Mt St Helens/Seaside Beach/Yachats, OR

May 15-16, 2014.  My first twofer of this blog.  Yesterday was a good, but long day, so I didn't feel like blogging last night.  So, this entry will cover two days.

Yesterday we got up, got dressed, had breakfast, and was on the road about 9am.  When dressing that morning, the zipper on my pants broke. They're convertible pants from REI, so I thought I'd go by a REI store to see what they could do about them.  I found a REI place along the way to Mt St Helens, so we went there first.  Only one small problem; it was a distrbution center, not a store!  So, I still have broken zipper pants.

On to Mt St Helens, about 1.5 hours south of Kent.  Almost there, we found Patty's Place, a restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  Since it was lunchtime, we stopped.  Big Sis had an Elk burger, and I had a regular burger, and both were excellent.  They were famous for their cobblers, so we each got one to go!  The owner was an interesting guy; a logger who said he was approached to be a part of "Ax Loggers", a TV show that I enjoy.  He said he did not do it because the show liked to have a lot of excitement and risky maneuvers, and he said he did not want to take unnecessary risks just for the show.  Now, I don't know if he was telling the truth, but he convinced me that it was true.

On to Mt St Helen.  All I can say is WOW!  That was one huge explosion in 1980.  As they said, the side of the mountain just went away in a matter of about 10 minutes.  Largely snow covered, it was just unbelievable to see how much of the mountain disappeared.  A definite highlight of the trip.

Then south and west towards the coast of Oregon.  We crossed the Columbia River, a huge river that separates Washington and Oregon and traveled to the Oregon Coast.  As always, beautiful green scenery all the way.

We drove through a couple small seaside villages and then came to Seaside Beach.  As the first settled beach in Oregon, it's a neat little place.  We looked at only one lodging place and I was able to talk them down to $75 for the oceanfront room!  It was a nice place and a great bargain.  It was actually a condo, and had a full kitchen, separate bedroom, and oceanfront.  Here's the view through our front window.

I was very tired, and went to bed around 11pm and slept until 8am, the most I've slept on the trip.  That sleep helped today.

After we checked out, we walked out to the beach where razor clam diggers were at work catching raor clams.  I talked to one of them to understand what they were doing, and he explained and showed me some he had caught.  Pretty neat, and convinced me to try some razor clams if possible (I had razor clams and eggs later at the Pigs and Pancakes in town.  Very good!)

We also took some time to walk around in the touristy part of town.  Bar found a thrift shop and picked up a couple of things she liked.  I didn't...

Then south on US 101.  The 101 hugs the coast of Oregon down to the California line, and is one beautiful road on which to travel.  Gary and I rode down this same road in 2008 on our way home from Alaska.  The scenery is stunning, with the road running along the coastline and then meandering inland as it goes south.  Then back to the coast.  Back and forth the entire length of the coast.  It also goes through or by many small coastal towns and villages.  

About 6pm, we were tiring and decided to stop for the night.  In the town of Yachats, we found the Adobe Resort, a very large (for the area) hotel and settled in for the night.  A good meal in the restaurant, and then back to the room for rest and sleep a little later.  

Tomorrow--south to the California State Line.