Back To Reality

On Tuesday it was back to the border (after tanking up on cheap US gas!) and we headed directly to downtown Vancouver to meet my brother Matt and his girlfriend Che, as they had a stopover from London to Sydney. Mom came in from Sechelt and we all met the weary travelers in the harbour for lunch.




Three Canadian Chamberlins...




After the farewells Dad, Mom, and I headed to the Horseshoe Bay ferry to take the 35 minute ride to the Sunshine Coast. We were early and the sun came out so we took a walk in the bay...








The ferry crossing to Gibsons...a similar route taken by great grandfather Clarde Chamberlin at the turn of the century.







I took some time on the upper deck soaking in the landscape and trying to imagine approaching the heavily forested coast for the first time as a pioneer. What were the thoughts, concerns, dreams, and ambitions. They may have been primarily of basic survival but we are all human after all and it is interesting to wonder what fleeting thoughts crossed their minds. As this adventure has come full circle in such significant fashion I myself can only be left to wonder just what shape and direction the next one will take.

In Search of Aaron L. Chamberlin

On Monday we headed out from our Hillsboro hotel with the hope of digging up that one nugget of info that would assist us in locating a record of Aaron L. Chamberlin in Washington County.

We started off at the Public Service building and Vital Statistics but came up empty. Apparently everything from our era of interest was sent to the state archives in Salem, and we know that Tracey had gone over much of the information there. We did find some pretty cool Sequoia trees though...






After also striking out at the local paper we headed towards Vernonia. On the way we stopped in at Tualatin Plains cemetery just out of town where a sister of Aaron L. was believed to be buried. We thought there was an outside chance he could be buried near her but unfortunately we had no luck finding evidence of either individual.




We continued along the winding highway to Vernonia and it was easy to tell what resource the local economy was based on...




At times our GPS had an unsettling habit of selecting very "rural" routes to take us where we wanted to go. Although it was beautiful country our high-tech guide definitely had us scratching our heads a few times. At least the livestock were friendly...






When we arrived in Vernonia inquiries at the library led us to the local Pioneer Cemetery.




We were unsuccessful at finding the headstone of Aaron L's sister Ellen Claire Sheeley (Chamberlin) but found one belonging to that of son Omar and what appears to be a daughter and grand-daughter of Ellen Claire.






We then got directions to the other cemetery in town and quickly realized the stock directions for finding cemeteries in this part of the country is "head to the top of the hill...you can't miss it!" We scoured the headstones at the second cemetery without success.



Attempting to find Aaron L. has begun to feel like the classic cat and mouse scenario...except the mouse is permanently stationary and the cat is decidedly disoriented. I am sure it will be all worth it when we finally get that "eureka" moment. We will re-group back at home and pour over the information acquired thus far...then plan our next approach to this mystery. Until then we bid farewall to Oregon at Rainier, crossing the mighty Columbia on the Lewis and Clark bridge to head north to British Columbia.





The bridge was built in 1924 and I was fascinated by the construction of that era...practical but also kinda visually cool...




Onward to and through Seattle...





We made it just north of the "Emerald City" when we decided to make camp and drown our sorrows with some quality Chinese food...




The next day we would be crossing the border and welcomed back to familiar surroundings. Both of us agreed, however, that we could have stayed in Oregon for much, much longer and felt right at home. What a great State full of wonderful people. We will be back!

A Day With Friends

When Dad and I dropped in on Colleen in Albany, and John and Charlotte in Salem, it seemed like we were visiting old friends. It is interesting that such connections can be formed in such a short time, and I believe it is a testament to the significance of this trip and the effect it has had on us all.

Before leaving the hotel in Eugene Dad reviewed John's collection for items of importance to photocopy at Office Depot. In the end we copied almost the entire binder.




After overheating the Office Depot copier (and getting some great tax-free deals from the clearance table!) we hit the road to Albany and experienced some wild weather patterns...I think we experienced the entire "spring collection"...










We arrived at Colleen's without being swept away and had a great time collecting eggs and memories.



Colleen Showing Dad where eggs come from...ha ha!




The prize producers come through again...




Getting briefed on even more history...some of it very entertaining!




This chest came with Colleen's family by covered wagon on their march west...




All too soon it was time to go. Until the next time Colleen...thanks so much for everything!




After our farewells in Albany we headed north to Salem to meet with John and Charlotte. The afternoon's visit was full of maps, pictures, fascinating stories, and a Model T.







Tomorrow we hit the archives in Hillsboro to try to track down the last years and final resting place of Aaron L. Chamberlin. We know his daughter Maude is buried at Tualatin Plains Cemetery here in town so we might get lucky and find him there also. We will then continue on to Vernonia where Ellen Claire is buried to see if there may be further family there. We are planning to find ourselves close to Canada by the end of the day but it will be truly hard to pull ourselves away from the great state of Oregon...

Sun, Sand, and Sea Lions

On Saturday morning we left Newport and headed south with clear blue skies. During the first stretch sandy beaches were the order of the day, with the occasional rock outcrops. The similarities to Long Beach were striking...




But soon we were climbing up and could see a changing landscape through the trees.




At a pull-out we spied an option to get down to the rocky shores of Cape Perpetua...




At the top of the access the warnings were clear...




But we figured those warnings were probably just general guidelines and absolutely no harm could be done skirting the edge of the so called "funnel of doom"...




Actually, the tide was out and we were not in harms way (and it's not really called the "funnel of doom"). It was a beautiful area and we took the opportunity to explore the rock outcroppings and tide-pools, occasionally taking time to pause and absorb it all.














Dad took this picture that summed the area up: wind-swept trees and vistas of sand, rock, and endless ocean...




Above the beach was a lookout. Dad isn't wild about heights so I made the short trek from the parking lot to the view-point.






A nice couple from Portland took my pic. Everyone we have met on this trip has been incredibly friendly...at this rate Canadians are in danger of losing their "friendliest people" status!




The weather was holding well, and as we continued south we felt lucky that we had such a clear, crisp day. We stopped to take in the view of the much photographed lighthouse at Heceta Head.






Looking the other way I found some interesting cliff features...



...with a few familiar residents hanging out at the bottom.




As we continued on past Florence the terrain altered to include areas of sand, especially around "Dune City"...




We skipped the dune-buggy rentals, however, and continued on the Coos Bay for lunch. We stretched our legs on the wharf...




...all the time being carefully watched.




While arriving in Coos Bay we noticed a significant weather change was upon up and considering this, and the time of day, we decided to divert inland instead of continuing south to Crescent City. It was a good call as the downpour started very soon after starting out. We ended up in Eugene and will spend Sunday copying material from John's family binder, stopping by Albany, and slowly making our way north.