Day 8 End of the Road!

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Mike and Bone emerged from the Hampton to the magnificent sight of the Cascades, nestled in the evergreen state of Washington, across the vast Columbia River with the sounds of barking. Barking!?!

 

Morning in Astoria

Yep, down by the shore the Boys saw a whole grouping of sealing barking for their breakfast, as were Mike and Bone's bellies! After checking out the dock, the Boys boogied  into town in pursuit of coffee and sustenance!

 

Hot Coffee in a Cold Coffee Shop!

Wanting anything except a McDonalds Coffee, the Boys had seen the Astoria Coffee Shop the previous night and thought it was and idea local place that the Boys love.  Now Mike and Bone are cool, however maybe not millennial cool! The staff treated the Boys like they really were not good enough, but would still be served, just to get them out of the Coffee Shop! The staff were neither pleasant, customer friend and hence, tipless!! Chagrined, Mike and Bone couldn't wait to hit the road for the final state of the Tour!

 

Wet, Wonderful (coffee!), and Washington Bound!

That morning as they crossed the mighty Columbia River, two things occurred:

 

Wayward in Washington!

Washington is very aptly named the Evergreen States for a reason. The westernmost part of the Washington State peninsula is a rain forest.  

 

One of characteristics of a Rain Forest is, well. .. . . . . Rain!

 

The whole morning, Mike and Bone drove through a much needed deluge as they drove up a fairly traffic-free part of PCH.

 

Wayward in Washington!

The whole morning, Mike and Bone drove through a much needed deluge as they drove up a fairly traffic-free part of PCH.

 

Something Fishy? Its Bearly Possible!

The problem with coffee is that you don't really own it, you only borrow it for a few hours and need to "return it". Since the Boys were in a fairly unpopulated area along the coast, with public restroom, the world is your oyster!  Pulling off the road, Mike and Bone walked discreetly a couple yards into the woods.  As Bone took care of his business he saw something bizarre, and told Mike "Hey, you can't believe the weird thing I an looking at."

Mike retorted, "Nope! I bet what I am looking at is even weirder!" After, taking care of their "business" They switched places and quickly figured it out!

The Boys had stumbled on a Bear's larder!!

 

Fortunately, the bear didn't bolt out of the woods to defend its catches, secondly the Boys had already pee'ed else there would have been wet stains on both their pants! The Boys briskly jumped in the car, fired it up and headed the heck out of there!

 

Stopping for Coffee in Southbend?!

The long drive and wet weather was wearing on the Boys. About 45 minutes after the "Larder Incident," the Boys emerged from the woods into the quaint little ocean town of South Bend.....

 

South Bend!!!!????!!!??!!

Pearls of Wisdom !?!

Yep South Bend Oregon, home not to the Fighting Irish, but a sleepy little fishing town with the Worlds Largest Oyster shell!

Stopping into Downtown. Mike and Bone went into a bohemian coffee shop right on the shore with kitschy gifts and darn good coffee. Unfortunately it was raining a bit too much to walk around  a check out the Town, so after buying their fresh cups of Joe they continued up the road!  Soon they hit one of the bigger cities on the Washington coast, Aberdeen!

 

Seattle Dogs ? At Deen Dogs in Aberdeen

Aberdeen, named after a local salmon cannery to reflect its Scottish fishing port namesake Aberdeen, and because it, too, is situated at the mouth of two rivers. Aberdeen was founded by Samuel Benn in 1884 and incorporated on May 12, 1890. Aberdeen and its neighbors vied to be the terminus for Northern Pacific Railroad, but instead of ending at one of the established mill towns. By 1900, Aberdeen had become home to many saloons, brothels, and gambling establishments. It was nicknamed "The Hellhole of the Pacific", as well as "The Port of Missing Men" due to its high murder rate. One notable resident was Billy Gohl, locally known as Billy "Ghoul", who was rumored to have killed at least 140 men, disposing of the bodies in the Wishkah River. Gohl was ultimately convicted of two murders.

Thankfully, Aberdeen is not as colorful today, with its primary industry still logging. To feed all those loggers Aberdeen has its own very cool Hot Dog Shop, Deen Dogs!!

Being the Hot Dog fans that they are, the moment they saw the shop, they needed to stop and try the gourmet dogs Mike and Bone weren't sure what to expect, because of Covid, many restaurants were carry out only. Walking in Mike and Bone met the owner, a hot dogger, originally from Chicago that was trying to bring the Midwest love for dogs into Washington!

 

Mike and Bone met the affable owner Tom, who recommended a few dogs for the Boys to try. They sampled threes the always favorite Chicago Dog, a Chili Dog served with mustard, onions, chili and cheddar cheese and the very unique Seattle Dog, a gourmet all beef hot dog served with a blend of mustard, caramelized onions, cream cheese, chili and cheddar cheese.

 

All three were delicious, the Seattle Dog was unique since neither Mike nor Bone had ever had a hot dog with cream cheese on it!  Interestingly, even in this lovely little hot dog shop Covid had a negative impact. Tom asked the Boys what they thought about the Dogs after Mike and Bone told him of their Hot Dog journeys. Bone mentioned that the Chicago dog was, well a little ordinary. Tom, told the Boys they were very astute! Apparently due to supply chain issues and increasing costs, Tom was not able to order the iconic Vienna All Beef hot dogs, which is the trademark of a classic Chicago dawg. He was going back to them as soon as the damned Pandemic was over. He also told the Boys that half the local residents never figured out that the name "Deen Dogs" is named after the City and complimented the Boys on spotting it immediately! Sated, with a fond adieu, Mike and Bone continued their journey north on PCH into an iconic National Forest!

 

The God's (OK, just Mike and Bone!) enter Olympia!

Just as they left Aberdeen, the Boys entered Olympic National Forest. The Olympic National Forest is located on the Olympic Peninsula in the northwest corner of Washington, which includes five major landscape settings: including temperate rain forest, rugged mountains, lowland lakes, rivers, and coastal beaches. It is over 2 million acres of public federal lands and blankets the foothills of the Olympic Mountains and surrounds much of Olympic National Park. For most of the rest of the day, Mike and Bone were through the verdant beauty that is the Olympic National Forest.  En route, the Boys came across another PCH first, the tallest Spruce tree!!

 

Sprucing Up in Quinalt!

One of the well known areas in the National Forest is Lake Quinault, which is known as the “Valley of the Rain Forest Giants” and the Big Spruce Tree at the Resort is the biggest of them all. The tree is the World’s Largest Sitka Spruce which is 1,000 years old has a circumference of 58 feet, 11 inches, diameter of 18 feet, 9 inches and 191 feet tall! Despite the pouring rain, Mike and Bone were determined to hike back and check it out. Fortunately for Mike, he packed rain gear, Bone packed a sweat shirt!   

 

"Bone ! Your all Wet" Mike

The Worlds Tallest Sitka Spruce is about a quarter of a mile from the parking lot. A couple of wise-ackers commented to Bone that he was getting his sweatshirt wet. Bone staring at them immediately shed his sweatshirt and retorted, "now it ain't gettin' wet!" 

 

Never Challenge the Bone!

Half-naked, he and Mike finished the walk to the tree in the 60 degree weather, and took a few pictures of the massive evergreen. Afterwards the Boys headed back to PCH and ever north!

 

A Stormy, Stormy Pacific Ocean, in Olympic National Park!

What turned out to be Mike and Bones last visit on this trip to the Pacific on Pacific Coast Highway was a blustery wind-driven rainy visit!

 

The wind and rain gave Mike and Bone a good idea what the Pacific Northwest would be like on a stormy winters days. Not really San Diego Beach weather! As it approach 3:00 the Boys decided to head up the peninsula and see if they were going to finish PCH this day!

 

Curving around the Peninsula

As the Boys started around the Olympic Peninsula, The lush, evergreen Olympic Mountains came into view. Within 45 minutes the Boys hit a MileStone. There was no way to go further north on PCH!?! Mike and Bone arrived in Port Angeles, the northernmost point on PCH!

 

The "tip" of the Peninsula! Port Angeles - the northernmost point of PCH!

Port Angeles, a heavy shipping town is also known for its outdoor activities such as hiking and whale watching. Mike and Bone took a break for the milestone by stopping for a couple of burgers and non-alcoholic beers.  Enjoying the harbor in the 60 degree weather was so different from 8 days before, but every bit as cool! (pun intended!)

After the burgers, the Boys hit the road intended to reach the end of PCH before dark!

 

The first time in 8 days Mike and Bone were driving South on PCH!

Leaving Port Angeles around 5:00 the Boys had two objectives, be well placed for the first ferry the next day to the San Juan Islands, which meant driving around Seattle, and find the end of PCH before dark. With the peddle to the meddle, Mike set the cruise to 80 and the Boys headed "south" on PCH!

 

The End of PCH!

Just around 7:00 at dusk, there it was ! Not nearly as iconic as US 1 in Key West, next to the Green Parrot Bar, but on the side of the freeway was the "End of 101" as it merged into eastbound I-5. It was a total of 2,150 miles for Mike and Bone, in 8 days! Now, to get position the next day for the San Juan islands!

 

Ending the Day in Everitt

So far on this trip, the Boys tried to keep the driving to the daylight hour in order to enjoy the drive, however there was no reason to check out the suburban Seattle area and they want to be less than an hour to the ferry, so Mike heroically drove on till around 10:30 when they entered the less than stellar industrial town of Everitt. Finding the first, cheap hotel, they checked into the skankiest dump on the trip and blissful crashed. PCH was DONE, The San Juan Islands, were ahead!