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

Woke up to see lovely pictures of Gani and Tom’s wedding. Thank you to you both they look so happy and lovely to see you all there as well.

We went to the sand dunes today. they are about 36 miles away. The route followed the river and through valleys. We saw lots of wetlands and marshes. The dunes are all along the coast with wetlands behind and then even more huge sand dunes behind the wetlands.

It was the first day they hadn’t had rain there for a long time, so we were lucky as it was sunny and warm.

We climbed up the sand dune and right down it… onto the sands below. We went for a walk and saw OHW’s and sand motorbike and cars with sand tyres racing up and down the high dunes in designated places. We watched them for a while it looked such fun to do it. Granddad took these photos of the sand  bikers. 

I feel like I’ve caught the sun today even though I wore factor 50! It was only 68*f but the sun is stronger here so you have to watch for sunburn.

On the way home we saw a field full of elks at Elktown. And the school baseball team were called The Elks!

Hope you all get home safely from the wedding and looking forward to hearing about it when I see you again. xxxxx

Hi we had a good journey with motorway all the way and the road was so picturesque. Oregon is full of woodland, small hills and deep valleys. As before all the rivers seem fast flowing and full due to snow melt I presume.

I only took 1 photo today ! Here it is and what a beautiful mountain!Hope  you all enjoyed Gani and Tom’s wedding and being together. Let me know and send a few photos on messenger if you have any xxxx

Love to you all and a special hug for Alex with your broken foot xx

It was lovely and warm today and as we couldn’t go into the Lassen Volcanic State park as it is also closed due to snow, we headed to the reservoir and dam at Whiskey Creek again. We sat at a picnic table and sunbathed in the afternoon then made our way to the dam and around the perimeter of the lake. It was lovely scenery and reflections in the water.

We helped a Greek lady who had locked herself out of her cabin and drove her to the centre to pick up a spare key and back again to her cabin. She is an artist and we had a good chat with her.

After dark we went back to the Sundial bridge to take night pictures.

Well its another move North tomorrow to Eugene and quite a way but at least the weather is better now to travel. xxxxx

Hope you are all ok and looking forward to Gani and Toms wedding!

We woke up to-day to pouring rain so we decided to go to the museum near the Sundial Bridge. can you see al the hundreds of swallows on the wires? Many nest under the bridge.

Afterwards we walked over the bridge and met a man we’d met yesterday by the waterfall! We couldn’t believe that we met up again what are the chances of that? He is travelling South by himself and we are travelling North so we agreed we would not possibly meet up again for a 3rd time

We went to a huge shopping mall and to taco bell for lunch. Then the rain at last stopped so we made our way up to the Shasta Dam and reservoir.

Next we went passed by an historical town called Whiskey Town (in ruins now) and went to visit the lakes surrounding  Whisky Creek and Whiskey Lake.

Do you like the big blue heron? The wire across the lake is to separate the colder and warmer water. The chinook salmon spawn in this lake in the colder water but the dam has made this lake warmer( if I read this right). and so the waters are divided.

Had a nice meal out tonight at our hotel goodnight for now and more adventures tomorrow, our last full day at Redding. xxxxx

Today we travelled along a pretty road through mountains covered in fir trees and oak trees. We reached a state park called McCarthur-Burnley Falls Memorial State Park what a mouthful! Anyway we saw a powerful tall waterfall and viewed it from the top and the bottom. We got wet from all the spray

and the noise of the falling water was deafening.

We carried on to Mount Shasta and drove up to 7000 feet but the road was blocked by snow after that. It is a huge volcano that towers above the other mountains and volcanoes

There were 2 little birds up there which I think are dark-eyed Junco. They are saying hello to Louis Alice Lily Otis and Xavi. Maybe Anona too ha ha!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx love from grandma

Today we set off at 7.30am and travelled for 9 hours to arrive at Redding at 4.30pm.

We did stop 3 times for a rest and a drink break. We headed towards the high mountains we had to cross in a snow storm. This is what we faced!Well it was bad at first following and overtaking lorries in the snow and spray, but as we descended further down towards the plain, the weather got warmer and the road was so much better.

We passed through many square miles of orchards and nut trees. it was interesting to see all the trees and how they were managed.

We crossed the River Sacramento a few timse

As we got to Redding we realised this was a big city, but we found our best western hotel easily as it was just off a motorway exit.

We managed to do our washing and dried it and so were all sorted!

We went to see the famous Sundial Bridge. It is made of steel and Glass and cost 23.5 million dollars!( It was estimated to cost 3 million)

It has an illuminated frosted glass walk way over it. 

Grandad found out that it only tells the time correctly on June 21st each year.

We are tired now but looking forward to exploring the area tomorrow.

love to you all xxxx