End of McMinnville and on to Florence

 We were only in McMinnville for 8 days, but we had lots of fun.  As you saw in a previous post, we enjoyed good meals, wine tastings and plenty of exploration. 

Cuvee in Carlton

starting to look like Fall

 The last two days turned out to be the best!   Both days brought us something we (I) hadn't planned for but very much enjoyed.

Pam and John's fall travels put them in Salem, Oregon, only about 25 miles from us!     We were so happy when they said they'd come up for a visit.      We talked and talked (we haven't seen each other for a while ya know.....) then visited the next door Evergreen Air and Space Museum (where Dave and John strolled the exhibits and Pam and I sat in conveniently placed airline seats and continued our talks).

 

under the Spruce Goose's huge wing

 

Waves and Wings waterpark on the Museum grounds

  

John ogles Margie?

an earlier version of Dave's first plane

After the museum we drove into McMinnville and had dinner on the patio at the Golden Valley Brewery.    No pictures.     It was a grand afternoon.   Thanks Pam and John!

The second wonderful, unplanned event was sitting in (yes, IN) the campgrounds landscaping to watch the fabulous Oregon International Airshow taking place directly across the street.     

see Dave?

When I originally made our reservations at Old Stone Village RV Park, we were to leave on Friday.    The wonderful woman on the phone asked if we were in a hurry to leave....I said we weren't in a hurry, and she replied that if we stayed one more day we'd get to see a great airshow.    Done!    thank you very much lady on the phone.

We got to see the entire show, all day long, free of charge.    We both pronounced it one of the best airshows we'd ever seen.   We were up off our feet with surprise as an F-18 Hornet came up from behind us......very low and so fast that moisture boiled off the leading edge of the wings as it passed over us.      Yikes!   So many planes, such unbelievable exhibitions and aerobatics.    My pictures are pitiful, the planes were going too fast, two high, and I was too excited to hold the damn phone still!

F-15s, F-18s, a Heritage flight of a F-16 and a P-51, a Mitchell, a F6F, two T-6  trainers, and a couple civilian planes - a STOL Maule demonstration team, and a Long Easy. The Canadian AirForce's Snowbird team show finished the day. Phew!

low and fast flyover

The next day we left and headed down the coast to Florence.   The weather alternated between dense coastal fog and brilliant sunshine.    The views were stunning.

At one point, we almost got ourselves in trouble.   We pulled over at what we thought was a "viewpoint' to eat lunch.   Before we started off again, through the pull off (or what we thought was a pull off) and back onto 101,  I realized that this was actually the beginning of a very narrow, very twisty road paralleling 101 down along the shoreline.    "RV's and trucks NOT advised" said the sign, I noticed.   Uh oh.

lunch view

Dave calmly unhooked the Jeep, backed Beluga out of the wrong place, hooked back up and off we went!    Oh Dave....💕

We're now sitting in our beautiful, silent, bird filled site (26) at the Florence Elks Lodge RV Park.   Ah....

Sunday we had a sunny day, so we checked out some of the places we've enjoyed along the north and south Jetties, listened to the NASCAR race on Rocky's radio, had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, the Waterfront Depot, and did a little grocery shopping.

Today, Monday, it's raining.   Rain is forecast for the rest of the week.   

We're going to the movies and out to dinner.    I don't know the last time we were in a movie theatre so we're looking forward to it.    Tomorrow we move east to Eugene.

Here's Annie!

Astoria, Oregon

 I touched on our two week stay in Astoria in an earlier post.    Here are some pictures taken during that stay.    We love Astoria, it's beaches (drivable ones!) it's great, fresh seafood, the seafaring ships and commerce, the surrounding mountains, etc.   The weather was perfect, despite the forecast for a week of rain!     Fog in the mornings, mostly blue skies for the rest of the day, pretty sunsets from our site at the Lewis and Clark RV Resort.   

no trip to Astoria would be complete without Bowpicker's Tuna fish and chips!

family of elk crossing the road

Our beautiful site

natures beautiful patterns

Port of Ilwaco

Stinky, but interesting!
All that remains of a 53 ft. Sperm whale hit and killed by a freighter

fantastic meal at one of our favorites, Bridge Water Grille

one of the many ways to enjoy the beach near Astoria

He paid us no mind as we passed.....

in bound

Jellies

clouds pulling away from the Columbia River beach

It's not all about the beach, right?

We found another car show in Seaside, Oregon.   Much smaller than the first one in Longbeach, but fun nonetheless.

1978 Corvette Indianapolis Pace Car.....I drove one of these for a few years, nice car, but the roof leaked!

our next rv?

Astoria, we'll be back.....

Next

 We continue......Our drive through the North Cascades was more of the same.   And by that, I mean more stunning scenery, high craggy mountains, huge, fragrant pines and ferns, lakes, streams and unbelievable vistas.   Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I'll spare you the hundreds of photos, you get the idea.   We loved the drive.    

We stopped in the little artsy town of Twisp for a few days.   Our suite hotel (Twisp River Suites) sat right on the river and our rooms and screened in porch were delightful.   

our view

The property was filled with flowers and quiet places to sit and enjoy the rushing river.    Homemade breakfast treats were offered each morning and wine in the late afternoon.  

 

 

sunset every night

 We had no schedule, nothing we needed to see particularly so we took advantage of the location and did a lot of relaxing.   Honestly, I think we were suffering from an absolute overload of stunningness (I just made that word up....) and magnificence.   

   There were a couple decent restaurants in the quirky little town and some unusual art installations.     We did some exploring of the surrounding mountains and river valley, drove up to check out Winthrop (and had an ice cream, Pam and John!) and its nice State Park, etc.

Our last overnight stop was in Wenatchee, less than 100 miles south.    On our way, we stopped for lunch at a lovely winery on Lake Chelan.   

Tsillan Cellars was not on my radar, our choice to stop there was made purely because their sign caught my eye, their name was interesting (Tsillan = Chelan!) and the fact that we were hungry!

What a wonderful spot.   I don't know whether we liked the wine or the food or the views best. 

     

Our hotel in Wenatchee was a typical Holiday Inn and Suites.    In other words, nothing special, easy to get to, and very clean.   You know what you're getting, and you get it!       We spent our few days there exploring the nearby mountains, State Parks on the Columbia River (for future stays), farm stands and massive orchards. One day we took a short drive to check out the German themed town of Leavenworth.

I was trying to insert a picture of the acres and acres of undulating, cloth covered orchards, but the google gods will not let me, sorry.....

Ok, I guess they will let me....hmmmmm

Leavenworth was, as expected, too Disneyesque for us.    Everything was perfect, neat, clean, exactly as you might see in Switzerland.   Everything was touched by it.   The laundromats, the grocery stores, the gas stations, everything was painted with scenes of rosy cheeked children in lederhosen or embroidered skirts, mountain scenes complete with folks playing monstrous Alphorns, houses with overflowing flower boxes. herds of sheep on a snow peaked mountainside, and every type of nutcracker you could ever possibly imagine....     A carriage clopped through town pulled by a beautiful chestnut Belgian gelding, driven skillfully by a zaftig maiden.

we loved the beer

 

Wenatchee was our last overnight stop, as we made our way back to the Spokane area.   We drove along Banks Lake and passed Steamboat Rock State Park.   Once again, the scenery was fantastic, but very different.

Steam Boat Rock

end of the  road

Now, I think we're caught up to real time.    We're in McMinnville, Oregon in the midst of one of the most prolific wine regions in the country.    We're staying at the Old Stone Village RV Resort next to the huge Evergreen Aviation Museum and across from the airport.    You-know-who is in his glory.    We'll be here for the first day of a 3-day airshow so this is a happy house.

at Trellis

Where's Annie?