Columbia River area; Multnomah Falls; Astoria Oregon

Dear Friend,

On this drive from San Francisco to Seattle that I have been writing about we spent a night in Astoria, Oregon and this was the first time on this trip that we encountered the fog that I had hoped to see. As you can see it made for some beautiful landscapes.

We walked on the beach at Fort Stevens State Park at Astoria, and I believe the shipwreck on the beach was the Peter Iredale. There are other wrecked ships on the beaches in this area.

We were spending the night at Astoria in order to have some time to explore the Columbia River area. To get to Astoria we turned off the coast highway at I-85 at the border of Oregon and Washington states. We took the picture at the bottom of the page at Multnomah Falls. The site was even prettier in person than in the picture. Multnomah Falls is over 600 feet tall in two tiers and more impressive when you can hear the water. Didn’t I get a great Christmas card shot! There are signs on the highway that direct you to Multnomah Falls. It is located approximately twenty to thirty miles east of Portland on I-84 (watch for the signs - it's well marked). There is more than one way to get there from Portland. We came from the west on the Scenic Loop Drive exiting at Troutdale. This drive is along the river and supposed to be the prettiest approach. Multnomah Falls is the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States. While at its best during winter and spring I’m told, this magnificent sight is spectacular to see any time of year. We were there in the summer.

The Columbia river is huge. It has several dams and locks on it. Back in California when we were passing through the redwood area we passed a saw mill that allows visitors and because this trip was about being spontaneous and relaxing, we stopped and went through. The lumber company was the Pacific Lumber Company in Scotia, California. My husband and son both found it interesting. It didn’t take long. Now, what the Columbia river had was a dam that could be toured – so we took the tour. The Multnomah Falls are in a National Scenic View area. There is an information center by the falls and that’s where we learned of the dam that could be toured. I think the dam was the Bonneville Dam – but really am not sure. It didn’t take more than an hour and a half by the time we drove up the river to the dam and went on the tour. My husband and son found that interesting too. By the way there are many other waterfalls in the area that aren’t difficult to get to, and had we had more time, we would have visited others. You can walk to the top of Multnomah for a gorgeous view which we didn’t have time to do either. Perhaps, we will have to go back.

I hope your health is good today, that you are blessed with sunshine or rain as you need it, and that you have things in your life you enjoy remembering.

Take care,

Maggiegladyoucame

Oregon Coast, Benettis' in Coos Bay, Oregon Coast Aquarium

Dear Friend,
Hi ! If you decide to drive the coast of northern California and Oregon, make sure and be in Coos Bay, Oregon at lunch or supper time. There is a little restaurant on Broadway across from the water in Coos Bay that is one of the best Italian restaurants we've eaten in - in the USA. They probably make many excellent dishes but there was a soup, a house specialty, that was just wonderful. We've eaten in Italian restaurants from San Francisco to Boston and this was one of the best. Just order the soup that everyone else is having. The name of the restaurant was Benetti's and their website is at the bottom of this page. My husband loves to try small, family owned and run restaurants when we are traveling. Sometimes they are real winners as this one was.
We spent the fourth night of our driving trip in Coos Bay because that is where we were when we got tired of being in that car. I didn't realize that there was a large port between San Francisco and Seattle, but Coos Bay is a very active, deep water port. There is a boardwalk (no shops) along the water that we strolled after dinner.
I had always heard of the rocky and beautiful Oregon coast. But for me the coast of California was the prettiest. If I had to shorten this trip, California would be the portion I would take. We saw wild life in Oregon like the sea otter floating on his back in the picture at the top of the page that I took at the Oregon Aquarium. (That's in Newport, Oregon - link at the bottom of the page.) But on the whole, the coast of California was more dramatic and there were fewer touristy enterprises on the California coast. In California we visited a sawmill near the Redwood forests and enjoyed the natural beauty. In Oregon I enjoyed the Aquarium - the birds there were my favorite part - the puffins and the Courmorants. Of course the best coastal vacation if you have the time is do just what we did - start in San Francisco and drive to Seattle. It's somewhere around 1400 miles, but when done over 5 or 6 days with lots of stops to walk in a forest or visit an aquarium or to eat a delightful meal, well, it's a real pleasure.
We finally got a foggy day - up by Astoria, Oregon. It was only foggy two days but we loved them. More on that later.
.
This series of letters - that's how I think of this blog - is something that I am enjoying immensely. It's very time consuming but I'm rekindling memories and enjoying my photographs. I hope it's interesting to you and maybe brings back some memories of a good time you'd not thought about for a while.

Take care,

MaggieGladYouCame

This link is to Benettis' Italian Restaurant in Coos Bay, Oregon.

http://www.benettis.com/

This link is to the Oregon Coast Aquarium

http://www.aquarium.org/

The Mendocino, California Coast area

Dear Friend,

Mendocino, California is a tiny town for relaxing. It is just a few hours north of San Francisco, depending on what highways you take, the time of the year(July of course has much more traffic than say, April) and the day of the week. We were on a road trip up Highway 1 from San Francisco when we passed a fascinating looking brown, Craftsman style wooden building identified as The Harbor Inn that seemed very close to the shore. I couldn't see the ocean from where I was. I asked my husband to back up – he had already hit the brakes – so that I could get a better look. Then we decided to park and go in. It was mid morning – not the time of day when we are usually looking for a place to stay – but we wanted to see it for future reference.

What we found, just north of Elk, California and about a dozen miles or so south of Mendocino, was one of the prettiest views of the ocean from high up on a cliff I’ve ever seen. While I have not stayed at this one, I am looking forward to that event. The pictures in this letter are ones I took when we were there exploring. They were very nice to let us look. I will post their website at the bottom of this page so that you can see their advertising. I will tell you that in addition to the view being spectacular, the garden in the backyard was lovely, there is a steep and narrow path down the side of the cliff to a small beach, and the dining room is in a glassed-in room on the ocean side of the main house with a view of the ocean. According to their ad, their wine cellar is a celebrated one and the room rates include a four course dinner and a full breakfast for two people. Hope you enjoy these pictures.

There are many other B & B's or Inn's in the area and they are probably lovely too. Some look like they have larger rooms or even suites, but the view at this one is just gorgeous and the ambiance is charming. This one is small, has no tv's or phones in the rooms, no cell phone service according to their website. It's just a quiet place to read or talk or walk, Maybe a quiet place to write. There are hiking trails nearby and fishing and kayaking very close too. Mendocino for lunch would make a lovely diversion from this quiet place. I think they have space between the house and the four cottages for about 10 people maximum. I have read that the rooms got a redo in about 2004.

Take care,

MaggieGladYouCame

The following website is the Inn's website. Don't for get to click on activities to see what is going on in the area.

http://www.theharborhouseinn.com/index2.html

Sonoma Valley and a California coastal drive

Dear Friend,
Naturally and dramatically, beautiful is how I’d describe the coast of California north of San Francisco and the Oregon coast. We’ve gone to the Northwest about 5 or 6 times, to different areas and for different reasons each time. California is a huge state with so much to see that we aren’t through spending time there yet. Oregon was lovely and we’ve been back to Washington state once since our first visit to Seattle.
The Sonoma Valley was a detour on our coastal drive to Seattle from San Francisco over several days and it is what I want to start with because that was day one of this particular trip. This trip was mostly a driving trip along the coast. My husband and I and our grown son made this trip as he wasn’t married yet. We left San Francisco midmorning in a rental car. Despite having read a guide book about the area, we all felt like leisurely meandering, and just poking our noses in those things that looked interesting, so we did. We followed the map and the signs to the tiny town of Sonoma, California. We arrived about lunch time and after walking around the town square or plaza and browsing in the shops we found a little Italian restaurant and had lunch. Then we toured the Sebastiani winery which is right there in town.
We drove slightly east of Sonoma and stumbled into the Buena Vista Winery (That's the front door of the visitor center on the left.) which unfortunately was closed. It’s one of the oldest wineries in California dating from about 1857. Then when driving down country roads back towards Highway 1(the coastal highway) we saw a little sign that said “winery” and when we turned off to the direction the sign pointed this is what we found. (See picture to the right.)
It is a small boutique winery selling all of it’s product to people who live in California - I don't think they advertise. The owner was very interesting to talk with and we sampled a couple of his excellent wines. I believe the architecture is Russian. There is a Russian Wine Road in the area. There are other examples of Russian architecture in the area as well. Then back to Highway1 and we drove north. We spent that first night in a nice small motel right on the highway in Gualala (They pronounce it wa-la-la.)

There will be several days with posts about California, Oregon and the Seattle, Washington area. I hope if you’re thinking about where to go next and you haven’t driven the coast you will consider it. It was a very relaxing and interesting trip. Hwy 1 doesn’t have the traffic that we so often find pretty places – at least not so much during the week.

Take care,
MaggieGladYouCame

Kitchen remodeling

Dear Friend,
For those who know us here's what's left of the kitchen. See the refrigerator wrapped in plastic on the left in the second picture. See the pipes on the new slab for the sink just this side of the blue plastic drop cloths. I am so thankful today for workers who came to work after a long dry spell. Must go try to get ahold of painters for bids.
Take care,

Maggiegladyoucame








posted by MaggieGladYouCame at 3:31 PM 0 comments links