The Oregon coast and inland - Corvallis is special to me

Beautiful Lincoln City, Oregon, with the sound of the Pacific crashing outside our motel room!  We traveled to Corvallis, OR today and took a whole lot of photographs (those were for both you and me, Mom).  Then, we headed through Philomoth, OR and on to the Oregon beaches.

Corvallis, OR, the home of Oregon State University, was where we spent last night.  I was exhausted because of all the smoke in the air and the asthma it triggered.  Our trip from Weed, CA was fraught with thicker and thicker smoke from at least 6 wildfires to the north and east of us.  I-5 was never threatened, but the burning of those poor forests made the air quality very bad.  I wore a filtration mask and we ran the AC on recirculate and that helped.

We stayed at a nice motel in Corvallis, OR - the University Inn - and both of us zonked out after the grueling drive.  When we woke up, there was a little smoke in the air, but not any where near as much as we saw on the trip up. So, this morning, Mom, we drove around Corvallis and I took some photographs.  I have nailed down the place where Grandma and Grandpa lived, either 11th and Jefferson,

 which looks like this now.  Across the street to the right is a large parking lot next to a tall dormitory building.

Or, it looks like this, the very large parking lot next to the tall dorm which is where 10th St would have been.  I remember that the University had built a tall dorm across the street from their house the last time we visited before they moved, when the U bought them out.

The campus is still really beautiful, retaining a large number of the gorgeous old buildings that were there when I was young.

They even have a few conifers whose branches go all the way to the ground for children (or students) to hide in and pretend.

This green house on, 12th Street, looks familiar somehow.

Are these houses you remember, Mom?

After the trip down memory lane, we drove to the beach and found this:

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Our motel in Lincoln City on the right, Beachfront Manor Inn - Lincoln City.

Steve is a water guy.  The beach suits him.  Too bad it's so darn cold.

Tomorrow, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Astoria and probably back down to Portland for a couple days of AirBnb before Sept. 1 in Tacoma.

Northern California during the wildfires

The plan had been to drive up the California coast on Route 101 and to spend the night in Brookings, Oregon tonight.  But, we heard last night that whole town of Brookings was evacuated due to a wildfire in the Suislaw National Forest that was coming too close.  So, we tried to check with several authorities in Eureka, CA to find out if route 299 was still safe from wildfire and discovered that all of those authorities (fire stations, police stations, Forest Service, and National Park Service offices) are closed up tight on weekends.  Eventually, the California State Patrol phone number confirmed that 299 would be safe and probably smoke-free.

Route 299 was very beautiful, though, with the Rogue River winding through next to the road and the Redwoods sprinkled through the forests.  It was a very windy road, perfect for listening to Fleetwood Mac's Mystery to Me album.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFTKnuilf2c 

It was a such a long drive that I finally realized that I have Audible books that we could listen to and pulled out The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King.  I love that book and it was wonderful to be able to listen to the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes story being narrated as we traveled.  I really wish I had remembered those audio books a long time ago.  I don't have many, but we could go on to the 2nd book in that series The Monstrous Regiment of Women, To Kill a Mockingbird, or even Pippi Longstocking.  This will not be forgotten again!

After driving until way after dark, we are now in a motel in Weed, California (I know, it's not what you think. Weed was named for Abner Weed who discovered the area).  We will be heading tomorrow for either Portland or the Northern Oregon beaches by way of Corvallis again.  Neither are threatened by wildfires, thank goodness.

The Rogue River and NO wildfires.

We made it!

The California wasteland punctuated by Los Gatos and Santa Cruz

After meandering along the Pacific Coast Highway from Newport down to San Francisco, the sheen has definitely dulled for the "road trip", although it is proving to be an invaluable learning experience.  It has been frustrating to deal with a broken and slashed toe because how long can one be satisfied with watching the beach, the waves, and watching other people walking on the beach and playing in the water?  I believe that I have proven that period is not long.  I want to frolic in the waves, damn it! But, this stupid bandage will get wet and sandy.

Steve and I have agreed to cut to the chase.  He has enjoyed his share of beaches for this leg of the trip and we agreed to cut over to the direct route to Phoenix, AZ.  So, today...  we left Walnut Creek after our early morning breakfast with the cousins and we struck out for I-5.

There was a blur of heavy traffic, wrong turns, and mistakes that we have mental blocked and never intend to mention again.  We drove around the little town of Los Gatos, where I lived for one year, and found that the old saying is true "you can't go home again", in fact, you may never figure out where that home was.  We drove and drove and nothing looked familiar in any way.  I even stopped to use one of my "life lines" and called my father to find out what street we used to live on, or even what the name was of my elementary school that one year we lived in Los Gatos.  Neither of my parents could remember and I realized - the universe is telling me to "Let it Go, Donnie, Los Gatos no longer exists for you".

So... we ventured down to Santa Cruz, the site of some happy memories - the boardwalk, the amusement park, and the Concrete ship.  The boardwalk and amusement park are still there, better than ever!  My toe didn't want to walk around and check out the rides and games, but it was there.  (We, of course, forgot to take any pictures.  We were enjoying the moment.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)  The huge Concrete Ship, a merchant freighter, was no longer docked (sunk) at the Santa Cruz pier, though.  It was fascinating to that little 5th grade girl that something that large, made of concrete, could actually float.  I think it was my first real musing in the physics arena and my Dad came through with the explanation - air.  A ship made of just about anything will float because it has air inside the hull, cabins, rooms, holds, etc.

Central California, we agreed, looked an awful lot like the terrain of the Moon - all one color and sort of sculptured.  After an untold number of miles of that, we rolled into a little town called Buttonwillow, CA after dark to find a motel.  It was literally a truck stop town and the Super 8 was the best available.  [No photos.  It was a very long, rather trying day.]

Oregon beaches, Siuslaw National Forest and Brookings, OR on the Calif. border

Florence, Oregon is a quiet little town on the Pacific Coast Highway.  My parents lived in several places in Oregon including Florence after they retired and quit the jewelry show circuit business.  [We are a gypsy family at heart.]  The beaches along the way after Florence were gorgeous.

We camped for the night in the Siuslaw National Forest (50% for Seniors with the National Park Card, friends) at the Sutton Campground.  Camping was not bad at all.  We set up at a site directly across from the bathrooms (running water, but no showers).

The cell service appears to be iffy for those with ATT and Tmobile on the Oregon Coast.  I'm told you need Verizon out here.  So, we have been off the radar for a few days.  Since I have Tmobile and ATT is the provider for the "bars" that I am finally getting right now, my service is very slow and uploading photos is not happening.  The scenery is outstanding and I will do a photo dump when I can manage it.

I'm sitting in the car (resting my healing, but broken toe) and looking at the beautiful beach at Harris State Park right now.  Those beautiful Oregon rocks are strewn just off the coast.  Steve is walking the beach and taking photos.  I am walking the sidewalk and doing the same.  (Sand and toe lacerations do not mix, not yet.)

Steve driving.

Steve in front of Harris beach.

Beach without Steve.

We spent the night in a great little RV resort near Brookings called At River's Edge.  They rent RV parking, little cabins, and tent space.  For two nights, we are renting one of their cute little cabins.  Ours could sleep 4 people, but it looks like a "tiny house".  They are clean, have a front porch and electricity, and best of all they are a short walk from bathroom and shower facilities.  They even have washer/dryers.  Heaven!

Indeed a "little house" and it's close to shower/toilets, too!

With the scent of dead sardines in our nostrils we ate our dinner in Brookings, OR and watched pelicans feed.  If you look really hard you can see pelicans all over the second jetty.

Tomorrow morning early, we make a run for the border.  As long has we don't have any produce we should be fine.  We've already crossed once because, oddly enough, you can't seem to buy a California road map outside of California.  (Believe me, I've been trying for 100 miles.  We are only a couple miles from the California border here, but Fred Meyer and two other places do not have California maps.)

False alarm.  We stayed one more day in Brookings (the sun belt of the Oregon coast) to explore its potential.  Steve definitely didn't want to leave.

As I finished packing, Steve gazed off into the misty banks of the river.