Summers in the Pacific Northwest can swing wildly from unbearably hot to freezing, windy, and raining sideways from one day to the next. But foul weather doesn\u2019t stand in the way of hardy PNWers at all. You\u2019ll see them mowing their lawn or washing their car in the rain! Otherwise, when are they going to get those things done?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a stormy day in Portland, so we head to Cape Disappointment<\/a> at the very tip of the southwestern coast of Washington state. We hope to capture an iconic photo of huge, billowy waves crashing against the rocks at the base of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. We\u2019ll shoot and picnic from the vantage point of Waikiki Beach\u2026 which has almost nothing<\/em> in common with the other<\/em> Waikiki Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cape Disappointment did not get its name from, \u201cHey, he said he was taking me to Waikiki Beach!\u201d Or, \u201cHey, where are the bathrooms?\u201d Rather, the Cape is three miles south of the town of Ilwaco, Washington on a bar where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean. It acquired its name in 1788 when Captain John Mears failed to cross the river bar, and was apparently \u2013 wait for it \u2013 disappointed! In 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition made a stop at Cape Disappointment before deciding it was appropriately named, and it would be a better idea to head south to Fort Clatsop in what is now Oregon to wait out the harsh winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We drive two hours west from Portland in the pouring rain. But by the time we reach our photography spot, the storm is long gone, though dark clouds linger. Even the picnic benches were dry. So no iconic crashing wave photos on this day. (Turns out you have to be there at high tide to see the storm surge make amazing waves crash on the rocks.) But no worries, we have a great view, a picnic basket full of gourmet munchies, and a bottle of wine! <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the basket, we have tarragon chicken avocado wraps (now dubbed Cape Disappointment Wraps). That\u2019s my chicken and avocado salad, seasoned with tarragon and lemon, garnished with arugula, and wrapped in a soft flour tortilla. The charcuterie plate includes brie cheese, crackers, salami, gourmet olives, and a shrimp cocktail. (I wonder what Lewis and Clark had to eat when they<\/em> reached the beach?) <\/p>\n\n\n\n We went for a Washington wine: Ch\u00e2teau Saint Michelle Riesling. (I know, we are getting fancy now, right? Upping the game from $3 wine to $7 wine! Things must be getting serious!) Word had gotten out to my friends and clients that this is one of my favorite wines, so I was gifted bottles of the sweet, fruity, inexpensive white on the regular. Well, if it\u2019s free it\u2019s for me… and if it\u2019s for me, it\u2019s for him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We spread out our feast and drink a toast, declaring it, \u201cThe Summer of the Traveling Wine Glasses!\u201d I had bought a pair of green stemmed plastic wine glasses at Fred Meyer. But the former Mr. Darcy rejected them because he found them tacky, so they languished unused \u2013 like myself \u2013 for years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our entertainment for the afternoon is a pair of eagles soaring in the sky above us, and ships and boats of every size sailing in and out of the mouth of the Columbia River. There are still plenty of photos to capture at Golden Hour, and I get to enjoy a rare good hair day on the PNW coast. Okay, my hair is really hot<\/em> today! Best ever!<\/em> \u201cSnap that picture quick!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only disappointment\u2026 we can\u2019t find bathrooms! But we won\u2019t talk about that other than to say, hey, it\u2019s natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we pack up, we meet an older married couple. They chat with us about being retired and touring the countryside in a camper. And I think, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be great if we ended up an old married couple going on road trips?\u201d To be continued\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n by Darcy Waits (DarcyDishes@gmail.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"article-category":[89],"class_list":["post-3930","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article-category-travel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/websites4demo.com\/magazine-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/3930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/websites4demo.com\/magazine-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/websites4demo.com\/magazine-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websites4demo.com\/magazine-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websites4demo.com\/magazine-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/websites4demo.com\/magazine-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websites4demo.com\/magazine-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-category?post=3930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What\u2019s So Disappointing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Basket-O-Munchies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Break Out the Unbreakable Glasses!<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For other hiking related stories see:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n