Lake Billy Chinook at The Cove Palisades State Park (+1 inset!)

(+1 inset)

Holy cow, what an adventure we are having!

Steve and I are now at a lovely state park called L.L. Stub Stewart and will be here until at least Wednesday we think.

We were supposed to be in Tillamook today but an enormous wrench was thrown into the works…

Our truck's transmission decided it no longer had the will to live and left us on a long and winding gravel road as we were heading out from L.L. Stub Stewart towards the coastal community of Tillamook, Oregon.

Long story short, all is well and we are happy and safe with a wonderful site arranged for as long as we need it!

I'm sharing a view from the rim of the 600-foot canyon of The Cove Palisades which looks down into the beautiful Lake Billy Chinook. We went on a hike from our campsite up to the top and around a loop trail which took us many enjoyable--though very hot--hours to complete. Incredible, breathtaking views the whole way, with countless flowers and interesting plants and trees to appreciate.

I'm also including an inset…WE CAUGHT FISHIES!!! Hooray!!! After some bumpy failures on previous days, Steve caught his first fish one morning while fishing from the shore of Lake Billy Chinook. We learned that a small and adorably cute fishing boat was only $70 for 4 hours! The next day we got up early and soon found ourselves in a spot that was well-known to be a prime fishing spot. It WAS! Steve caught 2 7" Small-mouth Bass, a 12" California Squawfish (invasive junk fish which eats trout and salmon eggs and fry) and a gorgeous 16" Rainbow Trout! I caught a small but lovely silvery shimmering 8" land-locked salmon called a Kokanee! Both of us were beside ourselves with excitement and pride. We'd actually caught our DINNER which would give us two night's meals, hooray!

I would love to spend more time chatting but I'm out of time! We will be hopping on our bikes after brunch and heading down the "rails to trails" path that leads between the town of Banks past L.L. Stub Stewart all the way out to Vernonia. It's a 22-mile paved path in total length and today we'll be doing the length between L.L. Stub Stewart and Vernonia. Two days ago we went to Banks and back and it thoroughly kicked our er…behinds with its slow but steady climb from Banks back to our campground. Today's ride will be a lot less strenuous. A good thing as we need groceries today and will be loaded down with full backpacks on the way back!

Much love to you, Pam, to you, Marie-Claire, and to all of you who have visited in the past days!

Explored on 6/23/19; highest placement, #1.