Oregon Coast

Many apologies for the lack of updates.  It's time to play catch up!

Couchsurfing has been such a blessing for us on this journey.  We enjoy camping a lot, but in the cities that's not generally an option and hotels are so expensive!  We learned however, that you have to be flexible when asking to stay with people.  Our intention upon leaving Portland was to head to Eugene and couchsurf there for a couple of days until we were scheduled to visit Lost Valley.  Unfortunately, we just couldn't get a yes from anyone there, so we expanded our search to the coast and found the wonderful Michelle in Neskowin, OR.

As soon as we arrived at Michelle's cute little place by the beach, we felt right at home.  Michelle took us across the street to the beautiful Neskowin beach, practically in her front yard.  It wasn't too touristy and had a certain charm about it, with a view of Proposal Rock.

Michelle then told us about the local happenings, which included the Dory Days festival in nearby Pacific City, so we headed there.  Now, I know what you're thinking and NO it wasn't a festival to celebrate the cute little forgetful blue fish from Finding Nemo (although that would've been awesome!).  This festival celebrates the beginning of fishing season for the dory boats.  These small, lightweight, simply-built boats are launched and land right on the sandy beach.

Dory Days was your average small town festival with fried foods (including the mandatory fish as it was a fishing town), live music, and other carnival-like activities.  The location, however, couldn't be beat.  Pacific City is home to Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area, with spectacular waves, rocks, tide pools, and sand dunes.  That was where the fun was so we headed out to explore.

As we walked toward the rocks and sand dunes we watched a few dory boats launching and landing, people driving up and down the beach, kids flying kites, and surfers riding the waves.  What a cool beach!

Our first spot to explore was the tide pools.  So many cool creatures live in these shallow rocky areas created by the changing tides.

We then started to climb upward and explore the area further.  We watched the huge waves crashing dramatically on the cliffs and rocks, saw awesome views from up high, and listened to the waves "boom" as they crashed inside a cave.

Our journey culminated at the top of the giant sand dune, where we could see the surrounding beaches and all the people playing nearby.  There were even some folks paragliding at the dunes. We also enjoyed watching people trudge their way to the top of the dune, not just for the view, but for the fun of going back down.

We experienced this as we started running down the sandy embankment, falling a few times, laughing the whole way.  What a great time!

At the bottom, we checked out the tide pools and caves again, as the tide had gone out a bit, but got soaked in the process!

So, we headed to the car for dry, sand free clothing and then to the nearby pub for a cider/beer with our new friend Michelle.  She then took us to a wine tasting, hang out spot to meet some of her friends, then it was back to her house to make dinner.

The next day, Michelle invited us to a potluck at her coworkers apartment in Lincoln City, OR.  We cooked up some lentils and Michelle made some delicious pesto.  We even fixed up some vegan Parmesan (thanks Joe Dotson!) so she could make some of the pesto vegan.  The results were unanimously approved by all party guests :)  The potluck was great fun and all of Michelle's friends were super nice, friendly, and fun.

That evening another couchsurfer, Emily, joined us.  She was a lovely young lady from Michigan, on a summer road trip before starting college this fall.  She was also quite a talented musician.  She played and sang for us a few of her original songs on the guitar, which we really enjoyed.  Emily also taught me how to play a few chords on the guitar while she was there.  All four of us trekked out to the nearby beach and climbed Proposal Rock for an amazing sunset.  One of the most memorable ever!  Thanks Michelle :)

 

The next day we said goodbye to Michelle and Emily and headed toward Eugene and Lost Valley Educational Center.  Although we only passed through, I can say that Eugene didn't really hold a candle to Portland.  I will leave the Lost Valley description to Jeremiah so, stay tuned!