Travels with Kenny

Tuesday, August 10, 2010. Ashford, Wash., near the entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park.

Did I mention we expected gloom on the Oregon coast? We got it on Monday. It was cloudy when we left Eugene, and it remained so all day long. After Eugene we headed north through Salem, then turned west to the coast hoping for clear weather. No dice. Had a nice walk near the ocean in Ft. Stevens State Park, and saw an old shipwreck. Then we headed for Astoria, Wash., where we spent the night. Had dinner in a trendy restaurant at the foot of 4-mile-long Astoria Bridge (which crosses the Columbia River into Washington).

Monday morning we spent several hours at Ft. Clatsop National Park outside of Astoria. Ft. Clatsop was built by Lewis and Clark at the western end of their Voyage of Discovery. They spent three months there and reported that it rained all but 12 days! Serry and I were the only ones at the park when we arrived, and because it's kind of small and, I thought, not well known, I figured we'd have it pretty much to ourselves. Four hours later, when we left the park, it was so crowded you could hardly move.

After the park we drove across the Astoria Bridge into Washington on our way to Mt. Rainier NP. We're in a lodge just outside the park and will explore the park tomorrow.
We've already been to the Paradise Visitors center, named so, many years ago by a woman who thought it was paradise. From what I've seen I agree. It is a 20 mile drive to the center, the altitude is 5000 ft and the scenery is breathtaking and scary. Tonight we had dinner in a Himalayan restaurant , very good, but we did not see the Nepalese dishes on the menu until after we had ordered. The owner and his wife owned a resort in Nepal and he guided tours in the Himalayas. He is also a part owner of a mountain guide service near Mt.Rainer.