Back from the Beach

Good morning, my friends. We're back from a very nice beach getaway. The weather was dry for us, with the exception of Wednesday night. It started raining after dark, but it finished before the sun rose on Thursday. We have no complaints about the weather. It was overcast and cool when we left home, and so I didn't take any pictures until we reached the tall scary bridge in Astoria.

This is the Astoria-Megler Bridge. At 4.1 miles across, it's the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

As we approached, we watched this ship cruise beneath us toward the port cities of Longview or Portland.

Here we go...up and over.

Looking out Mike's side, we could see the last of the river where it meets the Pacific Ocean.

After traveling about 3/4 of the way across, we entered our northern neighbor state of Washington.

Looking toward the ocean, we could see more vessels awaiting the arrival of a River Pilot. All ships traveling up the Columbia must wait for a River Pilot to guide them through the channel.

Less than an hour later, we arrived at our final destination.

Once set up and unhitched, we spent the last bit of daylight on the beach. It was threatening and cloudy, but not raining. The tide was as low as I've ever seen it. We were in a King Tide period, which can bring the highest and lowest tides. At high tide, there are some worries of coastal flooding.

Looking south down the beach, it looked like this.

We stayed long enough to watch the sunset, and then we headed back to the RV.

Once there, I went straight to work on my quilt binding. I clipped as far as I could go until I ran out of binding clips, and then stitched past the first corner and most of the way across the first full side.

The best weather came Tuesday when we had blue sky and sunshine all day. When Mike went to set up the Starlink dish, he realized he'd forgotten the power cable. After studying it for a bit, he thought he could pick up some items at a local hardware store to Jerry rig a plug. He was successful at that, but then we were unsuccessful at getting the Starlink to work. We were surrounded by evergreen trees, and there was too much interference with the signal. Oh well. I guess it won't be the internet/television panacea we were hoping for, but it's also no worse than what we had before. We're hopeful of better results when we aren't so hemmed in by trees.

It was still worth the drive into town, and Tuesday turned out to be a well-spent day. While Mike was messing with the Starlink dish, I stitched around the second and third corners of my quilt binding.

When I had it that far, we made the trip into town to the hardware store. Along the way, we stopped off at the Beard's Hollow overlook. Looking north it looked like this:

A sign posted there talked about a year of shipping disasters, and the building of the Cape Disappointment lighthouse.

A little to the left, was a picture of Beard's Hollow from some years back.

Here's how it looked to us as we stood there.

Mike found what he needed at the hardware store, and then we headed back to the RV. While he messed with that, I stitched around the fourth corner of the quilt binding.

When it became clear we couldn't get the Starlink working, we headed out to the beach. And, as always, be careful out there my friends. Death lurks around every corner. We saw plenty of signs warning us about the coyote, but we never saw or heard one.

Of course, I took the requisite picture of the North Head Lighthouse. 

There are two lighthouses at Cape Disappointment. The Cape Disappointment light is at the south end of the beach, although it isn't possible to see both of them at the same time. Here's a little information about them.

Our shadow selves were beside themselves with excitement about sunshine...in December...at the beach. 

I noticed these little birdie feet prints before I noticed the birdies.

Those were made by Western Snowy Plovers. Their movements are mesmerizing. Think about when you see "swarms" of starlings in flight, and how they all move in undulating unison. Now take the starlings and lay them flat on the ground with the same kind of movement, and you have the Western Snowy Plovers. We watched them for the longest time.

I was trying not to scare them away, and so I couldn't get too close. I found this close-up shot on Creative Commons.

(image credit: "western snowy plover" by Madeleine Claire is licensed under CC BY 4.0.)

But what makes these birds special to watch is their movement. I tried four times to get a good video, and this is the best I could do. If you can't see the video, then click right here.

It was interesting to see the stripes in the sand created by the rising tide.

We could see another vessel awaiting its turn to navigate upriver. The smaller boat on the right of the image below was headed out to sea.

It was time for lunch by then, and we headed back to the RV where I finished my quilt binding. We'd been scoping out a place for a glamour shot, but this quilt was simply too big for that in our current environment. I had to rely on the services of my quilt holder upper. It ends up at 75 x 95 inches...one of the larger quilts I've made. 

After lunch and naps, we decided to head out again. We didn't have any particular destination in mind, but we ended up taking the trail that led to the Cape Disappointment lighthouse. Our last visit to Cape Disappointment was during the depth of the pandemic, and we found the trail closed. This was our first time standing so close to the light. Here's a little map of the area. We were standing where you see the red dot at the bottom right of the image.

We'd driven from the campground, shown with a red arrow on the left. The lighthouse is indicated with a yellow arrow. The hike was supposedly one-half mile, but it seemed much longer. The terrain was easy enough to walk, but we were traveling up and down some steep slopes. Along the way, we passed by this enormous Sitka Spruce.

It's probably several hundred years old. Looking up, some of the limbs were as big as trees.

We passed by several big Sitka Spruce trees, and we were able to see the Coast Guard station through this perfectly framed opening. This is only a small portion of Station Cape Disappointment and it includes a National Motor Lifeboat School.

I'm sorry this sign wasn't in better condition, but here's a little information about the station.

We were happy to visit Cape Disappointment once while they were out training in the cove. You can read my old blog post right here. It was super fun watching them. Every time we come, we hope we'll see them again. Not this time, but we did see a few helicopters fly overhead. For now...please mind your manners.

Looking out past the fence, we could see the town of Ilwaco, Washington, across the water.

Looking in the other direction, signage identified this as "Deadman's Cove." One wonders...

Walking on, we were enchanted by this little evergreen growing against all odds from the center of a piling.

Nearing the lighthouse, we could see the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. It is open Wednesdays through Sundays, and so we didn't visit on this Tuesday.

A little farther on, we reached the lighthouse. Poor thing has needed a paint job for at least a decade, however, it is still in service, and we could see the light turning inside.

Here's a little information about where the mouth of the Columbia River is. You can see where the light is located toward the bottom of the sign.

Below that picture, it would indicate there are Coast Guardsmen inside the structure, but that is old information. We didn't see any indication anyone had been there for quite some time.

And here's some information about the sand bar near the mouth of the river. It's what makes navigating here so treacherous. (Sorry about missing the bottom of the sign.)

The view from the lighthouse was spectacular. Looking south, we could see the south jetty. In the upper right corner, you can see where the tall scary bridge is located.

Heading back down the hill, we noticed this bunker. This is probably a part of Fort Canby.

Here, I wanted to show you how this big Sitka Spruce got its start on a "nurse log." At some point centuries ago, a tree fell here, and this little Sitka Spruce seed took root and began to grow. Eventually, the nurse log rotted away, leaving an opening below the roots.

While I was capturing that shot, this little tree squirrel ran across the trail to our left. He had the most delicious pine cone, and he was preparing to chow down.

From there, we drove down to the north jetty where we could get a different view of the lighthouse.

Back at the campground, we took another walk on the beach and watched the sunset again.

We were expecting cloudy weather for Wednesday, and the clouds were moving in. 

Sure enough, Wednesday was cloudy for all but a short part of the day. That was okay. We had plans for the day that didn't require sunshine. The dry weather was good enough for us. I spent my morning finishing the first section of the October's Joyful Journey block.

We were taking a slow morning, and so I had time to move my hoop and fill it again.

It was nearing lunch time by then, and I'd already spoken up for some fried oysters at a restaurant I read about in Washington's newsletter from Only in Your State.

Castaways restaurant was said to have the freshest seafood and the best Willapa Bay Oysters, and you can count me in when it comes to fried oysters. 

Interestingly, the menu featured this image, showing the restaurant when it was the "Pacific Hotel." Look how the train runs right down the middle of the street where we drove in

The oysters were everything I hoped they'd be. They were served with sweet potato fries. I had my choice of pan-fried or deep-fried. I chose the deep fried. Mike had traditional fish and chips.

After that, we drove out to the beach. We took issue with Long Beach being the "world's longest beach."

I'm afraid that honor goes to Praia do Cassino Beach, Brazil. Long Beach, Washington, can claim the honor of being the longest beach on the West Coast.

Also, we saw the Shelburne Hotel. Signage indicated it was a national historic site, and so I had to look it up.

As it turns out, the hotel opened in 1896 as a retreat for people in the Portland area, and it was named after a fancy hotel in Dublin, Ireland. The hotel was a stop on the Clamshell Railroad (the one pictured on the menu), which was in operation for more than 40 years. The hotel itself is the oldest continuously-operating hotel in Washington. Okay...so that was interesting.

Back at the RV, I kept on with my stitching.

I stitched and stitched until it was finished.

Thursday morning, we headed for home. There's the tall scary bridge again.

Crossing back the other way, we returned to Oregon.

It was cloudy and dark. We took a different way home. The only picture I took along the way was of this barn with a barn quilt. 

We've already unpacked everything, and we've taken Mike's truck into town for service. I took some time to iron my embroidery piece. Here's my finished block. I'll line it up with its fellow Joyful Journey blocks today for a picture of all ten together. Two more before I can sew it into a quilt top.

Next up is this Kitten block.

Here's a picture from the pattern cover. Sorry for the blur, but the pattern cover is blurred too.

And that brings me to this morning. I'll start on my newest embroidery piece, and then I have to head into town for the big squash. If there's time for sewing this afternoon, I'll get back to quilting the Heartland Barns. I've given myself a day off from purging, but I'll be back at it again tomorrow. There are still six small drawers and my closet to finish, but I believe the worst of it is done.

The kitties didn't go with us this trip. They could barely be bothered to say hello when we arrived home. On the other hand, Smitty is champing at the bit to get outside this morning.

That brings you up to date from my end. What have you been doing while I've been away?