Newberry National Volcanic Monument

July 9, 2021July 10, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 3 Comments

When we got to the first information sign at the Big obsidian flow there were three boys (age ~ 5-6) pointing at the volcano and making explosion noises. I totally agree, Volcanos are cool!

Newberry is a shield volcano that basically did the same thing as crater lake, exploded then fell in on itself. It had two lakes instead of one with a huge obsidian lava field.

We also took the 4×4 to the rim edge. The view from the top was even cooler. The Ridge can be seen, as well as a cinder cone (2 actually). 2 lakes (East and Paulina), and the lava flow. We had lunch right there on the truck bed.

We stopped at Pauline falls on the way to the Lava Cast Forest. These are hard to see in the pictures. Think slow lava building a wall around a tree and leaving a Hollow trunk mold. I jumped in one for size.

Then we stopped by 2 other breweries for samples. 10 Barrel and Sunriver.

10 Barrel has a set sampler… So we got 16 Oz samples.

Back at the campground we saw this weird camping dump truck. Where do you need that sort of equipment? My t@g was embarrassed for him.

Detroit Lake, Cascades

July 7, 2021July 7, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We had false start in the Willamette wine country. We made an effort but at 25 bucks a tasting,I wasn’t up for the effort and moved on…

Lovely evening. We took several walks about the lake. Played several songs at the campground and Ringo was a dog.

Ringo jumping waves. This was pretty funny. I missed the initial spasm which was funnier.

Roll on Columbia

July 5, 2021July 5, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We stayed at Ainsworth state park and stop, drop and rolled to the Bridge of the Gods. Then we headed down Scenic Hwy 30 through the Columbia River Gorge towards Mcmenamins Edgefield in Troutdale.

We tried to go to Multnomah Falls but it was July 4th and it was an absolute madhouse parking anywhere, so we figured we would catch it on the way home (Feel the suspense? You’ll just have to wait for it.) There were plenty of other waterfalls to see. Saw another old building (Vista house) but they wouldn’t let us inside.

We ended up at the Edgefield where a Grateful Dead cover band turned into a blues band with this guy. So this is how sasquatch like to spend their Independence Day.

Height: 620′, upper falls 542′ single drop.

Ecola State Park

July 2, 2021July 2, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Drove by a Mcmenamins on the way to Ft. Stephens. Since it served bfast we decided to grab a breakfast the next morning on our way to Ecola Beach. Yummy!

After breakfast, we rolled on down the road to Ecola State Park which was amazing. They’ve filmed 4 movies there (point break, goonies, twilight, kindergarten cop)

Then, yeah we did… We drove the truck on the beach at Del Ray. First, we had an appetizer (Chips and Salsa) watched a Ford get stuck and then worked up the courage to follow the rest of the four wheel trucks on the beach.

All in all it was another fantastic day on the OR coast. Glad we didn’t go to Utah and hike the narrows…

Relax day to Fort Stephens

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

Very little to report. Started the day reading and relaxing and even some laundry while George worked. No pictures of that but it was a lovely part of my day.

We broke camp and traveled from Nehalem Bay up the coast to Ft. Stephens state park.

We went for a walk at Ft Stephens and literally ran away from a sworm of mosquitoes. Bikes are recommended so you can outrun them.

The fort is pretty cool. When we pulled up, all we could hear was screaming and laughing. Joy is such a lovely sound. Turns out there were about 30 to 40 kids at a camp playing capture the flag in the fort. How fun would that be? They wouldn’t let us play… I think they were afraid of our skills. #iAintScared

What day is it?

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

Yesterday we took an amazing and steep hike out to Cape Lookout. There were lots of cut off posts (trip hazards) neighboring the plummet-to-your-death-cliffs that made me grateful Brian Woods wasn’t there.

Little did you know, I would use this picture in a blog post… #infamousFall

2 things to know about Oregon:
1) They love dogs. There’s a dog hitch outside the bathroom. They are cool to be off leash on the beach as long as they come back to you. George even saw several dogs in the safeway.
2) You still can’t pump your own gas in OR. It’s weird. You just sit there and watch them. Also, do you tip them if they clean your windows? Things I’d like to know.

Campground Beach: Arch in far back ground

From Cape Lookout, we traveled up to Cape Meares Light house and there we ran into the parents of the brewer at Burial Brewery in AVL… So strange. We must give of beer pheromones. They gave us recommendations for beers in Bend, OR. Boneyard/rpm is now on the list.

That’s the end of the cape Lookout hike that we did earlier.

Going through Tillamook we stopped at the creamery for cheese, yogurt, and icecream. Yes, you’re officially on vacation when you wait in line for cheese!

Nahalem Bay wins the best beach award.

Stop drop and roll

June 29, 2021June 29, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 1 Comment

We are getting used to the conveniences of modern camping. Stop, drop and roll is my new favorite. On the down side, I’m still getting used to parking. Sometimes I just hawg spaces because I can’t park frank n furter yet. #parkingfoul

So, to the real business. We saw cool stuff today.

Thor’s Well

We tried to go to rogue brewery in Newport but they didn’t like us (twice) so we went to a seafood market, grabbed fish and chips, beers and Dungeness crabs and made tracks to cape Lookout.

Pictures from the drive and Devil’s punchbowl

Lots of fog and 60 degrees. I cuddled up with a hot toddy after dinner and a short with a longgggg jacket. I hear Portland was 115 today. #OregonCoast

Desperately seeking Dungeness

June 28, 2021June 28, 2021 / rugreen4u4632 / 2 Comments

Trecking down Hwy 101 towards Jessie Honeyman State Park. We’re stopping at several seafood markets hunting Dungeness crabs but it sounds like they are out of season because Halibut season just started. I guess we’ll just have to suffer through all the local smoked salmon. Yesterday we bought a salmon tube stick that resembled salmon jerky/salmon sausage. It was good, but the smoked salmon we got in Brookings at Pacific Ocean harvesters was the best so far.

We then went to the sea lion caves. I took lots of pictures and lots of videos and I’ll try not to bore you, but they’re like giant slugs. Incredibly funny in their posturing with thier tiny little flappy fin arms. The cave is the states largest sea cave. http://www.sealioncaves.com/

What I wasn’t expecting to see on the Oregon coast was little blue dune buggies in the sand. I kinda wish I had an atv.

We ‘hiked’ up to the top. Atvs having a lot of fun right over there.

We are eating blueberries like they are free because they practically are.

Ringo was so stinky from ocean water and sand after his SandDune romp that he and Dr. Bonners met in the campsite shower. While waking around the campsite drying him off we noticed this set up. I think it would be funnier to have a dangling step ladder instead of the step stool.