The Oregon Coast
We left Portland at noon today, and headed South on route 5. The drive to Crater Lake from Portland could be 4 and a half hours, if you go down the interstate through the middle of the state. We decided to drive along the Oregon coast, on 101, and see the Pacific Ocean again. It was a good thing we did, because the drive was gorgeous. The sun came out just as we turned South down the coast and out of the woods.
Amazing:
My eyes were glued out the window. I’ve never seen Oregon before, and the coast was just as incredible as the mountains are here. The evergreens hug the mountains on the left, and to the right is open ocean. There are incredible rocky coastlines, with crashing waves and blinding sunshine. I wanted so badly to just run out on the sand into the sea, but we had to make our stops short because of the amount of time this sidetrip added to our day. It’s 5:30, and we’re only just now turning in East towards Crater Lake. At least this way, we will get to Crater late enough that we won’t have to pay the entrance fee.
Francoise, this one’s for you. I got him smiling, just for you.
This is Ray, my driver, my friend, my roadtrippin’ dude. We’re seeing all there is to see, and soaking it in. What a great adventure. I’m so glad I decided to leave Yellowstone when I did. And Ray is a fantastic person to do this with. He’s relaxed and up for any little side trip I’m jazzed about. He also drives under the speed limit at all times. I’ve really never met anyone like that…it makes for a longer trip, but at least I’m never worried that we’ll crash or get pulled over. It’s quite comforting. He also is slightly technologically illiterate, so we are using an oldschool atlas, which is nice. After a summer with no cell phones and very slow internet, it seems just perfectly appropriate that we are relying on the old method of getting from point A to point B.
We passed a Lake, by the ocean, and the same thought occurred to both of us: Yellowstone. I miss the little lakes scattered across the landscape in Yellowstone, surrounded by mountains and thermal features. But this is a trip I’ve always wanted to go on. I had planned to take a bicycle down this coast one day, and maybe I still will. We’ve passed a number of people on bikes, trucking up the hills with determined ambition. I’ll consider this trip a scouting trip for the day that I tackle it on a bike. Dream on.
