West Quest Part Deux - Days 39 and 40

A wonderful overnight at Willapa Bay Heritage Farm in Long Beach, Washington

Back to Days 28 to 34

Saturday and Sunday, 17-18 September 2022

On Saturday morning, we departed Poulsbo, Washington where we had parked Ollie at Eagle Tree RV Park for the last week and a half while were visiting Brian, McKalie and Mason in Silverdale.

Our next major destination is a visit to see oldest son Bill, daughter-in-law Sarah, grandchildren Tom and Elle and granddog Freddy in Monterey, California. We could obviously take the fastest route there via Interstate 5, but what fun would there be in that? Instead, we intend to take the scenic route down the Washington, Oregon and California coast via US 101 and US 1 to include crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Taking this drive has been a lifelong bucket list goal of mine and on this trip, God willing, it gets checked off!

To get ourselves in position for the start of the northernmost point of US 101, our destination Saturday was Willapa Bay Heritage Farm in Long Beach, Washington that we found using our Harvest Hosts membership.

The drive through southwestern Washington included some amazing sights, such as these moss covered trees:

We arrived at Willapa Bay Heritage Farm at 3:30 pm after what was a nice, leisurely drive that unfortunately did not include taking enough pictures. Doh!

To say that the next 22 hours were some of the most amazing of our entire travels this summer would be an understatement. This is a working demonstration farm and we wanted very much to participate in that experience. We were not disappointed. Owned and operated by “Farmer Deb,” a fellow Navy junior, full-time marketing professional by day, and full-time farmer by every-other-waking-hour, she could not have been a more amazing host.

Shortly after we were parked ourselves overlooking the Willapa Bay, Farmer Deb gave us a hearty welcome to include meeting her goats, which was a primary reason we wanted to visit. In a matter of minutes, I was holding a goat in my arms for the very first time in my life!

After this brief welcome and introduction, Frieda and I went back to Ollie and spent an hour just taking in the wonderful view.

At 6 pm, it was time to meet up with Deb and her other overnight guest John for a farm-made goat cheese tasting and happy hour.

After about three hours of fun and fellowship, we headed back to Ollie for what would be one of the best nights of sleep we’ve had in a long time.

The morning view, as we expected, was spectacular as the sun came up over the bay.

Here’s the view from the street side of Ollie facing opposite the bay:

Part of the farm experience with Harvest Hosts includes assisting the owner with chores, which we enthusiastically embraced. I’ve shoveled a lot of proverbial sh#% in my career as a military and civilian media relations professional, so shoveling the real thing was easy.

And of course, there’s nothing like shoveling someone’s sh#% to help you bond.

After cleaning the stalls, we helped with feeding by putting out alfalfa hay and bowls of goat kibble, the latter of which the goats go crazy for.

After shoveling sh#%, feeding and watering, it was time to milk the four girls.

I

I successfully milked two goats, but it’s definitely not as easy as Deb made it look. Again, at 59 years old, something I’ve never had the opportunity to do in my life. Thank you Farmer Deb! And of course, Frieda was much better at it than I was.

The demonstration included seeing how Farmer Deb filters and stores the milk until there is enough to do the pasteurization process.

We left around 1:30 pm after a wonderful experience. Prior to leaving, we had to get a group photo with Farmer Deb and her other Harvest Hosts guest for the evening, John from Maine.

Here’s John walking on the beach as we finalized everything for departure:

Our trip down US 101 along the Washington and Oregon coast was nothing short of spectacular. It’s relatively slow going with speeds between 35 - 55 and a lot of single lane, curvy driving. But it was worth every minute of it.

Here we are about the cross the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River and into Astoria, Oregon.

A few miles down the road, it was time for that elixir of life — coffee!

Our final destination for the day was Harbor Village RV Park in Newport, Oregon where we’ll spend three nights and I’ll work several Kleen Tank jobs including one for a lady who has been waiting two months for me to drive out here! How’s that for a business trip.

Finally, Oliver’s Travels include adding Oregon to the map and passing 10,000 miles towed since delivery on December 28, 2022.

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On a totally different note, I’ve decided to try some more serious writing about other topics that interest me. You might check out this opinion piece published in The Washington Times today.

Cheers!

Go to Days 41 to 43