Page 161 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2021 REDISCOVERING CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL COAST

next to us. Even better, it’s occupants were an el- wrote in his journal, "we are in view of the ocean,
derly German couple whom I nicknamed “Hansel this great Pacific Ocean which we been so long
and Gretel.” While Maddie and Anders went for an anxious to see."
exploratory walk, the friendly neighbors invited We dined that night with Hansel and Gretel,
me for tea and the pair - both former professors at made s’more over a campfire and said goodbye to
the University of Washington in Seattle - told me them in the morning before continuing south on
they’d been traveling around the Northwest in Highway 101. We crossed the Columbia at
their bus on vacations for decades. Astoria, Oregon in our trusty Hamma Hamma
When the kids returned, we snacked and hiked and continued on 133 miles to the Salishan Resort
along the beaches of the park and clambered over (salishan.com) south of kitschy Lincoln City. After
huge pieces of driftwood - whole trees in some roughing it a bit, we were more than happy to
cases - that looked as if they’d been tossed ashore spend a few nights at this upscale hostelry.
like pick-up sticks. When monstrous ocean waves We hiked on trails that lead from the resort out
batter the coast, that’s likely no exaggeration. to the coast, explored tide pools and climbed in
That afternoon, we walked out to the North some old-growth trees on a ropes-and-swaying-
Head Lighthouse, which was built in 1897 and has bridges course. But the best part of our stay was
a six-story tower. We strolled around the keepers doing a stand-up-paddleboard (SUP) excursion on
living quarters, which can be rented by overnight the Siletz River and its estuary, where we saw bald
visitors (https://www.parks.state.wa.us/380/ eagles, great blue herons and wood ducks, among
Cape-Disappointment). others. All went well on the five-mile outing until I
We also toured the Lewis & Clark Interpretive looked up to see an osprey, lost my balance and
Center (https://parks.state.wa.us/187/Cape-Dis- walked backwards off my board. Quicker than you
appointment), which commemorates their famed could say “boo!,” I was out of the chilly water and
“Corps of Discovery Expedition.” Their epic trip back upright.
culminated in November 1805, when the party We bid goodbye after two nights to the Salishan
reached the Pacific. "Great joy in camp," Clark and its way-cool Land Rover, which had trans-

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