We are in Kelso on the wide river Colombia. The Colombia is the dividing line between Washington State and Oregon.  We travelled to the coast on the Washington Side and returned to Kelso on the Oregon side. We crossed a few long loooooong bridges on the way. The first stop was Long Beach where grey whales are often spotted.

Is this a whale Otis and Louis?

Next we crossed the long bridge to Astoria which was a large and interesting port. We caught up with the paddle steamer again!

Hope you like the photos today. It was quite hot today this afternoon was 81*f

Love to you all missing you. We will try to messenger skype at the weekend to both Oxford and The Hague xxxxx

On our journey today we stopped for a long time in 2 places. First was Salem, the capitol of Oregon at one time. We wanted to see the capitol building. It is made of marble and has a gold statue on the top representing the first pioneers that came to Oregan in the early 1800s.

2 previous capitol buildings had burnt down.

Inside is just as beautiful. We wanted to climb the 121 steps to the top of the tower to see the beautiful view over the river..BUT…. just our luck ……the spiral staircase is closed for a few weeks for renovation work.

Outside we saw the circle of flags of all the US states. Also a replica of the Liberty Bell.

I personally think the building looks ugly from the outside, but was finished in 1938 and is an architectural historical building of that era.

We next stopped in Portland Washington; it is a huge busy city and has the widest river running through it that I have ever seen. Colombia River.

We watched a big paddle boat go under the bridge and then we had lunch in a Mexican restaurant. I managed to find a salad without chillies in it!

The rain had set in and it is still raining now.

We are at Kelso now; the Best Western Aladdin Inn room 103. It has a swimming pool. and has a kitchenette so we can self cater. We’ re here for 5 nights until Sunday.

Grandad is enjoying his holiday!!

Musicians in Salem

love from me   xxxx

 

 

BHi everyone!

Today we woke up to grey skies and rain. We went back to the coast to the Oregon Dunes and visited Florence, Dune City and Winchester Bay. We had nice breakfast in a café at Florence and hoped the rain would stop. Well it did but there was grey skies and a little drizzle at times. This is the view from the top of the highest dunes inland

On the coast we found huge trees washed up on the sand in front of the sand dunes

We went to where the OVH sand buggies were at the weekend but it was deserted. We did see a deer but I wasn’t quick enough to photo him and 2 seals in the water that disappeared under the water as I got my camera ready ha, ha!

But then we saw 4 wild turkeys. They gave us quite a surprise walking along the road.

We are back at the motel now and getting ready for tomorrow when we leave Oregon nd travel to Kelso in Washington State. We are at a Best Western hotel there for 5 nights.

We had a nice day today in spite of the weather and saw a bald headed eagle, pelicans, turkeys, a deer, some seals, egrets and turkey vultures…wow!

lots of love xxx

Oregon is crisscrossed with many large rivers and we followed the Willamette River today up the Willamette Pass. The road gently ascends up to 6000+ feet and the ski stations are up there,( although closed now end of season). It was a lovely drive with views through the forests and over the wide river and lakes.

On the way back we witnessed an accident. 2 people were hurt but ok. A big 4×4 wheel drive was towing a big sized RV. A lady was driving it far too fast and the RV went out of control and flipped over taking the car with it. We were 2 cars behind and saw it happen. The lady had a head injury and her husband had to be cut out as he was jammed against the windscreen but was talking and not unconscious luckily. The car was on its side and the RV upside down and destroyed. No other vehicle was involved thank goodness. The RV just collapsed and shredded with its contents all over the road and the road completely blocked. We were thankful they survived and did not mind the delay. It could have been so much worse! It shocked us a bit as you can imagine.

We went back to the motel to recharge and rest. later we went to a nearby wildlife reserve and watched the birds. I hope you like the photos.

The turkey vultures had their eyes on the goslings, but the geese kept them close by to protect them until the raptors flew away.

Last photo for today and see if you can spot grandma?

Missing you all xxxx more tomorrow xxx