Friday, May 18, 2001, 6:30 a.m. - Mile 4693.8 - Forks, WA
About six miles after we start for the day, I'm trying to look at the second trip odometer and accidentally clear the one I've been using to keep track of mileage. You hold it in for about three seconds to clear it or push it in for less than a second to switch between A and B. At least I figure out that in about 300 miles I can set it right again.
7:30 a.m. - Mile 4735.3 - Gas
I tried to remember to get gas before leaving Forks, but somehow forgot anyway. We also decided to drive a while before eating breakfast. We plan to pick up a few things at the gas station, but the woman running things there says there's a much better place for breakfast just a few miles down the road. She obviously gets paid the same no matter what they sell.
8:00 a.m. - Mile 4759.1 - Breakfast stop
We stop for breakfast with the locals. The logging industry is important to the economy here. The placemats explain how the logging companies plant four times as many trees as they cut down and there is a box of "Spotted Owl Helper" on display with some of the other local items. I'm guessing that people from GreenPeace would not be welcomed here.
8:40 a.m. - Back on the road again
It's dry once again, so we put the top down. We drive through alternating forest and logged areas. We decide that it's too bad they can't leave about 100 feet of forest next to the road so that it all at least looks nice through there. The areas that have been logged recently are not pretty to look at.
Mile 4768.2 - Turnoff to Moclips
We decide to drive over to the ocean on at least one of the roads that goes over there. I didn't look real close at the map and end up driving on a dirt road through the woods for a few miles.
Mile 4789.3 - Junction of 109
We turn left onto 109 and drive near the ocean. There are several places along here where they let you drive onto the beach. I make sure the sand is very firm, since I don't want to have to dig the car out of the sand.
On the second beach that we stop on, I spin a couple of simple donuts in the sand. My wife gets a kick out of that.
10:35 a.m. - Mile 4833.6 - Back on 101
We find our way back to Highway 101 and continue driving south. It was nice going into the woods and seeing some of the small towns right on the coast, but it would be a bit much to go visit all of them.
12:25 p.m. - Mile 4929.5 - Oregon
We finally make it to the Oregon border. I missed getting a picture of any sign welcoming us to Washington when I got off of the ferry and manage to miss getting a picture as we drive across the bridge over the Columbia River to Astoria as well. My wife wants to look around in Astoria and I really want a picture of the sign entering Washington, so I drop her off in town and drive back across the bridge.
I find that if I can get in front of somebody slow, like a motorhome, and catch up to the traffic in front, I can actually stop on the bridge and get a decent picture. I do that for both the Washington and Oregon signs just to make sure I get one of each. After all, I have pictures of every other state and really want to complete my collection.1:45 p.m. - Mile 4943.3
My car now has passed the 10,000 mile mark. Somehow I had hoped it would still be under 10,000 miles when I finished, but that was assuming that 4200 miles was a reasonable estimate for the total trip, which it obviously wasn't.
There are lots of views looking down on long beaches with various big rocks sticking up out of the ocean. We take pictures of a few, but can't get them all.
Mile 5000 - Garibaldi, Oregon
When the car odometer says 10060, I reset the trip odometer and don't have to do any more calculations to figure out the trip mileage. We get gas at Tillamook, then continue heading south. I had forgotten that Oregon has a law that doesn't allow you to pump your own gas. I would really rather do it myself.Much of Oregon is sunny and nice with some windy sections. It looks like we won't need to put the top back up for the rest of the trip. The middle of Oregon is similar to Southern California south of Los Angeles, with many small towns and lots of traffic.
4:30 p.m. - Mile 5051.1 - Lincoln City, OR
It seems to be rush hour in Lincoln City. Fortunately it's a rather small town, so it doesn't hold us up much.5:05 p.m. - Mile 5077.5 - Yaquina Head Light House
We like to stop at light houses. This one has a very strong wind and it's somewhat cold. The ranger has a short sleeve shirt only and makes a comment about being stupid to be out there dressed like that.
Mid-Oregon is interesting with the alternating forest and trees, but you had better be satisfied with the speed of traffic, because there are very few places to pass anyone. There are few passing lanes and enough oncoming traffic that you can rarely get both dashed lines and a clear oncoming lane. Fortunately traffic moves along at a decent pace.
We stop in Florence for dinner.7:40 p.m. - Mile 5132.9 - Back on the road again.
It's interesting having dinner in Florence along Highway 101. There seem to be quite a few cars and motorcycles that cruise up and down the road. I also see more police cars there, with radar, than in the entire rest of the state. We see some exceptionally noisy cars go by at least four times in the time it takes to eat dinner.8:40 p.m. - Mile 5182.6 - Coos Bay, OR
We finally stop for the night in Coos Bay. The highway splits into two one-way streets through town with most of the Motels in between. We pick a Best Western and settle in for the night.We decide that Oregon has quite a long coast line. I had originally hoped to make it to Eureka California by Friday night, but we're still hours from there. Looks like we'll have one more long day of driving.
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Page last updated July 9, 2001
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