Day 8-10

 We are up on Tuesday and it was raining so we just had to sleep in and read.  We final crawled out of bed, had breakfast, and headed out to Tillamook to see the cheese factory then go on down the coast to see the "Three Capes."  It was amazing to see the factory in process.  They were making sharp cheddar that day.  We worked our way through multiple different kinds of cheeses and choose only 6 different ones to buy.  I found my favorite which is their "Trail Mix" (Smoked cheddar, summer sausage, sharp cheddar, peperoni stick and garlic cheddar). Nothing in it that I would turn away.  We came out of the factory with a little dog barking and raising hell and were so proud of Cassie when we found out it was the dog in the next car.  She was hanging out waiting for us to come back. 

From there we heading down the road to visit the "Three Capes."  This trip is a loop that travels about 50 miles and visits three different capes below the town of Tillamook.    It continued to shower on and off so when we got to Cape Meares we were pleased to find it not raining and we hiked down to the light house.  This light house is one of the oldest on this coast and had the largest first order lens.  We had a great time talking to one of the docents and then hiked back out to the truck just in time to  avoid the next wave of rain.  We visited the other two capes.  To top off this tour of the three capes was a visit to the Pelican Pub and Brewing Company where we sampled two different beers.
 

The trip back up was wonderful for a different reason.  Along the route were sculptures that talked to the difference of those who live in Oregon rather that California.  The blue cow reading we found in front of a preschool.  The two chickens we found along a farmers field.  While taking the picture the highway patrol came up and asked me to move along as I was a danger to people traveling along the road.  We were concerned I was going to get a ticket but that did not happen and we moved along.  When we got to the next town what should we find but another chicken.  Yvonne made me stop so she could get a  picture.  I made sure to pull into a parking lot and she went back to get the picture.  I know that these sculptures are important to someone but they were sure fun and made our trip happier. 

As we were driving back late in the day we found these rocks covered in living plants back lit by the close of a day with the rain beginning to recede. 

We headed back to our little home after a full day.  Had a walk on the beach and watched the moon rise in sky.  It is most interesting to be up at 9:00 and have it still be light out.  It was wonderful to watch the stars to come out and play with Cassie and the ocean.  Then it was time to climb into bed and get ready for the next day. 

Wednesday we were out by 9:00 and headed up to Astoria  and then on to Iron Creek which is on the northeast side of Mount St. Helens.  On the Oregon coast there are a series of  light houses.  This one was probably the most difficult to build.  It took almost two years to construct.  There is almost no room on the rock for anything else other than the light house. 

We continued on up to Astoria where we went to Fort Clatsop, the final stopping point of Lewis and Clark on the Pacific Coast.   After traversing the continent from the St. Louis, surveying and writing reports for President Jefferson, Lewis and Clark ended their journey and built a small fort on a bluff  above a river near the mouth of the Columbia River.  They spent a cold, wet 4 winter months there before they planned to leave and travel by land back home.  A replica of the fort

has been built and the small rooms and open fire pits would not have been very comfortable.  The whole undertaking was amazing.  Yvonne read Stephen Ambrose's  Undaunted Courage recently and provided a running commentary on the adventure of these men. 

We went off across the state to Iron Creek.  We throught that this campground was going to be just off the freeway.  I know that maps work but for some reason I did not check this out.  Iron Creek is not on Google Maps or on our GPS but we have  traveled with maps for a long time so what could go wrong.....

57 miles later we stopped at the ranger station and asked for directions.  We were close (8 miles).  It is a wonder primeval forest on the shoulder of Mount St. Helens.  The rain stopped and waited for us to set up camp and take a small walk.  The rain then held off enough for us to barbeque dinner and sit outside around a campfire.  What a wonderful night.  This forest is an old growth forest and you might have seen thousands of years ago. 

Because the campground was all the way around Mount St Helen's on the back side we were up in the morning early (8:00)  on Thursday and out the door.  Drove around the mountain to see the volcano.  The rain came in and the clouds came down.  As you can see the mountain was hiding from us.  Maybe next time.  It was educational to read about what happened and to see the devastation in the valley. 

When we read and heard about in in the 80's I just through that it was a volcano erupting.  Somewhere I missed that there were three distinct acts that made up this particular eruption.  First there were earthquakes (5.+) that caused the largest landslide in the Americas.  This moved tons of earth off the side of the mountain and weakened the structure of the side of the mountains.  Second, there as a gas eruption that blew out the side of the mountain and spread fine ash and golf ball size balls for miles around.  Third there as a lava eruption that melted all of the snow on the mountain and cause the floods that we read about.  It was a perfect storm and no one could predict. 

As you can see Cassie also is interested in what Yvonne is reading to us from the plaque out of shot.  We packed it up and headed back around the mountain to our trailer.  It rained heavily all the way  so we had dinner in the trailer.  Curled up and hit the hay.