Beach Day at The Oregon Coast
My sister and I drove to the Oregon coast to fill our souls with a full dose of ocean sounds and sandy toes. We got an early start at 6 A.M. to take advantage of the low tide, which exposes the rocky tide pools and makes the entire beach accessible.
Of course not booking a hotel keeps it fairly frugal.
We spent more time that I'm willing to admit playing with the "Panoramic" photo setting on our phones. We are silly geese!
Portland was forecast to be 88 degrees, but the Cascade mountain range between Portland and the Pacific Ocean keep the beach much cooler. Oregonians know to bring layers for unpredictable weather. You can see how misty it was.
As always, the tide pools teemed with life.
We spent almost four hours exploring the beach.
Our next stop was Tillamook's Tacos La Providencia food cart, which consistently delivers delicious Mexican food for hungry beach combers.
My sister and I started to drag from our early start, so we drove through Dutch Bros. coffee, (her choice) where we got a large mocha, split into two cups. Naturally we had to stop into the Tillamook Goodwill for a relaxing browse.
I walked out empty handed, but still looked up at least a dozen items. Like this $14.99 pool cue organizer shelf:
This fantastic $12.99 "coastal grandmother" aesthetic sweater:
This $6.99 Southwestern style vase:
Next up was a visit to the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, where my sister was able to get in for free as a "professional courtesy" due to her affiliation to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. My admission was $7.
I've wanted to visit this museum for years and can now check it off my bucket list.
This museum is exactly what you'd expect, but also surprising. There's a lot of taxidermy, but also full size diorama rooms, geologic samples and antique transportation.
However much taxidermy you imagine is in this museum -- triple that amount!
Some of which has absolutely nothing to do with the Oregon coast:
I'm pretty sure that Smokey The Bear was artificially taxidermied:
It was giving SNL "Alan" vibes.
Where was I? I yeah, Museum content.
My sister took this photo for our friend Lise, as she teaches basket making classes. Tiny Katy for scale.
Unfortunately I somehow tweaked my back, which brought our adventures to a screeching halt. We'd planned on driving up the coast to enjoy Highway 101 and then head home, hitting Camp 18 for dinner. Instead we drove straight back after purchasing gas station Ibuprofen and Diet Cokes.
We may have shortened our beach day by a few hours, but we still enjoyed the drive back, thanks to an impromptu Dolly Parton playlist. Even made it home in time to watch "9 to 5" through the free Philo app. Not only does that movie hold up, it was waaaaay ahead of its time! That woman set an example we can only hope to emulate. She will be sorely missed!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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Sorry to hear about your back pain, but it looks like you had a wonderful excursion prior to that.
I just finished "attending" a webinar on solar energy. Although the price has come down massively since the 1970s, it is still too expensive for me. I'd have to shell out about 10 grand. The payback time would not be for another 10 to 15 years. I am 71. Not to sound pessimistic, but chances are I won't be in this house when I'm 81 to 86 years old.
I then went on BASE Power's website as they've been advertising a backup battery that is supposedly better than a Generac generator. But they say it is not in my area yet.
I have a natural gas space heater in the den and some battery powered fans and a gasoline generator, still in the box, from Harbor Freight. Hopefully, the Texas electric grid won't go down again, because I have no idea how to use the generator if it does. At least the heater will keep me from freezing if it occurs in winter weather.