Coasting 11/4 (8)

Guessing the mileage is near 2,500 miles. It was 2,200 yesterday and I forgot to mention it, and I put on ~240 miles today, so.. I’m not catching the round numbers very well. I don’t care. Passed a sign today that warned of “sunken grade” which apparently is notifying that the earth under the road has either slid away, or could at any time. So a live slide warning, I guess. The first fun was the Storm Warning that google said could impact my trip. I’m imagining getting gale force winds blowing me off the cliffs.

I thought the coast was going to be exhausting because I would spend all day doing twisties on the roads, but it turned out there are a lot of small towns on the coast. A whole lot. Some of them cute, some of them boring, some of them large enough to have fast food joints and Valvoline oil places and Walmarts. Kinda breaks the mood. And why are there so many Mercedes here? And why are they so slow. Actually I think I can guess on the latter.

I really enjoyed it when the roads became constantly twisty. Up, down, left, right. Cliffs going up on the left, deep dropoff on the right. Sometimes in the woods, where it gets nice and spooky. There was rain much of the day, and they threw in some fog just to sweeten the deal. Having seen Elk warning signs and Tsunami hazard zone signs, that get you:

Twisty, Rainy, Foggy, Elk Laden, Tsunami Possibling wonderful wonderful driving!

It got dark enough with all of the above that my car went dark display thinking it was night time. Speaking of night time, I went out tonight to get dinner and it was dark and raining and I didn’t like it one bit. I’m old.

And I don’t quite know why, but I felt like Keanu Reeves at the end of (spoilers!) Point Break. Driving from beach to beach during stormy weather and downpour, looking for that lone surfer he can arrest. But doesn’t.

Tomorrow I’m off to Eureka, California. As of 2022, Humboldt County ranked fourth out of California’s 58 counties in missing adults per capita. You can prepare by watching Murder Mountain on Netflix. For some reason you can’t share that, so search it yourself.

One last last note. A certain sister questioned whether or not I’m the bigger boat nerd. To that I ask, how many boats have *you* built? (Yes, I understand I’m participating in a sibling war via blog)

Deets

License Plates: None!
States: OR
Beaches: Seaside, Cannon, Gleneden, Rockaway, Ocean
Departed: 8:00 am PDT, 48 degrees
Original ETA 12:22pm PDT
Arrival: 3:20 pm PDT
Weather: Cool, but partially sunny, giving way to drizzle and then just screw it downpour.
Budget: Food well below, Hotel below
Food: Latte, Donuts, Burrito, Egg Nog
Music: 90’s alt hits playlist, Beastie Boys – Ill communication, Alice in Chains – Dirt, Pearl Jam – Ten

Observations

Really appropriate quote from the Roman philosopher Seneca, but I got it from a lyric in a Semisonic song: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end”
Seaside Oregon is a totally cute little town, tiny streets, felt like the french quarter, but at a smaller scale.
Teenage Dirt-bag by Wheatus is my favorite little lesbian love song.
Cruise control doesn’t just keep you at speed on the highway, it actively maintains your speed. So if you’re going down a mountain pass, it downshifts for you. No brakes needed!
My blank magnetic ring for deactivating my VNS broke. Don’t worry I have two more with me, but they’re not goth black.
The pronto pup was invented in Rockaway Beach
Went through Tillamook, where they make the cheese, saw the creamery. Probably why I missed the lighthouse.
If a many point Elk buck is standing in the road, everyone just stops and waits. Nobody gets out to shoo it, we all just know our place and wait. Much like Bison. After the big guy wandered into the woods, I passed at least half a dozen other Elk just chilling, grazing, sitting or laying on the side of the road. Seeing Elk instead of Bison feels cooler because they’re in the wild, whereas Bison are often on a farm or managed in some way.