Driving in the Mist

July 15, 2012

Since we left Smith Rock a day early, we decided to take advantage of the extra day.  We wanted to try and catch our friends, Sam and Adam, in Vancouver.  Sam was heading down to Pasadena on July 20, so we wanted to catch her before she left. We hadn't been sure if we'd be able to catch her, so the thunderstorms we really a blessing in disguise.

We headed straight through Oregon.  We got to enjoy driving through Willamette national forest in the mist and the rain.  There had been several wildfires in the area, so the burned sections were a stark contrast to the rest of the forest.

Before we headed out on our trip, my dad was telling me about a book he had read 'Blue Highways' where a man drives across the country. One of the highlights the author recounts is dining experiences at hole-in-the-wall restaurants he finds along the way.  He ends up coming up with a rating system for the restaurants - how many calendars they have on the walls from traveling salesmen.  Apparently a few people in my family have read the book, so sometimes we comment that a restaurant is a '3 calendar spot' (good) or a no calendar spot (bad).

On that drive we found a place that must have been a 4 calendar spot (very good!). We were nearing the exit of the forest, and the road opened up on a little town.  Okay, so the town had no stoplight, and the gas station was closed down.  There were some old apartment buildings lining the roads and beat up trucks parked for sale.  It looked like a sad little place. The weather just made everything a bit drearier.

We drove by, and spotted a building with an overflowing parking lot with people parking on the side of the road.  We had to do a double take because all the other shops we had passed were abandoned or closed.  This place was overflowing.

We had found Rosie's coffee shop - famous for scones.  We turned the van around, and managed to squeeze into the tiny 6 car parking lot.  We had some amazing coffee.  Joey had a ham and cheese croissant sandwich and I had a zucchini muffin.  Yum!  We had to buy extra scones for later.

It was the type of place with aprons on the wall and photography for sale from local artisans. The local crowd was sitting at a round table in the corner sipping their coffee in personal mugs. Old men in their flannel and oversized glasses discussing the news of the day.  It was cozy.

That stop really warmed us up as we headed on toward Portland. We were stopped as the drawbridge between Oregon and Washington let a ship through.

As we continued the rain lightened up but the day remained overcast.  We ended up on the south end of the Olympic peninsula.  Our goal was to camp in the national forest below the national park.  This place fit the weather.

It was a dense rain forest, the trees were packed tightly together, and moss was hanging from nearly every branch.  The road through the national forest was the only place where sunlight filtered through, and the road banks were explosions of wildflowers - foxgloves and daisies, and blackberries (we think).

We meandered through the forest, and saw a few people camping in some open sections.  We followed tracks with the GPS, but it was well before dark - so we were having a good time squeezing the van through the trees.

We ended up finding the perfect spot. It was a short spur off of the road, and we were enveloped in 'Mirkwood'. (That's what I call it in my head. It's what I always imagined Mirkwood to look like - okay more nerd references, sorry.)

Usually we don't make fires at the camp. They make us smell like smoke and in most campsites, the fire danger is high so we would have to be pretty vigilant about making sure the fire is out. Usually it is more hassle than it is worth.  Tonight, it was cold and damp, and we both wanted a fire.

Joey showed off some advanced fire starting skills. He pulled out all of the stops - because he was trying to start a fire in a rain forest, in the rain!

It was pretty neat to watch the evolution of the fire while I was making dinner.  There were a lot of moments when we weren't sure if it was going to make it.

Joey even went out into the woods and collected some of the mossy branches that were drier.  It was a little unsettling walking through the forest, the loamy floor was very thick, and you weren't really sure what was underneath your feet.  I saw several large beetles wander out from where I had stepped to get to the back of the van.

Finally, the fire was radiating.  It wasn't roaring, but it was sustaining itself.  We huddled around it and ate our warm dinner and dried out a bit.  As we finished our meals the flames began to gutter out.  Sticks that were burning stopped as soon as they were lifted out of the flames.