The Rugged Oregon Coast

Heading south out of WA, we opted for the Oregon coast as a scenic route heading toward warmer weather.  We spent the better part of two weeks winding our way down Highway 101 and I’ll sum up this chapter of our journey with one word:  storms.  Not to mention – storms.  And also STORMS!  That’s not to say we didn’t have a few sun breaks and it wasn’t super cold, but there were times we wondered ‘weather’ (hehe) we should head inland.  For instance, when 35 foot swells were predicted (and massive flooding) and we were staying close to the water at sea level, or when the wind threatened to blow the slides off our rig (all night long), or when a 4.2 magnitude earthquake happened off the coast near where we were staying (also at sea level), I cursed my nemesis, Mother Nature, but ultimately decided we weren’t going to run despite her shenanigans.  And then we heard about some new threats like ‘bomb cyclone’ and ‘atmospheric river’ that every news station was quoting and saying we should run for the hills, as long as the hills don’t have ‘burn scars’.  I think if we relied on the ‘news’ we would just stay home!

The weather indeed made for some pretty interesting travel days.  Coupling that atmospheric river with thin twisty roads and a cliff on one side, or crazy side winds while crossing bridges, I found my motorhome driving skills, of which I previously had none, being tested at a high level.  I guess this must be The Matrix throwing training at me in it’s own fashion and it’s sink or swim.  But hopefully, neither of those as long as I keep it on the road.  The storms did of course present some fantastic photo opportunities and put us front and center to the shear power of the ocean.  Actually more like 3rd row.  Balcony.  As I write this from a quant little campground called Honey Bear by the Sea, we can hear and feel the waves crashing from about a 1/4 mile away.  It’s a constant rumble even with the windows  closed.  But despite the weather we did get some great beach hikes in. Neither of the pups had been to the ocean before so they had fun learning about waves, and of course Gibson told everyone else that the beach belonged to him and they should get the hell off.

I had a lot of work over the last couple weeks so at least that gave me something to do during the storms, but we also found several mom and pop eateries, and one higher end place, that served up the fresh seafood I was hoping to sample on this leg of the trip.  I can’t talk about the eats though without mentioning BBQ which we really hadn’t done much of before. Along the lines of the bourbon tasting, the nuances of each pit master’s artistry are worth checking out … just have to bring some TUMs. 

Not to go unmentioned, Tami, as always, is cooking some wonderful meals as well and we coupled those with some terrific Willamette Pinos. To help with the indoor cooking, we bought a Ninja Foodi Grill for the MoHo thanks to some friends in AZ who demoed one for us last spring.  Now I don’t have to wear a rain coat while BBQing and food goes from frozen to finished in record time.  I did blow a fuse in the inverter the first night we tried it – and that took me a few hours to figure out.  But hey – I  know where the inverter is now!  (Chalk up those small failures.)  Alas, I feel all this good eating is taking a toll so I’m planing on cutting back to no cake at breakfast.

Speaking of work, we spent a couple days at a motorhome resort that’s like none other we’ve been to so far – and that’s not saying much.  With a glass wind block and front row seat looking out at the waves crashing on the rocks and a lighthouse, my office those days was a tad better than average.     

Photography: For years I’ve carried a heavy backpack with a couple camera bodies and my favorite lenses as well as filters and other odds and ends necessary for the perfect shot.  Whereas I have all that with me now, it hasn’t come out of the backpack once since we left.  Just before hitting the road we upgraded our phones for the first time in 6 years (a very long time for me especially), and I went all out on the iPhone 13 Pro Max just for the camera.  It’s expensive, but only half the price of my main camera body without lenses, and man does it deliver.  With everything from macro to wide angle to advanced night shooting, the question now is – will the Canon ever fire a shot again?  🤓 

If you made it this far and are still jonesing for more (then go do something more interesting … like taking a nap), here’s a little unedited video from the road:

Tami and I both want to say thanks for reading and for the comments so far. It’s nice to have some friends along for the adventure! Happy Halloween! – G&T