West Coast Vacation-Day Fourteen

Man, I've been gone two weeks! What have I learned from this trip? 1. NEVER take a driving trip again! Drive to a destination (or better yet fly!) 2. Leave the dog at home. She's a great traveler but I have to be mindful of leaving her in the car too long alone so there are things I can't do. 3. I am not intended to live on the coast. I enjoy the ocean but I feel no connection to it, I will not be sorry to turn east away from it. In future I will get ocean fixes when I visit Steve.

The Oregon coast. What to say, drove down a tunnel of gorgeous green, mixed conifers with meadows from time to time and the ocean peeking through the trees here and there. (Reminds me of driving near Lake Superior.) The road went up, down, around and around, just like the road I've driven on for several days. The highway surface is horrible, so much for Oregon's roads being better! I don't think it was much better than gravel in places. It is windy, again not a news flash! New for today was the constant slowing down for small coastal towns, most designed for tourists. Coos Bay would be the exception as it seems to be a lumber town, rough logs and piles of chipped limbs, (think mulch.) There is a lift Bridge (or two) like the one we saw a Houghton, MI and 8 lighthouses. went to 5. Three were closed (but I got photos), one too long a walk to leave Kelsey (I couldn't get a decent photo of it--Hecta Head--so I bought a post card.) And I went through one. Of the other 3, one would have been invisible due to clouds and mist, the last two I skipped--just too tired for 20 mile round trips to what I knew would be a closed lighthouse. I mostly don't care if they're closed as I've been to so many, while each is unique they all share similar features. There is no amount of money that you could pay me to be a light house keeper!