Oregon Coast / Washington
On April 15th, we drove through the Cascade mountains to the Oregon coast and the seaside town of Newport. The enormous trees and the pristine lakes were the backdrop to our journey. That night we ate at the oceanside restaurant called Georgie's and watched the sun go down over the Pacific.
Next day we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium; a seaside location with indoor and outdoor exhibits. We watched sea otters and sea lions being fed and saw puffins up close and personal. We watched sharks swim through a glass tube above and below us. After lunch, we watched more sea lions at the harbor as they frolicked on the rocks and made bellowing noises.
Finally, we checked out Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We didnt choose to climb this one and while it was sunny and clear, it felt very cold, windy and raw. We needed all our winter gear just to stand there and look at the ocean.
On April 17th, we left Newport to visit our friends Faye and Gary who live on a ten acre farm in Duvall, Washington, outside of Seattle. They have some old growth trees on their property as well as many flowering trees, and some chickens. We got to stay in their beautiful guest house - quite a luxury compared to camping and hotel rooms.
Next day, they took us to Snoqualmie Falls- beautiful waterfalls that also provide electricity for most of Seattle. We were also treated to home made pizza but Gary said we had to work for it by rolling out our own dough and picking out our own toppings. Pizza on the grill, waffles and fresh coffee in the meaning and even a tour of Duvall with ice cream for a treat. We were treated like royalty.
On April 20th, we left our comfortable digs in Duvall to head east to Roslyn, WA site of the filming of Northern Exposure, a TV show that was popular in the 90's.
This town looks just as it did on the show and the buildings are all intact. Again, towns and cities, it seems, like to lean in to whatever claim to fame they have and Roslyn is no exception. But they have so much fun doing it. So we began by having lunch at The Brick ( the famous bar from the TV show).
Next, we headed to Dr. Joel Fleishman's office, which is now a gift shop. Steve, the owner, claimed to have been an extra in many episodes and regaled us with many stories. But at the next gift shop, the owner there told us to take Steve's stories with a grain of salt. So maybe the story about Joan Baez and Bob Dylan singing at his house might not be true.
We wanted to live in Roslyn permanently, but we moved on to Walla Walla and then Spokane. We visited the nearby Coulee Dam, the largest power station in the U.S. and built in 1933. It contains 12 million cubic yards of concrete.
Vangoaside: What is the opposite of Vango? Why, Govan, of course!! Its an obscure ghost town we discovered on our way back from the dam. This town has been abandoned since the 40's but still boasts three residents whom we did not see. This town was also the site of some grisly murders in 1902 and again in the 1940's before it was destroyed by fire. A great photo opp but a creepy place.
