Ore-agin

That's the way the locals say it. One guy looked at us sternly and said, "There's no "E" at the end. It's not Ora-'GONE'".

However its pronounced, it is an interesting part of the Pacific coast. There are some high capes and bluffs, but not as much as northern California. There is much more in the way of sand, from large dunes to long beaches perfect for beachcombing.





We have found that there is plenty to do along the Oregon coast. We have hiked, biked, paddled, and flown kites. Mostly in the rain. It seems to rain 6 days out of seven. A lady said she had a friend that called a bright, but cloud-covered, day "sunny". She figures they forget what the sun looks like.

It really is the people and not the weather that brightens this part of the coast. They are out clamming, crabbing, or just out in the rain without an umbrella. They are willing to show you places to fish or paddle. And one chap, seeing us crabbing off the public dock, said, "You can crab there if you want, but you won't catch anything." I guess the crabs got washed out of that spot with the spring rainfall, so he suggested another bay farther up the coast.

Crabbing is our new sport. Although I am more likely to seek the dry warmth of the truck and let hubby suffer the rain and cold wind in hope of catching supper. There are certainly a lot of crabs out there, but very few that you can keep. They have to be of legal size, and male, if you want the Dungeness crabs. It is fun trying, though. You drop the cage down off the dock, wait about 15 minutes for them to find the bait, then pull up the cage and see all the crabs scrabble around inside. Then I get to watch hubby reach inside to bring out the victims one by one to check size and gender. Being me, I'm glad they are usually females. I always did like catch and release.

We also got in a little kite flying. One morning the clouds were thinner and the rain had stopped momentarily so we walked the mile to the beach, kites attached to hubby's backpack. As usual, we stopped to chat with a couple at the waterfront. When hubby mentioned that we were heading back up to Canada soon, the lady's eyes twinkled, and she asked, "Are you flying?"

Maybe it's the time of year, but there seems to be a lot of birds here. All the sandpipers, plovers, and pelicans along the beaches, and egrets, flickers, and hawks inland. Bald eagles watch for other birds to catch fish and then try to bully them out of their lunch. And a twist on a common bird for us: a Stellar Jay. It is a blue jay with a black head. It acts just like a blue jay, and is usually in the campgrounds hoping to scrounge food.

There are caves and lighthouses on the capes in between the beaches. One huge sea cave is famous for the sea lions that inhabit it. This cave opens only to the sea, so for us to access the cave there is an elevator that descends almost 200' into the rock of the cape. Before getting into the elevator, a disclaimer is posted reminding us that the coastal area does experience movement along the fault that created this cave, and therefore we must assume all risk,... etc. It didn't get any better when we reached the bottom, as the fault line is easily seen running along the top of the caves. Shoot, and I had almost forgotten we were in an earthquake zone. Bad enough that we constantly see signs along the highway notifying us we are in a tsunami hazard area.


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Wet Trees

Now that we have left Vallejo, I finally figured out the attraction of Southern California. It's dry. As any northern west coast resident will know, the farther up the west coast you go in springtime, the wetter it gets. And it can get mighty wet. When we were driving up US 101 through Redwood National Park, it had been raining for so long that moss was growing in the middle of the road.

The little RV park in Northern California that we chose to stop at was rated as "eco-friendly". Which we discovered meant that, instead of a nice paved or gravel site, we were directed to park on the grass. Very soggy grass. While we were setting up in the pouring rain we put boards under the stabilizer feet and the water bubbled up from the ground around the boards from the weight of the stablizers. Evenings like these are meant for wine and a good book.

The next day we had high winds. Which didn't stop the rain, but turned the water drops into high speed water bullets pelting the windshield as we drove up the coast. We did get an awesome view of the Pacific waves crashing up on beaches and across the rocks.

Day three was a steady downpour but the winds had lessened, so we ventured out of our metallic protection and - umbrella in hand - wandered through a trail in a forest of Redwoods. There were so many huge trees, and some were so big they had moss, ferns, and even smaller trees growing right on their branches. We even got on a gondola (!!!) to take a steamy ride through the treetops.

Our last full day there we were blessed with sun. Quick to take advantage of it, we did a four hour hike of the coastal trail. There were trilliums growing along the trail, great views of the ocean, and very few people. We spent some time on a beach at the end of the trail, beachcombing and resting up for the return. We got home pleasantly tired, but aware that the next day we had to pull our trailer out of the mud.

Of course, the next day it was raining again, but a good yank in four wheel drive got the trailer moving. The roads going north were in good repair for the most part, with a few spots that were a current construction project. Most of these were on steep hill or mountain sides where the constant rain has caused what we shall call "slippage" in the ground under the road.

Happy to be back to sea level, we stayed in an Oregon State Park near a beach. We had a clear sky and good trails to try out our new bicycles - folding ones that can fit in the truck for safekeeping. They have full size tires and are surprisingly sturdy. Hopefully we'll be able to see the sun enough to use them.


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