September 13, 2013
Leaving Montana we headed to Washington State and our first stop in Spokane. We were a little nervous about the drive as we were heading through the top of the Rockies but the road turned into a relatively gradual climb. No problems encountered. The trip to Seattle was another story but more about that later.
Spokane was the beginning of our visit to Steve's west coast cousins. Uncle Jim had come to the west coast many years before and had raised ten daughters here. We hoped to see seven of them on the trip. Spokane is a very compact medium sized city surrounded by mountains and a desert. Those of you old enough will remember that it was the home of the 1967 World's Fair, and vestiges are still left over. The middle of the city contains the Peace Bridge and a well developed park. Our first full day there, we visited with cousin Nancy and her family. They live on a lake in Nine Mile Falls and have a lovely home they are in the middle of remodeling. Her and husband Jeff also run a manufacturing business out of their barn. Steve brought a lot of photos and it was a great visit and chance to catch up.
After exploring the Peace bridge and park we continued our usual successful hunt for an ice cream store. Later in the day we dined overlooking the river and Gonzaga University. The next day we headed west to Seattle for a quick stopover. This is where the drive became very interesting. As we crossed the desert and the Columbia River, the road turned into a 12 mile climb with a grade of 8-10%. The RV was up to the task although I did most of it at 25mph.
We had been to Seattle a few times before so made it a brief overnight stop until we started to Vancouver WA, a suburb of Portland Oregon. Steve's cousin Peg and Kelly have lived in the area for many years and we enjoyed visting with them at a delicious brunch hosted by Kelly. It will always be a very memorable part of the trip west.
On one of our side trips we went to a living musuem having a re-enactment of many events at Fort Vancouver. Fort Vancouver was the original nexus of the Hudson Bay Trading Company and the hub of the 19th century fur trade. Unfortunately, the views along the Columbia River were shrouded in clouds and we did not see the majestic Mt Hood which looms over the entire area.
Still waiting for our first view of the Pacific we left Washington and headed to the Oregon coast. The coast is very mountainous with many little inlets, bays and small towns. Our destination was Rockaway Beach, is a popular beach side community. As we arrived we couldn't help but notice the contrast to the east coast. The Cascade Mountains seem to creep right to the ocean and have created many unique rock formations. Wherever there is an open area and shoreline a town has sprung up. To get some of the local flavor we struck off down the coast to Tillamook. Tillamook is a large dairy area and home to the famous Tilamook Cheese Factory, and, of course, an ice cream spot.