Red, White and Blue....but not sure about the blacks

To celebrate our host country's birthday I thought I'd show you a quiz we saw on a menu yesterday. Notice that the answer to number one. That's right, they called it a social club. If you can't read the words, click on the image to make it larger.

Newport at night

Well, today was a great day and it's not over yet. In Astoria, Oregon this morning we found a great view point that overlooks both Astoria and the mouth of the Columbia. This is the same hilltop where the first TV transmitter tower in the US was placed, the birthplace of cable!

And then the scenic part of the highway began. Our first stop was Seaside. A great little tourist trap. The kids were so excited to see the open ocean and the stretch of beach with big waves crashing ashore. They went to the little (very little) aquarium and some how in the process of feeding the seals, Hailey got a fish tail down in the back of her pants! We stayed in Seaside a little longer than planned. We headed back down the highway and stopped at Hug Point State Rec Site, yet another incredible beach.

Reilly was straight into the water and sand, pulling seaweed down the beach. Hailey was running up and down the beach faster than we've seen her ever run before. The sun has come out but it's still not too warm. We left Tillamook at 5pm and decided to push onto Newport tonight.

We arrived in Newport at 9pm and decided not to look around for a campsite and settled for a hotel. So tonight it's La Quinta!

Oregon

Well, after a less than warm night at a campground near South Bend, Wa. we made the final 40 or so miles to this bridge leading to Astoria, Or.

After the two mile long bridge we found a nice town. The fact that diesel is 40cents a gallon cheaper here was nice too. Friendly people here assure us that there's no Walmart anywhere close, and the coastline will really open up now.

Aberdeen Washington

After a family gathering at Mom and Dads we headed out from Chilliwack. At the border Hailey ignored the border guard who was asking who we were to make sure we weren`t kidnapping her. She just kept singing away to her mp3 player, good thing the border agent had a sense of humour. We spent last night just north of Seattle at a reststop. In the morning we had breakfast at Pike Place Market and coffee at the original Starbucks just across the street.

We've just stopped for lunch in Aberdeen on the coast, from here we head south!

Ready or not.......

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Well, here goes. The mad scramble continues. We've decided to continue to organize on the road.

Precursor of things to come.

I got up this afternoon and washed the van. Nice and clean now, guess it'll be more aerodynamic with all that dirt and dust gone. It was so hot that I had to turn the van around half way through, the water would evaporate off the sunny side before I could get to it with the sponge. The temperature at the time was 36C, I think in Fahrenheit that's close to a billion degrees. I remember a line from an old Monty Python skit that seems fitting: "Hot enough to boil a monkey's bum." I guess we should embrace the heat, I've heard rumors that it gets warm in the summer time in California and Mexico.
Tomorrow Nicole takes the cats to kitty prison for their month long sentence, that is of course if she can find them. Voodoo's around but Tiki's gone AWOL. Looking on the bright side, kitty prison will only cost half as much if we don't find her. However I'm sure there'll be a cornucopia of mice, moles, and other assorted rodents piled by the patio door when we return. A thoughtful pile of gifts from Tiki.

Last Minute Rush

Why do something today when you can put it off until tomorrow? Manana, manana, manana. Well for the last few months we've known we were doing this trip, but daily life has taken priority. So here we are, three days before we leave and we're only starting to prepare seriously now. (And I still have 2.5 shifts to work still) Nicole's been working nonstop getting things together at home.
We have an inflatable queen sized mattress, which fits like a glove (Michael Jackson's, not OJ Simpson's) behind the front row of seats. This'll be our quarters in a pinch, but we'd rather be tenting it or in a hotel most nights. We've pulled out the back row of seating leaving more room for cargo. It also frees up an area where we can sit out of the weather if need be to watch a movie or eat or park and watch Hailey and Reilly practice with their newly purchased skim boards.
Also picked up a camping shower, it's basically a black 5 gallon bladder which you fill up and let sit in the sun. I'm guessing it won't take too long to heat with some of the temperatures down there. In the military, we used this same idea in Kuwait by painting water tanks black for hot showers, but by July we had ended up painting them white in an effort to cool the showers down. Maybe California will be a bit less intense.