It was raining when we woke up yesterday. By the time we were ready to hit the road, the rain stopped. We fueled up and headed down Highway 101 to Astoria. From Washington, there is a 4-mile-long bridge spanning the Columbia River to Astoria, Oregon. The bridge was built in 1966, connecting US 101 in Oregon to Washington. Prior to the bridge completion, ferries linked Astoria and Washington.

We saw freight ships anchored at the mouth of the river, presumably waiting to sail up to Portland. In order for freighters to sail up the Columbia River, a pilot needs to board the ship. These pilots are specifically trained and certified to navigate the Columbia.

Astoria is named after John Jacob Astor. John Jacob Astor was a German-born American businessman. He was America’s first multi-millionaire. He established trading posts in the Great Lakes region to supply fur trappers. He also exported fur to Europe.

He expanded his trading posts west as the fur trade grew. He built Fort Astoria on the Pacific Coast in 1811. When he died in 1848, he was the wealthiest man in America. His net worth at the time was estimated to be 20 million dollars. According to Wikipedia, that would equate to more than 1.2 billion dollars in today’s money.

His great-grandson, John Jacob (Jack) Astor IV, was also a successful businessman. He was the richest passenger aboard the Titanic and died when it sank on April 15, 1912.

Today, the site of Fort Astoria is the town of Astoria, Oregon. Astoria has a population of about 10,000 people. We passed through the town and continued south on US 101.

I anticipated an easy drive. We had a couple of stops planned before we reached Chinook Bend RV Resort near Lincoln City. Every time I expect an easy drive, there’s a curve in the road. In this case, there were many curves as the highway meanders along the Oregon Coast.

Our Rand-McNally GPS was constantly chattering, “Warning, sharp curve ahead” or “Warning, winding road ahead.” Many sections of the highway are narrow with no shoulder. So much for an easy cruise down the coast. Donna enjoyed the ocean views while I kept my eyes glued to the road ahead.

Outside of Tillamook, Donna pointed out the Tillamook Country Smoker. The parking lot indicated RV parking on the right. When I pulled in, I realized there wasn’t any designated RV parking. The lot wasn’t very full, however the cars parked there were spaced in such a way that made it difficult for me to park.

I shoehorned our rig into a space and we went into the retail store. They had two-foot-long smoked beef sticks for $1. We bought a few and returned to the RV. Donna thought the Tillamook Country Smoker was the stop I’d planned. I told her earlier that we would stop in Tillamook to buy cheese at the factory store.

The Tillamook Cheese Factory is a few miles farther down US 101. Tillamook cheese can be found in stores from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. The factory is run by the Tillamook County Creamery Association. There are more than 100 dairy farm families in the association.

Tillamook is mostly known for its cheddar cheese, but they also make other varieties. We sampled several cheeses and Donna bought five kinds, including a smoked gouda with cumin seeds.

We had lunch across the street from the factory at a small seafood cafe. Donna had an oyster burger and I had a crab melt. The crab melt was made with fresh crab claw meat on a toasted roll with melted cheddar. Yummy!

Before we hit the road, I phoned ahead to the Les Schwab Tire Center in Lincoln City. I wanted to confirm our arrival time. I’d made an appointment with them the day before.

The tires on our RV have plenty of tread and look to be in good shape. RVs rarely wear their tires out. The issue is tire age. Tires deteriorate with age due to UV exposure, ozone and general weathering. Tires have a date code on them. The Michelins on our coach are nearly eight years old.

Although they still looked good, I wasn’t comfortable with their age. Having a tire blow-out isn’t on my bucket list. I’d planned to replace them when we reached Oregon. I chose to replace them here for a couple of reasons. First, Les Schwab is a very reputable company with great service and reasonable prices. There are Les Schwab Tire Centers in other western states, but in Oregon there’s no sales tax, only Federal Excise Tax on tires. No sales tax is always a bonus!

It was raining hard with thunder and lightning when we reached Lincoln City. I wish I’d taken photos of the guys replacing our tires. Two guys did the work, all by hand. They don’t have a tire machine big enough for our wheels. They levered the old tires off the rim with large tire irons. Then they wrestled the new tires, each weighing about 90 pounds, onto the wheels.

Donna napped in the coach while the work was done. It took about two hours to change all six tires.

We checked in at the Chinook Bend RV Resort on the Siletz River around 5pm. It was still raining when I set up. We have a pullthrough site with full hook-ups and 50 amp service. With our Passport America discount, it’s less than $25/night.

Donna made dinner. She calls it “pantry food” when she wings it with whatever she finds in the pantry. In this case she made Chicken Tikka Masala from Patak’s jarred sauce.

We’ll spend five nights here. Donna has some work to do. I have some relaxing to do. We’ll sightsee and maybe get a little fishing in.