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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