The Oregon Coast

          Ah yes, and now I see why everyone makes such a fuss about the Oregon Coast…because it lives up to the hype.  Jenny and I arrived in Manzanita on Friday afternoon at their little beach cottage.  I had forgotten how the ocean makes your senses come so alive.  The air is thick and cool on your skin, the smell of salt and seaweed floats all around you and the sound of seagulls and waves abound.  It gets inside you.  It inspires you and makes you want to do things like write a novel and run on the beach and eat crab and bake hearty bread, at least that is all I want to do! 

            So the first thing we did upon our arrival was take Mr. Charlie Pants down to the water and OMG did he go crazy!!! He was absolutely beside himself with joy.  All I could do was laugh at him because I have never seen him so excited as he ran full speed along the edge of the water in pursuit of the gulls.  He dug holes in the sand and chewed up the beached seaweed.  He really had a ball.  After our stroll we wandered through the local farmers market and had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant before calling it a day.

            They next morning Jenny and I were buzzing like bees at the crack of dawn.  We chopped apple for applesauce and got everything ready before participating in the local tsunami drill! Haha I was actually kind of fun to hear the sirens and loud speakers clearing everyone out of town and up to higher ground.  Following the drill we did some shopping and make the first batch of sauce. 

 It was really tasty and I am taking some jars with me for the road.  When our tummies started to rumble we headed to Kelly’s Dock, which is a fishing shack, turned awesome crab restaurant on the bay.  We enjoyed a crab apiece and split a pound of clams all slathered in butter and lemon for our lunch and let me tell you it was soooooooo GOOD!!!! I forget how much I love seafood!  After that I went for a much needed run on the beach with Charlie then we made the rest of the applesauce and dinked around at home.  Later the two of us had a lovely candle lit dinner of lentil soup and cornbread followed by apples, cheese, and fig cake…honestly I can’t recall a more lovely day ;)

            Sadly the next morning it was time for me to be on my way so I said goodbye to my wonderful Aunt and Charlie and I sped off to Corvallis to see my no good mischief causing little brother at OSU!

            After I woke him up at 10:30am (such a sleepy head!!!) he gave me a campus tour of the OSU campus, which is reminiscently beautiful of the turn of the century due to all the red brick buildings and abundance of green grass.  He showed me all over including his dorm and introducing me to his dorm roomie Will.  All that walking congured up an appetite we had lunch at a Thai noodle house while we chatted about his upcoming classes.  When we were done I left him to his pile of laundry and headed south to Eugene.  I was planning on going for a run in the famous Alton Barker park but sadly I arrived in the heat of the day and full of noodle so I settled for a walk then drove the two and a half hours to Coos Bay to visit my old high school buddy Weston. 

Upon my arrival we went for a walk on the beach where we saw a dead beached sea lion (so so sad…) and a woman yelled at me and called us idiots for letting Charlie run around without a leash.  Even though there were numerous other unleashed dogs in the vicinity Charlie did ask for it and I told him that now he’s lost all unleashed privileges for the remainder of the journey.

Weston is a member of the US Coast Guard in Coos Bay at the small boat station (whatever that means but he told me to make that clear haha ;) and kindly showed me around all day Monday.  We hiked up to Silver and Gold Falls and all along the coast before having fish and chips and chowder for lunch at the warf.   We did a little salt water taffy eating and wandered around the historic part of Bandon until later that evening when he gave me a tour of the station.  I got to climb all over the Coast Guard boats and walk around the docks with the barking sea lions.  It was all very Perfect Storm and the air smelled like fresh ocean with the occasional waft of rotting fish.  When the fog rolled back in and we got too cold we headed back to his place for a dinner of leftovers a movie and a crackling fire. 

The next morning I was off the Redwoods National Forest and took US 101 south.  I stopped in Oregon Heads National Park at Port Orford to go for a short run and let me tell you, I am so glad I did!! I honestly try to give credit where credit is due but there are just no words to describe what I saw there.  It was so surreally beautiful it puts me in the category of speechless.  The photos don’t even really do it justice but allow me to say if you have never been, for the love of God get your butt in gear and go.  It is breathtaking.