Friday, July 21 - Port Angeles, WA to Astoria, OR

255 miles

MAP

170 Miles to first gas stop

Port Angeles, across the Straight of Juan de Fuca from Victoria, BC, Canada, is the gateway to the Olympic National Park, and home to the oldest Coast Guard station in the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Angeles,_Washington

 

We spend the day cruising the Olympic Peninsula, the large section of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the east by Hood Canal. Comprising about 3600 square miles, the Olympic Peninsula contained many of the last unexplored places in the contiguous United States. It remained largely unmapped until 1900.

 

Forks, Washington is named after the forks in the nearby Quillayute, Bogachiel, Calawah, and Sol Duc rivers.  Forks is the setting for the popular Twilight series of books and Films.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forks,_Washington

 

We’ll cross the Columbia River on the 4 mile long, two lane wide Astoria-Megler, the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. We leave Washington on the north end of the bridge, and enter Oregon on the south end. We’ll spend the night in Astoria, Oregon, where Lewis and Clarke hit the Pacific Ocean in 1805, and home of the first U.S. Post Office west of the Rocky Mountains.

 

Astoria has a fascinating history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astoria,_Oregon

https://astoriacolumn.org

https://www.readtheplaque.com/plaque/clark-gable-in-astoria-or

 

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8:00am - Morning Meet

Meet Straight Air Volksgruppe VW Club at Ediz Hook, Port Angeles, WA for the official start of Treffen 18. Arrive with a smile and a full tank of gas— it’s a long way to the first gas stop!

 

9:30am - On the road

 

11:00am - Forks, WA

Let's make this a quick stop, as it's the longest day of Treffen.  If you need gas, stop as soon as we hit town.  There's a couple of spots to grab a quick bite, like Subway or Sully's, Benellis, or a few taco shops.  You can also stock up the ice chest instead at the grocery store, which is where we'll meetup instead of the coffee shack parking lot we usually gather at.  Grocery store/meetup:

Forks Outfitters Thriftway and Ace Hardware parking lot

950 S Forks Ave, 98331.

We'll pull out of there at 11:45 sharp.

 

2:00-2:30pm - Gas / Rest Stop

Arco / AMPM

756 US 101

Aberdeen, WA 98520

There's a lot of us and only a few pumps, so fill up and move out of the way asap.  If there's a whole lot of us at the morning meeting, we can decide to send part of the group ahead 3 blocks to the Safeway Fuel Station.  In that case, the folks at AMPM would get gas, then we'd all meet and leave from the Safeway lot.  We haven't really overflowed AMPM yet, either way will work out.

 

4:30pm - Cross the Columbia River

We'll drive on the 4 mile long, two lane wide Astoria-Megler, the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. We leave Washington on the north end of the bridge, and enter Oregon on the south end at Astoria, home of the first U.S. Post Office west of the Rocky Mountains.

 

5:00PM - Hotel Check-in

 

6:00PM - Dinner

Meet on the downstairs patio at the Fort George Brewery & Public House, 1483 Duane St, Astoria, OR 97103.  I think we started filing in about 6:00 last year, if we get in a little late this time, we'll do 6:30.  Parking is a little tight, so consider carpooling from the hotel.  I walked over from the Motel 6 last year and caught a ride back.