Day 2: Seattle, Washington to Newport, Oregon

We had another early start to our day, waking up to catch the 7:35 ferry to Bremerton with David and Amy. Given Seattle’s geography, the ferry system is an essential way for suburbanites to avoid a drive all the way around the sound to get into the city. But it is also an excellent way for tourist to view the beautiful scenery surrounding the city from a different angle. Amy, a writer and ferry connoisseur, knew the history of the ferry system and the names and origins of the boats used. They then pointed our that the ferry system was dramatically underfunded due to the political antics of Tim Eyman, a local activist for hire. He runs a company that operates on a very unorthodox business model. First, he proposes a ballot measure. Then his company solicits donations to support this measure, and his salary comes from the donations. In recent year, they noted that he had transcended the bounds of self-parody and starting showing up at the State Secretary’s office in a Santa costume or a Gorilla suit. Despite the fact that Eyman doesn’t appear to take himself very seriously, some of his measures manage to pass. His measure to cut funding to the public transportation system has caused fares on the ferries to rise and the boats themselves to fall into disrepair.
After the boat left the harbor, we faced out into an evergreen coastline dotted with houses and boats. It was hard to believe that these places were part of an urban area. Judging by the landscape alone, these houses could have been on one of the larger lakes in the Adirondack mountains in New York, not really isolated from the rest of the world but certainly not urban by anyone’s definition. This kind of “Seattle Density” was also apparent in many of the residential neighborhoods, populated with modestly sized single family homes each surrounded by a small yard. The idea of a yard of any size in a city proper is more than a little foreign in any of the other places I’ve lived. Although, seeing the comfortable residential neighborhoods within easy access of the city, I could understand the attraction.

The inside of the ferry

The "Suburbs"

Our Tour Guides

Another Ferry

Freakin' Tourists
After we came back into land, we thanked David and Amy for our excellent tour and headed out of town on I-5 South. We had to travel south through Washington into Oregon. Our destination was Newport, a coastal tourist destination and the starting point for Route 20. In hopes of getting a more scenic tour of the area, we decided to travel south on Route 101 which hugs the coastline rather than continuing on I-5 which travels further inland through Portland.
The trip through southern Washington was marked by the contrast between the dense evergreen forests and desolate, almost barren patches of deforested land, most likely from the timber industry which we saw evidence of everywhere. It was clearly the backbone industry of the area, maintaining the towns we drove through. But I had to tell myself that the timber companies would eventually reforest the stripped areas because I wanted that to be true.
In the towns, we noticed a west coast curiosity that was completely unfamiliar to us. In the parking lots of grocery stores, pharmacies, and banks were tiny shacks selling espresso coffee drinks. We don’t have any idea what the locals call them, but we referred to them as espresso stands. What was amazing about these things was the massive number of them. We saw at least 30 espresso stands on the trip. It’s also interesting that, in the east, espresso drinks are generally sold in Starbucks and other coffee houses that are housed in full sized store fronts. Almost all of the clients of these places are either students scribbling in notebooks or professionals looking for some liquid ambition. The espresso stands, on the other hand, looked very democratic, like they probably drew people from all walks of life who felt like getting some coffee. While some of them offered food on the menu as well, most sold coffee exclusively. Finally, there was certainly no place to sit and linger. In fact, most had drive-thru windows as well as walk up storefronts.
At the southernmost tip of Washington, we took a short detour to a park named Cape Disappointment. This was the final destination of Lewis and Clark’s expedition across the frontier. We weren’t able to figure out why they named it that, but Aaron and I agreed that this was not an especially comforting name for a tourist destination, especially for those who had been on the road for hours and still had hours more ahead of them. We came up with a few alternate suggestions: Cape Out of Our Way, Cape Inconvenient, and Cape How Can This Possibly Be Worth It. However, when we finally did reach the cape, we found a small beach littered with pieces of driftwood between two towering cliffs. The tourists who were spending the day there were using the pieces of driftwood to construct little lean-tos. Some were impressively built and looked like they might just be able to stand up year to year. Others looked less sturdy. Afterward, stopped in Ilwaco, Washington at Fire and Ice Pizza Pasta Calzones Ice Cream Saltwater Taffy and Hardware Store.
We crossed a large bridge into Astoria, Oregon at around 3 PM. From here, it was a straight shot 133 miles along Route 101 to Newport. As we drove along the coast we came into long stretches of impenetrable fog. During those times, we saw a lot of coastal views like this, with greenery in the foreground and a wall of white nothingness beyond. However, in the occasional breaks in the fog, we were able to stop and capture the astonishing beauty of the Oregon coastline. Between Tillamook and Newport, we also saw lush green farmland, mostly populated by dairy cows, but also home to goats, horses and the occasional chicken pecking at the roadside.
Although we didn’t see any cherry orchards along the side of the road, almost every small town had at least one open air cherry stand. Eventually, the power of suggestion overcame us and we pulled over. We bought about two and a half pounds of mixed Bing and Ranier cherries. The original plan was to wait until we got to the hotel to eat, but after about half an hour, we finally dove in. Of course, they were fantastic. The Ranier cherries, which are at the end of their season, were especially good, sweet and explosively juicy. Aaron, who loves cherries enough that he once unwisely ate seven pounds of cherries in two nights, cried out as soon as he ate one “Oh my god, these are better than . . .” I cut him short. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
We finally arrived in Newport around 8:15 in the evening. It was very cool and completely enveloped in the mist we had driven through most of the day. As we drove through town on Route 101 we found the place where our journey would begin. A non-descript sign under a traffic light “Route 20 East Begins.” We drove through the small beachhouses down to the Elizabeth Street Inn. We checked in and, seeing the postcards with crystal clear views of the coastline, asked the women at the front desk “is this weather normal?” They looked at each other and shrugged “oh, yes. It’s actually pretty nice today. It’s not windy at all.” Cool and misty in the middle of August. I have no plans to move to the Oregon coast.
This leg of the trip was an excellent initiation to the trip to come. First, we learned that small towns can have very serious traffic. The times quoted by GoogleMaps do not include the half hour or more delays that can be caused by a poorly timed traffic light. Also, this trip will require more patience than I currently possess. I have to start removing the term “making good time” from my vocabulary. Finally, although I will be journaling every day, the idea that I will be posting everyday is a little ambitious. I expect we will spend a fair amount of our time hunting down public wifi, particularly in the Rockies and the Midwest.

Links



Tim Eyman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Eyman

Elizabeth Street Inn

http://www.elizabethstreetinn.com/