The original plan was to drive from Newport across to Bend to visit Michael's family, attend a baby shower for his nephew's first child, and spend a few days there before continuing back home to Anacortes.
The weather forecast changed those plans.
A high-pressure system with extreme temperatures was moving in and temperatures in Bend were predicted to be over 100℉ during our stay. Even though we have two air conditioner units in the Alpine, they would struggle to cool down the coach to a comfortable temperature inside. As I often joke, the Alpine is really a large tin can in disguise and heats up inside very quickly. Plus, it would not be comfortable outside in that heat either. I know I would have felt miserable.
The I-5 corridor from Oregon to Washington was about to experience the same hot air mass with temperatures forecast in the 100°s and would not be a good alternative route either.
Michael came up with a Plan C: we could avoid the heatwave by heading home along coastal 101 around the peninsula, a route we traveled several years ago. The coast is typically cooler than inland.
Michael spent time canceling our previous reservations and making new ones in Tillamook, Willapa Bay, Forks, Port Townsend, and the ferry to Whidbey Island (reservations for large vehicles are required).
Mother Nature, however, as we discovered, had no plan to cooperate or be kind.
We set out from Newport after the rally ended, on a more typical foggy coastal morning.
We spent two nights at the Tillamook Elks. The first afternoon we sat outside in the shade after we arrived, gazing across the corn fields and thankful that the temperature would drop slightly overnight. There is only dry camping available at the Tillamook Elks so any drop in temperature was helpful overnight.
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| parked at the Tillamook Elks |
The next day, we drove into town, thankful for air-conditioning in the Jeep. The first stop was the quilt shop. Quilting is a well-known pastime in this coastal town, famous for its Tillamook Quilt Trail (Tillamook Quilt Trail) as well as the Latimer Quilt and Textile Museum.
On a previous trip several years ago, we walked through the town looking for the many different quilt blocks that adorn businesses listed on a quilt trail map.
The quilt shop is located in a house with different fabrics and themes spilling into each room. I enjoyed poking about and settled on two fabric photo images of two of the lighthouses we visited. I would figure out how to incorporate them into a quilt hanging once we were home.
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| the quilt shop in Tillamook, with a quilt square on the garage door |
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| a treasure trove of different types of fabrics and themes |
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| love this saying and decided to get a panel for my sewing room at home |
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| the quilt museum, also with a quilt block and large painted quilt on the building that houses antique quilts kept in a temperature-controlled environment |
From there, we continued on to the museum, again thankful that the building is air-conditioned. The museum was a pleasant surprise we each enjoyed - yes, Michael joined me, the first time ever.
As their website cites, "The Latimer Quilt & Textile Center is a vibrant, living, working museum whose mission is to preserve, promote, display and facilitate the creation of and provide education about the textile arts.
Located in beautiful Tillamook, Oregon, the Latimer Quilt & Textile Center offers bi-monthly exhibits featuring vintage textiles or contemporary fiber and textile art by local and nationally recognized artists. We have a research library for on-site use, a gift shop full of handcrafted items, books, yarn and vintage fabrics. We also offer meeting spaces for several fiber arts groups. Please view our event page for a schedule of their meetings where you can watch them demonstrate their art or arrange for lessons.The Latimer Quilt & Textile Center invites you to visit us and see our heirlooms being made. Plus, you'll learn how to make your own!"
The current exhibit of quilt and fiber artist, Caryl Breyer Fallert-Gentry, was inspiring. Her method of taking digital photos and printing them on to fabric, then quilting them, gave me a new insight into art quilts and an idea for what to do with the lighthouse prints I bought.
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| the entrance to the museum |
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| a room filled with older quilts |
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| a room devoted to looms and yarns |
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| the current quilt artist exhibit |
Here is a link to the Photos, Pixels and Pizzaz exhibit that I took:https://photos.app.goo.gl/xDqFhW9YqS9Yuvvf7
This link is for photos of the other rooms in the musem: https://photos.app.goo.gl/W41q9uwGMcZLAanm6
The next morning, we headed off, back along Highway 101 on our northbound trek, through Astoria and across the long bridge back to Washington until we arrived in Bay Center.
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| that's a loooong bridge to cross |
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| the scenery hugging the bay |
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| back in Washington again |
When we pulled in at the Bay Center KOA, it was 105F!!!
On the coast.
Which is supposed to be typically cooler than inland.
We were sweltering and uncomfortable. At least here there is 50amp electricity and both air conditioners were hard at work to cool down the interior of our "tin can."
Late afternoon, we did manage a walk to the beach and back before dinner.
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| this woodsy path led us to the beach |
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| steps led us down to the beach below |
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| nature's beach sculptures |
Near the office, there is a display about oysters explaining how they are harvested. Oysters are a major industry here and many shucked oysters on the market come from Willapa Bay.
Meanwhile, the heat wave was not letting up and our next destination in Forks was forecast to have temperatures around 99°F - unheard of in one of the rainiest spots on the peninsula!
We decided to implement Plan D: we would instead head straight to Port Townsend and try to catch a ferry back home straight away. Unfortunately, there were no spots available that day but we were fortunate to secure a spot for the first ferry run the next morning. We would have to wait it out for one more day.
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| at the Elks in the sweltering heat |
Overnight the temperatures fell to around 80°F.
We were up at the crack of dawn the next morning, eager to get in line at the ferry dock, and were the first to arrive. By 6:30AM we were on the ferry making our way across the Strait back to Whidbey Island.
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| first in line and eager to board the ferry back home |
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| the sun was just rising in the east |
By 10:30AM, we were back at home, Alpine parked and perched back on the ramps. The hot spell had broken and the heatwave was over, with more tolerable temperatures forecast for the rest of the week. Our neighbor said that the day before we arrived back, it had got up to 100°F in Anacortes, breaking all records.
Who would have imagined that after the cool weather we experienced along the Oregon coast for three weeks, at the very time when the rally ended, a record-breaking heatwave would arrive that would upend our plans several times as we tried to make our way home. I think this is the first time we have experienced such extreme heat in the Alpine during our travels and certainly hope we will not have to repeat it again.