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Best Pie in America – Day 100

Best Pie in America

Day 100 – July 9, 2003 – Wednesday

Day 100. Hard to believe. We are in Vancouver, British Columbia. One of the most beautiful cities in the world. Sorry Vancouver isn’t part of the US.

Wednesdays always begin with our weekly radio show. DJ Dan McGrath calls at 7:11 every Wednesday. This week, we talked about Alaska, Seattle, and the best pies of late.

We drove from Bellingham, Washington to Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), then back down to Lynwood, Washington.

Canada has done a beautiful job at the border — gorgeous flowers and landscaping, great signage, and a wonderful monument. The United States has no flowers and untrimmed weeds growing in the median and along the highway. The good old USA needs to clean up its act visually at all of our borders.

We met a man at Canadian Immigration who goes only by a number — #154669. He would not tell us his name. I tried to bribe him with beads. I couldn’t get anything but 154669.

Vancouver is beautiful. The downtown, waterfront, and Gastown areas are especially beautiful. We loved the Gastown Steam Clock.

Gastown is where Vancouver began. One September day in 1867, “Gassy Jack” Deighton arrived (he received his nickname because of his penchant for spinning tall tales and talking without end). He stepped ashore with a barrel of whiskey, telling the millworkers that if they’d build him a saloon, he’d serve them drinks. The saloon was up and running within a day…just across the property line of the mill. Gastown was born.

Gastown fell on hard times during the Depression years and deteriorated into a stereotypical skid row area. When talk of demolishing the area became more widespread in the 1960s, a group of dedicated citizens took it upon themselves to save Gastown’s distinctive architecture and character. The city rallied around them. Gastown was not just saved, it was reborn.

Gastown is now a refreshing mix of old and new, downhome and upscale, a place for tourists, Vancouver residents, and office workers alike. Various shops have the streets buzzing during the day. A host of restaurants and nightspots keeps the area humming into the wee hours.

The famous Gastown Steam Clock was built by Raymond Saunders, owner of The Gastown Steam Clock Company located just opposite the clock. He built it in 1977 based on an 1875 design. The world’s only steam clock is powered by steam from an underground system of pipes that supply steam to heat many downtown buildings. The clock is a favorite photo location for tourists and provides a focal point for a trip to Gastown. The clock sounds its whistles every quarter-hour. Steel balls are raised to the top of the clock under steam power then slowly fall to power it. No one could tell me how the Gastown Steam Clock Company could be viable if this was the world’s only steam clock. I wondered if this was like the Yellow Pages commercial on TV about Arnold’s Rug, the guy with only one rug who was afraid to advertise because he might sell his rug.

The sky was a gorgeous blue today. We walked and walked. We enjoyed an excellent meal along the water at The Mill. Maria and Lionel took excellent care of us there. We met a tour guide named Maria and a man who said he was an author. The architecture in Vancouver is exceptional.

Chinatown in Vancouver is North America’s second biggest Chinatown. San Francisco’s is the biggest. Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken in 30% of Vancouver homes, which makes Chinese the largest “minority” ethnic group.

Stanley Park is a 1,000 acre park bordering downtown Vancouver. It is the largest city-owned park in Canada and the third largest in North America. The park attracts an estimated eight million visitors every year. A 5.5 mile seawall path circles the park. Much of the park remains forested with an estimated half million trees that can be as tall as 250 feet and hundreds of years old. There are approximately 125 miles of trails and roads in the park. The Project for Public Spaces has ranked Stanley Park as the sixteenth best park in the world and sixth best in North America.

Stanley Park contains numerous natural and man-made attractions that lure visitors to the park. The forest gives the park a more natural character than most other urban parks. Recreational facilities are abundant. The seawall is a popular destination for walking, running, cycling, and inline skating. The miniature railroad is popular. The park also contains tennis courts, an 18-hole pitch and putt golf course, a seaside swimming pool, and the Brockton Oval for track sports, rugby, and cricket. For entertainment, there is the Aquarium, Canada’s first and largest, and the Malkin Bowl, home to the local Theatre Under the Stars.

Over the years, a large collection of monuments has accumulated in Stanley Park, consisting of statues, plaques, and various other memorials commemorating a large variety of things. Among these is the statue of Lord Stanley. After we drove all through Chinatown and Stanley Park, we headed back to Washington.

Several people (Nathan at the Comfort Inn in Bellingham and the four Canadians we met at the restaurant in Bellingham) recommended pie at Dutch Mother’s Restaurant in Lynden, Washington, so we went. We have a new leader in the clubhouse for Best Pie in America. The Raspberry Pie at Dutch Mother’s was absolutely out of this world. It was so much better than the two excellent Raspberry Pies that we’ve had previously on the trip that we felt it must move to the top spot! We also had Bumbleberry Pie and Caramel Apple Pie, and they were all great. But that Raspberry Pie was truly exceptional. Big, giant raspberries the size of big strawberries, wonderful flavor, and a great crust. (After 148 days, the Raspberry Pie at Dutch Mother’s Restaurant was indeed named “Best Pie in America.”) Theresa and Trisha served us at Dutch Mother’s.

Lynden, Washington is home to the state’s largest Dutch community, which proudly displays its heritage with Dutch-theme shops and windmills. We stopped at the big windmill in Lynden. We met a family there — some folks in town doing sightseeing.

From Lynden, we went in search of a sign at Whidby Island. We saw Mount Baker as we drove south.

Whidbey Island is one of nine islands located in Island County, Washington. Whidbey is about 30 miles north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington. The island forms the northern boundary of Puget Sound. It is ranked as the fifth longest and fifth largest island in the contiguous United States (Padre Island, Texas is the world’s longest barrier island). The Whidbey Island Naval Air Station is the biggest thing on the island.

We went to Whidbey Island because of Carol at Accentrics, a store that Boz frequents in Atlanta. When Carol heard about the trip and our desire to photograph flags and patriotic displays, she told Boz that she collected photos of American flags. Carol saw a fabulous American Flag on a billboard near a bridge on Whidbey Island, Washington. Carol said she would love to have a photo of that flag. When Boz told me the story, we decided we would go to Whidbey Island in search of Carol’s billboard. Carol gave Boz a good description of where the flag billboard would be, so we were well-prepared. When we left Lynden, we headed for Whidbey Island in great anticipation of surprising Carol with a photo of her prized flag billboard.

It was 85 miles from Lynden to Whidbey Island. As we neared the island, we sat up in our seats and kept our eyes peeled. We were told the billboard was near “the bridge.” What we didn’t bargain for was a lot of bridges, a whole lot of bridges. We drove all around the island, and we drove over a lot of bridges, and we never saw a billboard with a flag. We drove up and down the highways on Whidbey Island, and we never saw a billboard with a flag. The sun set, and it was gorgeous — a beautiful yellow and gold sunset, and I took a wonderful photo of the sunset. But we were determined to find that billboard with a flag. We ultimately drove up to the front gate of the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station where we were quickly moved off to the side in a parking area with several soldiers carrying M-16’s. They must have feared we were terrorists, but they relaxed when they understood that we were simply trying to find a patriotic billboard. Unfortunately, Ken, one of the soldiers, said he had never seen such a billboard. About that time, a Domino’s delivery car pulled up, and Brian delivered some pizzas to the guard shack. We grabbed Brian as he was heading back to his car, and he informed us that he thought the billboard had been taken down. How disappointing! Carol, we tried.

The day ended in Lynwood where Paul took good care of us at the hotel. He is certainly one of the most enthusiastic people we’ve met about our trip.

The lesson we learned today is that the best can be found anywhere and anytime. We found the Best Pie in America on Day 100 in a town we never planned to visit. We found our way to Dutch Mother’s by following a suggestion from desk clerk Nathan and Canadians (Mary Ann, Guy, Suzanne, and Glen) who we met at dinner last night.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

Best Pie in America

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Vancouver British Columbia — Gastown — Gastown Steam Clock — Vancouver’s Chinatown — Stanley Park — Lynden Washington — Dutch Mother’s Restaurant — Whidbey Island
 

Movie Tour in Seattle – Day 99

Movie Tour in Seattle

Day 99 – July 8, 2003 – Tuesday

We spent the day in Seattle, and we drove to Bellingham, Washington in the evening. Headed for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada first thing on 7/9/2003.

Sleepless in Seattle House in Seattle, Washington
Sleepless in Seattle House in Seattle, Washington – Round America 50-State Trip.

The houseboat where Tom Hanks lived in the movie “Sleepless in Seattle.”

We visited several Seattle movie locations today — the houseboat in “Sleepless in Seattle;” Space Needle — the home of “Austin Power’s” foe Dr. Evil, and used in “Cinderella Liberty,” “Frasier,” “Georgia,” “Harry and the Hendersons,” “It Happened at the World’s Fair,” The Parallax View,” and many more; the DigiCom Building from “Disclosure;” the Alaskan Way Viaduct used for a high-speed chase in “Assassins;” the Elliott Bay/Washington State Ferries used in “Disclosure” and “Tugboat Annie;” the monorail that Elvis rode in “World’s Fair;” the Triangle Pub used in “Get Carter;” the Waiting for Interurban statue used in “Say Anything;” Alki Beach used in “Sleepless in Seattle,” “American Heart,” and “Life or Something Like It;” the Fremont Troll used in “10 Things I Hate About You;” Safeco Field used in “Life or Something Like It;” Seattle Center used in “Cinderella Liberty,” “Scorchy,” the 100th episode of “Frasier” and more; Pike Place Market used in “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Fabulous Baker Boys,” and others. Seattle has certainly been an extremely popular movie location! It’s an incredibly beautiful city with a wide variety of sights.

In addition to our movie “tour,” we also saw the Experience Music Project at Seattle Center.

Dahlia Bakery in Seattle, Washington - Round America 50-State Trip.
Dahlia Bakery in Seattle, Washington – Round America 50-State Trip.

Dahlia Bakery for lunch and three (3) pieces of pie.  Best in Seattle, and certainly among the best of the trip.

For lunch, we visited the Dahlia Lounge and Bakery — home of what is widely regarded as the best pie in Seattle — Triple Coconut Cream Pie. The Triple Coconut Cream Pie was excellent, as was the Bing Cherry Chocolate Pie and the Blueberry Brown Sugar Pie. This was the best pie in Seattle and among the best pie on the trip.

Charlie and Spencer.

One of these guys is a famous photographer of rock stars.  The other one rides in a Radio Flyer wagon with a special infant seat. 

While we were enjoying our three pies, we saw the cutest little guy ride by in his Radio Flyer Wagon with a special child seat. We met one-year-old Spencer and his dad, Charlie. Spencer just enjoyed his first birthday on June 19, so he is exactly a week older than Miss Madison. Spencer enjoyed his Dahlia’s cookies as much as we enjoyed our pie.

We had a nice chat with Charlie, and we came to learn that he is a photographer. Charlie has taken photos of a wide variety of rock groups and performers over the years, and his photos have appeared many times “on the cover of a Rolling Stone” magazine. We probably drove Charlie crazy with all the questions we asked. He really enjoys his art, and he told us that he has enjoyed too many of his clients to name one favorite. He almost always enjoys his projects, but he did indicate that Kenny G was his least favorite client. His next big project was with Garrison Keeler’s Prairie Home Companion.

Charlie is a really talented big-time photographer! And Spencer is the cutest — big smile and wonderful laugh! What a treat it was to meet Charlie and Spencer! Here’s a link to one of Charlie’s photos — http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/bigphoto.asp?gid=7313&s=11&e=15&seq=11&cf=&bc=&afl=frnd

Pioneer Square Building in Seattle, Washington where my company had an office.
Pioneer Square Building in Seattle, Washington where my company had an office. Round America 50-State Trip.

Pioneer Square building where I used to have a company office.

After lunch, pie, Spencer and Charlie, we saw the sights in Pioneer Square — the old part of Seattle. It’s a beautiful area with great old buildings. I was CEO of a company with a division in Seattle a few years back, and our office was in one of the great Pioneer Square buildings on Yesler Way.

We saw the most unusual national park we have seen — a storefront in the Pioneer Square area — Klondike Gold Rush National Park. We drove by Smith Tower. It was the fourth tallest building in the world in 1914. We visited Waterfall Park in Pioneer Square.

Soon after leaving Seattle, near the town of Arlington, we saw a herd of wooden cows out in a field. I stopped to take a photo. We have no idea what the story was with this, and we have not been able to get any information on it.

We met a lot of nice people today. Tom (not Hanks) came to our aid as we searched for the houseboat that Tom Hanks called home in “Sleepless in Seattle.” Heidi helped us at Dahlia’s. Nathan took care of us at Comfort Inn.

Then we had a ball tonight at dinner when we met just about everyone working at and eating in the Olive Garden restaurant in Bellingham. Hostesses — Summer, Katy, Emily; our excellent waiter — Deran; Culinary Assistant — Mr. Josh; Manager Kevin; waitress Alisa; customers Mary Ann, Guy, Suzanne, and Glen (the Canadians), Candy, Laura Lynn, and Jamie. Deran has given us some great spots in Nevada to visit when we take our next trip Round America, and the Canadians suggested several pie places between here and Vancouver. Then when we returned to the hotel after dinner, Nathan had two Bellingham area suggestions for great pie.

If the people we’ve met so far are any indication, Bellingham must be a special town!

The thought for the day is how special it is to be able to bring a smile to the faces of others. We’ve seen it throughout the trip, but it was especially enjoyable tonight in Bellingham.

Random Comments:

Today marked the start of Week 15! Hard to believe. 20,500 miles in the rearview mirror. I’m estimating another 7,000 to go — but it could be as many as 10,000 ahead of us. We’ve burned almost 1,200 gallons of gas. 26 states down and 24 to go. We’ve taken almost 10,000 photos. We’ve probably met 1,500 people.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Seattle Washington — Space Needle — Experience Music Project — Pioneer Square — Dahlia’s Bakery
 

Mooseless in Alaska – Day 97

Mooseless in Alaska

Day 97 – July 6, 2003 – Sunday

We spent a leisurely day in Anchorage before flying back to Seattle.

Seeing a moose (somewhere other than at a zoo) was a goal, so Bozzie Jane researched this, and we drove to a wooded area on the outskirts of town. There we took a walk along a path. We saw a lot of warning signs about bears, but we never saw a bear…and nary a moose.

As we drove back into town, we spotted a Chili’s Restaurant. It’s against our Rules of the Road to eat at chain restaurants, but after two days of bad food at local Anchorage restaurants, we screeched to a stop at Chili’s. The food was great — as it almost always is at Chili’s, and the service was extremely good (Katherine) — as it always is at Chili’s.

The rest of our Anchorage day was spent seeing the sights in and around downtown. Anchorage is small and not very old, so there wasn’t much to see. The highlight was the statue where the Iditarod Dog Sled Race begins each year. We saw Resurrection Point and the Captain Cook statue, and we saw the beautiful flowers in the City Park. Victoria took good care of us at Alaska Airlines and upgraded us to First Class. We also met Alvin and Bob — two security people.

Our flight was especially nice as we sat next to interesting people. I met three children as they boarded, and Elizabeth, Jessica, and Zeke were excited to receive beads. The Senior Flight Attendant, Terri, enjoyed wearing her beads as well. Boz sat next to Gary. He was very kind to send us a photo of a moose that he took while in Anchorage. I sat next to Beth. She saw a moose on the drive to the airport. Everyone saw a moose but us, it seems. We were mooseless in Alaska.

Beth and her husband, John, are adventurous outdoorspeople. She’s a tiny young lady, but she hikes on glaciers, spends weeks with grizzly bears, kayaks in the oceans, and is about to take a mule ride down the Grand Canyon. I rarely talk on planes, but Beth and I talked non-stop. On their travels, Beth and John met some folks who went around the world — took them four years.

On the shuttle to the Doubletree Hotel, we met another flight attendant named Terri, and she now has her beads. Same goes for Jeanna at the front desk.

Random Comments:

I have spent entirely too many hours online and running various programs to try to rid my laptop of a virus that causes annoying popup ads to harass me every time I boot up. I’d bet I have 12 hours invested with no success.

There is a lot to see and do in Seattle, so we may need an additional day. Currently, the schedule calls for us to return to Atlanta on August 17 and then fly to Hawaii.

The lesson for the day is that sometimes the best part of a day can be what doesn’t go as planned. Not seeing a moose in Alaska provided more laughs and enjoyment than we would have had if we hadn’t gone mooseless.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Anchorage Alaska
 

Pack Your Lunch (and Dinner) for Alaska – Day 96

Pack Your Lunch (and Dinner) for Alaska

Day 96 – July 5, 2003 – Saturday

If you come to Alaska, pack your own lunches and dinners. We’re not hard to please. In 96 days of travel, we have been critical about less than five places we’ve eaten. But in Alaska, we have struck out. Each meal has been worse than the one before.

On a more positive note, what we had seen of Alaska is incredibly beautiful and I ‘m sure that we had not even seen the “tip of the iceberg” or glacier.

We started our day with a drive to Earthquake Park, a memorial to the 1964 quake that nearly destroyed Anchorage. Measuring 9.2 on the Richter Scale, this earthquake is still considered the largest and strongest in the history of North America. The trail led to a viewpoint where countless homes and land “fell” into the sea on a Good Friday morning decades ago. It’s always amazing to think that nature mends itself throughout the ages. To look at the beautiful forest, you’d never know that anything so violent took place 40 years ago

Anchorage is the float plane capital of the world.

We drove past downtown Anchorage and across the bridge to see where folks try their skill at catching the huge salmon as they pass under a rapids area at a bridge and make their way through a thin stream to the river beyond. It’s called “combat fishing” because there are times when the anglers are literally shoulder to shoulder in their quest to snag a big one!

A nice man named Joe explained to us that the limit is usually one fish per person, but this season the abundance of salmon has increased the bounty to two. It’s also a rule that the fish have to be caught in the mouth. We witnessed a man release his catch when it wasn’t according to the rules. I asked Joe how anyone would ever know. He said that standing amongst us was most certainly a plain-clothes game warden who was keeping an eye out for the opportunity to slap big fines on fishermen who might break those rules.

Watching the men silently and methodically cast their lines in the water was almost hypnotic?never taking their eyes off the stream or noticing that tourists like ourselves were watching and waiting along with them. We were thrilled to see the fisherman at the end of the line catch a huge salmon, but it wasn’t an easy job. He raced along down the river in his thigh-high waders, allowing the fish to dart and swim, only to reel it in a little closer with each episode. The fish finally tired of this dance and allowed itself to be pulled up onto an island of sorts where the man promptly pulled out his tape measure to record his accomplishment (probably 24″ long).

Boz naturally felt sorry for the poor fish and turned her attention to figuring out which one of the men standing on the bank might be from the game warden’s office. We started to interrogate one man who looked suspicious because he was wearing a T-shirt with the misspelled word “Sammon” plastered across the front. We decided not to bother him. Who knows, there may be a fine for being an annoying tourist! After all, the maps here clearly indicate that wildlife have the right of way.

Our day included a visit to the Statehood Memorial (Alaska is state #49 for the USA — state #26 for the Windsors’ trip Round America). There’s a bust of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Alaska became a state in 1959. Alaska is the largest state in terms of size, but the smallest in terms of people — just 626,932. Anchorage is home to about 250,000 of those folks.

We spent some time at the Saturday Market in downtown Anchorage. It’s a park on the edge of downtown. There were primarily food and souvenir vendors, a few musical groups, and a couple of street performers. Bozzie Jane had an apple covered with caramel sauce ($4.50) and some peanut brittle ($6.00). Everything is really expensive in Alaska! Our hotel is running double what a comparable hotel would be most places in the lower 48. I had a delicious cherry pie from a stand in the market. We met a photographer who specializes in photos of the Aurora Borealis — the “Northern Lights.”

Anchorage is very proud of the hanging baskets that line the streets of downtown. Beautiful baskets and flowers. Next was a scenic drive to Seward and the Gulf of Alaska — about 125 miles. There was certainly some beautiful scenery, though most of the trip was under heavy gray skies. We saw mountains that descend right down to the water, snowcapped peaks, and beautiful green valleys. We detoured off the road a few miles to see the Exit Glacier and Resurrection River. Exit Glacier is the only area of Kenai Fjords National Park that is accessible by car. It is one of 35 glaciers that flow off the vast Harding Icefield. The Icefield is the largest in North America, and it remains as a 300 square mile vestige of the last ice age.

There wasn’t much to see in Seward other than the Gulf of Alaska. We saw what may be the World’s Largest Knife near Seward.

Tonight, we drove around downtown Anchorage until we spotted the largest crowd. Phyllis’ Cafe and Salmon Bake. The service was almost nonexistent. I was served salmon that was burned and full of bones, Uncle Ben’s white rice that was overcooked, canned corn served in a plastic bowl that was sitting in the middle of my plate on top of the salmon and rice, and a hamburger bun as “bread.” Oh, I forgot to mention that the starter salad had a plastic container of salad dressing nestled nicely on top of the greens, right in the middle of the plate! Boz settled for a Caesar Salad that was served after I had my main course. It was lettuce and big giant hunks of bacon, served with the same hamburger bun. $40. Really bad. Even the water tasted bad. And our table was filthy — wiped with a horribly dirty rag that was used to wipe every other table. But the place was packed. The best meal in Alaska will be the one we had in-flight on Alaska Airlines. I didn’t eat, and Bozzie reports that her meal was far better than at any of the places we had eaten in Anchorage. Anchorage seems like a very nice, quiet place, but they just seem to have a problem with food. We saw one closed restaurant after another as we drove around here. We wondered why. Now we know.

I’m afraid Phyllis Cafe and Salmon Bake will just edge out Gwennie’s (also in Anchorage) for the Worst Dinner Award. We figured the only reason lunch wasn’t bad is because we skipped lunch.

The lesson we learned for about the fifth time today is to never assume a restaurant will be good based on the number of cars in the parking lot.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Anchorage Alaska — Earthquake Park — Combat Fishing — Alaska Statehood Memorial — Saturday Market in Anchorage — Seward Alaska — Exit Glacier — Phyllis Cafe and Salmon Bake
 

Sun Always Shines in Alaska – Day 95

Sun Always Shines in Alaska

Day 95 – July 4, 2003 – Friday

The Fourth of July in Anchorage, Alaska. State #26 on our trip. We flew Alaska Airlines from Seattle to Anchorage. It is 2,400 miles by car with not much to see but more trees, so we decided to fly when we planned the trip. We’ve now traveled by car, bus, trolley, boat, ferry, fire engine, train, and plane.

Before we left Seattle, we had an opportunity to meet some of the people at the Science Fiction Convention at the Doubletree Hotel near the Seattle Airport. Interesting folks. I spoke with Axel Moeller, a writer and illustrator, and Lauryn, a costume designer. Most of the attendees of the convention are science fiction fans who are really into this. Many of them like to wear costumes. Different.

Curtis took care of us at Alaska Airlines. Upgraded to First Class for a mere $50. Very pleasant flight. Boz inhaled our family friend’s latest novel, “Isabel’s Daughter.” She couldn’t put it down, so we think Judi Hendricks has another bestseller on her hands!

Anchorage is clean and nice. Quiet place. Much smaller than I anticipated — only 250,000 population. Alaska doesn’t seem particularly patriotic — very few flags. We saw no sign of fireworks anywhere. When you think about it, when could they set them off? It doesn’t ever get dark at night during July, so fireworks are probably not high on the celebration list.

Al and Mary Ann from Tampa, Florida sat behind us on the flight, and then we ran into them again at our hotel. Johnny, Myra, and Maile were especially nice at the hotel when we checked in. They told us about several things that most tourists would probably miss, so we have added some specific things to our must-see list. We also met Luke.

Gwennie’s was recommended for dinner. Not good. My fish was obviously frozen; the corn was canned; and the bread was strange. I ordered an Apple Dumpling for dessert, and it wasn’t very good either. We were really looking forward to some good Alaska seafood. Maybe tomorrow.

We took red, white, and blue pies (Cherry, Apple, and Blueberry) back to the folks at the front desk at the hotel because they joked that we should bring them some pie.

The sun was fairly low in the sky about midnight, but our room faced west, and there was bright light shining around the curtains all “night.” We propped various things against the curtain throughout the night in an effort to minimize the bright sunlight that invaded the room. Different.

The lesson of the day is one we’ve learned before: the weather can have a major impact on sightseeing. This is, however, the only time that bright sunshine was a problem.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today: 
Anchorage Alaska — Gwennies Restaurant
 

Writing in Tacoma – Day 94

Writing in Tacoma

Day 94 – July 3, 2003 – Thursday

Today was a writing day. I spent the day in Tacoma and Seattle just writing and working on the website updates. I added photos to most of the days since June 27.

The staff of the Comfort Inn was really delightful. Fatima was the General Manager, and she has personality plus! Leehanna was the Desk Clerk there this morning, and I enjoyed speaking with her.

I did go see the Western State Mental Hospital today; it was recommended by Desiree as the most unique sight to see in the Tacoma area. Photography was not allowed. Western State Hospital is an infamous facility where movie star Frances Farmer was allegedly raped, shocked, and brutalized. See http://www.cchr.org/art/eng/page34.htm for the story. I was also told that Stephen King spent some time there to do research. It certainly ranks as one of the more unusual places to visit on the trip. I was pleased that the radio folks from South Bend, Indiana didn’t call me for another interview today.

I saw Fort Steilacoom in Tacoma.

I went to the airport and picked up the sweetest, most beautiful, and most wonderful woman in the world, my lovely wife and ace navigator, Bozzie.

It is just 60 miles or so from Tacoma to Seattle, so it didn’t take long to get there. It did, however, take five calls to the Marriott Courtyard on Westlake in Seattle to finally get the directions needed to get to their hotel. I made three laps of about 20 miles. The service was so bad at the Marriott that I checked out within an hour. A faceless Marriott person named Jerry is the rudest person I have ever come in contact with at a hotel. Marriott Courtyard on Westlake in Seattle — avoid it.

So, we moved to the Doubletree Hotel at the Seattle-Tacoma airport. Huge hotel, and the staff is really nice. As an extra added plus, there was a big Science Fiction Convention taking place at the hotel.

I met Mary at the hotel. She was a flight attendant for Delta. She was on the way to South Bend, Indiana to spend the Fourth of July with her husband.

When training salespeople and customer service people over the years, I have always stressed the importance of being nice to customers and prospective customers.  People like to do business with people they like.  I believe it is the most important lesson in salesmanship or customer service.  The lesson of the day is to never hire a Jerry; never allow a rude person to work in sales or customer service. Some people do not deal with questions well. Some people do not deal with stress well. Some people are rude to everyone. Those people do not belong in customer service positions.

Random Comments:

Bozzie Jane and I fly to Anchorage tomorrow!

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Port Angeles Washington — Olympic National Park — Hurricane Ridge — Olympic Game Farm — Sequim Washington — Port Townsend Washington — Port Townsend Pie Co. — Tacoma Washington
 

More Trees – Day 93

More Trees

Day 93 – July 2, 2003 – Wednesday

This was one of the least eventful days on the road thus far. Western Washington simply isn’t an action-packed area. Mainly trees. Literally. There is little in this area but the big Olympic National Park, and about all it has is trees and more trees. The day’s travels took me from the trees in Port Angeles to the trees in Tacoma, Washington — beside the trees on Highway 101 most of the way.

Dan McGrath of EZ-103 in Palm Springs called this morning for our regular 7:11 am Wednesday radio show. We talked about Cape Flattery, the Kinetic Sculpture Race, and Marionberry Pie.

I met Erin, Cassie, and Anika at the Red Lion Hotel. Nice ladies. Erin and I met by phone when I made the reservation.

Port Angeles is a pretty place. The city has extremely well done murals all around town. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada is just a short ferry ride across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so there is a lot of water traffic to and from Canada. Darrell and I met at a gas station in Port Angeles. He is of Indian descent.

From Port Angeles, I drove up into the mountains of Olympic National Park to Hurricane Ridge. This had been highly-touted for its panoramic views. The view was spectacular…but you can see just so many mountains covered with trees. After 93 days of sightseeing, I’m afraid trees just don’t do much for me. I would much prefer a giant chicken or something like the world’s largest albino armadillo.

I did finally buy the annual pass to the National Parks. I SHOULD have known to do this when I hit the first park, as I have long since spent the $50 cost of the pass. The pass is good for 13 months. It is a must-have on a trip like this. I never realized there were 380 national parks, that the national parks have so much to offer, and that many places are national parks that I never thought of as “parks.” Ranger Betty was happy to take my Amex for the $50. She wouldn’t give me a dime’s worth of credit for all the parks I’ve already seen, so I didn’t give her any beads.

There are a number of paths that one can hike in and around Hurricane Ridge, but the terrain is very steep, and after yesterday’s hike down and up in the rainforest at Cape Flattery, I didn’t even consider more hiking today. Boz and I aren’t big outdoorspeople — not into hiking and camping. We prefer staying in hotels and driving near the sights and then enjoying a leisurely walk to see them. We probably wouldn’t be happy living in Washington or Oregon where the rugged outdoors provides so much of the available recreation. I did get a few wonderful photos at Hurricane Ridge.

I visited the Olympic Game Farm in Sequim. I chose to visit because my understanding was that this was a refuge for animals that had been used for entertainment purposes. I was anxious to support such a noble cause — taking care of animals cast off from carnival sideshows and the like.

Rather than finding animals running wild, I saw animals pinned up in spaces that I felt were way too small, and many were continually shaking their heads — almost crazily — to try to dislodge the ever-present flies. It took five attempts to take a photo of an exotic deer as it was continually trying to shake the flies off. I couldn’t pass through one gate where an elk was shaking its huge antlered head like it was crazy; I was afraid it would bash the car. Most of the animals had been “trained” similar to Pavlov’s dog; when they saw a new car, they automatically came up looking for food. I don’t know if other wild animal parks are like this as I have never been to one before. I just don’t believe any animal should be mistreated, and I feel pinning an animal up in a small space is mistreatment. Monkey Jungle in Florida was very well done, but in my opinion, these folks at Olympic Game Farm have way too many animals in way too small a space.

It turns out the Beebe family, owners of the Olympic Game Farm, used to train animals to be in the movies — big difference from being folks who take in animals that were cast-offs from carnivals as I had heard.

I left Sequim in a bad mood, though I did enjoy seeing the lavender fields.

Port Townsend, Washington perked me right up, though. I detoured off 101 to see this beautiful waterfront town, and I thoroughly enjoyed walking around and seeing the area. The downtown is filled with wonderful 1880’s era brick buildings, and every building is occupied with a business (unlike most downtowns we’ve seen) — mainly tourist-oriented restaurants and shops. I had a delicious Meatloaf Sandwich at the Port Townsend Pie Co., and the Cherry Pie was excellent. It was made with local organically-grown cherries, and Jeani (the pie lady) told me that a little vinegar is her secret to a really light crust. Marionberry Pie is her biggest seller, and for a brief time each year, she makes a Watermelon Concord Grape Pie that she says is spectacular.

I saw the World’s Largest Orca Whale on a Trailer in Port Townsend. As they say in the biz, slow news day.

I met “Dimples” and Tara at a gas station as I was leaving Port Townsend. Tara asked about Mardi Gras.

The rest of the day was spent driving the rest of the way to Tacoma. Check your road atlas, and you’ll see the drive is along the big bay that dips down into Washington state. Except for an Indian reservation with perhaps 100 fireworks stands, there was little to see but trees and water. I’ve got to ask someone what the deal is with all these fireworks stands at the Indian reservations. Perhaps the Indians have an exclusive on fireworks in Washington.

As I was pulling into the parking lot of the Comfort Inn in Tacoma, I was thinking that today certainly wasn’t one of the best days. Then I walked in the hotel and met Fatima, Desiree, and Krystin of the Comfort Inn. Delightful ladies and funny. We exchanged stories for a half hour or more. Desiree suggests the Western State Mental Hospital as the most unique place to see in Tacoma, so I will plan to go there tomorrow. Fatima suggested the plant that makes the Almond Rocha candies. Krystin was just chewing on ice and rolling her eyes at all the suggestions, but she did endorse the mental hospital visit. Desiree says some famous people have been there and some strange things have happened there. I’m not sure if Krystin thinks the mental hospital will make an interesting place for me to see…or whether she figures it’s a place where I belong.

I have been disappointed lately that there was no great revelation at the end of each day when I asked myself what we had learned today. I learned some geography, I guess. I confirmed that it is good to pay $50 for an annual national park pass at the start of a trip Round America, but Day 93 of 148 days should be better late than never. I was reminded how much it bothers us to see animals in questionable conditions. I was reminded that I do love great pie. I was reminded that something can happen when you least expect it to brighten your day.

Random Comments:

We met two folks from the area today “virtually.” They saw the PT Cruiser on the road and emailed to say hi. Crystal Maden and Phil Shoemaker. We get these from time to time, and it’s always an extra treat to meet people this way.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Port Angeles Washington — Olympic National Park — Hurricane Ridge — Olympic Game Farm — Sequim Washington — Port Townsend Washington — Port Townsend Pie Co — Tacoma Washington
 

Trees Trees and More Trees — The Evergreen State – Day 92

Trees Trees and More Trees — The Evergreen State

Day 92 – July 1, 2003 – Tuesday

Astoria, Oregon to Port Angeles, Washington today — on Highway 101 almost the entire way.

I saw a lot of trees today — Washington is full of them. The welcome sign said: “Washington — The Evergreen State.” Good motto.

I saw the northwesternmost point in the Continental United States, I think. Other sights today were the Astor Tower, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, a lot of trees, several lighthouses, the World’s Longest Beach, lots of trees, the World’s Biggest Frying Pan, the World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame, and a whole lot of trees.

I drove around Astoria before crossing the bridge to Washington State ? The Evergreen State. The big sight to see is the Astor Column (I’ve also seen it called The Astoria Column). It is a tower overlooking the Columbia River on Coxcomb Hill. The 125-foot tall column was built in 1926 with financing by Vincent Astor, the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor (the first millionaire in America), and the Great Northern Railway. It was built to commemorate the city’s role in the Astor family’s business history. It stands atop 700-foot tall Coxcomb Hill, so it is way up there. The Column includes an interior spiral staircase that leads to an observation deck at the top. There is a fabulous view from the top of the hill at The Astor Column.

There is detailed artwork covering the entire Column. The brochure calls it a “spiral frieze” (which I mistakenly thought was a treat at Dairy Queen), and it is almost seven feet wide, and 525 feet long. Painted by Electus D. Litchfield and Attilio Pusterla, the mural shows the early history of Oregon with a focus on Astoria’s role including Captain Gray’s discovery of the Columbia River in 1792 and the Lewis & Clark Expedition. I was able to get a good closeup of the detailed artwork, but I guess only the painters and a few birds get to see it all because the mural is on the outside of a 125-foot tall column atop a 700-foot hill.

I was interested to learn that at the time of his death in 1848, John Jacob Astor was the wealthiest person in the United States, leaving an estate estimated to be worth at least 20 million dollars. According to the latest Forbes rankings, he would be worth $110 billion in today’s dollars, making him the fourth wealthiest person in American history.

I saw some Victorian homes in Astoria. The most impressive was the Flavel House Museum. This home was built in 1885 by Captain George Flavel, a Columbia River bar pilot and the area’s first millionaire. This is a magnificent example of Queen Anne-style architecture with period furnishings and artwork, and it sits on an entire city block. It is a gorgeous home, but I bet it could be really spooky-looking at Halloween.

I then drove over the looong bridge between Astoria, Oregon and the coastline of Washington state near Ilwaco. State #25 for us. Did I mention that the Welcome to Washington sign said Washington is the “Evergreen State?”

I stopped at the Visitor Center at the Washington border, and Jiggs was very helpful. He was a fountain of information. I asked him about all the trees, and he told me more than I ever needed to know about trees…but I enjoyed it.

The Washington coastline near Ilwaco is very beautiful.

In the town of Chinook, I passed by Washington’s first salmon hatchery — established in 1893.

Ilwaco is the Centennial Murals City, so I photographed a couple of the murals. Since 1986, 18 Pacific County walls have become canvases for colorful and historical murals. The murals, which are the work of 14 artists, string from Tokeland to Chinook to Ocean Park and were painted to commemorate the Washington State Centennial in 1989.

I walked along the shore to the North Head Lighthouse in Ilwaco. I was able to take some good photos of the coastline and the North Head Lighthouse.

Just down the road was the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center which was a work in progress. It had artists’ renderings of what the displays would be like. There wasn’t much more to see. Surely they were running way behind schedule. The Lewis and Clark Expedition left in 1803, so 2003 is the bicentennial, and half of 2003 was gone when I visited on July 1, 2003. The folks out west can be glad that those operating the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center were not the ones leading the expedition as the west may have never been settled.

I got a photo of the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse in Ilwaco. The only thing this area has more of than lighthouses is trees.

Long Beach, Washington had a number of interesting and enjoyable sights. In addition to some nice trees, the World’s Longest Beach is in appropriately-named Long Beach, Washington. I walked down the beach a bit so I could say I had truly been there. I took a photo of the sign that says “world’s longest beach” and a photo of the beach that goes on forever. It looks like it really could be the world’s longest — we know some cities, states, and countries are prone to exaggeration.

Then I met Sharon and Kay at the World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame. The World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame is the only American Museum dedicated exclusively to the history of kites, kitemakers and famous kite fliers. I had never stopped to think that there were famous kite fliers other than Benjamin Franklin.

The major attraction that I went to see in Long Beach was Marsh’s Free Museum. W.W. Marsh, Sr. went broke raising rutabagas is North Dakota, so he moved to Long Beach, Washington and opened a candy shop and ice cream store. A few years later when the passenger liner Admiral Benson went aground in the fog near Cape Disappointment, the enterprising Wellington Marsh, Sr. sensed a business opportunity and hurriedly opened a temporary hamburger stand to feed the curious onlookers. It was a beginning that would have Marsh return to the Peninsula in 1935, after owning a tavern in Gray’s River. Marsh’s Free Museum was born. Marsh’s Free Museum was originally known as Marsh’s Seashell Factory and Antiques from 1937 to 1952. Originally across the street from its current location, Marsh’s Free Museum soon became known as a place that might purchase that weird stuff found when cleaning out the attic.

One of Marsh’s Free Museum’s many advertising slogans is “a place where troubles are forgotten and laughs and smiles are free.” I laughed and smiled.

If you want to see a shrunken head (one of three authentic specimens on the West Coast), or a complete human skeleton (found in a closet at Marsh’s), Marsh’s Free Museum is the place to visit. How long has it been since you’ve gazed into the eyes of a Yak, a Lioness, a Seca, or a Russian Boar? These are just a few of the hundreds of stuffed and mounted animals that adorn the wall or watch from their posts in the rafters. Known for America’s largest collection of glass fishing floats, one as large as a beach ball, the Museum is also home to a world class collection of sea shells. And to impress this point, more than 1,000,000 free sea shells are given to visitors every year. From the bizarre; a two headed calf or an eight legged lamb…to the old and unusual; mechanized antique gaming machines and peepshows, there is no end to the marvels one uncovers in every nook and cranny. Where else can you watch a peep show, play baseball, have your fortune told, shop for antiques, stretch your imagination, even test your love quotient? From petrified dinosaur dung to a 1940 “Wendell Wilkie for President” poster and a human tape worm in a bottle, if you haven’t seen it at Marsh’s, then, you haven’t stayed long enough…. It was my kind of place!

I met Don and Dan at Marsh’s. I met Yvette and Rebekah just across the street at the world’s largest frying pan. I also visited Long Beach’s Lewis & Clark memorial.

The Hungry Harbor Grill in downtown Long Beach had good clam and chips and slaw for lunch.

I met Randy at a gas station in Long Beach. He gave me a pen as a thank you for buying gas gift, so I took his photo and gave him a bigger tip than I would have given had I not received a free ballpoint pen. I am about out of beads. Boz ordered more, and she will be bringing them when she returns to the trip in Seattle.

There was a fairly pretty blue sky today, so I was able to get some nice coastline photos.

South Bend, Washington had a sign proclaiming it to be “Oyster Capital of the World.”

I saw a lot of Christmas trees today. Pointy-top evergreens.

A sign just outside Raymond announced that I had entered the Raymond Wildlife Heritage Sculpture Corridor. I?d never heard of this. I discovered that steel sculptures of wildlife and people have been placed along Highway 101, State Route 6, and throughout downtown Raymond. The sculptures were designed by local artists in 1993 to reflect the heritage of the area. Loggers, Native Americans, elk, and bear are some of the subjects portrayed. I continued to see them as I drove along, some more elaborate than others. There were a lot of them.

Olympic National Park was on the drive today. Talk about a lot of trees!!!

Humptulips. Funny name. There is a town named Humptulips, and I drove past it. I did some Internet research about the name. The name Humptulips may have come from a local Native American language, meaning “hard to pole,” referring to the difficulty local Native Americans had poling their canoes along the Humptulips River. According to other sources the word means “chilly region.” Another possibility is that Humptulips was the name of a band of the Chehalis Tribe. So, no one seems to know for sure where the name came from.

The largest spruce tree is supposedly in the Quinault Recreation Area. I guess I saw it. There were too many trees to be absolutely sure, but I am confident that I at least saw the top of it. Lake Quinault is the “Valley of the Rain Forest Giants,” and the Big Spruce Tree is one of them. The World’s Largest Spruce Tree has a circumference of 58 feet 11 inches, a diameter of 18 feet 9 inches and it is 191 feet tall for a total of 922 American Forestry Association (AFA) points. A very large tree near Seaside, Oregon has claimed to be the United States largest spruce tree; it has 902 AFA points. The American Forestry Association declared them close enough to be CO-champions. But a little bigger is still bigger. Those darned folks in Seaside!

I stopped to powder my nose in Forks, Washington. Dawn said “I like your necklace” as we passed on the street. She became the proud owner of her own beads. Cody and Andrew liked the flames on the PT Cruiser.

The Forks Timber Museum had a major collection of saws and a logger memorial with a giant logger wooden statue. The museum displays exhibits depicting local history dating back to the 1870’s. It was constructed in 1990 by the Forks High School carpentry class. The signs say the 3,200 square foot building “provides a fascinating look back into the local history of the timber industry.” The displays include an ancient cross-cut saw, chain saws used by lumbermen, a bunkhouse showing where they slept and how they lived, and books and videos of who these men were and what they did. Outside, there’s a memorial garden. There’s even a fire lookout tower and nature trails. A fitting stop on a day with trees, trees, and more trees.

I saw tree stumps left after trees had been harvested. I saw many of these today, and it looked to me like the land was not being managed properly. One of our online travelers emailed to advise me that this practice was proper, and that the stumps would be removed after they served their purpose. I did note that the professional timber companies posted signs along the highway to show how the forests are managed.

The rest of the day was a search for the northwesternmost point in the Continental United States. I had been to the southeasternmost and southwesternmost points, and I hoped to add northwest and northeast.

I went to La Push, Washington because some research indicated it could be the westernmost spot. I then made my way to Cape Flattery.

I saw the famous Running Fish Statue in Clallam Bay, Washington. I saw the boat in harbor and the Makah Indian Museum in Neah Bay, Washington.

I ultimately saw something that very few people have seen — Cape Flattery — what I choose to believe is the northwesternmost point in the Continental United States. The Trail was built by the Makah Indian Tribe with two Federal grants. It provides a view of waves crashing against rocky shores and of Tatoosh Island, a former Makah fishing and whaling camp, and lots of trees. I was told that visitors can sometimes catch a glimpse of puffin, sea otters, seals, gray, orca and humpback whales and other marine life.

It was a very beautiful spot, but it was a long drive and a LONG hike to get there and back. As I entered the trail, I saw a family of five heading back to their car. I asked if it was worth the hike, and the parents said yes while the teenage children all rolled their eyes in unison. I don’t recommend it for the normal tourist — only for crazy folks like me who want to say they were at the northwesternmost point. I kept driving and driving and driving to get there, and I finally reached a parking area and a sign. It was then a 22-minute hike down to the end of Cape Flattery, and a little longer uphill on the return through the rainforest.

It was really beautiful there. I was able to get some wonderful photographs, including the Cape Flattery Lighthouse.

Then I photographed a gorgeous orange sunset at Cape Flattery. I was able to photograph it from several vantage points — some of the best sunset photos from the trip. I especially enjoy “chasing the sun” at the end of the day when there are a few clouds in the sky to make the sunsets more dramatic.

I may have actually failed in my plan to visit the four “most” points. There are conflicting reports about the westernmost, and I lost my sheet with the information, and I couldn’t get anyone on the cell phone to help. I had been at Cape Blanco, Oregon (one of the claimants to be the westernmost point), but I had read that a place in Washington was actually westernmost. So, I looked at the map and visited two of three Indian reservations that are far west — La Push and Cape Flattery near Neah Bay. I checked Yahoo, and it appears the third Indian reservation could have the westernmost point — Cape Alava. Disappointing. It was getting dark after Cape Flattery, and I never even saw a sign for Cape Alava. I will say, however, that a number of sources say that Cape Flattery is the westernmost spot, so I’m goin’ with it.

I saw more firework stands on the Indian reservations here than I’ve seen in the rest of the country. I stopped at Ill Eagle Fireworks.

Random Comments:

Washington is state #25, though the trip is 75% behind us.

Today marks the start of Week # 14, and the fourth month of the trip. I’d like to say April 1 seems like it was just yesterday, but it is tiring to travel this much.

I haven’t mentioned it lately, but I am always on the lookout for flags everywhere I go. I usually take a number of flag photos each and every day. I have done a good job of getting a photo of a license plate in every state as well as a good selection of flag photos from each state.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Astoria Oregon — The Astor Column — Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center — Long Beach Washington — Worlds Longest Beach — World Kite Museum and Hall of Fame — Marsh’s Free Museum — Worlds Largest Frying Pan — Raymond Wildlife Heritage Sculpture Corridor — Worlds Largest Spruce Tree — Forks Timber Museum — Running Fish Statue — Cape Flattery
 

Life is Filled with Possibilities – Day 91

Life is Filled with Possibilities

Day 91 – June 30, 2003 – Monday

Day 3 on the Oregon coast — traveling Highway 101 from Lincoln City to Astoria.

Today I saw the very special Drift Creek Covered Bridge. I enjoyed a great breakfast and Marionberry Pie at the Otis Cafe. I saw a couple of lighthouses. I toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I hiked out into a rainforest to see a 319-foot waterfall. I enjoyed more beautiful Oregon coastline. And the driving day ended at the very early hour of 5 pm, so I had a chance to do some website work for the first time since leaving Ryan’s home.

The Drift Creek Bridge has a story, so I had to go. The bridge was built in 1914, and it is Oregon’s oldest existing bridge. The truss structure is of the Howe type, and was originally constructed for a cost of $1,800. Like many wooden bridges, it was covered to extend its usable life past 9 years to about 80 years, the cover keeping the huge truss timbers dry and subject to far less rapid deterioration. In 1997, the Lincoln County Commissioners determined that the bridge’s deteriorated condition was dangerous and required condemnation and demolition.

It was then that Laura Sweitz and her husband, Kerry, believing that “Life is filled with possibilities” (a motto that now hangs from the bridge) asked for a chance to save it. The Sweitzes offered to salvage what timber could be saved and reconstruct the bridge on their own land. The County Commissioners accepted, and the process of sifting the good wood from the rotted and infested wood began. They harvested replacement wood from their own land.

Although a lack of funds and volunteer labor frequently delayed the project and disheartened the Sweitzes, the bridge appeared on the cover of a nationwide calendar in 1999, and the Oregon Heritage Commission included the bridge project in its “Heritage Needs Assessment.” The calendar gave their hearts a lift, and a donation of the mammoth main cord logs by Simpson Timber Company furthered their resolve to rebuild the bridge and preserve it for the citizens of and visitors to Oregon.

On July 14, 2001, the bridge was finally re-dedicated. It now sits across Bear Creek just twelve miles from its original home. More than half of the reconstructed bridge was created from original materials, including much of its early graffiti. The Sweitzes gave the bridge and the land upon which it rests to Lincoln County.

I drove east from Lincoln City on Highway 18. Approximately 3 1/2 miles east of the Otis Cafe, I turned south on North Bear Creek Road. I drove approximately one mile, and the Drift Creek Covered Bridge was on the left.

In a story available to bridge visitors, Laura Sweitz admits that while building the bridge she lost hope several times. And each time, something appeared to deliver a “miracle” that enabled her and her family to continue. She kept the faith, and knew “the Lord’s project” would eventually be finished.

Laura Sweitz has said: “There’s no greater joy in your life than knowing you’ve helped somebody in some small way.”

Needless to say, I think it is wonderful that Laura and Kerry Sweitz took the initiative to save this glorious bridge from demolition.

And oh by the way, the Sweitzes also have a wonderful mailbox. It is a miniature version of the Drift Creek Covered Bridge.

Filled with respect for the big effort by the Sweitzes, I drove back down the road to Otis, Oregon and the Otis Cafe. I learned about the Otis Cafe as I researched pie places before the trip, and the Otis Cafe popped up as one of the few places in the country that makes Marionberry pies. It’s a little tiny place in what appears to be the country. It was clear that the cafe had gotten a lot of publicity, because people from all over come there to eat. It was packed the whole time I was there with people waiting to get in. Breakfast was wonderful. The black molasses bread was a pleasant surprise, and the Marionberry Pie was really tasty. It tasted to me like a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry. The pie was filled with fruit and did not have seeds.

The Marionberry is a distinctly American berry with worldwide appeal. Marionberries are harvested from July to early August, and they are grown exclusively in Oregon. A cross between the Chehalem and Olallieberry blackberries, the Marionberry captures the best attributes of both berries and yields an aromatic bouquet and an intense blackberry flavor for which it has become known. This premium quality flavor, described by tasters as “earthy cabernet” and “sweet with notes of tartness,” makes the Marionberry a superb choice for pies, canning, freezing, jams, jellies, and ice creams and has earned the Marionberry an outstanding reputation. It was a treat!

I saw folks on the side of the road selling blueberries as I headed up the coast, so it appears that the blueberries and Marionberries were harvested a little earlier than normal this year as mid July to mid August is the norm.

I spent much of the day exiting the highway to take photos along the Oregon coast. It was an ugly gray day, but I took photos anyway. I visited Cape Kiwanda and drove on the Three Capes Loop. In Cannon Beach, I saw the rock that looks like a big haystack and is appropriately called the Haystack Rock.

In Oceanside, I saw some big rocks close to shore. One had a hole in the middle. I’m sure it has a clever name. I photographed some interesting coves. I saw Pacific City, Manzanita Beach, Neahkanie, Nehalem Valley, Cape Lookout at Netarts Oregon, Cape Lookout State Park, Seaside, and more.

I stopped along the coast at Cape Mears. I wanted to photograph the lighthouse, but it was being restored.

I passed the Tillamook Air Museum. It is a huge building — the world’s largest wooden building. The building is 1,072 feet long, 296 feet wide, and 192 feet high (over 15 stories). It covers over 7 acres, a large enough area for six football fields. The doors are 120 feet high. The buildings was built in 1942 to house eight 242-foot long U.S. Navy blimps. Since 1994, the building has been home to one of the top five privately owned aircraft collections in the country.

I read about a beautiful waterfall near Tillamook, and while it required a hike through a “rainforest,” I was committed to the effort. Munson Creek Falls tumbles 319 feet (higher than the length of a football field), making it the tallest waterfall in the Coast Range.

I turned east from Tillamook looking for Munson Falls. I saw a sign, and I turned onto a gravel road. I came to a fork in the road with no indication of which way to go to Munson Falls. I chose left. The road had BIG potholes. I saw a sign for Munson Creek to the right so I tried it. This could best be described as a dirt road with potholes way out in the boonies. The road became a one-lane road. Ferns and green bushes were up about 15 feet high on the side of the road with big Western Red Cedar and Sitka Spruce trees behind them. After about five minutes, I came to a parking area. A sign said 1/4 mile to the Falls. It was a hike through heavy rainforest. Munson Falls was well worth the effort. It was beautiful to see. I’d never seen anything quite like it before. We’ve seen some waterfalls over the year, but never out in a rainforest like that. As with so many natural wonders, my photos do not do it justice.

As I returned to Tillamook, a sign proclaimed it to be “Land of Many Waters.”

I met a nice couple walking down the street, Mel and Helen. Mel was originally from Georgia. They said I must go to the Cheese Factory and be sure to have a butter pecan caramel ice cream there.

Most of the gas stations in Oregon are full service, so they wash your window and gas you up and usually look for a tip. I gassed up and tipped.

The next stop was one of Oregon’s biggest tourist attractions, The Tillamook Cheese Factory. I enjoyed the tour. It was the best demonstration of cheese making that I have ever seen. It is actually the only demonstration of cheese making that I have ever seen. I met Stephanie, Joey, and Karen in the ice cream area, and I thoroughly enjoyed the caramel butter pecan which I would say is not as good as Cherry Garcia, but my second favorite. Thanks to Mel and Helen for the tip.

When I reached the town of Twin Rocks, I came to a spot where someone was building a covered bridge over the highway. I believe it was for pedestrian traffic. I investigated, and it seems to be for the Twin Rocks Friends Camp and Conference Center, a Christian camp.

This is Lewis and Clark territory, and I took a photo of the end-of-the-trail monument in Seaside. Seaside is a national landmark. This is commemorated with a statue of Lewis and Clark and a reconstructed camp site.

Once again, I saw many beautiful Oregon bridges today, but the Drift Creek Covered Bridge was my favorite.

The Sweitzes and people like them remind us that we can all make a difference in this world if we will just do something. Life is filled with possibilities and opportunities, but we have to take the initiative.

Random Comments:

Astoria is right on the border with Washington, so I will be driving along the Washington coast tomorrow. State #25.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Drift Creek Covered Bridge — Otis Cafe — Cape Kiwanda Oregon — Cannon Beach Oregon — Oceanside Oregon — Cape Mears Oregon — Tillamook Air Museum — Munson Falls — Tillamook Cheese Factory — Seaside Oregon
 

Flatter than a Pancake – Day 90

Flatter than a Pancake

Day 90 – June 29, 2003 – Sunday

I didn’t sleep too well last night. That’s often the way it is for me when I HAVE to be somewhere early the next morning. I woke up several times to check the clock as I didn’t want to be late for my 8:30 am meeting at the Fire Department. I was really excited about getting to see the famous Oregon Dunes in a dune buggy with the Fire Department Rescue Team!

I raced out the door a little after 8. Down the stairs to the car — Jeb’s map and directions in hand. Camera charged and ready. I was flying high!

As I reached the Cruiser, the wind was immediately taken out of my sails. The left rear tire was almost flat. I sat down in the driver’s seat, and it was completely FLAT! I knew instantly that I would never get a special tour of the dunes. The spare for the Cruiser is a little donut tire, and I suspected getting a tire repaired on a Sunday morning in Coos Bay could be a challenge. Jeb had given me everything but a phone number, so I couldn’t even call to see if a later time might work. Very disappointing.

I called Chrysler’s Roadside Assistance Service — hoping someone would come to repair the tire. Bill came, and he put the donut tire on, but his company just did towing and tire-changing. He told me the only place open on Sunday was Wal-Mart.

The guys at Wal-Mart took good care of me. I had a shiny nail in the tire near the edge, so I decided a new tire was by far the safest way to go. The new tire was on at 10:15, and I felt fortunate that the flat had been in a decent-sized town like Coos Bay rather than in one of the many tiny towns that we visit.

I met Christine and Barb while waiting for Bill. I met Barney while Charlie, Jeff, and Jerry repaired his tire at WalMart.

I backtracked to Bandon. Old Town Bandon is very nice. I had an excellent lunch of Fish and Chips at the Bandon Fish Market, followed by unique and very tasty Cheddar Cheese Fudge at Cranberry Sweets. I met two nice couples from Grants Pass, Oregon at lunch; they were both celebrating their anniversaries.

Bill told me I needed to eat at The Pancake Mill in Coos Bay, so I stopped in for a piece of pie when I drove back through. Vickey sold me on her grandmother’s special cake.

I saw the Steve Prefontaine Memorial in Coos Bay, a number of timber mills, the Mill Casino, and the Coos Bay Boardwalk. I saw where a lumberjack competition is held.

It was Lighthouse Day! I drove out to see the Coquille River Lighthouse. I also saw the Umpqua River Lighthouse, the Heceta Head Lighthouse, the old Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

I saw more stunning scenery along the Oregon coastline and many great bridges. Cape Perpetua was especially interesting to see.

The signs in Oregon are small on roadside attractions are. You have to really look closely.

This section of the Oregon coast contains some of the largest oceanfront dunes in the world, ranging up to 500 feet high and forming banks up to three miles deep. I lost the opportunity to see the dunes in a dune buggy with the rescue team, but I was still determined to see some dunes.

I stopped at the Oregon Dunes Interpretive Center in Reedsport. I was advised to backtrack to get to the best spot to take a photo of the really big dunes. I met Dave and Vicky. Dave used to drive a big truck so they saw the country on the interstates. Marion, Nenana, Barb, and Terri helped me at the Interpretive Center. They were very nice ladies, and they asked about the beads, so they heard the whole story about the Floating Neutrinos and a few others. They seemed to really enjoy it, so I enjoyed telling them. Barb said she saw the country hitchhiking and told me to be sure and stop in Gardiner the next town up where there’s only one business still open called the Fox Hole.

As directed, I went back to the Umpqua Dunes Trailhead. The wind was blowing really strong by the time I got to the dunes, so it was a short stop. Shades of Big Bend. I was afraid I would get my eyes hurt again, so I didn’t spend much time. I walked a ways and got a few photos of the big dunes, then back to the safety of the car.

I went to Gardiner with my eyes wide open because Barb sent me. I took photos of several of the closed businesses and the one remaining business in Gardiner. It was a sad-looking place. One business had a pink fluorescent sign that simply said: “We Quit.”

I didn’t see any snow cone stands in this part of the country, but I did see many little drive-through espresso shops, even in the smallest of towns. Except Gardiner.

I gassed up in Florence. It was full-service so I tipped the young man a dollar. I also gave a dollar to a guy who didn’t have enough money to buy cigarettes. He really appreciated it. I did many random acts of kindness on the trip, and I received many random acts of kindness. When we do Round America II, I believe I will add a #11 to the Rules of the Road: Remember to practice random acts of kindness. With it as a written goal, we will be more conscious of it.

A sign in Florence indicated that the Sand Master Park was the world’s first sandboarding park. I stopped to take a look. Snowboarding on sand. 40 acres of private sculpted dunes, “rail slides, and fun boxes.” It actually looked like a lot of fun.

I saw carnivorous cobra lilies — from a distance — in Heceta Beach. The Cobra Lily lures its insect prey with a sweet smell which is inside the leaf opening. Once inside, the insect becomes confused by the many areas that look like exits, and the Cobra Lily gobbles it up. I stopped at the Darlingtonia Wayside to see the carnivorous cobra lilies, but I didn’t actually see them. I just took a photo in the general direction of the cobra lilies because there was a rough-looking character who looked to me like he was pretending to work on a parked car in the very corner of the darkest spot of the parking area right where I needed to walk to go to the observation area. He looked shifty to me, and I didn’t want to risk going near him as there were no other cars there. I think the plant that went wild in the movie “Little Shop of Horrors” must have been a carnivorous cobra lily.

I visited the Devil’s Punch Bowl State Park. The Devil?s Punch Bowl is a very interesting spot where the ocean creates a swirling effect. The ocean has carved out a bowl in the rocks with an opening that waves crash through.

I stopped briefly in Depoe Bay, but it was raining and foggy. This is a whale-watching area, and it has the world’s smallest navigable harbor according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

I checked into the Landmark Inn in Lincoln City. The young lady at the front desk said that the “D” River is the world’s shortest river, so I planned to see it. She gave me directions for Dorey Cove, which is known for its pie. I headed to Dorey Cove for dinner and pie. I saw the “D” River along the way. It flows 120 feet from Devils Lake under U.S. Highway 101 and into the Pacific Ocean, entirely within the city limits of Lincoln City.

I drove a half hour or so to get to the Dorey Cove Restaurant to find that it had closed 11 minutes before I got there.

I drove by the Chinook Winds Casino on the way back toward the hotel. The promotional material for the casino says: “Owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon, the spirit of the Tribe is captured in the decor of the facility. The Casino includes a waterfall flowing to a pond (designed to resemble Euchre Creek, an important area to the Siletz tribe) where “wishers” can toss their coins for good luck and make a contribution to the Tribe’s educational fund. The round lobby and weave design painted on the exterior give tribute to the tribe’s traditional basket weaving techniques. Salmon decorate many of the interior and exterior areas, a nod to the fish that plays a special and important role in the history of the tribe.”

I took a picture of the American Veterans in Desert War Memorial at the Casino. I did not go in to place my patented $100 bet on red because it was almost 9 pm, and I hadn’t eaten.

Lincoln City is a very long town. I don’t know if the casino is the reason they have so many motels and other businesses, but something was going on in Lincoln City. Compared to most of these coastal towns, this was a good-sized one.

I had dinner at Lee’s Chinese Restaurant. It was good. The Chinese food was a little different from what I was accustomed to. Kelly was the waitress. She was excellent with a really nice smile and personality. Lee’s had no pie, but I had a fortune cookie for dessert.

Linda, the desk clerk, was helpful with directions to the covered bridge that I plan to see tomorrow. She had also provided directions to the casino, Dorey Pie Shack, and the shortest river.

I was reminded today that there’s nothing like a flat tire to take the wind out of your sails. I learned that if you have a flat tire on a Sunday morning, do it in a town big enough to have a Wal-Mart.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

 

More Information on the Sights Visited Today:
Bandon Oregon — Coos Bay Oregon — Oregon Dunes Interpretive Center — Sand Master Park — Darlingtonia Wayside — Devils Punch Bowl State Park — Depoe Bay Oregon — Lincoln City Oregon