Travel Tuesday: Cape Disappointment State Park, March 14-16, 2025

I'm a history nerd but managed to miss the year in high school where kids focus on American history -- I was an exchange student in Switzerland during my junior year. And when I went to university, I focused on Great Britain and Ireland, and did Pacific Northwest history for my "American" focus. 

As such, American history is a little hazy for me -- picked up in Ken Burns documentaries on PBS and National Park Service visitor centers on American road trips. But I often find myself bumping into (historically speaking) Lewis and Clark. 

Back in 2015, for example, while running the Center of the Nation Series (6 half marathons in 6 states in 6 days!) we came across Pompey's Pillar, a 120-foot sandstone rock formation rising directly from the banks of the Yellowstone River. In addition to preserving centuries of petroglyphs and markings left by Native American tribes and early settlers, the rock features the last remaining physical, on-site inscription left by William Clark during the 1806 return trip of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It's weirdly cool to see. 

And in 2009 we ran the Great Columbia Crossing -- a 10K from Washington to Oregon across the soaring Astoria-Medger Bridge. The race shuttles everyone across the bridge on buses and then you run back to Astoria. The starting point? An exposed area called Dismal Nitch. In my excitement, I got us on an early shuttle, which meant we spent over an hour shivering in the wet and cold in the same spot where Lewis and Clark spent several shivering, cold days. 

And in 2018 when we went to Montana to visit the Sip n Dip (mermaids!) and see Pearl Jam, we also stopped at Great Falls where I can only imagine L&C's dismay at seeing the falls. 

Anyway... in 2025 we wanted to extend our camping season, so booked "roofed" camping in a lot of parks. One weekend we went to Cape Disappointment. 

Merriwether Lewis arrived at Cape Disappointment on November 15, 1805 with a small group of men, while William Clark and the larger party relocated from Dismal Nitch to nearby Station Camp. November 15 is a special day for us -- it's our wedding day -- so learning that Lewis had arrived at Cape Disappointment 200 years before our wedding day was a fun coincidence. 

Even though we were arriving in mid March, the weather was still cold (and dark).

Yurt 71, the next morning

It was bitterly cold inside, but luckily there was an additional space heater that we turned on immediately, and soon the little yurt was cozy inside.

After getting settled, we walked out to the beach under a full moon. Shifting sands and water levels had rendered a section of the campsite "uncampable", but the roads and trails were still there. It was very, very, very cold. 

We probably only spent 20 minutes outside before retreating to our now-cozy yurt and down blankets.

The next morning we got up to explore. We started by returning to the beach -- we were amazed at how high the tide had gone overnight. 

I should mention that it was VERY WINDY

Then we headed toward the North Head Lighthouse. 

The trail was lovely but wet. How wet? We saw a newt. 

We also had gorgeous views out to the mouth of the Columbia River and, eventually, the lighthouse itself. 

We circled the lighthouse, admiring the shapes (look at the bulging foot of the tower!) as well as the stormy seas beyond. 

Then we headed back toward the campground, passing a handsome memorial and markers for the Lewis and Clark Trail. 

Next we headed to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. This was a very good one -- some we have visited were just okay. I suspect that, with the trail being so long, some of the exhibits are stretched a little thin. But this one had cute interactive features, and I especially loved this sewing kit: 

Given that we would be headed to Hawaii in a few weeks, I couldn't resist a visit to Waikiki Beach: 

Pretty cold, we decided to drive into Ilwaco. We took a wrong turn and had to drive a ways to get to a turnaround point. And then we noticed the surf.

this is a different lighthouse -- Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Eventually we wandered into Ilwaco, where we enjoyed a flight at Ilwaco Cider and poked around a very cool used record shop and bar called Ship Wreckords. (I've just learned that it has been replaced by a new spot, Rae Rae's. I wish her luck!)

We also came across this big sculpture of a California Condor on a whale rib, as described by L&C in their journals in 1805. 

On our last day in the area we drove through Long Beach -- I love a seaside town in the off season! Of course we visited Jake the Alligator Man in Marsh's Free Museum: 

And, while there, I found my first ever "Sunny" personalized souvenir item: 

Yes, that's right, it's for a DOG. Sigh. 

Travel Tuesday is an ongoing project to get my notes out of my journal and my photos off of my phone. 

Starry Night Stitch-a-Long, part 13

Hi everyone! Excited that it's autumn, my favorite season in Seattle. Slow but steady progress continues on Starry Night. Here's where I was last time: 

And here's where I am now, with another column done: 

Last time I wondered how long before I start stitching cypresses. Well, I looked and ... it will be THREE MONTHS (12 weeks) before I will have stitched any part of the big cypress if I keep up this pace. Something to look forward to!

Our next check in is in three weeks. Until then, join me and check out what my fellow stitchers -- Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret, Megan, Deborah, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Mary Margaret, Helen, and Cindy -- have been up to. Also, a very very very warm welcome back to Sharon, who is rejoining us after a brief break. Happy you're back, Sharon!

Travel Tuesday: Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park day 2, April 18, 2025

Up early after a surprisingly great night's sleep in our little cabin. We drove back to the crater rim and went to hike the Kilauea Iki Trail. 

As we started down to the crater floor and this handsome fella -- a kalij pheasant -- put on a little show for us: 

Apparently they're native to the foothills of the Himalayas, but a group of 67 was introduced to the Big Island in 1962 as game birds. Because they have no major natural predators on the islands, their population exploded and now they're a very common sight in the park.

But even he had a hard time competing with the lush greenery. Those giant ferns felt very prehistoric! 

I am a rule follower by nature, but these signs still made me laugh because IT'S A FREAKING VOLCANO. DON'T BE STUPID!

Once on the crater floor there were cairns, but there was a faint but obvious trace of a trail. 

It felt lunar and very quiet (we only saw 2 other people until we were climbing up the far side of the crater) and very open. I loved the bright green plants growing whenever they were able to establish themselves. 

We occasionally saw some offerings, too. 

The crater floor was pretty even, but you could see areas where the lava cooled differently:

Back at the top the trail followed the rim back to the start....

... and it provided spots to take silly photos: 

It was cool to see the trail across the crater from the far side: 

I love this AllTrails map of our hike: 

Because we finished our hike so early, we decided to drive over to Hilo to look around. We went to a very cool and very busy farmer's market, had veggie moko loco, 

met a very cool artist named Shane Molina and bought a bunch of stickers, and had tofu musubi in an amazingly named and logoed restaurant called MUSUBEAST. (Seriously, they need to sell merch!)

We even managed to finish the visit with the absolute best shave ice I have ever had. 

In the afternoon we headed back to the park and saw a few more spots. I loved the steam vents because all the heat and moisture made the vegetation really lush. 

We also walked around to a different view of the eruption site: 

In the evening we went back to the crater rim and watched the eruption in a quiet spot in the dark... admittedly wishing we would have MORE of an eruption!

Finally, when it was pitch black, we walked back to our campground. Some families had LOTS of people at their campsites -- there were 15 people at the cabin across the road, and at least 20 people at the cabin on the other side of the shower block. But luckily they all had little kids with them and were quiet at 10pm!

In the morning we packed up and started to make our way back to Kona via Hilo -- our last day in Hawaii!

Travel Tuesday is a project to get my memories out of my notebooks and off my phone.