Rolla To Anacortes: Part One
Leaving Rolla was an inevitability. It is crazy how fast 6 months goes by. Amity has locked down her next contract in Anacortes, Washington. We are headed there, but before we wanted to take advantage of some time off and explore the Oregon and Washington coastline. All in all, it will be a 22-day journey from leaving Rolla until we arrive in our new rental in Anacortes.
Mile: 22,656
Quote of the Blog: “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” - Lao Tzu
Song of the Blog: “Life Is A Highway” - Tom Cochrane
Our mission was to get to Manzanita, Oregon quickly to attend the Holmes/Donahoe Family Reunion. We hopped from Rolla to Kansas City, from Kansas City to Denver, from Denver to Boise and finally from Boise to Manzanita. We were very happy to get to Manzanita, because we knew we would be here for the next 5 days exploring the area with my direct family and my mom’s side of my extended family. My mom has several brothers and sisters, so this is a very large group. We did everything from relaxing on the beach (aka battling the wind), hiking to a beautiful lookout, we took my nephew Brady golfing for his first time and enjoyed deep laughter around several meals. It was amazing to spend some time with my mom, brother, sisters and everyone else. It has been too long since we have seen everyone and this was a great way to reconnect.
Amity and I had a couple solo days after my family left. The first day we went down to Cape Meares. We wanted to explore the Octopus Tree and a lighthouse on the coastline there. The Octopus Tree is a sight to see! The tree is hundreds of years old, with over a half dozen stalks shooting up from a main trunk. Checking our first lighthouse off the list for the trip was also fun. That evening we joining the Kraft family and my Uncle John & his wife Thea for some beer and laughter. This was the last night we were going to be with family for a long time. It was also our last night in Manzanita.
The next morning, we got up early and headed north for the Cannon Beach area. We wanted to explore the Ecola State Park and Indian Beach Tide Pools while the tide was low. We caught it at the perfect time. The parking lot was empty and barely anyone was out walking around the beach. Amity had never seen a Starfish in its natural habitat until this. They were everywhere. We also saw a bunch of little crabs. We saw one blowing bubbles, which we later found out was to help them stay hydrated when they were out of water. Just as quick as we got there, we were headed north. Next stop for the day was Seaside, Oregon.
I had been to Seaside a couple times as a child, so I had a little bit of an idea of what we were getting into. Luckily, we caught it on a Tuesday and the town was relatively quiet. After scoring some mandatory Saltwater Taffy and walking the boardwalk, we found ourselves checking out a theater that has been renovated into a brewery. They still show movies, but we were only there for quick beer and off to the next activity. Really cool spot though! Our next move for the day was to get up to our campsite at the Astoria/Warrenton/Seaside KOA. This was a super nice complex with up to date facilities and more than enough activities for a campground. We got checked in and headed across the street to the Fort Stevens State Park. We found a really cool shipwreck on the beach there. We also found a massive jetty at the most northwestern point of Oregon. It forms the mouth of the Columbia River into the Pacific Ocean. This was a super rad spot!
We finished the evening with a little putt-putt at the KOA. This place is way too nice to think that we are at a campground! Amity gave me a run for my money, but I was victorious. Afterwards, we headed down to the Buoy 9 Restaurant & Lounge. This is a little seafood spot in Hammond, OR. After a solid meal, we walked outside to see a heard of elk quickly scurry off into the woods behind the parking lot. We came to find out these elk are view upon as locals in Hammond. We finished the night with a soak in the hot tub at the KOA. Sadly, it was overrun with screaming kids.
For our last full day in Oregon, we spent our time exploring Astoria, OR. This is such a cool fishing town on the shore of the Columbia River. Best known for playing host to the setting of the movie, The Goonies. We had to check out the house in which they filmed the movie at. We quickly learned the locals are not too stoked on people like us checking it out, so we made quick work of that activity and headed on to some other areas of town. We ended up walking around downtown for a while. Astoria has a lot of rich culture and art, mixed with a gritty fishing culture. This makes for a very unique town. We enjoyed some beers at the Astoria Brewing Company. They have a beautiful patio looking out over the boardwalk and the piers along the Columbia River. The sounds of Seagulls are now all too common for us. After heading back to the campground for a quick laundry session (which ended up being an expensive session as we left a bag with a massage gun and an alpaca flax seed bag when we left), we headed out to the jetty we found for dinner. We found an epic spot to watch the waves crash into the rocks, the sun set & make some dinner with the Jetboil (Mountain House Chicken & Dumplings).
After packing up and getting the car ready for the next section of our adventure in Washington, we took some time in the morning to explore through the Columbia River Maritime Museum. This was a really cool facility. They had several boats and interactive displays inside the building to make your feel like you are driving the boats. It was also filled with tons of rad artifacts, historical anecdotes and information about the development of the Columbia River Basin. We also got to tour a Coast Guard ship out on the water. Following this activity, we hopped back into the car and pushed north out of Oregon and into Washington for the next phase in our adventure. We have a lot in store and we are only halfway through our 22-day adventure from Rolla to Anacortes.