Oregon Coast

Thursday November 15

Left South Beach OR to head... well...south. Looked at the map, picked out another state park and headed south. We drove along the coast... OMG gorgeous. Happy. We drove around Cape Perpetua... sounds familiar... gotta look it up. Stopped at a scenic overlook where we could walk down and see the water coming right up to a inlet... complete with blow hole where the water sprays up and lava rocks all around. Totally awesome. Soleil would have loved to stay and hang out in the tide pool, but it was too cold and we trekked on. I could definitely spend an entire summer here. I suggested a coastal biking trip where we went from place to place to camp and swim and hike. The girls weren't too sure about it, but they actually didn't say no... kinda like they were thinking about what that might be like.

Friday November 16, 2007

Thank goodness for Friday?!

We got into our campsite yesterday around 4 pm. Met the campground host and our neighbors across the way... young couple who are rice farmers in northern California. How cool is that, rice farmers? They have a dog and a parrot with them. I maneuvered our big rig into our spot... didn't hit anything... again! No sooner were we totally hooked up and it started to rain. The girls felt "spoiled" because we are at a full services site complete with sewer and they asked to take long, hot showers. How could I say no? If that's all it takes to make 'em happy... I say go for it. I was feeling tired and unusually cold (even though the weather is getting warmer... 57) maybe from getting wet. I fell asleep on the couch and then had the girls tuck me into bed. I was really, really cold. Woke up this morning, though, to good heat, many blankets and feeling much better. Also woke up to the beautiful sound of rain on the camper. No, really, I love that sound. Lots of plinks all over the roof. Although the campground host mentioned moving down closer to the beach rather than being up here in the tall pines, I'm glad we were surrounded by the trees and protected from the wind. It was quite a storm last night. Rain is tapering off now... still loud plinks, but not as heavy as before.

Around 10:00 in the morning, we trekked up to the Umpqua Lighthouse in the rain with Kody. It was a relatively short walk, but a hilly walk. It took us to a tall solitary lighthouse that overlooked the dunes down below and then the Oregon coast. It was sort of strange because this lighthouse is inland about 2 miles, but it is set up high on the ridge and probably serves as a beacon to ships as they pass. We headed back to the camper and were totally soaked. Figured it was as good a time as any to give Kody a bath so I threw him in the shower and I lathered him up and even gave him a shot of conditioner while I was at it. He wimpered at the cold water, but got quieter when it turned warmer. I don't blame him. He toweled off well and isn't one of those dogs who keeps shaking with water, instead, he is one of those dogs who rolls around on the floor over and over and seems to be all excited in his new, clean fur.

By this time, it has been days and days with rain. I'm soaked to the bone and finally changed and starting to make a big hot lunch. I asked which of the girls would be willing to come with me on an adventure. My goal was to fight cabin fever. I decided that we should find a nearby camper, knock on the door and invite whoever answers to come and play Crazy Eights with us after lunch. Our rice farmer neighbors had already left and there weren't many campers to choose from. So we hit the closest camper, knocked on the door, and waited to see who we would find. Well, we met Alan and Portia. They live about 60 miles inland from the campground here in Oregon and came for a weekend getaway. They are 60 years old and they have a cattle farm with Alan's brother. We learned from them that as cattle farmers, they get paid once a year when they sell livestock in July. We also learned they are Christians who meet in homes rather than a church to study and follow the bible, and we learned that they are very good sports to come and hang out with us for an afternoon! Portia spoiled them rotten by bringing over goodie bags of candy! Good timing as the Halloween candy was running out! Thanks Portia!

Nov 16, 2007

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