TIRES, CAT FOOD & OUR FOOD, CROWDS & A SCENIC DRIVE.
Day 194 – Today was a busy day and we were away from the RV for most of it. The cats appeared to be glued to the dashboard all day. The high today was 59 degrees and it was mostly sunny.
We had a 9 a.m. appointment in Tillamook to get new tires and an alignment for the Honda. Because of the towing behind the RV and the weight we carry in the Honda, we’ve been having an issue with the rear tires wearing out quickly on the inside edges, and there has been a loud noise from the rear which we had the dealership look at previously. The noise got better for awhile the last time we got tires, now it is back. The tire place suggested we replace some parts before doing the alignment; the parts needed to be ordered, so we only got the new tires today. Wednesday we will need to drive from our next campground near Astoria back to Tillamook to get the parts installed and the alignment done. Meanwhile, with the new tires, the noise is gone and it’s wonderfully quiet in the car, AND we got 4 new, all-terrain tires that hopefully will last us longer this time.
We drove back to the RV, picked up the cameras and headed north on Highway 101. We had scheduled a pick-up of 10 cases of cat food from a store in Manzanita. North of the campground, this is an area we’ve never been before. We’re stocking up on cat food because we don’t know where and when in British Columbia we’ll be able to get the kind of food they like. Because of cat food shortages, we’ve had enough trouble finding it in the U.S.
Manzanita was surprisingly crowded, wall-to-wall people, all parking places taken. It was a small, adorable, trendy beach town; there were signs that said “Event Parking” – we don’t know what event it was, but it was the wrong day to pick up the cat food (and find a place for lunch). Eventually, we found a place to park, picked up our cat food in a very cute pet store called, “Four Paws On The Beach”. Back in the car, there was absolutely no way we were going to wait with the crowds to get into restaurants. We drove south to the next town, Nehalem. Another cute beach town, it was also crowded but not as much. Hmmm…..oh yeah, what day is this…..it’s a Saturday. Okay, that partially explains it. Can’t imagine what it’s like around here in the Summer!
We saw a sign for “THE BEST Fish ‘n Chips”, found a parking place and followed the sign to a truck serving food in the yard behind a distillery/antiques store. There was another truck across from the fish truck; it was serving coffee and warm, freshly made mini-donuts. We ordered our lunch after waiting in line and grabbed one of six tables situated between the two trucks. We shared the table with a young couple that ordered their food right after us (there was a wait for tables, too). Seeing that food was going to take awhile, Rob went to the donut truck and came back with coffee and five little mini-donuts, just made and piping hot. I am not a donut person, but this was amazingly good. We asked the couple sitting with us if they’d ever been to this fish truck before. He said, yes, that everytime they come to this area they always make a point to stop here and that the fish was fantastic. Open seven days a week, 9 hours a day, this tiny truck with two people had people lined up and waiting, and it took 30 to 45 minutes to get our food. It was worth every minute of it. We got two fish tacos and the two-pieces-of-fish basket (with fries and coleslaw), and we split the order. BEST tacos and BEST fish, ever. Riverside Fish ‘n Chips, Nehalem, OR.
We decided to drive out to Cape Meares State Park to see the lighthouse, reachable from Tillamook, so we headed back south on the 101. We followed the signs and turned west towards the ocean. There were several bays and rivers and some farms and rolling hills, all surrounded by mountains, some with snow on top of them. We stopped at a scenic rest stop for restrooms & a short boardwalk hike to a Tillamook River viewpoint area.
We drove on to Cape Meares State Park. We parked and went to a viewing point to take pictures. There were Cormorants nesting at the cliffs. Nearby was the hike to the Cape Meares lighthouse – we did that, more pictures, awesome views. Spent some time at the interpretive kiosk learning about the birds and the area. The area surrounding the park was heavily tree’d, except where they’d just logged, which was sad…..
Soon after leaving the road to Cape Mears we were driving on a two-lane road right by the beach. It was very crowded – again, cannot imagine summertime – there is very little parking so people just pull off the road. Some people were flying colorful kites. We drove through the trendy and colorful beach towns of Oceanside and Netarts.
And here it was after 5 p.m., and we didn’t feel like cooking. We stopped at one restaurant but they had a huge wait list already. After trying to figure out where to go and seeing that places looked crowded everywhere, we went to a mexican restaurant in Rockaway Beach. They were not crowded and the food was good without a wait. We had a margarita and relaxed.