Having started our travels with some embarrassment over the Knoxes being a day late in meeting my Aussie brother George, and sister-in-law Rose, many chuckles ensued. While staying with our good friend in Courtenay, and it being her youngest daughter’s 30th birthday, we went out for a special dinner. As we were shown to our outside table, sun beamed down on us, the Strait of Georgia, small islands and snow-capped mountains of the mainland beyond; three sea lions played happily close to the bank.
“Too bad there’s no view,” quipped Rose, cracking us up, and all within hearing. The phrase would be repeated time and again as we drove some 6,000 km, incredible scenery on every side. Even the weather mostly smiled on us.
Our relatives, having already been at sea for three weeks, put up with ferry rides and other salty sights for a few more days. Across to Port Angeles we went, having soaked up floral delights at Butchart Gardens and more. Olympic Peninsula’s tall trees were equally enchanting.
“It’s a ‘bar code’ forest!” exclaimed Rose. “Trees are everlastingly tall and dark, while sunshine provides the white lines in between.”
When pulled over for photos on one long stretch of straight, two-lane highway, a sheriff stopped and told us to get moving if we didn’t want to be run over by a logging truck.
“Must be a slow day for him,” opined John. However, we deserved the beep at another photo-op-stop on an S-bend – so mended our ways after that.
At Cape Disappointment near Washington/Oregon border, we had our first taste of the historical overland journey of Lewis and Clark in 1804-06, and we retraced more of their steps later. On the opposite side of the Columbia River, we spent time with another good friend in Astoria, especially significant for me since she is editing an upcoming publication of mine. Subsequently, when I was with her one morning, my cell phone rang. I didn’t know how to answer it! Fortunately I saw the number, so could call my brother back. He had bought two cell phones to help resolve our meeting problems when they first arrived.
Driving further south, we discovered that the Oregon coast isn’t as good as it’s said to be – it’s far better! Sea stacks stand sentinel along sandy and rocky shores, some with sparse foliage, others are home to colonies of nesting birds. Tree branches meet above the highway, short steep drives took us from pleasant road to tempting seashore. Hardy trees are permanently bent away from the ocean by prevailing winds. Chowder, steamed clams, and fish’n’chips were the order of the day. Shoes were abandoned on beaches stretching impossible distances in either direction below our motels. Once, grey whales, including a mother and calf, spouted in the distance.
Just north of Florence near photogenic Hecata Head Lighthouse, of which Rose had once completed a jigsaw puzzle, was a great tourist trap: Sea Lion Cave. Dozens of sea lions dozed, grumbled, barked, and climbed over each other beside the surging ocean. Some floated within the nearby huge cave.
Unfortunately, the Redwood Parks in northern California, originally requested by my brother, former ranger and keen biologist, had to be deleted from our original plans, to reduce the miles somewhat. Before heading inland from Florence, about halfway down the Oregon coast, we drove through several miles of sand dunes with unusual flora, ending up close to the mouth of Siuslaw River. The “wildlife” was also worth looking at, I thought, admiring the back view of a disrobing surf boarder and his fine physique!
