Saturday 14th March

We woke up to a hearty Ranch breakfast with Bob and Mary, and some other people who appeared to be friends and ranch workers. We had Dutch Baby which was very similar to Yorkshire pudding, but they have it with jam! Actually works really well. We were regaled with stories about the surrounding area, and a lady called Jeanette who may have been Bob and Mary’s daughter, very kindly gave us a few framed local photos she had taken. She also told us about when she had seen a Bigfoot in 1975, and told us to keep our eyes peeled for prints as we were in the prime territory for it!
It was a shame to only stay at the ranch for one night, but we needed to keep moving. Our next stop was the Hoh Humm rainforest. After picking up some souvenir waterproofs and seeing an enormous Sitka spruce tree on the way, we went to the visitor’s centre for the rainforest. We met a ranger there with a very quirky and sarcastic sense of humour who was great fun, telling us how he loves hearing about people who come to these places unprepared for the extreme weather. Today was our first day of rain, and it just wouldn’t stop. We took a short trail through the rainforest called the Hall of Mosses, which the guidebooks insist on describing as Tolkienesque. Lots of big trees covered in hanging moss, quite a strange place. We moved on down the coast from there to Ruby Beach, our first taste of the Pacific proper. It was a really cool beach with loads of driftwood timber strewn all over the place as is typical of many places on the Northwest coast. It was very wet and cold though so we didn’t stay for long!
Next was a stop in a town called Aberdeen, the birthplace of Kurt Cobain. We saw his school and a house he lived in aged 19 in the autumn of 1986 with Matt Lukin of Mudhoney. We also saw the tribute underneath the bridge over the Wishkah River, as written about in the song “Something in the Way”. It was a very strange place, especially on a desolate day such as this, full of graffiti in honour of the man. A pillow on the ground suggested that Kurt has not been the only person to spend a night here. The whole town was pretty depressing, so a lot of things made sense!
On a lighter note, our next move was across the longest continuous truss bridge in the world (4.1 miles) linking Washington and Oregon, into the town of Astoria, Goonies-land! We checked into our first motel of the trip, the Columbia Inn. Very clean and well-equipped, very impressed! Went for food at the Wet Dog Café and Brewery, more solid unhealthy American fare. They had some great local brews there, particularly the Kickass Stout and the Poop Deck Porter, also a very unique tasting Pumpkin beer. A lady working there told us about a few places we should go as we head down the coast. Her friend then took us on to another bar where we played pool with a load of locals, some really great people who were happy to chat and buy drinks for two English guys! It was our first night in smalltown America and we loved it. Especially an old guy who was blind in one eye, who couldn’t help making me think of One-Eyed Willie and his rich stuff!