Trip Report
We drove via Portland to pick up two passengers and then by Sunset Hwy. to Astoria, stopping at a huge Sitka spruce. We went to Fort Stevens, ate lunch there, and then on to the Astoria Maritime Museum.
Our second day we went across the Columbia and via Long Beach, Aberdeen, Hoquiam to Lake Quinault Lodge, and stopped for lunch a short distance north of the Queets River. Next we stopped at a very old and large cedar, then at Ruby Beach opposite Destruction Island and the last place Hwy. 101 parallels the ocean. We then drove up the Hoh River to the Rain Forest Museum, where many walked the trails.
After a night in Forks we drove to Lapush, an Indian town at the mouth of the Quilleyute River, then via Sappho and went through Clallam Bay to Neah Bay, where we visited the Makah Indian Museum; we ate lunch along the bay. The road continued to the parking lot at the head of the trail to the Tatoosh Island overlook, the furthest western spot in the 48 States. The trail started well but soon became very difficult. We continued on, following the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to Port Angeles, where we stayed two nights.
Ray Jensen took the bus to Crescent Lake, the Elwah River and to Hurricane Ridge while 13 of us dropped off at the ferry dock and went to Victoria, BC (to see the Mongolian display) and returned on the 3 o’clock ferry, crossing very smooth water after a worthwhile visit. We were joined that day by Richard & Elaine Barrar and Marial Bailey.
The next day Clarence & Dorothy thought it best to return to Eugene. We toured Fort Warden and then viewed the old houses and business district of Port Townsend, a truly historical and well preserved point of interest. We took in the City Museum in the old City Hall. Our next stop was at Port Gamble, a Pope & Talbot lumbering town. It is a company town with an interesting general store. We then went on to Tacoma across the famous Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which began to weave in the wind and soon became known as "Galloping Gertie". It broke, and the present bridge was built on the same piers.
We spent the night at Fife and then went to Point Defiance Park in the north tip of Tacoma. It is a large park, primitive in places, but with Fort Nisqually, a large authentic logging display and other features we didn’t have time to take in. We continued south to Olympia, the State Capital, and toured the Capitol building. We were fortunate to fall in with a knowledgeable guide who had many interesting facts about the marbles and costs. The building cost about $7.5 million in the early 1920s, and we were allowed into the House and Senate galleries. The rain finally came in great abundance so we gave up the idea of picnicking and went to a McDonalds. We dropped John Thomson and Des Kelley off along I-205 in East Portland and arrived in Eugene shortly before 5:30. We were generally fortunate in having good weather.
Riders were Margaret Baldwin, Mary & Richard Bentsen, John & Marian Borchardt, Harriet & Paul Civin, Clair Cooley, Flora & Herman Hendershott, Evelyn Hile, Jean Jensen, Bea LeFevra, Rosella Jones, Virginia Kapsa, Delores Kelley, Dody Leppmann, Marie Loome, John & Lenore McManigal, Alice Osborne, Janice Pattison, Virginia Prouty, Clarence & Dorothy Scherer, Kathleen Schlenker, Lois Schreiner, John Thomson, Louise Thurber, and co-leaders Ewart Baldwin & Ray Jensen. Driver was Lee Cayser.
