Ilwaco, Washington and the Kite Festival

We left Seaside, Oregon and drove north through Astoria, Oregon and over a long bridge in to Washington state after a stop for diesel at $4.79/gallon.   

The bridge is far off on the left

 

Astoria-Megler Bridge
Completed July 29, 1966
The 4.1 mile long bridge formed the final link in Highway 101 from Southern California to the norther tip of Washington.

 

This time we were staying at a public RV campground where we are paying for each night.  Eagle's Nest Resort in Ilwaco, Washington is not part of our Thousand Trails membership.  Public campgrounds are our last choice after first looking for sites in Thousand Trails campgrounds, Harvest Hosts/Boondockers Welcome sites, Elks Lodges, Boondocking/Dry camping on BLM or Forest Service land, National Parks, and State Parks. 

 

The first site we were assigned was a terrible spot so tight with other RV’s.  We requested a different site and luckily, they had one in the trees.  My favorite kind of site and we have good internet.  Yea!

 

The campground had a real nice hall for activities and office and next to it was a building with an indoor pool and spa.

August, 23rd, 2023, was our 25th wedding anniversary.  What did we do?  We went to the Washington State International Kite Festival. 

 

Long Beach, Washington

Although it was a foggy day we got to see some pretty cool kites.

 

 

 

 

Competition Area (judges set up in the tents which are open to the competition area)

Oh yea, better be careful where I walk.

We walked around on the boardwalk and then the sand.  We saw lots of kites and then watched some competitive dancing kites doing a routine to music.  This was a first for us. 

Competition kites

These 4 kites did a routine to music

Ready and waiting for the music to start.

Pilot: A term for the person who flies a kite.

Later we went to a seafood restaurant, Castaways, in town and had clam chowder, a pound of clams in broth, and crabby bread.  

 

The next day we volunteered at the merchandise booth at the Kite Festival from 12-3.  It was mostly non-stop the whole time!   We didn't get much training from the people we relieved and luckily we could figure out their payment system so we were just winging it.

 

 

After our shift, we walked on the beach again to see more kites.  It was a much nicer day. 

Look at the Spaceman!

After walking around we went to the Elks lodge to rest a bit.  There were very friendly people there!  We stayed to play a few rounds of Loud Mouth Bingo which was fun but we didn't win anything.  

 

 

We left the lodge and stopped at Chico's Pizza in Seaview, WA on our way back to the campground.  The absolute worst pizza I’ve ever eaten.  It was really terrible!  So bad that I didn't even want to take home my leftovers!  That bad!  We still joke about that pizza.    

One day we walked down to the town of Ilwaco, Washington.  This was our view of town on the walk from the campground.

Sand sculpture in town

I can't pass up taking photos of fishing boats.

Name of one boat in the harbor.

Directions to various places along the water

Another day we went to the Cranberry museum and we arrived after hours so we did the self-guided trail.  I've never been to a cranberry farm before. 

Take a self-guided tour of our bogs anytime from dawn to dusk, by picking up a brochure from the white mail box at the head of the sidewalk, just next to the front parking lot.  Follow the sidewalk toward the bogs, go through the evergreen huckleberry hedge and walk on the grassy path in between the bogs.

We're researching ways to help manage cranberry tipworm

Cranberry tipworm is a tiny fly (2 mm in length) that lays its eggs at the tops of cranberry uprights (the stems growing straight up to the sky).  Growing tipworms can cause the main uprights to die, which forces side shoots to sprout instead.  Side shoots usually grow leaves instead of fruit the next season, potentially reducing yield.  And we don't want that!

Washington State University, Long Beach Research Unit is researching ways to sustainably manage cranberry tipworm populations to help cranberry farmers produce more cranberries per acre.

Cranberries are grown in peat or sandy soil.
Cranberries grow on vines, not bushes.
Cranberries require protection from frost, heat, insects, and disease.

Looking back towards the barn

Harvest occurs in September and October.  That would be cool to see.  I wonder if it looks the same as the Ocean Spray commercials?

Next we went back to the Kite Festival to see the night kites flying with lights.     We waited 45 minutes in line at Scoopers for ice cream and missed most of the night kites!  Oops!

As we were leaving the area we saw so many boats in this one area.  Must be good fishing or crabbing going on!

These were our stops along the Oregon and Washington coast.  We're headed inland next to Chehalis, Washington.

 Thanks for following along......