Today had a pretty relaxed start. A bit of a lie in, a nice shower at the hotel, and then a quick 10 minute drive to the capitol, albeit in extremely heavy rain. The Oregon capitol is currently under quite a bit of construction, so it’s a bit hard to get right up to it, but you can still see it just fine and get some nice photos.
Finding parking was a bit of a pain, but I eventually found some on the west side of the capitol building, only a few minutes walk away, and given it was Saturday the parking was free! As I got out of my car, I could hear some music in the park closer to the capitol, so I figured I’d check that out at the same time.
On the way to the front, I found these little guys which reminded me a bit of home. Someone had even placed a small branch in their mouths and hands to give it a bit of flair.
It turned out there was a small market with live performances of traditional Japanese music which was enjoyable to stand and watch for a few minutes. I then found someone to take my photo, and remembered to take one with my phone as well this time.
The woman who took my photo was also quite interested in my trip, and let me know that she had just met a father and two adult sons who were doing the same thing as me, but were on state 40 of 50. We tried to spot them in the crowd, but it seems they had left a bit earlier, unfortunately.
I took a nice walk away from the capitol, down some cherry blossom lined paths towards a market that was set up in a parking lot about 5 minutes away. The market was pretty bare, and it seems that either it was near the end and many people had packed up, or they just didn’t have a good layout, as a lot of the stalls were quite spaced out and it felt pretty empty.
But I did find a stall with a pizza oven on wheels! Though I wasn’t hungry enough to get a slice at that point.
I figured it was time to plan my next route, so I headed to a cafe downtown, “Isaac’s”, which was pretty busy and a nice enough space, but didn’t have as much of the cozy hometown vibe I’m used to. My drink wasn’t too great either, a mocha that tasted quite bitter, and I couldn’t quite finish all of it.
I was debating whether to go to Idaho and check Boise off the list, or if I should head down to Sacramento instead. Here I met a guy who gave me a bunch of suggestions for the Oregon coast, somewhere I’ve been before but never spent a substantial amount of time.
Given his suggestions, I figured it only made sense to head out to the coast and spend the rest of the day exploring. My first stop was Lincoln City, which he suggested for it’s “finders keepers” program, where every day, volunteers put out hand blown glass ornaments on to the beach for people to find, and if you find one, you can keep it. I figured it could be fun to try and find one.
As I got to the beach I was a little worried it wouldn’t be safe to go down, as the wind was strong and the waves were big, but after taking a look it seemed like there was a good 20-30 meters of beach where no waves were getting to, so I felt safe in walking along.
I walked about a mile down the beach (they have a total of 9 miles of coastline) up until a point where an inlet prevented me from going further unless I walked up onto the road, and having found no glass yet, I figured it was time to stop and find some food.
I found myself with a craving for fish and chips, and the closest spot was “Zeller’s” (not associated with the ill-fated Canadian retail chain), a bar and grill on the main street of the city. After attempting to navigate the city’s horrible construction layout, with half the sidewalks being closed and half the crosswalks also being closed, I managed to make it to the restaurant and enjoyed a fantastic milkshake, along with some amazing fries. The fish was… okay, but tasted a bit like sand, which was odd. All in all a positive experience though.
Then it was time to find a spot to stay the night. My first thought was the “Cascade Head Interpretive Wayside”, just 5 minutes north of Lincoln city, as it bordered on Forest Service land where you’re allowed to camp. I made the drive up there, only to find that overnight parking is prohibited, and there’s a gate that gets locked after sundown.
Option B it is then, finding a rest stop somewhere further south. I eventually settled on the Fogarty Creek rest area, about 25 minutes south. Upon arriving, it was a great spot, but also had “Day use only” signs posted. I decided to search further south, and after driving down to Depoe Bay (apparently the world’s smallest natural harbour), I decided it was probably worth just going back to that rest area and staying there anyway, despite the signs.
I set up “camp”, brushed my teeth (for the first time since border control somehow lost my toothpaste during the search), read some of my book, and called it a night, falling asleep to the sound of (very) heavy rain outside..