Just Coasting

The westering sun cast long shadows over the landscape as the sky slowly darkened from the bright cerulean of daytime.  The whomp of an ax connecting with wood played a strange and haunting drumbeat across the meadow, and the fragrance of hot pine pitch wafting on gentle evening breezes filled the air with memories of campfires past.  In the distance, dogs woofed out greetings or warnings to others of their kind as they dragged their humans along on nylon tethers.  But wait, what is that strange silence that fills the air?  With ears attuned to the unaccustomed stillness I struggle to ascertain what this absence of sound means.  And then it hits me.  There are no plastic wheels skittering along the pavement.  The skateboards and Big Wheels have fallen silent, and the whoop and holler of high-pitched voices screaming for no other reason than to scream, is gone.  It’s the day after Labor Day and the kids are all back in school!

Okay, don’t go gettin’ your panties in a wad.  I like kids as much as the next person (well, depending on who that person is!).  I raised four of them myself and have enjoyed being a grandma to eight.    But there is something about a campground after Labor Day that just feels NICE.  Oh sure, there is the occasional squall of a babe not yet old enough for school, or the yipping of a dog that is not well-controlled by his owners, but, by and large, we are finding lots of peace and quiet right now.  It’s pretty nice.

We are currently at Beverly Beach SP, just a few miles north of Newport on the Oregon coast.  I admit to a certain amount of prejudice, but I think the Oregon State Park system is one of the best.  We have the best of both worlds here…the feeling of being surrounded by nature, yet with water and electricity to maintain our creature comforts. 

We didn’t have a reservation for this park so didn’t get one of the choice sites but it’s all good anyway.  Our table and fire pit is behind the rig rather than beside it but we still have a pretty good setup and plenty of privacy. 



We set up our flip ‘n’ fold screen room and it works just fine…easy too. 



The weather here on Wednesday was wonderful.  Bright sunny skies except for patches of fog along the beach, and a low fog bank hanging across the horizon just off shore.  We drove north along the coast and visited Devil’s Punchbowl.





Half hidden by the offshore fog bank, is Otter Rock, a local landmark.  Click on the photo below to see some pelicans flying in from the right.


One of these pelicans landed on that out cropping of rock which was probably 300 yards from where we were standing. 

My sweet husband just bought me a new point and shoot Panasonic camera prior to this trip.  I was able to zoom in on the pelican waaaaay far out on the rock.  Although it is not the quality you would get with an SLR equipped with a long lens, I’m pretty happy with the capabilities of this little pocket camera.



 
 

We also encountered some local wildlife along the path.  These were the FATTEST squirrels I have ever seen and they were not about to move out of the way.  They trailed along behind us or ran across our path begging for food.



Now, I’m not one to get on a soap box concerning the feeding of wild squirrels, but this cannot be healthy!  This was not the only hefty one we saw either.  The one pictured below chased after me and stopped in my shadow waiting for a handout.  I didn’t have anything with me but I undoubtedly would have tossed a peanut his way if I had a chance.



If you have ever stuck a toe into the waters of the Oregon coast, you know it’s not like Newport, CA.  Yet we have our own group of dedicated surfers.  Even with dry suits on, I don’t know how they stand it.  Enlarge the photo to see those little dots out in the water.  Those are PEOPLE, not seals!






As we were headed back to the car, Russ spotted a lost pirate sword on a nearby picnic table.  He has a good imagination!



Oh well, if it makes him happy!  We were pretty chilled by then so we popped into Mo’s for a cup of chowder as a warm up.  We were their first customer of the day and the chowder was better than what we had last time we went to Mo’s.  It was more like soup than a big glob of white glue and I actually found some small bits of clam hiding amongst the generous serving of potatoes!  It was hot and that was all that mattered.  It warmed us and fueled us up for our next adventure.

Next stop…Depot Bay, the world’s smallest harbor.

P.S.  Thank you Kate for caring, you da bomb!