Seattle to Long Beach in a day on public transit! Six bucks, seven buses, thirteen hours and you're bunking down in Oysterville for the night, ready to spend the following day wandering twenty-eight miles of ocean beaches, the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, Fort Canby State Park, and more!

From Seattle, catch Seattle Express 592X at Second and Union at 6:14 AM (Monday through Friday), reaching the SR 512 Park and Ride at 7:07. Catch Olympia Express 601X or 603X there (at 7:05 or 7:10), reaching the Olympia Transit Center just before 8:00. Take a break: go find breakfast, check out the state capital.

Catch Grays Harbor Transit 40 from the Olympia Transit Center at 10:05, reaching Aberdeen at 11:30, where you'll have ninety minutes to explore possible sources of the angst of one Kurt Cobain, noted ex-Aberdeener. That should be plenty of time.

Catch Pacific Transit (PT) 14 from the Aberdeen Station at 1:00, reaching Raymond at Third and Duryea at 1:50. Catch PT 32 there at 2:10, arriving in South Bend fifteen minutes later. In South Bend you'll have lots of time to explore: the PT 50 to Ilwaco leaves South Bend at 5:00.

The PT 50 drops you off at the Ilwaco Museum at 6:20 PM, where you'll catch PT 20 at 6:25, reaching the end of the line at Oysterville at 7:10. There are seven private, fee campgrounds along the Long Beach Peninsula, and all but one allow tent camping.

To return, catch Pacific Transit 20 at 6:50 AM in Oysterville, PT 50 at the Ilwaco Museum at 7:35, PT 32 in South Bend at 9:10, reaching Raymond at 9:30. Have breakfast. PT 14 to Aberdeen leaves at 12:00 N, reaching Aberdeen Station at 12:40.At 1:30, catch Grays Harbor Transit 40 there, arriving in Olympia at 3:05. From there, Olympia Express 620X at 3:45, and Seattle Express from the SR 512 Park and Ride, put you in downtown Seattle at about 5:45 PM.

Or, if you want to continue throwing rocks into the ocean, catch PT 20 in Oysterville at 6:20 AM or 9:55 AM to Ilwaco, where you'll catch the PT 24 across the Columbia River to Astoria, Oregon. Astoria Transit goes to Cannon Beach! We haven't received the schedules from them yet, but watch this space. Coming soon!

Transit Fares

• Seattle Express, pay $2.50, ask for a transfer.
• Olympia Express, present transfer, pay additional .60
• Grays Harbor Transit, fare is 1.50 .
• Pacific Transit, buy daily pass for 1.50

Pierce Transit (for both Seattle Express and Olympia Express) 1 (800)562-8109

Grays Harbor Transit 1 (800)562-9730

Pacific Transit 1 (360)642-9418

What to do when you get there:

• World's Longest Beach: This claim is worth a trip to an atlas to compare the 28 mile Long Beach with Australia's 80-mile beach and a few likely suspects in South America. If you have a dog, take it to the beach.
• World's Longest Beach Drive - Cars are allowed to drive up and down the beach (except over clam beds), but are usually hesitant to stop and pick up riders.
• Horseback riding, beach combing, the usual touristy doodahs in the town of Long Beach.
• Some nice budget beach motels... pick up some shellfish at the grocery for dinner.
• The Ark Restaurant in Oysterville - this is the place that wrote the famous Ark Restaurant cookbook. Call them for their hours... they're limited on weekends.
• Ask a real estate agent to show you some of the very inexpensive beach front properties. Ask them to explain the Tsunami escape route signs.
• Willapa Bay Oysters - shuckin' fresh.
• Willapa Bay Wildlife Refuge