TRAVEL AWAITS: 11 Fantastic Things To Do In Scenic Seaside, Oregon

The original article was published in Travel Awaits on Aug. 13, 2022.

There was a year when we wanted a vacation from our months of full-time RVing. We also wanted to make our wedding anniversary more special than usual that year. As we were coming down from Vancouver, Canada, we chose the romantic town of Seaside, Oregon, for a special stop. awesome scenery, fantastic shopping, and amazing history.

There were two days of drizzles, three days of partly cloudy weather, seven days of strong winds, and two days of sun. But having lived in Seattle for three years, we were familiar with this kind of weather. It’s part and parcel of life in the Pacific Northwest. No matter the weather or how long you have, here is our advice on where to stay, eat, and play on a getaway to this West Coast beach town.

Located about 80 miles outside of Portland, Seaside is known as the Jewel of the Oregon Coast. A town in Clatsop County, it has a population of well under 7,000 but it is in the middle of a historically important area: the last stop of the two-and-a-half-year, 8,000-mile Lewis and Clark expedition that led to the doubling of the size of the U.S. Blessed with a romantic name that comes from Seaside House, a historic summer resort built in the 1870s by railroad magnate Ben Holladay, the town is not only historical; there is also an outstanding beach, lots of shopping, and many beautiful spots to spend hours with your camera in tow.

1. See Seaside Beach

It was tremendous luck that the American Kite Fliers Association’s 39th Annual Kite Festival was going on during our stay. The competing kites were quite a sight as we luxuriated in the hot tubs beside the pool of our resort. The beach and sky were a wide canvas littered with the giant colorful beings that danced to the hum of the ocean and the songs of the winds.

Even if you don’t make it there during a kite festival, you can enjoy the views of the Pacific Ocean, and, because there are always such good winds, you could even try flying your own giant kite. The beach area is so wide and expansive that there are always people milling around, playing volleyball, biking, or skating in addition to flying kites.

2. Stroll The Seaside Promenade

The best feature of the beach is the grand Seaside Promenade. There are always many strollers walking along this special place. Where the Seaside Promenade ends at Broadway Street, you’ll find the Seaside Turnaround, a small pedestrian and vehicular rotunda that reaches out to the shoreline and marks the actual spot of the historic end of the Lewis and Clark Trail. Their statue, together with the iconic Seaside, Oregon, sign, aptly stands in the middle. Friendly strollers took our souvenir photo.

3. Check Out Lewis And Clark National Historical Park

Fort Clatsop is about a 20-minute drive outside of town. This is wFort here Lewis and Clark were encamped in the winter of 1805 and 1806. This memorial was later grouped with the other spots the duo explored around the vicinity, and the whole area was preserved as Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. History will be recreated for you as you meet Sacagawea and wander through historical replicas of the last stop of the famous explorers’ historic expedition.

4. Explore Fort Stevens And See The Iredale Wreck

Just 10 minutes north of the park is Fort Stevens State Park. It was built near the end of the American Civil War. It had such great infrastructure that it continued to be of very good use as an active military reservation, protecting the harbor all the way up to WWII. But it was the sailing ship Peter Iredale that ran aground at its beachhead in 1906 that has drawn tourists to the area. The Iredale wreck proved to be a great photo opportunity for me.

5. Trek Tillamook Head

A lovely promontory, Tillamook Head is defined by a steep rocky bluff jutting out into the ocean at approximately 1,200 feet high. It was named after the Tillamook, a Salishan-speaking tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the coast around the area in the 19th century.

In 1806, Clark led a team that traveled south from Fort Clatsop to harvest blubber from a beached whale in the area. Today, the area is called Ecola State Park. “Ecola” is the Salish word for big fish.

6. Swing By The Seaside Aquarium

Back in town, you can visit Seaside Aquarium. This privately owned aquarium was an indoor saltwater public bath in the 1920s. Water was pumped from the Pacific Ocean through a still-visible pipe. In 1937, it became an aquarium, meaning it is one of the oldest in the U.S. In fact, it was the first to breed harbor seals in captivity. An even more interesting fact is that during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a boat drifted from across the Pacific and washed up on the shores carrying trapped live fish. The remaining of these so-called tsunami fish are still on display in the aquarium. Kiddos will enjoy getting up-close-and-personal with sea life at the Touch Tank exhibit.

7. Stop By The Seaside Historical Society Museum

The small Seaside Historical Society Museum will take you back thousands of years through its many exhibits. If you allow at least an hour for an overview, then you can have the chance to go through the Native American, logging, historic hotels, old Pacific pier, Turnaround Building, Broadway Billiards, railroad history, and Hall of Fame exhibits.

8. Eat At Mo’s

The most important thing we had to decide was where we were going to dine to celebrate our anniversary. We went around town to scout for the special place. We tried Osprey Cafe, Maggie’s on the Prom, and Sam’s Seaside Cafe. The food was good at all these establishments.

But we were ecstatic when we found the place: Mo’s Seafood and Chowder on the ground floor of Shilo Inn Seaside Oceanfront. It had the ambiance we were looking for with huge picture windows for scenic dining by the sea.

9. Ride A Carousel

Shopping is one of the activities I loved in Seaside. We started downtown at the Seaside Carousel Mall. It was built in 1985 on the site of the old Bungalow Dance Hall. This hall was built in 1920 for the big-time bands of the era. It ran for 20 years, and greats like Bing Crosby and Glenn Miller performed there. Locals say that Seaside was the place to be during those days.

Today, the mall is full of crafts, local products, and food outlets aside from fun things to do like riding the carousel that is right in the middle of the quaint mall. My husband thinks riding a carousel is one of the most romantic things in the world so, of course, we had to take a spin.

10. Shop Seaside Outlets

But it was at the Seaside Outlets where I found a lot of treasured items. Featuring outlets for 22 name brands, it was at an Eddie Bauer store that I found a light black jacket on sale at a 70 percent discount. It has become a favorite of mine and is still in good use today. What surprised me most, however, was the multi-station recharging area near the mall. It was the first time I saw such a thing for Tesla vehicles.

11. Stay At WorldMark Seaside

We had enough Club Wyndham timeshare points to stay in a spacious one-bedroom unit at the four-star WorldMark Seaside resort. Also available for booking by the public, it is recognized as one of the state’s best waterfront locations. It was a great choice and became a wonderful home (not on wheels) for a full week.

There is a large pool area that looks outside to the beach. It is surrounded by several hot tubs where we spent many hours of relaxation. We also frequented the game room, where we enjoyed playing table tennis. The fitness center saw us every day for our exercise regimen. At the end of the day, however, we thoroughly treasured our drinks and appetizers on our balcony. It offered such a great view of the town, the nearby hills, the beach, and the ocean. Since our unit was equipped with a kitchen, we bought a lot of seafood and other supplies at the grocery store and prepared most of our breakfasts and dinners.

Bonus: Day Trips From Seaside

Locals will tell you that taking some half-day and day-long trips to nearby areas will afford you even more connections to the area’s history, plus fantastic scenery. The historic city of Astoria with its historic column and so-called bridge to nowhere is just 20 minutes to the north of Fort Stevens. And the scenic town of Cannon Beach with Haystack and the Needles is just 15 minutes to the south of Tillamook Head.

Our week in Seaside was such a welcome break from all our months of RVing. Our anniversary that year became a special celebration. We had everything from history and scenery to shopping and beaches. The weather may not have been perfect, but you don’t need that in Seaside. There is something for every kind of day. It was a luxurious treat we deserved to have.

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 Why This Quaint German Town Was the Perfect Base for Our European Adventure

TRAVEL AWAITS: The Best Things To Do In Seaside, Oregon: Where To Stay, Eat, And Play

The full article was published in Travel Awaits on June 11, 2020

There was a year when we wanted a vacation from months of RVing. We also wanted to make our wedding anniversary more special than usual that year. As we were coming down from Vancouver, we whose the romantic town of Seaside, Oregon to do that. It is complete with beach fun, awesome scenery, fantastic shopping, and amazing history. There were two days of drizzles, three days of partly cloudy weather, seven days of strong winds, and two days of sun but it was all worth it. It was not surprising. Having lived in Seattle for three years, we were familiar with this kind of weather. It’s part and parcel of life in the Pacific Northwest.

Things to Do in Seaside

Seaside is known as the Jewel of the Oregon Coast. A town of Clatsop County, it has a small population well under 7,000. But it is in the middle of a historically important area, the last stop of the two and a half year, 8,000-mile Lewis and Clark Expedition that led to the doubling of the size of the US. Blessed with a romantic name that comes from Seaside House, a historic summer resort built in the 1870s by the railroad magnate Ben Halladay, the town also hasn outstanding beach, lots of shopping, and many beautiful spots to spend hours with your camera in tow. It was a perfect vacation for us.

Where We Stayed

We had enough Club Wyndham timeshare points to stay at a spacious one-bedroom unit at the four-star resort called WorldMark Seaside. Also available for booking by the public, it is recognized as one of the state’s best waterfront locations. It was a great choice and it became our wonderful home that’s not on wheels for a full week.

There is a large pool area that looks outside to the huge and expansive beach. It is surrounded by several hot tubs where we spent many hours of relaxation. We also frequented the game room where we enjoyed playing table tennis. But the Fitness Center saw us every day for our daily exercise regimen. At the end of the day, however, we thoroughly treasured our drinks and appetizers at our balcony. It offered such a great view of the town, the nearby hills, and the beach and the ocean. Equipped with a kitchen, we bought a lot of seafood and other supplies at the grocery and prepared most of our breakfasts and dinners.

Unique Beach Scenes

It was also tremendous luck that the American Kite Fliers’ Association’s 39th Annual Kite Festival was going on during our stay. The competing kites were quite a sight as we luxuriated at the hot tubs beside the pool at WorldMark. The beach and sky was a wide canvass littered with those giant colorful “beings” that danced to the hum of the ocean and the songs of the winds.

More at the Seaside Convention Hall

We even got a huge bonus because some competitions of the festival were held indoor at the Seaside Convention Hall.  That is where we got the unique opportunity to see some humongous kites up close as they competed and while lined up for registration. Some of the excited participants even schooled us on the basics of kite flying competitions.

Where to Have a Special Dinner

The most important thing we had to decide was where we were going to dine to celebrate our anniversary. We went around town to scout for the special place, comparing menus and ambience. We were ecstatic when we found the  Mo’s Seafood and Chowder at the ground floor of Shilo Inns Seaside Oceanfront. It had those huge picture windows for scenic dining by the sea. The Seaside Promenade is the center of the beach drive that spans Seaside Beach. World Mark Seaside is just to the left of it, facing the sea, and Shilo Inn is just to the right.

The Seaside Promenade

After dinner, we walked the Seaside Promenade together with many other strollers. At the end of the Promenade was the Seaside Turnaround. That is a small pedestrian rotunda that reaches out to the shoreline and marks the actual spot of the historic end of the Lewis and Clark Trail. Their statue aptly stands at the middle and friendly strollers took our souvenir photo with them.

Where to Shop

Shopping is one of the activities I love. We started at the Seaside Carousel Mall in downtown Seaside. It was built in 1985 on the site of the old Bungalow Dance Hall. This Hall was built in 1920 for the big-time bands of the era. It ran for 20 years and had greats like Bing Crosby and Glen Miller perform there. Seaside was the place to be during those days.

The Mall today is full of crafts, local products, and food outlets aside from fun things to do like riding the Old Carousel that is right in the middle. It is open from 9am to 9pm. My husband thinks riding a carousel is one of the most romantic things in the world so, of course, we had to ride the grand old carousel.

But it was at the Seaside Outlet Mall where I found a lot of treasured items. Featuring outlets for 22 name brands, the stores were just starting to reopen It was at an Eddie Bauer store that I found a black light jacket on sale at a 70% discount. It has become a favorite of mine and is still in good use today. What surprised me most, however, was the multi-station recharging area near the Mall. It was the first time I saw such a thing for EVs.

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park

Twenty minutes from our Resort stands the Fort Clatsop National Memorial. It was where Lewis and Clark were encamped in the winter of 1805-1806. This Memorial was later grouped with the other spots the duo explored around the vicinity. The whole area was then renamed the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. History will be recreated for you as you meet Sacagawea and wander through the historical replicas of the last stop of the two explorers’ historic Expedition.

Fort Stevens and Iredale Wreck (headline photo)

Just ten minutes north of the Park is Fort Stevens. It was built near the end of the American Civil War. It had such great infrastructure that it continued to be of very good use as an active military reservation protecting the Harbor all the way up to WWII. But it was the sailing ship Peter Iredale which ran aground at its beachhead in 1906 that has drawn tourists to the area. The Iredale Wreck was a great photo opportunity for me.

Tillamook Head

This is a lovely promontory that makes a steep rocky bluff on the ocean, approximately 1,200 ft. high. It was named after the Tillamook, a Salishan-speaking tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the coast around the area in the 19th century. In 1806, Clark led a team who traveled south from Fort Clatsop to harvest blubber from a beached whale in the area. That is the reason the area is now called Ecola State Park. Ecola is the word for big fish. And Tillamook has become a famous Oregon cheese brand.

Seaside Aquarium

Just after the Shilo Inn is the Seaside Aquarium. Privately owned, it was an indoor saltwater public bath in the 1920a with water pumped from the Pacific Ocean through a still visible pipe. In 1937 it became an aquarium, making it one of the oldest in the United States. In fact, it was the first to breed harbor seals in captivity. A more interesting fact is that during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a boat drifted from across the Pacific and washed up on the shores carrying trapped live fish. The remaining of these so-called tsunami fish are still on display in the Aquarium.

Seaside Museum and Historical Society

This small museum will take you back thousands of years through its many exhibits. If you allow at least an hour, then you can have the chance to go through Native American history of logging, historic hotels, the old Pacific pier, Turnaround Building, Broadway Billiards, railroad history, the Hall of Fame, and other more recent sections. Allow yourself at least an hour to get at least an overview.

But locals will tell you that nearby areas would add more connections to the area’s history and even more fantastic scenery. The historic city of Astoria with the Column and "Bridge to Nowhere” is just twenty minutes to the north of Fort Stevens. The scenic town of Cannon Beach with Haystack and the Needles is just fifteen minutes to the south of Tillamook Head.

Our week in Seaside, Oregon was such a welcome break from all our months of RVing. Our Anniversary that year became a special celebration. We had everything from history, to scenery, to shopping, and to beaches. The weather may not have been perfect but we had a wonderful place to stay in. Everything became a luxurious treat.

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TRAVEL AWAITS: How To Visit 6 Lovely Volcanoes In The Cascades

                      The complete article was published in Travel Awaits in June 2020

When we lived in Seattle, we were blessed with the beauty of one of these volcanoes, Mount Rainier, whenever she appeared from behind the clouds. Seventeen other volcanoes form the 700-mile-long Cascade Volcanic Arc, from the southern tip of Canada’s British Columbia through Washington, Oregon, and the northern part of California, many of them still active.

1. Mount Baker

If you’re going south from Vancouver, Canada, you will encounter Mount Baker first. It rises 10,781 feet high, the youngest (no more than 140,000 years old) of them all. "It is also second-most heavily glaciated after Mount Rainier and the second-most thermally active after Mount Saint Helens. t is also one of the snowiest places in the world, setting the world record for snowfall in a single season at the Mount Baker Ski Area in 1999."

2. Mount Rainier

"Mount Rainier is the Cascade Volcanic Arc’s leader in beauty and risk. An active volcano (the last eruption was in 1894) it is the most glaciated peak and most prominent mountain in the contiguous U.S. It is also the tallest in the Cascades at 14,411 feet. The area around it is so beautiful that it has been preserved as the Mount Rainier National Park. But it is also considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, listed on the Decade Volcano list because of its large amount of glacial ice that could produce massive lahars that would threaten a lot of life and property, especially considering the city of Seattle is just 59 miles southeast of its peak."

3. Mount Saint Helens (headline photo)

"Mount Saint Helens is just 50 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon, and 96 miles south of Seattle. It is the most active volcano in the Cascades Volcanic Arc, most known for its major eruption — the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history — on May 18, 1980. In fact, it reduced the elevation of the mountain’s summit by more than 1,000 feet, leaving a mile-wide horseshoe-shaped crater." In 1983, the Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument was opened to preserve the volcano and allow for the scientific study of the aftermath of the eruption. 

4. Mount Hood And The Three Sisters

"Mount Hood is located about 50 miles east-southeast of Portland. It is one of the loftiest mountains in the nation, offering the only year-round lift-served skiing in North America. Standing 11,240 feet high, it is the highest point in Oregon and the fourth-highest in the Cascade Range. The volcano is considered the most likely to erupt in Oregon. The odds of an eruption in the next 30 years are estimated at between 3 and 7 percent, making it what scientists call “potentially active.”

5. Mount Shasta

Once we stayed overnight in the town of Redding, California, which is quite near Mt. Shasta. "It is always such a beautiful presence whenever we pass by, with and without the glaciations, going up to or down from Seattle. It is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in northern California with an elevation of 14,179 feet, second only to Mount Rainier in height. But it is the biggest in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, with an estimated volume of 85 cubic miles."

6. Mount Lassen

"Lassen Peak, commonly referred to as Mount Lassen, is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. It reaches an elevation of 10,457 feet. It is also different in that it isn’t a stratovolcano like the others but a lava dome. In fact, it is the largest lava dome in the world. On May 22, 1915, a powerful explosive eruption devastated nearby areas and a series of eruptions (that actually lasted from 1914 to 1917) spread volcanic debris 280 miles to the east. Lassen Peak and Mount Saint Helens were the only two volcanoes in the contiguous United States to erupt during the 20th century." It was named the Lassen Volcanic National Park after the eruptions, preserving 100,000 acres for observation and study.  

These six lovely volcanoes of the Cascades have always made our drives through the Pacific Northwest such a pleasurable experience. Having stayed around some of them, our Interstate 5 drives have always come to life more than other highways.

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8 Surprising Stops from Wyoming to Washington

TRAVEL AWAITS: 8 Surprising Stops from Wyoming To Washington

    

                                The complete article was published in Travel Awaits

I wrote about ten scenic stops we enjoyed in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado from my sister-in-law’s home to that of my husband’s daughter. Here, are eight other stops we found as we continued westward to his son's in Boise, Idaho, and my daughter's in Seattle.

1. Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming

This little-known national park may be the least visited—not even 20,000 annual visitors—located 15 miles west of Kemmerer, Wyoming. It's not generally known that it is actually the world’s best collection of fossils from the Eocene Epoch (56 to 34 million years ago), the warm period that produced the very first animals. The Visitor Center alone has over 80 samples, each one incredibly intact, not pieces that need to be assembled. "There are whole fish, crocodiles, turtles, palm fronds, and more from the epoch. In fact, there are trails that will lead you to fossils still intact on the ground, plus some that are still in the process of being excavated."

2. JCPenney Mother Store, Wyoming

On the way back to our campground. we chanced upon the JCPenney Mother Store and Museum. "On a corner of the main street of the small town of Kemmerer, Wyoming, which has a population of under 3,000, it was the first outlet of the department store giant — which today has about 600 stores in 49 states and Puerto Rico — built there in 1902." The tiny home of James Cash Penney, the founder, is just down the road.

3. Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

This is a small town only two hours from Kemmerer on I-30, population  less than 500. Because of its numerous hot springs that are quite good for bathing and the mildly turbulent river running through part of the town that is perfect for tubing, Lava Springs is a popular weekend resort in Idaho and Utah.

4. Boise, Idaho

It was only four hours from Lava Springs to Boise on I-86. It is the largest city and the capital of the state with a population of over 200,000. "My husband’s son is married to a member of Boise’s Basque community. Numbering about 15,000, it is the second-largest such community in the U.S. after Bakersfield, California. It is also the fifth-largest in the world behind Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and the original Basque Country in Spain and France. Downtown Boise features a vibrant section known as the Basque Block where we got the chance to stir the paella cooking in pans of four feet in diameter."

5. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

We usually go through the Yakima Valley to get to Seattle from Boise. But during this trip, we continued west through Oregon to pass by a national monument we were curious to see. It took us four hours from Boise on I-26 to reach the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, composed of three geographically separate units:

At the Sheep Rock Unit is near the town of Kimberly, Oregon, and is composed of the James Cant Ranch Historic District, the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center, Cathedral Rock, and both the park headquarters and visitor center. "It is home to fossilized plants and mammals that lived there between the late Eocene, about 45 million years ago, and the late Miocene, about 5 million years ago, later than those found around Fossil Butte National Monument."

The Painted Hills Unit is halfway between the other two units, nine miles northwest of the town of Mitchell, Oregon. The hills are artworks of nature. They looked so fragile and I was afraid they might soon disappear. We enjoyed them so much because we could get up close to them. Besides, there was hardly a soul around. Wondering why this unit was not more famous. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to visit Clarno.

6. Bruce and Brandon Lee Gravesite, Washington

After a night in Mitchell, Oregon, we reached Seattle in another er six hours on I-90. But first, we visited Bruce Lee’s gravesite in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. After all, it has become a national and global pilgrimage site. Halfway up a hill in Lake View Cemetery,  his space is distinctly marked by evergreen shrubs, the final resting place of the legendary Chinese American martial artist and film star and his son, Brandon, lies.

7. The Gum Wall, Washington

From there, we went to Pike Place Market because right under it, in Post Alley, is the Gum Wall. It is "made of brick but is covered in, yes, used chewing gum. In fact, parts of the wall are covered several inches thick, 15 feet high, for about 50 feet. The tradition began around 1993 when patrons of the Market Theater Box Office nearby stuck gum to the wall. Theater workers diligently scraped the gum away twice but eventually gave up around 1999 when they kept coming back." 

8. The Fremont Troll

The last of our short visits was the colossal statue called the Fremont Troll. It can be found under the north end of the George Washington Memorial Bridge in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood. "The troll is clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle as if it has just swiped it from the roadway above...In fact, his right eye is a hubcap. Prior to the Troll, the area was becoming a dumping ground and a haven for drug dealers. In 1990, the Fremont Arts Council launched an art competition to rehabilitate it. Four local sculptors, who borrowed the idea from the Norwegian fairy tale Three Billy Goats Gruff, won!"

We continue to change our routes so we may discover more of these remarkable landmarks.

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5 Quaint Stops from Washington to Oregon to California

 

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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10 Great Stops from Kansas to Colorado

Looking Forward to Our 2020 Travels

It’s now time to look forward to our travel plans for the coming year. We will go to ten new destinations, return to ten old-time favorites, and visit family and friends. On the road for five months on three separate road trips, we will have seven months of rest at home. I think it is a good way to cruise past 70.

Part 1 Mexico, Season 2

We all read about the recent massacres in Mexico. Indeed, the conditions for safety have deteriorated. But, as we had concluded before, the danger towns of Mexico are no different from the crime-infested towns of America. In fact, they all share spots in the listing of the most dangerous cities in the world. So Bill has decided to drive again to and from Mazatlan. We have found it so convenient to bring as much as we need and to bring home as much as we want. We leave Viewpoint on January 1 and drive down to Mexico going through the towns of Tubac, Arizona, Hermosillo, Sonora (only five and a half hours from a massacre site), and Los Mochis, Sinaloa. 

Concordia, Mexico

On January 4, we reach Mazatlan. For two months, we will have our annual all-inclusive vacation at El Cid Resorts composed of four hotels and a country club complex. Season 1 featured day trips to the towns of El Quelite and El Rosario. During Season 2, we plan to go to the towns of Villa Union and Concordia, famous for their artisanal wooden furniture. We also plan to climb the 325 steps up to the highest lighthouse in America, El Faro Mazatlan. Of the islands around the city, we sailed to Deer Island in Season 1. During Season 2, we intend to go to Stone Island.

Marietas Islands, Mexico

At the end of February, we drive farther down south and spend two weeks (and Bill’s birthday) in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. This is my first time to visit this famous Mexican destination. Aside from its Mercado and Malecon, we hope not only to experience the city’s renowned nightlife scene but also to take a boat tour to the spectacular hidden beach in the Marietas Islands. 

Guaymas, Mexico

Two weeks later, we go back to Mazatlan for a reunion of friends from the Philippines, colleagues from the Institute of Advanced Computer Technology. In our last week, we will shop for what we want to bring back home. Our long drive home will be broken with a short rest at the resort town of Guaymas, Sonora. It’s an upcoming Mexican destination that is close to the border. Our final stop will be the border town of Nogales, Sonora. We get home on April 1.

Part 2 Road Trip, Season 2

We are also continuing the tradition we started last year of escaping from the summer sizzle in the Phoenix desert. We will do another road trip of four to five weeks through Americans states and Canadian provinces, visiting family and friends. We will break the long drives with one-week stops at great resort towns.

Cliff Lodge and Spa

From July 7-12, we will be in St. George, Utah. It is the nearest city to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. Thus, we will have plenty of opportunities to have outdoor fun with Bill’s son and daughter and their families in our annual reunion with them. Just a four and a half hours north is Salt Lake City. We have often passed through and so we have seen the city in bits and pieces. The week after St. George, we will explore it fully and explore the Great Salt Lake and Temple Square. We will definitely luxuriate at Cliff Lodge & Spa in Snowbird, Utah where our unit has a large hot tub inside.

Lands End, San Francisco

Afterward, we spend a week in Calgary, Alberta, the home of my second daughter and her family. And then we visit our Arizona friends’ mountain cabin for a round of ATV riding in the hills around Essex, Montana. On the way down to my other daughter’s California home, we will pass through Richland, Washington and Klamath Falls, Oregon waiting to be surprised!  Then, from July 29-August 4, we spend a week at the home of my eldest daughter and her family in Livermore, California. The day trips we hope to make while there are to San Francisco’s Land’s End, Point Bonita Lighthouse, and the Cliffside Ruins.

Big Bear Lake, California

Before going home, we will spend our 12^th Wedding Anniversary with a week in Big Bear Lake, California. Summer recreation at the lake includes water fun at the Alpine Slide and a visit to the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, a large rehabilitation place for animals. Hopefully, my eldest grandchild who lives two hours away can join us for a couple of days. We should be glad to be home on Aug. 10.

Part 3 A Short Getaway with Neighbors

Puerto Penasco, Mexico

After these two trips, we will still have two weeks of studio or one week of two bedrooms of timeshare vacations available for the balance of next year. We plan to use this at Puerto Penasco or Rocky Point, Mexico which is just three and a half hours by car from our Viewpoint Home. We have never been there and would like to see if it is a good place to visit regularly, being the nearest Mexican resort town. For a week in September, we plan to party there with our neighbors from Viewpoint Golf Resort.

2020 will take us to ten new destinations, make room for revisiting ten places we have come to love, and allow for visits to family and friends. What's great is that we will even have seven months at home, giving me time to finish my second book. It is the kind of cruising that’s ideal for travelers past 70.


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