Onward to Oregon

Thurs. September 5: After loading my car and saying goodbyes to Marsha and Alex, I hit the road once more on my way to my next night’s stay in Gearhart, Oregon. Traffic was heavier for the first couple hours as I headed through Seattle and south to Tacoma. Eventually it lightened, and I made a stop at the small town of Winlock, WA, to see “The World’s Largest Egg,” as recommended by Marsha. I enlisted two women, who had stopped for the same thing, and we took each others’ pictures.

I continued south and then west a bit on Route 101 and went through the cute town of Astoria, Oregon. It had lots of interesting looking shops and restaurants, as well as a Maritime Museum. I’d like to spend some time exploring there if I return to the area some day. After passing through Astoria, I crossed over the Columbia River on a high, arching bridge. Below the bridge and along the river, I saw seemingly endless horizontal stacks of tall tree trunks, with their branches removed. Perhaps they were being prepared for shipment on barges to another location for processing. Halfway across the bridge, I saw a sign indicating I was entering Washington again.

On the other side of the river, I entered a peninsula and approached the town of Long Beach, WA. My goal was the Cranberry Museum — I had never seen cranberries growing, and wanted to check out the groves and museum. I walked along the rows of cranberries in the warm sunshine, looking at the signs discussing research into pest control and investigation of varieties that could thrive at warmer temperatures. I checked out the cool gift shop that had everything you could imagine concerning cranberries. I eventually selected several items to purchase: cranberry dental floss, cranberry pepper jelly, cranberry orange syrup, a sticker for my water bottle, and a cup of cranberry ice cream. Maybe I went a bit overboard. The ice cream was delicious!

I chatted with the shopkeeper about my travel plans, and she suggested I get out of town as soon as possible to avoid traffic from a car show that was taking place starting that evening. I took her advice and headed back over the bridge to Oregon and south to the coast, to the small town of Gearhart where I was spending the night.

Gearhart is a sleepy little town just north of Seaside, Oregon {which incidentally is the home of the largest beach volleyball tournament in North America). I checked into my cute apartment at The Drifthaven at Gearhart. After settling in, I enjoyed a complimentary cocktail in the little garden area before walking across the street to get dinner at The Pacific Way Cafe. What an amazing dinner I had! I found out that Gearhart is the birthplace and final resting place of the famous chef and restauranteur, James Beard, and the meal I had did justice to that fact. The restaurant is a historic establishment in the town, but the current owners have only operated it for a couple of years. The chef, Trever Gilbert, created a wonderful meal for me. I ordered two small plates — a dish with local green and wax beans, tomato, furikake, tiny teardrop-shaped beets, spring onion, and basil; and the crab and shrimp cakes with a kale slaw. Both dishes were amazing! I had to get dessert — a burnt cheesecake with peach slices and toasted hazelnuts, which was also wonderful; I took most of it home to enjoy for breakfast.

After dinner, I walked from my room to the almost deserted beach. I took some beautiful sunset pictures as I waded in the water. I soon headed back to my room and called it a night.

Fri. September 6: I checked out shortly before 9 a.m., taking the breakfast that was delivered to my door in a basket with me. I had a short drive to reach my first destination for the day of Ecola State Park, where I was planning on hiking. The coastal park was very foggy, yet lovely. As I walked along narrow, winding trails by mossy trees, I could hear waves crashing on the shore. From lookouts along the trail, at first I could only see thick white fog, but later I could make out some edges of waves curling along the shore. I encountered several groups of people on the trail, but the trail was relatively quiet, and I enjoyed the peaceful start to my day.

After my morning hike, I took a short drive to Cannon Beach. I stopped for a coffee at Sleepy Monk Coffee Roasters, a popular coffee shop near the beach. I walked with my coffee across the street and down a path to the beach, where I viewed a famous landmark — Haystack Rock — through the fog. Apparently, if I had been there earlier in the summer, I would have seen puffins perching on the rock. After taking some pictures, I walked through a few shops in town before getting back on the road.

My next destination was to visit friends Cal and Mary, who live in Albany, Oregon. I had met Cal playing pickleball in Florida the previous winter (I am friends with his sister, Jan, and her husband Al, who live there), and he and Mary had generously offered up their hospitality for several days.

I arrived at Cal and Mary’s place at dinner time, and Mary had a wonderful dinner of steak, chicken, potato salad, salad, and pie ready for us. After dinner I walked through their awesome gardens and under fruit trees to gather greens, apples, and pears to feed their cows. I was a little timid feeding the cows, but I enjoyed it. After feeding the cows, and making sure the threat of rain had passed, Cal and I were able to fit in several pickleball games at a nearby court with his friends, Wanda and Dwayne!

Sat. September 7: Following an amazing breakfast including eggs, bacon, yogurt, and homemade granola, Cal, Mary, and I headed to Silver Falls State Park. We hiked several trails among lovely waterfalls before eating our picnic lunch. We stopped at some more waterfalls and then headed back to Cal and Mary’s house.

After another delicious dinner, Cal gave me a tour of the farm. We stopped next door to feed the chickens at Cal’s brother Phil’s place, and checked out the barn where they had processed the rye seed they grew. Later in the evening, Phil and his son, Blaine, came over and we played a strategy game with blocks (let me just say, this game definitely has a long learning curve) and then Rook, before calling it a night.

Sun. September 8: This day was a beach day, and again, it was awesome! After church, Cal and Mary drove me back to the coast, this time further south from where I had been earlier. We first stopped at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, OR, where we saw beautiful sea anemones and stars, interesting fish, and whale skeletons, as well as educational material on sea creatures, commercial fishing, and the environment. Next we stopped at a very fun area in town where sea lions lounge on a pier. They were noisy, and hilarious to watch. I found it interesting that these are all males — they are here all year except for the month of July, when they go to the Channel Islands in California to mate with the females, who stay south year round. The Newport locals call July evenings “quiet summer nights” since that is the only time they don’t hear the barking of sea lions.

We stopped at Yaquina Head Lighthouse for pictures. The views were great there. The sand looked black, and was made up of little black rocks. You could hear the sound of the rocks swishing against each other in the waves.

Next was Devil’s Punchbowl State Natural Area, where over time the roofs of two caves had collapsed into an interesting natural phenomenon. From there, we stopped at Depoe Bay, the World’s Smallest Harbor. It was truly very small, and would make for difficult entry for boats.

We got on a waiting list for a table to get dinner at Tidal Raves Seafood Grill in Depoe Bay. While we were waiting for a table, we stopped at Fogarty Creek State Recreation Area to check out the tide pools. I’m so glad we stopped there! This was the first time I had ever seen tide pools. We saw sea stars, and even saw a seagull with most of a sea star in his gullet — three legs were dangling from his beak! I’m not sure what happened to the poor sea gull after that.

Dinner at Tidal Raves was delicious — I got crab cakes, and Cal and Mary got fried fish. We got back to the house after dark, and I soon went to bed. Another wonderful day was in the books!

Mon. September 9: After another great breakfast, Cal and I headed with Phil over to LBCC (Linn-Benton Community College) courts to place a few games of pickleball before I got on the road to head east to Bend, OR. I had several stops to make before I arrived at my next night’s lodging at an Airbnb in Bend. Thanks, again, to Cal and Mary for being such wonderful, entertaining, and welcoming hosts!

I stopped at Sahalie Falls–beautiful falls along the McKenzie River about 1 1/2 hours east of Albany. I had limited time, so instead of hiking between the falls, I drove over to the next waterfall, the Koosah Falls, and appreciated their beauty too as I took some pictures. If I have another visit there, I’ll plan to do the falls hiking loop — a 7.3 mile loop — and see Tamolitch Falls, known as Blue Pool, as well.

Next, I stopped at Metolius Springs, which wasn’t much to see, probably because of the season and lack of rain. It is the source of the Metolius River. I was excited, though, to meet four wonderful women from Portland at the attraction — two with the name of Jean. I was even gifted by one of the women with hat, which I admired, after assurances that she has plenty of new hats! I’ll enjoy it as my special adventure hat! Sadly, I couldn’t join them in Sisters, OR for dinner, as I had a strict schedule.

I had a lot of winding, scenic driving through mountainous terrain to arrive at Sisters, OR. I saw much evidence of past fires along the way, with signs warning of fire fighting areas and fire traffic. Sisters was a neat little town, but the smoke from nearby fires was unbelievable. The sun and distant mountains were very hazy! I did a little souvenir shopping and then headed east and then north to Smith Rock State Park. What a beautiful park it was! I hiked the Canyon Trail around the large rocks and along a river, looking at climbers as they went up a peak.

From Smith Rock State Park, I had a half hour drive to Bend, OR, where I was spending the night at Marci’s Airbnb. I arrived there around 5, and after she gave me a tour of the house, we each enjoyed a glass of wine out on her deck. Ashes from the wildfires floated through the air like snowflakes, landing in our wine and on her black shirt. We decided on the spur of the moment to get Sushi in downtown Bend and to catch a Moms Unhinged standup comedy show next door, which provided great laughs. I’m so glad to have made a new friend in Bend!

The next morning I planned to head out early and stop at Crater Lake on my way to Crescent City, CA to see the redwoods. To be continued…