Neskowin and Columbia River

It is Saturday June 28th now and off we head for Neskowin, a small coastal town just north of Lincoln city. This is a very slow but super pretty drive, parts are very reminiscent of California Highway 1 near Big Sur. Spectacular views, some literally breath taking. Our average speed for this leg was 31 MPH. Lincoln City presented us with two big deals. One, they had a huge kite contest going on and the scene at the beach was incredible, all these humongous kites of so many shapes and brilliant colors; what a view. Two, the traffic was awful! Lincoln City traffic is always bad and the town is very long, takes forever to get through it. Outside of the kite contest, good place to avoid.



One of our excitements for Neskowin was to meet up with our new, good friends Rich and Joan Walters. For those that don’t know this background, Shelle and I participate in a forum on the Internet for people that own a Hitchhiker trailer as we do. Great place to exchange info, learn new stuff, swap stories, etc. After a while you just get to know people even though you haven’t yet met them. Several of us got together a while back in Vacaville and met in person for the first time. We made several strong, lasting relations. This is where we met the Walters and were anxious to see them again.

We had a great reunion with Rich and Joan and they meshed perfectly with the Wysocki’s and Godley’s who we are traveling with. We had a nice happy hour, went to the one restaurant in Neskowin, a very small place, had a great meal and wonderful time.

The camp ground is full of bunnies, they are everywhere. We had tacit approval from the manager to let Roxy chase some bunnies, so after dinner we let her loose. Wow was she happy. Karl said he had heard of the “green flash” but had never seen the “Brown flash”! We would lose track of Roxy, but we knew where she was by the scattering bunnies! What great fun. No bunnies were caught but several were almost tagged.

Neskowin basically consists of the restaurant, Hawk Creek Inn, a general store and an inn. Of course as all other spots, Neskowin has a beautiful beach, quite popular on the week end, and a beautiful little island called “Proposal Rock”(see opening picture above). There is a small river that runs through the beach down to the ocean. We walked Roxy out onto the beach, this was definitely a case of leash required, and met a boxer puppy called Riley. Riley was 8 months old and really full of it.
Here is Riley (off leash causing quite a commotion).











Sunday we drove to Tillamook, know best for its cheese. It really is a Wisconsin on the Oregon coast. We skipped the factory tour, too many people plus we really aren’t factory tourers. We did do the Pioneer Museum, one of the more interesting museums I’ve seen. It has a little bit of everything, if anything it might have too much. All sorts of pioneering stuff, nautical stuff, old cars and carriages, all nicely displayed. The highlight, the piece d résistance, is a phenomenal taxidermy collection including giant elk to humming birds…yes a hummingbird. And several of the displays are set up like a real life situation, like a bobcat defending its catch from an incoming eagle. Excellent, highly recommend that stop.

Next we took the three capes drive, another great adventure on an interesting road. You drive out on a levy that is not very wide (us with our very wide truck) and then it turns into a forest and runs along the coast. One of the few remaining old forest Sitka Spruce stands is preserved by the Cape Mears lightSitka Spruce are noted for their straightness. They used to often be used for wooden mast because of their strength and straightness. This old boy didn't follow the rules! This is the Octopus Tree, due to the harsh weather on the cape and its position towards the end of the cape, it grew 8 "limbs".
The rest of the forest, a little more protected has the typical Sitka and is certainly worth the look. It was pretty foggy when we were here, but still stunning.

This is the light at Cape Mears, one could almost say it is cute (of course I wouldn't be so smultzy). It is really small, the smallest light house in Oregon.
The area around the light was rich and plentiful with wild roses, like this pretty one.

Monday meant that we would meet the Thurman’s, Gary, Karen, and their yellow lab Abby. Gary is another Hitchhiker forum buddy whom we had not yet met, same for the Walter’s. Our friend Stacy (another forum friend from the Vacaville meeting) commented on the phenomenon that when you meet someone from the forum who you have never seen in person there just is not that normal uneasy beginning, no one knowing what to say. And so it was meeting the Thurman’s, Karen got out of the car, hearty, heartfelt hugs were exchanged and the conversation burst forth. Great folks, now on the good friends list! We all eventually headed back to Hawk Creek for a great lunch and Gary and I chewed some beer (we like the stout hearty stuff :-)).
Next destination is the Columbia River area. We cut across to the 5 freeway via highway 18. Good country road, until you get near the 5. We should have probably cut down the 22 (actually as advised). The towns of Dundee, Newberg, and Sherwood (all very British sounding, eh?) were terrible. A billion traffic lights, all red! We skirted Portland taking the 205 outside circle (a good move) then 84 to Bridge of the Gods (once many, many moons ago a natural bridge across the river). We will be staying on the Washington side, so this is our best bridge possibility (like Hood River Bridge is super narrow, not meant for rigs). Still it keeps you on your toes, it is, or at least looks, narrow and the steel grate bottom kind of pushes you around a little. No big deal after you have done it.

There are not a lot of camping options in the area, but 90% are right on the river which may sound good but they are small sights, right on the highway, and even worse, right on the railway, which runs all night and all day (whooo uh whooo). Our choice was Timberlake RV resort which is well off the beaten path. Through the town of Stevenson (very nice little town), then Home Valley, then up into the mountains, to about 1000 feet. Quiet, peaceful, plenty of trees and ferns, and flowers, very serene.


Our sights were up the hill a bit, all gravel, and when the owner said just put it into 4 wheel drive, I said with dropped jaw, I don’t have 4 wheel drive. So he said well, just get back as far as you can and take a big run at is, DON’T SLOW DOWN. Man, we all went up that hill smokin’. It really wasn’t that bad but we weren’t taking chances!

Good place to mention here, one of the very few detractors of our trip was the fact that there were so many fires going on in California our sky was almost always hazed over with the smoke that came up. We had many days that should have been picture perfect that were marred by hazy overcast grey skies. Even later when we got to Crater Lake, we could not see the lake in its full regalia nor its famous deep, dark blue because of the smoky skies. But such is life and this was only a very minor detraction, and not always present.

The town of Stevenson has a fantastic Interpretive Center with all sorts of history, memorabilia, and info on the Columbia Gorge. A working very old logging truck, Indian fishing paraphernalia and info, lots of collections and a fantastic movie, in a real movie theater (that you view at your convenience by pushing a button) about the entire history and formation of the Gorge. Very well done and informative and quite interesting. The town also had one of my favorite lunch stops at the Big River Grill (on Wednesday they make a wonderful peanut/chicken soup, we bought a quart to go after a great lunch).

Our group decided to go up to Mt Hood for lunch, about 30 or 40 miles away and a wonderful drive. What an impressive mountain and you get all these different views as you drive up. We got up there to discover scads of skiers and snow boarders having a great time in the middle of July. Very pleasant lunch at the lodge and nice drive back. Shelle and I stopped for a hike along the Hood River with Roxy, then bought some local cherries, some more sightseeing and called it a day.
Driving up to Mt hood.
Great lunch at the Lodge, neat place.

Mount Hood from the lodge, actually our view out the window by our table. (And remember it is July)

Our next adventure was to explore all the water falls along the Gorge area. It was an overcast day, actually drizzling when we left, but that just added to the charm and romance. It also, thankfully, kept the crowds down. The scenic drive along the waterfalls is enough to put a lump in your throat; it is so beautiful and just plain old moving.

Horse Tail falls, note the size compared to Shelle and Roxy. Roxy gets really excited around water falls (but of course, so do I!)
The falls entering a collection lake and then turning into a river.
Multnomah Falls, the best known, most famous and most photographed (also obviously, the most crowded).
Multnomah from the bridge.

Bridal Veil Falls. Easy walk down to viewing are, pretty hefty walk back up.
A field of Camas Lilies. This ever rarer and rarer wild lily is concentrated in the area of Bridal Veil Falls, really very pretty and, I thought, quite unique. One of the best stands of this lily.

Up close with the Camas

For our last night in Washington and Timberlake RV we decided to eat out for diner partly because it would be the last night the Wysocki’s would be with us, they were to return towards home the next day. We found a fantastic restaurant, right on the river, called the “Crab Shack”, it was perfect. And to make something wonderful even better, there was a local bagpiper playing for his own pleasure and anyone who would listen, which certainly was us. Shelle had a marvelous salmon dish and I had a to-die-for halibut plate (and of course we shared). How good can it get?!
We watched the Wysocki’s depart the next morning and did the same shortly after they left. On to the next adventure (and my next post).


As you may know, the Columbia River is world famous for wind surfing. The town of Hood Oregon, almost where this was shot, is to wind surfing as Huntington Beach is to board surfing. I'm telling you, these guys were very, very good (and in great shape).

We saw this gorgeous wild Tom Turkey fly across the road while we were on our way back to camp. You should have seen him in his splendour with all his feathers out flying. Only the second time I have been able to photo a wild turkey, great bird (just ask Ben Franklin).
















Bridge of the Gods over the Columbia looking towards Washington.

There were wild flowers everywhere, plentiful and beautiful. One of the highlights of the trip. I could have shot a million pics of all these flowers. These were near camp, I think they are Fox Gloves (corrections accepted).

I'm thinking wild Tiger Lily here.

These are wild Sweet Peas (I actually ate one of the peas and lived to tell!)

These guys were actually just like this, no posing, no photo shop. Ain't nature great!