070923-OREGON COAST 1

Sunday, September 23, 2007

As we bid farewell to the great state of Washington, we enter Oregon and head for the beautiful coastline.

At the most north west tip of the state, just outside of Astoria , is Fort Stevens State Park.
It is large, green, woodsy and handicap friendly. The sites are level and well planned and easy to hook up. Peter is already in explorer mode as he stands by the door waiting for it to open, much like a skydiver waiting for the green light, ready to jump.

Oregon, like many forestry states, is known for their state parks, over 200, and we plan to visit a few more along the coast. Their rates are reasonable and accommodations are comfortable.

After a couple of days at Ft. Stevens, we took a slow scenic drive and enjoyed the beautiful coastline. There were many areas of the coast highway (101) that were great for stopping and enjoying the view (Peter calls these message centers), but some of the small towns were not easy for us to park and stroll. One place in particular, Depoe Bay, “The Smallest Harbor In The World”, seemed like a great place to stop, but we couldn’t find a place for the beast.

The is an obvious absence of Wal-Mart Super centers along the coast but we found a replacement in the form of casinos. They are Vegas-like, but not as large and not about to give Nevada any cause for alarm, but they are RV friendly.

We stayed a couple of nights at the Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, and enjoyed some buffets and a little gambling. Peter was especially impressed with the buffet when he found out it was all you can eat, and he kept nudging me to go back for more of the beef ribs.

The Evergreen Air Museum was about 40 miles inland (McMinnville), but we were anxious to see its main attraction THE SPRUCE GOOSE. You might recall that it was originally displayed in Long Beach, California, next to the Queen Mary, for a few years, and then was gone. I did manage to see the Long Beach exhibit and it was very memorable, so I was happy to see that it had been resurrected to its former status of spectacular. Its new home is a massive and beautiful hanger with a glass wall to show of the plane in a majestic setting. The hanger is as long and wide as its main attraction, and still manages to display about 100 aircraft on the floor space below it. Pretty impressive.
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Peter met a new friend in the gift shop, Lucia, who has 5 dogs of her own. Peter insisted on a picture with her. What a babe magnet he is.

Halfway back to the coast, we stayed over night at the Spirit Lake Casino. After dinner, I thought I’d try to win some of my money back that I left at the Chinook Winds, but they must have seen me coming. Perhaps the next casino will be luckier.