TRAVEL AWAITS: 5 Quaint Stops from Washington to Oregon to California

Iredale Wreck

                            

                                     The complete article was published in Travel Awaits

There were many stops we made during our drive down from Canada onto Mexico but these are what I cannot forget. From Washington to Oregon to California, these small towns may not be as well-known but they should be!

1. Blaine, Washington

Outdoor Sculpture Collection, Western Washington University

Blaine (population under 6,000), is the first US town you will encounter after crossing the US-Canada border. We drove to the Beachwood RV Resort and immediately found a 10-minute walk through the beautiful Birch Bay State Park that led to Birch Bay behind the general store. The bay is a popular spot for crabbing and clamming and, since we were there in fall, the park was particularly spectacular. Big and artsy birch driftwoods adorned the beach and close by was a whole community of vacation homes. This brought us to plenty of recreational opportunities: kayak, bike, and golf rentals plus a large mini-golf course.

"Just 30 minutes from the campground is the city of Bellingham. Although the city is smaller than the neighboring metropolitan areas of Seattle or Vancouver, there are many attractions that are popular among residents and visitors alike. Cliffside views of the San Juan Islands and the glaciers of Mt. Baker can be seen from the city. But it was the campus of Western Washington University, with its Outdoor Sculpture Collection, created by 36 contemporary artists, that gave us one great afternoon."

2. Seaside, Oregon

Bridge to Nowhere, Astoria Bridge

The next town was Seaside (population under 7,000) which grew out of the last stop of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We treated ourselves to a week at Club Wyndham’s WorldMark Seaside, one of the state’s best waterfront locations. It just so happened that the American Kitefliers Association’s Annual Kite Festival was going on. "The beach and sky were littered with giant colorful kites dancing to the hum of the ocean and the songs of the winds." We strolled on the Seaside Promenade up to the famous Seaside Turnaround, shopped at the Carousel Mall and the Seaside Outlet Mall, and dined at a boardwalk restaurant with great beach views.

A few quick day trips completed our stay. The first was to Astoria, just 30 minutes away, which led us to the 4.1-mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge, the longest continuous truss bridge in North America, that photographs as a “bridge to nowhere” from the southern approach. Next was Fort Stevens between Astoria and Seaside, built near the end of the American Civil War which features the Iredale Wreck (headline photo) on its beachhead. And the last was the famous Cannon Beach, known for the 235-foot-high Haystack Rock, often accessible at low tide, part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge together with the two rocks called The Needles.

3. Red Bluff, California

From Seaside we took the RV to Red Bluff (population under 15,000) and parked our RV at a campground there. We stayed overnight to visit the Lassen Volcanic National Park whose dominant feature is  Lassen Peak. "At a little under 11,000 feet high, it is the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost in the Cascade Range. The national park is one of the few areas in the world where all four types of volcanoes — plug dome, shield, cinder cone, and strato — can be found in one place...(and) the area is still active with boiling mud pots, stinking fumaroles, and churning hot springs."

4. San Simeon, California

Next, we took a short detour to the town of San Simeon (population under 500), to see the Hearst Castle and the elephant seals.

The Hearst Castle is a National Historic Landmark (and a California Historical Landmark) depicting the decadent lifestyle of the rich and famous. William Randolph Hearst, the publishing magnate, developed his media empire and built the castle. He called it “a museum of the best things that I can secure.” When he died in 1951, the family gave the castle to the state of California.

elephant seal rookery

The Elephant Seals Vista Point was just eight minutes away. The beach is the largest elephant seal rookery on the West Coast, located just south of the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse. These animals are large oceangoing seals hunted to the brink of extinction by the end of the 19th century. But numbers have since recovered, and the northern species have chosen the Pacific Coast of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico for mating. 

5. Dana Point, California

Dana Point Harbor

From San Simeon, we went toward San Diego, where we again treated ourselves to a week's vacation at Diamond Resort International’s Riviera Shores, on the Pacific Coast Highway. Dana Point (population 34,000), has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast with ready access via State Route 1. Named after Richard Henry Dana, Jr., author of Two Years Before the Mast which described the area and neighboring San Juan Capistrano as “the only romantic spot on the coast,” Dana Point has been designated a California Historical Landmark with miles of walkways and specialty shops, tasting rooms, and waterfront restaurants and taverns around a 2,500-boat and yacht marina.

And we did not miss visiting Mission Capistrano, founded in 1776 by the Franciscan Order. It features "the oldest building in California still in use, Serra’s Chapel, built-in 1782. But the Mission is perhaps best known for the annual 'Return of the Swallows,' a celebration of the swallows’ migration that’s observed every March 19 and has become a favorite subject of renowned artists. Mission Capistrano has been immortalized in books and films more than any other mission because of this event."

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