Today we’re planning to drive to the South end of the beach called Tokeland name after the Native American Chief Toke of the Chehalis tribe who used to spent his summers up here with his family and further down the 105 to the small town of Raymond, turn around and drive back. We will make a stop at the point called Wash-away beach. The beach was named Shoalwater Beach after the Shoalwater Tribe unfortunately because of the way nature works parts of the beach and dunes have been washed away, hence the name Washaway beach. I also hope to stop and look for some nice pieces of drift wood and shells to build a windchime/mobile at home.
After another breakfast of French toast and bagels and a cappuccino and latte for W.at the local espresso drive through (why they call it espresso drive through is still a mystery to me, they don’t serve any espresso at all!) we’re on our way. Still have to get used to paying tax on stuff. We in Oregon don’t have sales tax and I now notice how convenient that is.;-)
First stop is Washaway Beach, pretty soon we see the big signs placed on the road preventing you from accidentally driving onto the beach, which would be a steep drop! It’s a pity the weather is still hazy and misty so photos will not do the beauty of this spot justice. W. goes out to have a peek and see if it’s doable for me to walk there, the pups have to stay in the car, too dangerous. I can already picture the disaster of one of them running and disappearing over the edge and we who are not able to get him back and have to call the rescue crews. Can you imagine? I can! As I said before I have a vivid imagination ;-)
It was okay for me to go out and have a peek myself so on I went. Not much too see except for the erosion and the obvious broken off piece on dune. On my way back W. took some ‘lovely’ photos of my trying to keep my balance in the soft sand and not show anyone how much it hurt me to walk.
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| From Westport July 14 2009 |
Photos below speak for themselves. Have any one my readers also got a husband that takes unflattering photos of your behind? Look at me, tending to the pups who lord knows wanted water, a biscuit, a ball or just plain annoying because the wanted out of the car and run on the beach. While I, as the caring person, that I am tend to that, my husband snaps pictures of my unsuspecting but.... need I say more?
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| From Westport July 14 2009 |
I did have my revenge though, while he was taking ‘artistic’ photos of the road I snapped his but with my small camera. that will teach him ;-)
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| From Westport July 14 2009 |
After this interesting intermezzo we hit the road again to a spot nearby where many cars and trucks were spotted with people looking for driftwood and other goodies. I hoped to find an agate or a glass float but no such luck, found some nice pieces of driftwood and no shells at all! What’s up with that? Wrong place for the current to put any shells ashore probably.
Dogs had a ball chasing balls and digging for treasures, I was the one who was busying herself with making artistic photos of very large pieces of driftwood and the sea behind it. Still have to work on it, no, I’m not going to show them here on my blog for the whole world to see. You’ll just get the touristic version ;-)
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| From Westport July 14 2009 |
We drove on to Tokeland, located at the Willapa Bay. Tokeland is home to a small Indian reservation, the Shoalwater tribe and has a casino(of course;-)), a state of the art health and wellness center sponsored by the Shoalwater tribe and a 9 hole golf course. When you drive through it it’s gone before you know it. It’s a tiny place on the map and the reservation is one of the smaller ones, it’s only 1 mile long.
The harbor was a gorgeous place where we took lots of photos of the floats the water and the mountains across the bay.
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| From Westport July 14 2009 |
Onto the town of Raymond which was a bit of a disappointment, industrial, worn out after recession also took its toll here. Lots of restaurants and cafes were closed and boarded up, we hope to have lunch here on a nice patio but no such luck. The only place to eat that we could find and that my iPhone directed me to was the Dairy Queen. Oh well, we had worse than that ;-) I had a shrimp basket and a nice ice cream cone with caramel and pecans! YUM.
The only thing interesting about Raymond was that they had these wonderful metal sculptures throughout the town, I tried to snap a few pics of them but unfortunately there always was a run down building behind it, or a boarded up restaurant as background. Too bad that small towns like this don’t survive these hard economic time.
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| From Westport July 14 2009 |
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| From Westport July 14 2009 |
The drive back to Westport was gorgeous, beautiful views, with small hilly countryside and the blue pacific as back drop. i noticed as we drove back a small store in Tokeland I didn’t see before, Chiefs Toke Tobacco and Gift Store that was still open. Will have to go back there and buy a birthday present for my son in law René who’s birthday is coming up next week.
Just like Tokeland, Raymond and closer to Westport the small village of Grayland, a lot of stores, gift stores, coffee places, restaurants and all boarded up and closed. Even this modern Condo complex isn’t filled up with tourists. I think only a 10% of the condos are occupied at the moment, of course it doesn’t help that all amenities are closed, people will stay away or will not return for a second time. I guess its a chicken and egg problem.
Speaking of eggs, we had a simple dinner of sandwiches with a ham and cheese omelet, espresso on the balcony watching the stunning sunset and now time for bed.
Nite nite!
See today's photo album with more photos here
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