We made it to the Oregon Coast and the sun is shining! It's the 1st of February (Happy 70th birthday Dave) and we are blessed with amazing coastal weather!
It has taken three days to reach Newport Beach. Those three das brought us nasty snow on the Connector andCoquihalla highways in BC, ic cold and blue skies driving from Abbotsford (spent the night with my sister who is such an amazing cook!) to Ferndale Washington where we visited with my cousin (Hi John and Sandy). Then we hit nasty wind and rain. Well, we have umbrellas and good jackets but my hopes for good weather were getting drowned. Then we hit the bridge to Astoria.   We could actually see the bridge as well as a tin red break in the clouds which turned out to be a sunset!
In Seaside, where we spent the first night, it was still damp but no new rain.
It's the sounds as much as the sights of this wild coast that I came here for. Lying in ed listening to the pounding surf is just like a good plate of comfort food for the soul!
Yesterday we took every side road, stopped at every view point and wandered through the (near vacant) towns.
The recession is alive and well here. Lots of for sale signs, closed shops and restaurants. We passed acres of porta potties sitting in a locked field. That would be an iindication that there is not a lot of construction going on. Still there are a few tourists and customer service is very good. You can bargain for a good rate though they sa that will change in February. Apparently this is the start of the bus season here with Valentines da and their wine festival coming up. That's a couple of weeks away and the streets look pretty much the same today as the did last night.
So today, having stuffed ourselves with the hotel's good ole American breakfast, we are going for a long walk. It is a day to explore the beaches and the town of Newport.
The girl at the desk thought we were a little off to walk all that way but turnes out we probably only walked about 5 kilometers.
The historic area of Newport is, well, run down. Lots of souvenir shops (closed) and restaurants (closed) with the odd one open two or three days a week or braving daily openings. The kitchy area of South Newport was great for taking photos but again little was open.
The old lighthouse was our favourite find. It has been lovingly restored by volunteers. The self guided tour is well done. Dorth.... you would have loved it.... like your museum but with a nautical theme.
Back for a rest before a swim in the pool and another walk on the beach. I just realized why I brought all those books..... I am supposed to relax and enjoy them. Can't think of a better location than to sit here, listening to the surf and reading a good book.
Tomorrow we head south again.
PS: for those of you who know us you will be more than amazed to find we bought a cell phone yesterday. OK, so it''s a $10 Walmart phone..... but it works here in the US. We will probably spend the next two months trying to figure out how to use it!