Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Life may have many disappointments but…

Sea Gull and Astoria

With the sun breaking out it only meant one thing – road trip and a hike! Sunday may have started out cloudy but by about 11:00 am the sun shone brightly. The first order of business for the day was a visit to the Astoria Sunday Market. Most Astoria Bridge to Washingtonof the markets we have attended during this spring and early summer have been a bit disappointing when compared to those we visited last year on the east coast . But the Astoria Sunday Market was quite nice and had a nice diversity of shops. We were able to score some nice cherries, blueberries and even some baby bok choy.

Then it was off to the north for one last visit to the state of Washington where we hoped to get in a nice hike on Cape Disappointment. As we crossed the Astoria Bridge we ran into our first “disappointment” in that there was construction on the the bridge causing it to be restricted to one lane. If you travel in this area be prepared as they said it wont be completed till 2015…Yikes!

Along Cape DisappointmentThe drive along the coastline of the Columbia River and by the ocean was nice. We stopped at a county park to enjoy our picnic lunch and take in the view of the Columbia River entering the ocean. Then we headed on to the town of Ilwaco, a small fishing village. From there it was on to Cape Disappointment, which as nice as it was, turned out to be our second disappointment since they charge $10.00 to park. Opting to not fork over the ten bucks we drove back across the Astoria Bridge and this time luckily didn’t have to wait.

Illwaco WASince Cape Disappointment lived up to its name for us we were heading back to our park to get in a nice hike when we noticed a sign for the Lewis and Clark National Park. A visit to the park was in order and we strolled through the visitors center and toured the small Fort Clatsop before finding a suitable 3 mile hike. The hike was nice as it had some interpretative material and as we strolled along the river we noticed the spur into the woods so we chose that route.

Signage and interpretation along this route were absent and even though the trail was maintained when we found ourselves at a fork in the trail we had no clue which was the correct path back to the visitor’s center. The one we chose unfortunately was a trail in poor condition, It became obvious  this trail may not be the right one we were looking for. Reverting back to my sense of direction I led Sharon, without her full trust, down an old road that eventually led us to a National Park Service building. Following this road led us to the main road and eventually to the path that took us back to the visitor’s center.

Illwaco WA harbor

So it may seem that our day was full of disappointments but the reality is that even a day as disappointing as this was still heaps better than most any good day we had in our working lives… Yes, I think we are still well suited to this lifestyle and look forward to other disappointments down the road.

Little did I know…

8 comments:

  1. Hi. Love the memories your west coast trip triggers. On our way back to San Francisco after our 2009 Alaska cruise we travelled the coastal road. We stopped at Ilwaco for lunch beside the boats. It was so nice we could have sat there for hours enjoying the sun and peacefulness of this tiny village.

    We continue to hope there will be another opportunity to travel this coast but at a more leisurely pace.

    Blessings

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  2. Still looks like a beautiful area. Take care of Sharon!

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  3. Sometimes little disappointments turn out to be great big memories. :)

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  4. I am with Judy. Even though we complained about the constant rain and cold weather when we were in Oregon/Washington, we would never trade the memories!

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  5. All in all sure looks like it was a great day:)

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  6. With a 4-mile span across the Columbia River, we think the Astoria bridge is phenomenal even though under construction. Cape Disappointment is absolutely no disappointment when it comes to beauty and views. We have parked outside the camping area and never paid a fee in that location. Were we just lucky? I don't know. Many states have parking fees and so do many Federal parks. We were shocked to see the price at Zion at $25 a day ... without the Federal pass. It's amazing some of the little gems we have found at small markets. They may not be up to what we can find in the larger cities but not sure we've ever really been disappointed. We love the little markets.

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  7. What fantastic photos! Not a "disappointment" at all!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com

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  8. Love that you are looking forward to more "disappointments". SO true that any day full timing is better than the best day working.

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