It was wonderful to have breakfast right on the water and hang out for a while at the campsite. The ocean fog had rolled in over night and it appeared as if rain was imminent. After a leisurely morning, talking with friends on my cell, cutting Ned’s hair and taking showers we finally were ready to take the trail around the lake. Turns out the first half of the trail was really for hikers so we ended up walking or carrying our bikes over narrow footpaths and bridges. (See today’s pic). Some of the footbridges were quite elaborate including one covered bridge with windows. Riding thru the rainforest was beautiful and it was fun to point out the different things we’ve learned in the visitor centers of Mt. Rainer and Olympic National Parks. The path eventually led us to a forest road and the riding was much easier. By the time we pulled out of the campground it was close to noon. Our first destination was Westport, a working fishing village. By this time it was mid-afternoon and the “One Eyed Crab” shack was looking pretty good. Ned had a crab sandwich and I had crab legs. Mighty tasty too I might add. The skies had decided to open up and it poured the rest of the day. We continued to meander down the coast, past cranberry bogs, fish markets and seafood stands until we reached Cape Disappointment and pulled into the town of Long Beach. There’s a wacky store that touts itself as a free museum so we decided to check it out. Out front is the World’s Largest Frying Pan and huge chopsticks that serve as guard rails. How could we not stop in? It was a hoot playing with the old-fashioned arcade games and peep shows. For a nickel we watched “Harem Dancers” and “The Fan Dance.” They lasted all about 5 seconds and were really, really lame. There were also fortune tellers (like in the movie, “Big”), passion meters and lots and lots of other kitschy stuff. When we had our fill we braved the rains again and continued down the coast eventually leaving Washington and swimming into Astoria, Oregon. It was about 5ish and we didn’t feel like hanging out at the campsite in the rain so we decided on a movie instead. We saw The American with George Clooney, which wasn’t hard on the eyes ladies, but the story line was a little weak. The rain has finally stopped and tomorrow is supposed to be intermittent showers. Hopefully we’ll get enough of a break to ride the bikes. We are camped at Ft. Stevens State Park at the very northwestern tip of Oregon. We had camped here 3 years ago and were completely fascinated with the military museum and thoroughly enjoyed the 15 miles of bike trails. This mermaid is signing off for tonight – glub, glub.
