Road Trip - June 2025 - Astoria and the Coast

After leaving Portland, we headed to the coast thinking we'd spend the next few days camping on the way back to Port Angeles. Unfortunately, it was the weekend and most of the campgrounds were completely booked and we didn't want to take a chance on either not finding a campsite or wandering for hours until we did. Therefore, we decided to stop for the night at a more remote forest campground east of Tillimook. 

As expected, it wasn't too busy. I got in another campsite workout while Andrew went for a run and we also went for a short hike. 

Back along the coast the next day, we went for a couple beach hikes. 

Not just a sand castle but a whole village! 

We treated ourselves to one more hotel stay in Astoria at the BowLine Hotel and had supper at the Bridgewater Bistro, both of which we always enjoy. It's about a 1km walk along the water between hotel and bistro and the main attraction is the 4-mile long Astoria-Megler Bridge which connects Oregon and Washington. It's the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. 

We spent one more night camping and then still had a little bit of time to spare before catching the afternoon ferry back to Victoria. We stopped at the Elwha Beach Trail just outside of Port Angeles for a short hike. A turkey vulture was quite cooperative for photos; the deer were momentarily cooperative before mama decided she had to protect her babies and they disappeared out of sight. 

All in all, a very good road trip! 

Road Trip - June 2025 - Port Angeles and Point Defiance Zoo

With the political situation going on right now between Canada and the US, we hesitated to take our usual spring road trip to Wyoming. We've always had smooth border crossings via ferry or rail so decided we would go ahead with the trip and make a point of going back and forth on the Coho Ferry. So far so good on the way there. The border agents were the most friendly and pleasant we've encountered! 

We took the afternoon ferry so by the time we stocked up on fresh groceries in Port Angeles, we went to the campground near the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. An evening walk along the water gave us amazing views of Mount Baker and a colourful sunset. 

Dungeness Spit

Mount Baker with Dungeness Spit lighthouse buildings in the foreground.

Enjoying the view.

Colourful sunset

The following day we stopped at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. Upon entering, we immediately got a great view of Mount Rainier! 

Not only is it a great zoo and aquarium but the grounds are beautifully spread out and there are lots of flowers, plants, trees and grassy areas. 

Lazing in the sun!

We got more great views of Mount Rainier as we continued on our journey. Hard to believe we once climbed both Mount Baker and Mount Rainier. It seems so along ago! Which it is! LOL! 

Fall Road Trip 2023 - Astoria to Victoria

It felt good to be getting closer to home! We splurged and spent a lovely evening at the waterfront Bowline Hotel in Astoria and had a great meal at our favourite Astoria restaurant, the Bridgewater Bistro. 

Evening light over the water. From the lounge/restaurant of the Bowline Hotel.

The Astoria-Megler Bridge is 4 miles long and connects Oregon and Washington.
It's the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

Right beside the hotel, we could hear some sea lions. We went out a while later and found this cutie having a nap on a lower level. We assume he got up there when the tide was higher because it was a long way to the water. 

The next morning, a younger looking one was there. I just love the eyes and whiskers. 

Our view during breakfast at the Bowline Hotel.

We took our time driving to Port Angeles, stopping for coffee again at Elixer Coffee in South Bend, another of our favourite places along this stretch of the coast. 

Relaxing in the lobby of the Olympic Lodge in Port Angeles.

It was surprisingly not very busy on the Coho Ferry coming home. All the American Thanksgiving holidayers were probably going the other way. The water looked ready for a very smooth sailing! 

Home is in sight!

Last blog post of the trip is done! No one is more surprised than me that I actually kept up with posts this time and got to the end of all this. The strategy this time was to post as we went, rather than try to group things into categories (e.g. landscape, flowers, animals, etc.). The past few trips where I've tried to do it that way has meant that trip posts never get finished because, once we're home, I'm on to other things. So, moving forward, hopefully I continue to improve the way I do things. 

Despite being sick most of this trip and some of the things we had planned to do not getting done (e.g. overnight backpacking, Andrew paragliding) it was a great trip. We saw such a wide variety of landscape and I'm really happy with some of the photos I got. Things are improving there too!  :-)