This morning ended the run of atypical Oregon Coast weather with a drizzle that became a drenching rain.  My flying dreams crushed, we packed up and began our trip North to Alaska.

On the way back to Portland, we stopped at the relatively new Tillamook Forestry Center:

The museum shows a great video about the fires in the 1930s through 1950s that burned almost 500,000 acres of what later became the Tillamook State Forest.  An aggressive replanting campaign which had convicts, volunteers, and school children plant 17 million Douglas Fir seedlings throughout the burn area has today yielded a restored woodland.

The museum was very well done with interactive displays and exhibits:

Watch the fake salmon swim!

Magnetic matching works:

The view from the bridge out back is of the Wilson River:

On our way out we climbed the fire tower:

The museum from the fire tower:

Continuing to Portland, we got caught in rush hour traffic on the Sunset Highway.  Rather than crawl up I-5 to Vancouver, we got off onto US-30 and headed up past Sauvie Island to Longview, Washington.  The timber loading area there is amazingly vast, see here.

We are overnighting at the Walmart of Chehalis, Washington.  See the trip map for details.