevens State Park, Astoria, OR, at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Tillicum Beach Park, Port Orford, OR—ocean is just over cliff behind van.

Cape Blanco, OR, high above the ocean—the blue behind the van.

Fort Bragg, CA. Blue behind van is Pacific.

Bodega Dunes State Park, Bodega Bay, CA. The ocean is across the dunes, although Doug failed to find it on his speed walk.

Traditional visit to Bodega Head. Marilyn's parents had retired to & lived in Bodega Bay for many years.

Some of Our Favorite Things
    We stopped to see some favorites along the West Coast.

The sculls at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Chandlery fascinate Marilyn. She always cups her hands to the plate glass windows to gaze at them.

Even in photos, the oars, too, call to her.

Husky Challenger, replica of the Husky Clipper the University of Washington upstart team rowed to victory in the 1936 Olympics. The Challenger is now rowed by the 8-woman Tuf as Nails crew.

    Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat tells the story of "a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers," who rowed the Husky Clipper, a cedar boat handcrafted by George Pocock, to first place in the 1936 Olympics. Pocock's son, Stan, built the Husky Challenger in 1960.

"Zephyr," interesting boat across the street from the Chandlery.

Ilwaco, WA: if only there had been more signs like this.

Of course, we visited many bookstores.

    A couple of buildings caught Marilyn's eye in Nicasio, CA, our last day.

Druids Hall.

Old St Mary's Church of Nicasio Valley.

    Marilyn also loves doors.

Port Townsend door.

Nearby Port Townsend door. What's beyond when you pull it open by the iron rings? What happens when you close it from the other side?

Honoring Those of the Sea
    There are doors to the past, like the monument in Port Townsend to the Coast Guard.

Port Townsend is very special to Doug as his dad was stationed there with the Coast Guard during WWII.

Dorymen's Memorial Wall, Pacific City CA. 

    Dories are able to navigate the bar at Pacific City to fish for salmon, crab, tuna, and rock fish. Often, Dorymen are First Responders, as well. Only six dorymen are known to have lost their lives to the sea.

Point Arena Cove CA, monument to the 15 young Japanese who dreamed of coming to America. In 1913, they sailed a 1.5-meter -long wooden boat from Japan, landing at Point Arena.

    "Shiprock,"stonework at the entrance to Point Arena Lighthouse in Point Arena, CA, depicts a ship crashing into shore, not uncommon prior to lighthouses. 

"Shiprock's" blue shale coastline.

"Shiprock" & Point Arena Lighthouse.

Intricate design of pebbles represents waves crashing against boulders.

Coastal Christmas Lights

Point Townsend Marina, WA.

Crab pot tree, Ilwaco, WA.

Colorful crab pots are ubiquitous along the West Coast this time of year, as it is crabbing season.

Seaside & Nehalem, OR.

Coastal Wildlife
    Wildlife of course populates the coast, often unseen by us.

A bald eagle surveys land & sea in Port Townsend.

Seagulls fight over a fish from Port Townsend Harbor.

People & animals are decked out for the holidays along the ever-growing sculpture corridor that runs through Raymond, WA.

Another eagle regards the ocean from his perch in Long Beach, WA.

An elk moseys along the street in Warrenton, near Astoria OR.

Two lone gulls (& Marilyn), Bodega Head, Bodega Bay, CA.

Coastal Flora
    There was seasonal flora, too.

Cranberry bogs near Bandon, OR.

Mushrooms emerging, Brookings, OR.

Moss covered stump. Spanish moss that drifted down from trees.

Mushroom among leaves. Tree trunk fungus.

Oregon's Bridges
    Traveling the Oregon Coast means crossing countless streams, rivers, and inlets.

Crossing the mouth of the Columbia River on the 4.1-mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge from WA to a favorite spot, Astoria OR.

    Oregon's bridges are known for their artistry.

Yaquina River, Newport. Rogue River, Gold Beach.

Alsea Bay, Waldport. Suislaw River, Florence.

Pacific Coast Lighthouses
    Lighthouses line the Pacific Coast. We saw a few on this trip and have visited many in our travels.

Cape Disappointment, mouth of the Columbia River, WA.

Coquille River, Bandon, OR.

Cape Blanco, Port Orford, OR. Strong winds buffeted Marilyn as she took the photo.

Mendocino Head, Mendocino, CA.

Battery Point, Crescent City, CA. Marilyn deemed it not a great idea to walk to the lighthouse that day as she has in the past.

Point Arena, CA.

California's Highway 1

No drive down the coast is complete without another photo of the Welcome to California sign, with its California poppies (which we are attempting to eradicate from our yard this year...).

Driving through miles & miles of redwood forests never gets old.

    Driving Hwy 1 from Leggett to Westport, a 2-lane, twisty, curvy, shoulderless road, does get old, yet we—meaning Doug, the driver—accepted the challenge again.

Hwy 1, Leggett-Westport, climbing.

Repaving and freshly painted lines did not decrease the road's challenges.

Leggett-Westport, descending.

The reward: Views of the Pacific at the southern end of the Lost Coast, whose rugged, steep terrain kept Hwy 1 engineers from pursuing a route through it. 

Westport.

    Of course, the rest of Hwy 1 along the California Coast is also often twisty and narrow and hugs the cliffs above the Pacific.

Hwy 1 hairpin turn.

Hwy 1 winding up the hillside.

Hugging the cliff's edge.

Repairs to Hwy 1 are frequent & stretches are often closed due to mudslides & bridge washouts.

Shoring up the cliffs is common.

1-way traffic due to repairs. Looking down on the line we are in waiting for the light to change.

Hwy 1, Gleason Beach, CA. 

    Each time we drive down the Coast we're curious to see what's left of the cliff-hugging homes of Gleason Beach. There used to be an entire neighborhood. One unoccupied house remains, with Hwy 1 moved 400 feet inland.

Nature again proves itself stronger than man. 

The Wild Pacific
    The Pacific Ocean was wild all the way down the coast: thundering waves, king tides, ferocious winds, pounding rain, hail, showers.

Wreck of Peter Iredale, Fort Stevens State Park Beach, Astoria, OR: 2024 & 2015.

    The Peter Iredale ran aground in 1906 in the mouth of the Columbia River while waiting for a pilot. All the crew survived. The wreck is less each time we see it.

Pacific City, OR.

Pacific City, OR: Waves roll giant tree trunks as though they are twigs.

Tillicum Beach, OR.

Tillicum Beach, OR.

Cape Foulweather, OR.

Lincoln City, OR.

Port Orford, OR. 

Humbug Mt, OR.

Rogue River, Gold Beach, OR.

Myers Creek Beach, Brookings OR.

In Nov 2021, we walked among the same rocks at Myers Creek Beach.

Crescent City, CA.

Trinidad, CA.

Trinidad, CA.

Mendocino Head, Mendocino, CA.

Marilyn, Mendocino Head.

Surfers taking advantage of the crazy waves, Point Arena Cove, CA.

Bodega Head, Bodega Bay, CA.

Bodega Head.

Bodega Head.

Where to Next?
    At Point Arena Lighthouse, we took a photo of the van to add to our collection—the others are our previous vans.

20-foot, 2004 Ford Pleasure Way Excel TS, "The MRV," 2014.

18-foot, 2003 Ford Pleasure Way Traverse Poptop, "Mz Agnes," 2015.

17.5-foot, 2019 Dodge Promaster 1500, "Uncle Robert/aka Conchita," 2021.

    And of course, the vehicle in which our travels began:

15-foot, 1986 VW Westie, "La Poderosa," Death Valley National Park, 2023...possibly our next destination.

Where to next, my Dear?

Sunset over the Pacific, Fort Bragg, CA.