"The Way West"...Day 30...Thursday, July 12, 2012

My plan today is to drive up to the bay way up in the northwest corner of Washington and camp there for a few days. To get there, I've got to drive back out to the highway and head back to the town of Forks. Once there, I stop for another great burger at Sully's, gas up and get ice.
But, as I'm leaving the gas station, it starts to rain. So...I make a "command decision" to forgo the bay and, instead, head south. When I was out here in 2008, I went through the town of Astoria, right across the border into Oregon. It looked like a nice place, so I head off in that direction to spend a day or two.
It's another beautiful drive down and out of the Olympic Peninsula...I'm sure that there are great photos to be shot, but it's so foggy today that I can't really see much.
I should pause for a moment hear to say something about logging. There's a lot of "tension" up here between the logging industry and conservationists. I understand that there is definitely a need for logging. As I have said many times...trees are, after all, one of our major sources of wood. But I have to say that, when you see for yourself an area of old-growth trees that have been "clear cut", it's something that makes your heart sink. All of this lovely forest...and then an area that looks like it's been bombed...very, very ugly looking. Most of the really "bad" stuff took place around the turn of the last century. And, now, most of the big logging companies (like Weyerhauser) practice "sustainable" logging where areas are cut (but not clear cut) and replanted. But there is still clear cutting going on...on some tribal lands and by some "bad" companies. I just hope that, someday, everybody practices "sustainable" logging...because the alternative is a sin...a real sin.
Years ago, I remember reading an article in one of my cooking magazines about oysters. The article mentioned something called "Willapa Bay Knife and Fork Oysters...oysters so big that you have to cut them up to eat them. So now I'm driving down the highway and I find myself in...Willapa Bay. So...I stop at the first seafood market that I see to buy oysters. The cute gal at the counter tells me that they have the "big" oysters, but she recommends something called "yearlings"...one year-old smaller oysters that she tells me are the best. So, I get a pint of those and head on down the road.
In Astoria, I stop for the night at a "Good Sam" RV Park, only it's not affiliated with the Good Sam Club" and hasn't been for some years. Yet, they still touting that on their website. It's "dumpy", but I'm tired, hungry, and I want a shower.
Once I have showered and changed clothes, I feel great...and hungry. So I get out the oysters and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Soon, I'm just eating them right out of the container with a little "improvised" cocktails sauce of catsup and hot sauce...and some Ritz crackers. My plan was to "cook" something, but I just eat the whole pint...raw. They are excellent oysters...plump and fresh...it's a great meal. After dinner, I've still got room for a little chocolate cake and a few cold beers.