9-9-19 Grayland & Westport, WA & the OR coast

Bears & berries!

Grayland Beach State Park is a fairly simple, basic park with no amenities whatsoever, unless you count the blackberry bushes.  It didn’t take long to pick some.   Fortunately, there were no bears to fight for the berries.  Just rinse off the bear cooties, top with a sprinkle of sugar and spoon onto a scoop of ice cream.  Worth the stay at this park.  Yum!

We’ve been to Westport a few years back but it wasn’t far up the road and certainly deserved another visit.  It’s a rustic working fishermen’s village and port where there are more hardcore salts walking up and down the floats (piers) than there are tourists.  They will smile and nod at us foreigners but mostly, they are focused on the job, pulling their vessels into port, unloading the catch or sailing away again for more. 

Proud owner of a
24-lb. ling cod

The annual derby is in progress at the moment with monetary prizes for the largest catch of certain fishes.  While we watched, a fisherman off the High Life was walking to the weigh station with a monster ling cod, nearly as long as the fisherman was tall.  It weighed in at 24 lb. and became the leader in the ling cod category of the contest.  They announced this over loudspeakers throughout the port and I think the fisherman was quite happy.  He may just win the $1,500 prize.  The biggest prize was $10,000 for the largest Chinook salmon.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see any other contestants bringing their catches to the weighmaster.

Village of Westport as viewed
from the tower

Oyster boat

Taken from the top of the tower

Working man with his fish

Bringing home the catch

Local livestock - jellyfish

The Easter Seal

"Bark!  Bark!  Bark!" 
What a racket!

Across from the floats, there is a row of little shops and restaurants.  Many of the patrons around midday are hard-working fishermen in rubber boots and bib-style waders.  A lot of the fish served in the restaurants is fresh off the boat or fresh from the farms.  My Dungeness crab omelet was perfect.  After lunch, we strolled around more to watch all the activity and then climbed up the tower to look out over the breakwater.  Fishing boats were coming in and sailing out, seals were barking from the buoys and the breakers were crashing against the rocks.  It was a calm, sunny day and so all was fairly serene.  However, at the end of the breakwater is a memorial monument honoring fishermen who were taken by the tempests on the sea.  The names on the plaques indicate possible fathers and sons based upon the dates and so this mariner’s way of life apparently runs deeply in the blood.

Buying fresh fish

Rob examines the tub of crab

We bought fresh fish from
this youngster

The best part was next.  We walked Float # 8 and found a fisherman that was selling fish and shellfish such as albacore tuna, ling cod, salmon, crab and clams right off the boat.  We loaded up and he put our selections in a big bag full of ice.  What an absolutely delightful day!

On the morning of the 10^th, we once more packed up Noobee and continued to head south along the coast, deliberately choosing the smaller roads through the scenic countryside.  The 4-mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge across the Columbia River where it meets the Pacific is an impressive engineering accomplishment.  The river flows out and fights the Pacific trying to flow in and the violent currents have caused a lot of maritime chaos here.  Ships are not allowed to sail alone onto the Columbia from the ocean.  A pilot boat sails out to the ships and a seasoned pilot boards and guides the ship safely through the raging passage and constantly changing shoals.  The area is not called the “Graveyard of the Pacific” for nothing. 

Columbia River approaching the bridge

A

Astoria-Megler Bridge

The rugged OR coast

Continuing our drive down the coast could become a little harrowing, at times.  Noobee cautiously threaded the needle up and down the hills and through the narrow switchbacks with trees on one side and a drop-off to the boulders and waves on the other.  “Don’t lean out that way, Noobee!  Lean the other way!”  It’s a white-knuckle experience.  God’s ocean takes no prisoners.  It is spiritual in its scenic beauty but it is always quite nice to be further inland on terra firma where gravity doesn’t involve cliffs. 

"Terrible Tilly," the Tillamook
Light, named for its
exposure to the violent wind
and waves