It was strange to be celebrating Canada Day without short and tall family members alone in a park somewhere in northern Washington State. Bernadette and I still made the best of our big day, sporting traditional red and white colours, plus our beloved maple leaf and wishing everyone and anyone in our camp ground a Happy Canada Day! Admittedly, not many of our fellow campers seemed very aware of Canada Day, but they still very sincerely wished us the very best back. You meet a lot of very nice folks on these RV journeys.
Building up to our July 1 festivities, the last few days in Oregon were some of our most memorable. We experienced amazing beaches that went for miles, stunning parks and even a feeding frenzy of some of the best seafood we’ve had in a long time.
The Oregon State Parks system is very extensive. There are dozens of public parks along the coastand each one offers something unique. While it would take months to visit them all, we were fortunate to spend a few days at two of its finest – Jessie Honeyman State Park near Florence, Oregon and Fort Stevens State Park near historic Astoria at the mouth of the mighty Columbia River.
Our stop at Jessie Honeyman State Park was appropriate. It was named after, Jessie M. Honeyman, a woman ahead of her time who worked tirelessly during the 1920’s and 1930’s as a passionate advocate for the preservation of Oregon’s precious coastal lands. Today, hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, including us, are indebted to the tremendous leadership and foresight of people like Ms. Honeyman.
During our visit, we focused on the overall experience and took the time to re-energize. Apart from a tiny hike to the huge sand dunes bordering the coast, we mostly relaxed at our campsite marvelling at the towering trees surrounding us that seemed to stretch to the clouds. It is hard to describe the natural beauty of this park. And the smells throughout the forest are incredible.
Our visit also marked the first campfire on our journey. Up to this point, the stifling heat and lack of rain made it impossible to start a fire, but now we had the chance. I have to give Bernadette a ton of credit for braving the cooling temperature to enjoy the flickering flames and wafting smoke. She has proven to be a true camper and I tap my Davey Crockett cap to her for so enthusiastically embracing the great outdoors.
Fort Stevens State Park is like no other. It stands at the mouth of the Columbia River where the famous surveyors, Lewis and Clark, leaders of the Corp of Discovery expedition, mapped out the last of their trails of north western United States in 1806. The park spreads across 4,300 acres of lush woods and protected bird sanctuaries, and even includes remnants of Fort Stevens itself. The fort was constructed during the Civil War to protect against any possible attack by the Confederate Army to wrestle control of this essential economic portal along the Columbia River.
The most picturesque site at Fort Stevens State Park is its jaw dropping beach that stretches for miles in every direction. When the tide rolls out, the beach becomes bigger and bigger as the waves crash in the distance. The other very cool thing is you can drive right down to the beach and park for hours, or at least until high tide, for obvious reasons. Another day spent at the beach in Oregon was another Heavenly time spent on our adventure.
Our last day of our visit to the United States ends tomorrow when we leave beautiful Port Angeles on the northern tip of Washington State to take the 90 minute ferry boat ride across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria, British Columbia and home to Canada. But before we do, we want to thank all of the many Americans we’ve met across the 11 states we’ve visited. There have been so many good-hearted folks and wherever we have gone, we have been treated with kindness, respect and good humour. We’re fortunate to have such good neighbours.
Thanks for putting up with a couple of Crazy Canucks. Enjoy your fireworks on July 4th and we look forward to our next visit in Ladybug.
O Canada. It will be nice to be home.