Managed to get the car picked up fairly easily bar the two fuckwits we got behind. Jeez they just did not have a clue! Even the woman working there said it would have just been so much easier if she had served us first given I had all my paperwork etc ready and sorted (no surprise there really).
The drive was just completely hassle free and the car is great to drive (Its an SUV - Kia Sorrento in Black). Dan did have a minor stress out in the passenger seat with the Sat Nav and then the iPod but he soon settled down surrounded by a multitude of wires! (Phone goes on charge at every opportunity as well).
We passed through some really interesting towns whilst listening to a selection from The Beautiful South, Richard Hawley and then Abba :-). There was a place called Willappa that just looked like one large camping/holiday site with the way the houses are made and laid out. The NW Pacific is so different to the SW Pacific to say the least. It's so green and lush here with pretty little towns and houses all over the show.
Highway 101 doesn't hug the coast quite the same at this end but when we did finally spot some water bloody Dan was practically hanging out the window like some daft dog does when driving along!
We stopped in Astoria for lunch which is a very quaint little town and I had grilled oysters from Willapa no less. (They were grilled in the pub though not actually grilled in Willapa ;-) )
The couple next to us started up a conversation once they heard our accents and it turns out they live in Sisters - which isn't too far from one of the places we do want to go to. Apparently it was snowing there on Thursday which was crazy as we were seeing blue skies and sunshine and we're not that far from Sister. Though it is inland.
She gave us some more tips on places to go along our way and also gave me her business card so that we could either stop by if we pass through Sisters or to call her if we hit trouble en route. How nice is that?!
Set back off again with a mini stop in Cannon Beach which was a place I had originally wanted to stay. Glad we didn't as whilst it's really lovely, you can see it is now one for the tourists. We had a breezy walk on the beach to see the Haystacks, had a quick drink and then set off the final few miles to Manzanita.
We're in a proper, drive up to the door Motel here with a VHS player in our room! It's a very laid back place - simple and clean with a very comfy bed.
Had a quick wander and booked in to one of the two restaurants here. It's quite busy - assume cos its the weekend and the weather has turned. We then wandered to the one and only pub and had a couple of drinks pre dinner. We did a little plan of the route after Portland cos we kept changing our minds but need to fit around the lighthouse. Came up with a good route so at some point we we will look at actual towns & hotels!! Again our accent got picked up on and a lovely chat with our neighbours ensued. Turns out they lived in the UK for a while so the woman was excited to hear our accents. Apparently her husband said that 'well if they are British they won't want us to bother them so leave them alone'!! Funny.
They were really lovely and now live in Portland so they gave us a couple of places to head that we would not have known about and also, like everyone else said that our plans for Saturday - heading along the Columbia River Gorge and getting on some hikes to the Waterfalls etc - were spot on and shouldn't be missed.
So funny cos the other people at the table were desperate to geg in on the conversation once they realised we were British. We ended up leaving slightly late for our dinner as we were chatting to everyone! But its wonderful as people are SO genuine and friendly and incredibly proud of living on the NW pacific coast so want to give us as much info as possible. And ask about whether we like Man Utd or Man City. Dan gets slightly irritated to say the least as they always say Utd first!! Hahahaha.
Dinner in 'The Blackbird' was sensational. We were actually sat on a bench that was overlooking the tiny kitchen - a bit like being at Chef's table to be honest - and it was fascination watching how they managed in such a small space. And every meal was delivered the same.
I had the clams and Dan had some wonderful vegetarian dish. We were blown away by it and it was accompanied by a lovely bottle of Oregon's Pinot Noir.
Once again though, the travel and the busy day crept up on us and by 10ish we were flagging big time so we called it a night and headed back. Super excited about our planned adventures for Saturday..
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