INTO THE MIST

I noticed the sky was getting its first edge of light, so I said my goodbyes to the Starbucks Baristas. And still warm from the fire and fueled by my latte, I climbed into Chloe (my car) and headed to the nearest interstate entrance. As I was about to make my turn, I clearly heard “No! Go to the next entrance to get on.” I did as directed. No whys or what for -just trust. Not even on the road for five minutes and it was already beginning. Cool.

I was thankful that I waited until the sky was light before beginning my journey. It was raining hard and the ponding on the road was bad. However, as I began gaining elevation through Grants Pass it started snowing. The flakes were large and numerous and my headlights were reflecting off of them. It was magnificent. At that moment I thought it was smart to have had my snow tires put on earlier that week.

After a couple of hours on the road I was surprised when I heard (guidance) that I needed to exit. Trusting, I complied and I figured I would just top off the tank even though I still had more than a half a tank left. While I was waiting for the nice man to finish, I clearly heard that it was time to head to the coast. Oh! That definitely was a change in the itinerary as I planned to take I-5 north all the way through. The highway I exited at was 138. It turned out to be a very beautiful drive filled with mist, rolling farm land, and a large herd of Elk. The road followed the Umpqua River the whole way too. (Sorry there were no spots to stop and get pictures along the way)

After I arrived at the coast I began heading north again, but at a much slower pace. Highway 101 snakes its way north revealing amazing vistas and lots of sharp turns.

Beautiful vistas weren’t the only thing that caught my attention. I saw an Entering a Tsunami Zone, sign. It’s a picture of a giant wave with a stick person falling sideways and land, interesting. A little further up the road there was a Leaving a Tsunami Zone, sign, interesting. I was coming to another town, no sign. As I was entering another town the Tsunami Zone sign reappeared. My curiosity was up at this point, and I’m thinking this is crazy, a Tsunami is going to target this part of the coastline, but not another. I put the question to the group (guides). I immediately heard. Not really. It depends on the topography of the ocean floor and where the fault line runs. When conditions are ripe then there is a high probability that these marked areas will have a direct hit. I just want to know were these guys were when I was struggling with math in grade school.

Six hours later I arrived in Astoria Oregon, a small fishing town on the Columbia River with breathtaking scenery in every direction. The Columbia is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest, rising in the Rockies of BC and Canada and flowing south between Washington and Oregon as it makes its way to the Pacific Ocean. I stopped for the day and took a room at an inn on the river. My room overlooked the Columbia providing me with an amazing view of the water and the Washington coast. I cracked my window so I could smell the river and hear the sounds of water lapping on the rocks below as the large ships passed by. My room had a fireplace in it, something I requested in my last post. What a gift.

After a light meal of soup and salad, I had a hot shower and then did yoga by the fire. You know it doesn’t get any better than this. I slept like a baby and yes I was driving along the coast in my sleep all night, winding, winding…. I awoke to thick fog hanging on everything which created this surreal environment. I stopped to get a latte for the road and was treated to a serenade by a group of Sea lions as I took my first sip. Ah!

I didn’t want to spend another 8 hours driving the Washington coast--that doesn’t include the Ferry ride from Port Townsend to get to Bellingham—so that experience would have to wait for another day. I chose to get back on I-5 north up to Bellingham, which would be a mere 4.5 hour drive.

After traveling on desolate (as in the middle of nowhere) Hwy 30 for what seemed like an eternity, I found myself approaching the spot I needed to cross from Oregon to Washington. It was a very long, several hundred feet off the water bridge. I am not going to look down and I am going to keep my eyes forward. This was the mantra I chanted over and over as I crossed.

I was shocked to see how badly scarred the land was when I hit the Washington side and was filled with a great sadness for it, partly mine and partly the lands. It was intense. Why was there scarring on the land? Logging.

As I traveled further north the scarring disappeared, and I could see new growth forest in many places. I believe they have a program of replant what you take, which is great. There were areas in North Oregon that were very badly scarred when I was there in 2006. I am happy to say that in passing those same areas 4 years later, new growth forest is filling in nicely.

The landscape from Olympia northward is truly beautiful. I was amazed at how large Seattle is. It was a giant patch on the landscape with industry, housing, office buildings in the downtown and crazy big city traffic. I was very happy when I got to the other side.

The space needle was cool though I saw little of it, since I had to watch out for the crazy drivers.

I began feeling the excitement building the closer I got to my destination. I came around a turn and up through a beautiful pass with a picturesque lake on my left. A large bald eagle greeted me.

There was Bellingham laid out before me, green, green, green and beautiful Bellingham Bay. Hurray!