Day 15 – Oregon – Memaloose State Park to Sunset Bay State Park
(Note: Keith posted a backlog of blog entries this morning, but forgot to post Day 10. I’m sure you have a burning need to find out exactly how we got from Billings, MT, to Yellowstone National Park, and what happened to us once we got there. If you’re reading this, it means we found another internet connection and were able to post again; so Day 10 should be up now. Sorry it’s out of order.)
Clare and I slept in the Teardrop last night, and when she woke this morning, she stretched and blinked and rubbed her eyes, and then chirped, “I’m going to see the ocean today!”
To that end, we packed up (again) this morning and headed west (again). I’m sure you will be relieved to know that the farther west we drove the thicker and taller the trees grew. I, for one, was certainly wondering why the Oregon license plate has a big, beautiful Douglas fir on it when, for the first 18 hours of my visit to the state, I had only seen, like, three.
Instead of going around Portland on Interstate 205, we took a little detour into the city to visit a very special neighborhood. For this long trip, we packed several books on tape to entertain the kids in the car. From somewhere in Minnesota to somewhere in Montana, it was “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” Since then, we’ve been listening to a collection of books by Beverly Cleary, including “Ribsy” (about Henry Huggins’ dog), as read by Neil Patrick Harris (a must-hear, if you haven’t already) (the kids are fascinated to know that this is the voice of Dr. Horrible), and “Beezus and Ramona,” and “Ramona and her Father,” as read by Stockard Channing. If you know Beverly Cleary books, you know that Henry, Beezus and Ramona all live on Klickitat Street in Portland. So, this morning we stopped at the Beverly Cleary tribute sculpture garden in Portland’s Grant Park to see the life-size figures of Ramona, Henry and Ribsy. And then we walked a few blocks to find the actual Klickitat Street in a leafy neighborhood of renovated bungalows and little tudor-style homes. The kids were … nonplussed. Keith and I were more excited than they were.
From Portland, it was an easy drive south to Eugene. Then we turned west to Florence, which is on the coast, where the kids finally laid eyes on the Pacific Ocean. Instead of immediately turning south to Sunset Bay State Park, where we have a campsite reserved, we jogged north a few miles to a roadside attraction that claims to be the world’s largest sea lion cave. We all paid $45 (total) for the privilege of riding an elevator 200 feet down into a cave to gawk at real sea lions.
That was our first – and hopefully our last – experience with cheesy tourist traps on this trip. Over the last several days we have been granted access to some of this country’s most magnificent, most awe-inspiring scenery for only nominal fees. We left the Sea Lion Cave wondering why we had just paid so much money to see what we could see for almost nothing just down the road at any Oregon state park. How wonderful is it to have state and national park systems that preserve our precious natural resources, let us in to enjoy them, and don’t force us to walk past racks of cheap key chains and snow globes on the way out?
Since we have arrived in Oregon, it has been so, so, so, so windy. At the Sea Lion Cave, I was afraid Clare would be swept away by what must be 30 mph winds off the ocean. And I worried that we’d be blown right out of our campsite here at Sunset Bay State Park, about 60 miles south of Florence. But the campground is set back in the woods, a hundred yards or so from the beach, so we are protected from the wind. It’s a nice campground, if somewhat overgrown and slightly cramped. Our next-door neighbors have Christmas lights up, and we can hear their loud music and their talk about Aunt Pam’s surgery and cousin Denise’s wedding, so in that way it’s a bit like the KOA. But it’ll do.
(Note: Keith posted a backlog of blog entries this morning, but forgot to post Day 10. I’m sure you have a burning need to find out exactly how we got from Billings, MT, to Yellowstone National Park, and what happened to us once we got there. If you’re reading this, it means we found another internet connection and were able to post again; so Day 10 should be up now. Sorry it’s out of order.)
Clare and I slept in the Teardrop last night, and when she woke this morning, she stretched and blinked and rubbed her eyes, and then chirped, “I’m going to see the ocean today!”
To that end, we packed up (again) this morning and headed west (again). I’m sure you will be relieved to know that the farther west we drove the thicker and taller the trees grew. I, for one, was certainly wondering why the Oregon license plate has a big, beautiful Douglas fir on it when, for the first 18 hours of my visit to the state, I had only seen, like, three.
Instead of going around Portland on Interstate 205, we took a little detour into the city to visit a very special neighborhood. For this long trip, we packed several books on tape to entertain the kids in the car. From somewhere in Minnesota to somewhere in Montana, it was “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” Since then, we’ve been listening to a collection of books by Beverly Cleary, including “Ribsy” (about Henry Huggins’ dog), as read by Neil Patrick Harris (a must-hear, if you haven’t already) (the kids are fascinated to know that this is the voice of Dr. Horrible), and “Beezus and Ramona,” and “Ramona and her Father,” as read by Stockard Channing. If you know Beverly Cleary books, you know that Henry, Beezus and Ramona all live on Klickitat Street in Portland. So, this morning we stopped at the Beverly Cleary tribute sculpture garden in Portland’s Grant Park to see the life-size figures of Ramona, Henry and Ribsy. And then we walked a few blocks to find the actual Klickitat Street in a leafy neighborhood of renovated bungalows and little tudor-style homes. The kids were … nonplussed. Keith and I were more excited than they were.
From Portland, it was an easy drive south to Eugene. Then we turned west to Florence, which is on the coast, where the kids finally laid eyes on the Pacific Ocean. Instead of immediately turning south to Sunset Bay State Park, where we have a campsite reserved, we jogged north a few miles to a roadside attraction that claims to be the world’s largest sea lion cave. We all paid $45 (total) for the privilege of riding an elevator 200 feet down into a cave to gawk at real sea lions.
That was our first – and hopefully our last – experience with cheesy tourist traps on this trip. Over the last several days we have been granted access to some of this country’s most magnificent, most awe-inspiring scenery for only nominal fees. We left the Sea Lion Cave wondering why we had just paid so much money to see what we could see for almost nothing just down the road at any Oregon state park. How wonderful is it to have state and national park systems that preserve our precious natural resources, let us in to enjoy them, and don’t force us to walk past racks of cheap key chains and snow globes on the way out?
Since we have arrived in Oregon, it has been so, so, so, so windy. At the Sea Lion Cave, I was afraid Clare would be swept away by what must be 30 mph winds off the ocean. And I worried that we’d be blown right out of our campsite here at Sunset Bay State Park, about 60 miles south of Florence. But the campground is set back in the woods, a hundred yards or so from the beach, so we are protected from the wind. It’s a nice campground, if somewhat overgrown and slightly cramped. Our next-door neighbors have Christmas lights up, and we can hear their loud music and their talk about Aunt Pam’s surgery and cousin Denise’s wedding, so in that way it’s a bit like the KOA. But it’ll do.
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