Heading to the Pacific coast

We left early in the morning. Jana took us to the light rail station and we had a chance to say "see you soon" and thanks. Then we headed for King St. Station and our train to Portland - The Amtrak COAST STARLIGHT.

Turned out to be the double decker and we even got seats on the top deck. Plenty of leg room and good window seats so we could enjoy the trip down the coast. Rail travel is not fast in US but it comes with so many entertainment options - like the observation car where you can sit and enjoy 360 panorama views and a on-board live guide that will explain nature, landscape and history as the train moves along. We now know that it only takes 6 trains of 110 grain hopper cars each to fill up a major cargo ship. And a lot of of useful stuff.

Our trip was four hours to Portland which was way too short - we could have spent many hours on that train.

Portland was the usual hazzle of picking up the car, heading out of town and then north towards the coast. We went to Astoria, saw the impressive Astoria Megler bridge across the Columbia river, headed south to Seaside and walked a bit around town getting a little bit concerned that our place - Cannon beach - would be equally "plastic".

Arriving at the Tolovana Inn we realised that it wasn't the case. Right on the beach, nice room and quiet. Just as we wanted it to be. After many busy days we decided to head for dinner at the restaurant next door - Mo's. The menu - sharing seafood, chowder and more seafood. Tomorrow we'll be exploring the coast - we just need the weather to improve a bit. In the meantime we have our own king size bed and a TV-set. Let's just relax.

Staying at Jana's - Malene got to sleep in her old bed

Jana and Malene - Malene with her old exchange student application 

Sooo much space. Love this train

Beautiful station in Portland

Our new car for the next week

Cannon Beach - beautiful also when it's grey and misty outside

Gotta try the clam chowder

And seafood when you're at the coast

Liqourice pipe from Denmark

Big planes

This morning we left Keith and Sharon. Didn't really want to though. There are a few hundred hikes we could do and some more world matters to take care of. Not this time though. But thanks for some wonderful days.

Mikkel had persuaded Malene to do a little excursion to Boeing's museum and factory tour - The Future of Flight. So we headed for Everett and spent a couple of hours there looking at planes - and was inside the buildings where they assemble the planes. Very impressive but no pictures due to company policy. Viewing the 777, 747 and 787 assembly lines is really impressive though. It was Sunday so the factory didn't operate at full speed but there was activity inside and outside the building.

We headed back to Seattle and dropped of our car, met with Jana and found a nice vegetarian/Kosher restaurant. It was our turn to pay back for her hospitality a bit. It has been so kind of her to let us stay in her home.

On the way back from the restaurant she did the scenic tour of the neighbourhood so we saw some of the nice places close to the water. A bit exhausted from all the hiking (yes), we had a quiet evening and packed our stuff for our departure tomorrow. Oregon and Gaston - here we come.

Our room at Keith and Sharon's

The Boeing factory in the background

Time to play in the exhibition hall at Boeing

Big engine

Bigger engine

Bye bye white car

Dinner in Portland

Hiking Dungeness Spit

We could hear the wind and the rain all night. Definitely not the best conditions for hiking but in the morning it was a bit more calm. So we had a healthy breakfast and a lot of hiking options listed. Close, far away, short, long. In the end Keith made a decision based on the weather looking to get at bit worse. We were heading North towards the longest sand spit in the continental United States - Dungeness Spit .

A hundred miles later and it turned out that Keith was absolutely right. The mountains were shielding us from the bad weather so in the distance we could see black clouds and rains cascading down. We on the other hand enjoyed the walk on the beach although a bit windy.
The walk to the end of the spit is five miles plus trail head and Mikkel couldn't resist the option to go to the bitter end. So he pushed on - and that just meant more time to discuss important world matters. And of course solve them. Easy, easy. The light house at the end of the spit has a nice garden so we sat there for our much deserved lunch - and then it started to rain a bit.

After lunch we were invited inside the light house for a guided tour - and realised that Keith and Sharon never had been in the light house even though they had done the hike before.
It was an interesting tour stretching back more than 400 years to the first explorers hitting the coast and to present day operation of the light house. For those of you who wants to stay there it is and option - you can rent the light house and be a keeper at the same time. Not us - we were busy heading back since the tide was coming in and the weather was getting a bit rougher. We enjoyed every moment on the beach though. And even had a chance to look across the waters to Victoria on Vancouver Island where we'd been just a few weeks ago.

Back in the car and heading home we realised even more why Keith's decision was right. Trees had come down and the rain was pouring down as we drove back. Seems like autumn has arrived on the west coast. Nice burgers for dinner and some more catching up on our travel experiences and plans. What a wonderful day - again.

Good with a big breakfast before hiking and facing the wind

Beautiful view from Sharon and Keith's house

On our way out on the Dungeness Spit

The light house....still some miles ahead

Malene and Sharon

Lunch time

Sharon - climbing the stairs in the light house

View from the light house

Keith, Sharon and Mikkel

We're just chilling here

You can almost see all the way to the end of the spit