August 15 was a very rainy day in Long Beach, WA, but when I glanced out about 7:45PM I noticed some sun had broke through and the sky was looking quite pretty for a possible sunset. Barry and I quickly put on our shoes, grabbed our jackets, and headed to the beach. We didn’t continue all the way to the beach because we could tell the pretty colors were likely to be gone by the actual “sunset time” We stopped at the Discovery Trail path to take in the colors and get some pictures.
I noticed a bench next to the trail, so I climbed up on it for a higher vantage point that included the water..
As we started to head back – the sky had become shades of grey even though the sun had not truly “set”. We passed a few people heading out for the sunset because it was still at least about 15+ minutes to the given sunset time.
August 16, 2024 – The Discovery Trail
We got on the Discovery Trail between our motorhome at the Thousand Trails RV Campground and the beach. We headed north parallel to the beach.
The trail was great. It was paved the entire way that pleasantly had undulations and curves that added enjoyment to biking the trail. Although it did have a few areas of tight, blind curves where more people should make their presence known (voice or bike bell).
I saw whales! Gray Whales. We had to stop and check them out. 🙂
So WHY a display of gray whales here?
In November of 1895, near this site, William Clark noticed the bones of what was likely a gray whale. Gray whales are regularly seen making their amazing migration along the Pacific coast. They spend their summers near Alaska feeding in the fertile, shallow waters. The summer feeding prepares them for the 6000-mile journey to their winter breeding lagoons in the warm waters of Baja California, Mexico. The whales travel south from October to February, and migrate north from mid-February to early June.
Nice boardwalk near the “beached whales”. 🙂 And a unique bike rack off the trail.
This was a cool area filled with history that captured highlights in quick, easy-to-read manner.
Dolphins!
What the heck? A cow this close to the trail!?
A closer look… Wow… One amazing piece of wood! Very cool 🙂
Lewis & Clark – Discovery Trail Marker
Lost? Need pointed in the right direction?
The tree where William Clark carved his name in a local tree on November 19, 1805. (Cast in bronze.)
We rode into town to revisit Castaways Seafood Grille.
It’s lunchtime. We shared one bowl of chowder and an order of their ahi tuna tacos with sweet potato fries. YUM! Barry enjoyed his beer, too.
We crossed the street to check out the visitor center. There is a blues festival that started today at the port. It continues all day tomorrow, and evidently has great musicians/groups. Hmm. But for now we checked out the Long Beach Farmer’s Market taking place right here. The market was pretty small, so I didn’t expect to see much, but I was wrong. The veggies and fruit looked amazing. There were some cool puzzles made from a ladies own paintings that were super cool.
AND then I discovered these gluten free, organic salad dressings and shrub vinegars (not the plant).
I was quite impressed with the Cilantro Lime Dressing. It was the best I’ve tasted. I’ve never heard of vinegar shrubs, so tasting those was fun. I tried a sample the Lavender/Lemon Shrub with a little seltzer water. So refreshing! And then, I tried the Jalapeño-Lime Shrub. Wow! I can’t describe it. It was so unique. So good. I will have to get one of each of those. I didn’t taste the others since they would be sweeter.
Unfortunately, being on our bikes we didn’t have a safe way to transport things from the market back to Vinny – especially a few glass bottles and delicate berries! Luckily, there is a larger farmer’s market tomorrow in Ilwaco! And this vendor will be there. Looks like we will be going to Ilwaco tomorrow. 🙂
It was cool to revisit the Lewis & Clark Plaza in town right after seeing “the tree” on the trail. Today was a better day for pictures, too!
It was time to head back to the Discovery Trail. We, of course, stopped to get a picture of the Long Beach-World’s Longest Beach arch.
And a couple of mosaic in the sidewalk.
After we returned “home”, we got ready to go check out the Blues Festival. As we headed out, we discovered online that it was going to cost us $70 just for the time left today, we decided we didn’t want to spend that much for blues music. Now, if it was jazz, we probably would have. 🙂 Tomorrow, a period of heavy rain for several hours is extremely likely.