We got up relatively early this morning to prepare for our drive up the coast on 101 on our way to Seattle. As we broke fast, we took time to appreciate the view from the Old Wheeler Hotel one more time before hitting the road. Though rainy when we woke, by the time we were loading up the car the sun was starting to burn off the overcast and fog.
Before leaving the Oregon coast, we took a walk on Arcadia Beach, just south of Cannon Beach on 101. It was a pretty as we could have hoped—misty, rocky, with the tide rolling in—and it was early enough that we had the whole beach to ourselves...for a while anyway. It felt warmer than I would have thought a temperature in the 40s would. After about an hour of beachcombing and taking pictures and watching the surf, we returned reluctantly to the car.
As we drove northward, Barbara spotted what she first thought to be a hawk overhead, but as we drew closer proved to be a bald eagle. Very cool.
We stopped for lunch at the Blue Scorcher in Astoria. We had a false start when we learned the Scorcher doesn't accept plastic, but they got our orders going while Barbara secured a table amid the thronging elementary school kids who were there on a class trip, and I ran to the bank to secure some fundage. Barbara had salad of fresh greens, red grapefruit, and pomegranate along with some lentil soup. I had the cranberry tempeh sandwich. We agreed our meals were excellent. The sandwich was cranberry relish, butternut squash spread, and tempeh on potato bread; it was like the Thanksgiving meal we skipped on Thursday to make the trip out here.
A squall was rolling across the Columbia River as we crossed the bridge into Washington. We wanted to stop at the Cape Disappointment lighthouse, but we found the trail to it was closed by order of the Coast Guard. I guess that's why they call it Cape Disappointment. While there, though, we enjoyed a fantastic view of the mouth of the Columbia and the Pacific Ocean beyond.
As we continued along 101, the scenery metamorphosed from coastal to
temperate rain forest, dark as night as you stared into it, and the
mountains gave was to lower, flatter terrain. Another rain squall
crossed our path as we began to work our way around Willapa Bay, and as
we rounded a curve, putting the sun at our back, the sky burst forth in
the most vivid rainbow I have ever seen. It looked close enough to
touch, and we squinted across the tops of the foliage trying to catch
sight of the pot of gold; no gold, ultimately, but the scene was
<description mode="superlative">you know,
awesome</description>.
Hitting I-5 was an abrupt transition from the rural and coastal to dense urban traffic. Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle sprawl together, and I-5 was blanketed with cars from the moment we hit it until we found our exit. Downtown Seattle suddenly appeared out of the darkness as we rounded a curve, a riot of brightly lit highrises and skyscrapers, a northern landmark on the SEATAC approach pattern.
In Seattle, we're staying at the Shafer Baillie Mansion B&B, a sprawling house tastefully bedecked in an English Arts and Crafts style. After the hotel in Wheeler, with its closely-arranged rooms and whirring heater, it seems very quiet.
We know we've found civilization again, because we're surrounded by
Thai and Ethiopian restaurants, cars and people. It's loud and brightly
lit, and there are scruffy guys that walk down the street shouting at
themselves. As we shared our bamia,
gomen, and wots at the Queen Sheba on John Street,
listening to the half-drunk Microsoft Evangelist
at the next
table loudly tell her date about all her former boyfriends and their
messy breakups, we asked ourselves, should we have just stayed on the
coast?