Long Beach Vacation

 
Every vacation should begin with a beautiful view of Mt. Rainier.

Since we didn't go south because Teri was recovering from a sciatica episode, we decided to spent a month at the ocean.  We have wanted to go clam digging and Bill wanted to surf fish so it seemed like an awesome idea.  We decided on Long Beach because we have family there and it's close to Astoria, OR, which we enjoy.  We explored the beaches, restaurants, museums, and whatever else got our attention.  Our Passport America Club had several RV parks listed for Long Beach.  We decided on the Sandcastle RV Park because it was smaller and seemed to have everything we needed.  The RV park is clean and well-kept although a few local yokels add a touch of uniqueness to it.

Long Beach is known to be the World's Longest Beach.  Besides Long Beach, there are numerous little towns on the this peninsula.  We will be checking out all of these towns - Ilwaco, Seaview, Nahcotta, Ocean Park and Oysterville. 

 
The beach boardwalk stretches a half mile along sand dunes with awesome ocean views.

 

 

 
There are interpretive signs on the boardwalk with lots of information about the area.

 
When Lewis and Clark came to this area in 1805, they recorded seeing 3 gray whales.
In May of 2000, a 38 foot long male Gray Whale beached and died about one mile north of Long Beach. A decomposing whale will create an over-whelming smell so the whale was buried on the beach.
The City of Long Beach received permission from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to display the skeleton. In March of 2002, students, city employees and biologists located and carefully excavated the skeleton. The bonces were cleaned and preserved..

 

 
Awesome display along the boardwalk.

 

 

 
Nature at its best.  A beautiful sunrise (yes, Teri was up for a sunrise) as we traveled to the clam beds.  On the way home from clamming, we saw this rainbow over the ocean.  Wished the rainbow was clearer but we enjoyed it in person.

We arrived at Long Beach on Monday, March 24th and clamming season opened on Friday, March 28th.  This season was 7 days long starting with evening digs and changing to morning digs mid way through the season.  We had one night that the weather was very windy and rainy that we didn't get to dig.  We limited out all other days.  Fresh, fried clams, clam chowder and clam fritters are on the menu now.

The Discovery Trail, which parallels Capt. William Clark's first oceanside hike in 1805, stretches from Long Beach to Ilwaco,  It is 8.3 miles long.  We hope to hike all of it while here.  Well, not all at once but we want to see all the sights along this trail.  The fish markers can be found near each entrance of the Discovery Trail.  There are many access areas along the trail.

 
Wonderful information about William Clark's excursion along the beach.

The expedition saw sturgeon during their exploration of this area.

 
The interpretive signs are great.  Lots of local and historical information.
 

 
There are lots of benches along the trail - some are memorials and some just for convenience.  You can see how the trail meanders around through in the ocean grass just a short distance from the beaches.  Lots of access to the beach as well as the city streets.

 

 
Some of the many sights along the trail.