best little day ever
Jul. 29th, 2009 12:20 amWhen in California, I can usually withstand the absurd heat, because Grandma's house and car have air conditioning (even though she keeps the house at about 80) and we frequent the Elk's Lodge pool. Besides which, the heat is dry. But at home, when it gets absurdly hot, the humidity is beyond annoying. And I, with no air conditioning in house or car, can either spend the day on the floor with ice water... or I can get the hell out of dodge.
Today, it was between a coffee shop in Mack or a day at the coast, with a high of mid-70s. The coast won.
Of course, on a day like this, everybody has the same idea. Traffic was fine for the first twenty miles, but suddenly backed up at Otis with ridiculous levels. So when the North 101 on-ramp showed up, I took it. And damn, they weren't kidding when they had the signs say 'Scenic Byway'.
When I was almost to Tillamook (and Holy Hannah, I'd never smelled so many cows in my LIFE), there was a giant building off the highway that read AIR MUSEUM. It was useless to resist. Admission was pricey and there wasn't as much to look at as in Evergreen, but the hangar itself was impressive (apparently it was built to house a zeppelin) and it FELT more authentic than Evergreen. I got lots of photos of the pretty planes.
After Tillamook I drove along the very pretty Three Capes area (I think it was called) and while trying to find some lighthouse got a call from Dad, who informed me that one of the jobs I had applied to had called me back, and, once I got back to civilization and cell phone signals, called back and set up an interview for Thursday morning (WOOHOO, but means I have to go to town tomorrow and find something to wear).
After finding no parking space in the beach in Ocean Side, I turned south and (after a quick pit stop at Starbucks) sort of intended to just go home from Lincoln City, even though it was still the middle of the afternoon. Somehow, though, I ended up way down the road at Boiler Bay. I remembered the place from a very fun Biology field trip a few years ago, and stopped kind of hoping that I could go down and visit the boiler again (and go tide-pooling) if the tide was out. It really wasn't but as luck would have it, THAR SHE BLOWS! a fellow visitor informed me that a whale was nearby. Unfortunately, he never breached long enough to get a decent picture.
After leaving Boiler Bay it was mostly a matter of wasting a bit more time before sunset at home and finding a good place to turn around (which turned out to be Yaquina Head in Newport). All in all, this little trip added up to about five hours of driving and 230 miles. Oh, and a job interview. Pretty good day, if I do say so myself. (But next time I'd actually like to go to the beach part.)
Today, it was between a coffee shop in Mack or a day at the coast, with a high of mid-70s. The coast won.
Of course, on a day like this, everybody has the same idea. Traffic was fine for the first twenty miles, but suddenly backed up at Otis with ridiculous levels. So when the North 101 on-ramp showed up, I took it. And damn, they weren't kidding when they had the signs say 'Scenic Byway'.
When I was almost to Tillamook (and Holy Hannah, I'd never smelled so many cows in my LIFE), there was a giant building off the highway that read AIR MUSEUM. It was useless to resist. Admission was pricey and there wasn't as much to look at as in Evergreen, but the hangar itself was impressive (apparently it was built to house a zeppelin) and it FELT more authentic than Evergreen. I got lots of photos of the pretty planes.
After Tillamook I drove along the very pretty Three Capes area (I think it was called) and while trying to find some lighthouse got a call from Dad, who informed me that one of the jobs I had applied to had called me back, and, once I got back to civilization and cell phone signals, called back and set up an interview for Thursday morning (WOOHOO, but means I have to go to town tomorrow and find something to wear).
After finding no parking space in the beach in Ocean Side, I turned south and (after a quick pit stop at Starbucks) sort of intended to just go home from Lincoln City, even though it was still the middle of the afternoon. Somehow, though, I ended up way down the road at Boiler Bay. I remembered the place from a very fun Biology field trip a few years ago, and stopped kind of hoping that I could go down and visit the boiler again (and go tide-pooling) if the tide was out. It really wasn't but as luck would have it, THAR SHE BLOWS! a fellow visitor informed me that a whale was nearby. Unfortunately, he never breached long enough to get a decent picture.
After leaving Boiler Bay it was mostly a matter of wasting a bit more time before sunset at home and finding a good place to turn around (which turned out to be Yaquina Head in Newport). All in all, this little trip added up to about five hours of driving and 230 miles. Oh, and a job interview. Pretty good day, if I do say so myself. (But next time I'd actually like to go to the beach part.)