Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures

May 18, 1980 – The Day Mt St Helens Erupted

Steve — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:42:37 +0000

My Dad, myself and my cousin were down fishing in a bass tournament on Silver Lake in Cowlitz County, Washington the weekend that Mt St Helens decided to blow its top. I was 16 sixteen at the time. A member of the bass club was a photographer and shot the attached images that morning. I [...]

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Drying Things Out on the Monday After

Steve — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:58:48 +0000

On Monday, I needed to open up my roof top tent and awning to dry it out since I had to store it after a night of camping in the rain. I was hoping for a dry day and a little bit of the infamous Ellensburg breeze to help dry things out. However, first thing [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/14/13 – Eugene, Oregon to Ellensburg, Washington

Steve — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 04:46:27 +0000

The final leg of our road trip to the Oregon coast is complete. My daughter is downstairs watching a movie, I’m in bed typing the last blog post for this trip on my iPhone and the dog is snoring on her bed. Home Sweet Home. After leaving Eugene, Oregon earlier today, other than a few [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/14/13 – Florence to Eugene, Oregon

Steve — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:30:36 +0000

Our last day on the road. We’re leaving behind the Oregon Coast and we’re on our way home to Ellensburg, Washington. We woke up to pitter-patter of rain drops on the roof top tent while camping at the Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park. Luckily it stopped raining long enough to walk the dog, make [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/13/13 – South Beach to the Oregon Dunes

Steve — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 03:05:00 +0000

After eating our lunch at South Beach State Park, we continued south on US101. Along the way, we stopped at several small town antique shops. My daughter eventually found an old dress that the shopkeeper discounted 50% off the regular price. We continued on along the coast until we stopped at Cape Cove to get [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/13/13 – South Beach State Park, Oregon

Steve — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:17:13 +0000

It turned out to be a beautiful day along the Oregon coast. After driving through Newport, we stopped at South Beach State Park for lunch. Along the way, we stopped at a couple of antique shops. Onward down the coast we go.

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/13/13 – Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Oregon

Steve — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:49:07 +0000

Our first stop after leaving camp was at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The tides were low enough to walk down the steps to the beach below. All the creatures in the tidal pools were visible as well as a herd of sea lions. Next stop Newport.

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/13/13 – Beverly Beach Campground, Oregon

Steve — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:42:14 +0000

After a night of wind and rain, we woke up with clear skies and no wind. The outside of my tent and awning are actually dry. Last night was the first night of sleeping in my ARB roof top tent with wind and rain. Other than a very slight amount of condensation, which was resolved [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/12/13 – Nehalem Bay To Beverly Beach, Oregon

Steve — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:34:30 +0000

Today, our Oregon Coast road trip started at our campsite at Nehalem Bay State Park and we finished the day at Beverly Beach State Park. We had spotty cell phone coverage today so I’m giving one complete update for the day via my iPhone. Total miles driven today was 108. After leaving last night’s campsite, [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/12/13 – Nehalem Bay State Park

Steve — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:46:33 +0000

We woke up to cawing crows, mostly clear skies, no wind and about 38 degree temperatures. Last night was the first night that I ever got cold in my 25 year old sleeping bag. It’s either the bag or I’m just getting old. Tonight I’ll wear my fleece pants and wool socks. I’m in the [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/11/13 – Seaside, Cannon Beach & Nehalem Bay

Steve — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 04:54:01 +0000

After we left the south jetty, we picked up a 5-day pass to the coastal state parks for $10 (but not before a little beach driving). After that, we headed south on US101. We made our way through Seaside and actually drove through the downtown area to get a glimpse of the boardwalk. It was [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/11/13 – We Have Arrived on the Oregon Coast

Steve — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:22:00 +0000

After a quick stop in Astoria, our first stop along the Oregon Coast is at the South Jetty where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. We have mostly blue skies with your typical ocean breeze. A beautiful day on the coast.

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/11/13 – White Pass to Longview, Washington

Steve — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:00:58 +0000

We just completed the next leg of our trip. We had a beautiful drive on US12 through the very green Cowlitz River valley passing by the communities of Packwood, Randle, Morton and Mossy Rock. Along the highway there were some nice views of Riffe Lake and Mayfield Lake. We’re making our last stop before crossing [...]

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Spring Break Road Trip 4/11/13: Ellensburg to White Pass, Washington

Steve — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:42:40 +0000

It’s been a beautiful morning drive on US12 from Yakima to White Pass. Heading down the West slope and all I see is clouds.

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Spring Break Road Trip April 2013 – The Oregon Coast

Steve — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:30:41 +0000

Today, we head out on a four day road trip (weather permitting) for my daughter's Spring break from high school. Our goal for this trip is to do some camping somewhere along the Oregon coast. I have no idea where we will end up each day. We may stay at a new location each night or find a great spot and spend a couple of nights.

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Old Snag, Lake Cascade, Idaho

Steve — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:29:12 +0000

On the day I recently spent exploring the area around McCall, Idaho (see my post at Trip Report: Day 2 – McCall to Lake Cascade to Warm Lake, Idaho), I ended up driving down the western shore of Lake Cascade. Just before a heavy snow squall was about to hit this side of the lake, [...]

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Life on the Road

Steve — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:24:37 +0000

My daughter just completed her own trip report of last week’s 5 day road trip across Washington, into Idaho and through Oregon. You can read her post at Life on the Road

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Image: Palouse Falls, Washington (Mar 2013)

Steve — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:04:06 +0000

Palouse Falls in Washington State with God Rays from the backlit sunlight. Recently, I have been using my Apple iPhone 5 for the photos I use to accompany my trip reports. In the future, I will posting select images taken with my DSLR camera as well. This past week, my daughter and myself were on [...]

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Trip Report: Day 5 – Hood River, Oregon to Mt Hood to Ellensburg, Washington (3/26/2013)

Steve — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:21:39 +0000

Like the previous day's trip, we did not have a plan for the day except to be home in Ellensburg by the end of the day. After breakfast, we decided that we would make the trip up to Mt Hood and hopefully get a glimpse of the mountain before heading home.

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Trip Report: Day 4 – Baker City to Hood River, Oregon (3/25/2013)

Steve — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:33:42 +0000

As I looked through the travel guide, there were many great routes to take, however, one requirement would be that I would need to end up relatively close to the Washington state border near the end of the day's journey. The trip that made the most sense and of course looked interesting was called "The Journey Through Time Scenic Byway" that stretches from Baker City to Biggs on the Columbia River.

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Trip Report: Day 3 – McCall, Idaho to Baker City, Oregon via Hells Canyon (3/24/2013)

Steve — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:35:26 +0000

Last night, I had no idea where my travels would take me today. I was planning for another day exploring the area around McCall, Idaho. Little did I know that I would visit Hells Canyon and end up in Baker City, Oregon for the night.

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Trip Report: Day 2 – McCall to Lake Cascade to Warm Lake, Idaho (3/23/2013)

Steve — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 17:17:00 +0000

After I woke up and had breakfast at my hotel room in McCall, Idaho, my goal for the day was to explore the surrounding area with my camera in hand. Little did I know I would end up spending almost 12 hours and over 150 miles on the road.

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Trip Report: Day 1 – Ellensburg, WA to McCall, ID (3/22/2013)

Steve — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 17:27:45 +0000

For the past month, my daughter has been asking me to take her to visit a friend that in the past year, left Ellensburg, Washington and moved to McCall, Idaho. Finally, some dates were found that coincided with my days off (with a vacation day thrown in for good measure) and the Spring Break for the schools in McCall. Since it's not too hard to persuade me to go on a road trip, I booked a few days in McCall while she visits her friend.

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Trip Report: Overnight Camping Trip – Long Lake, Washington (Mar 13-14, 2013)

Steve — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:58:07 +0000

About a week earlier, I took my daughter and our dog out on a scouting trip to the Seep Lakes area South of the Potholes Reservoir in Washington state. We found a few good camping sites on that trip, but the one that really stood out that was on a lake and at the end of a dirt road, making it nice and secluded. This select camping site on Long Lake in Grant County would be our goal for the night for camping, fishing and of course, the primary reason of the trip, to get some images for an upcoming ad campaign for my son's employer

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Seep Lakes Exploratory Drive, Washington (03.06.2013)

Steve — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:03:37 +0000

Last week, my son contacted me about corroborating on a commercial photo shop for his employer. Part of the project was for an upcoming advertisement in the Overland Journal magazine. We would need to have a few “overlanding” shots as well as a few campsite “lifestyle” images for upcoming marketing campaigns. With these objectives in [...]

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