Oh happy day!! We cross into California today! Another state down... What? Of course, I will fill you in!

 Leaving Greg and Anja in the Columbia River Gorge was a sad day indeed. We had alot of fun and relaxation with them eating well and enjoying good beer and wine. We went to Full Sail Brewery in Hood River, which was neat, and watched all the windsurfing that the area is so famous for.

Eric and I drove through Portland and took Route 26 to Tillamook. Once we got into town, we went to Tillamook Cheese Factory and ate cheese and ice cream. Wooo! Then we found the Air Museum at the lil airport where a makeshift campground was available for five bucks a night!! A sunsight drive took us around Cape Meares and to the hamlet of Oceanside. It was Saturday night and everyone was having beachfires. We walked around the beach a bit and continued on. We woke up in the morning to a small jet taking off. Was pretty neat. The next day, we joined the Mi-We-Wa Christian Church congregation - a christian camp and small chapel right on the beach. It was a slow-going day.

Continuing on Highway 101, we stopped in Newport and bought fresh LingCod and some salmon jerky. We also caught a lecture at the Visual Arts Gallery about Conde B. McCullough and his beautiful bridges. A handful of the bay and river bridges in this area were managed by him and his hard-working team in the 1930s to "bring Oregon up out of the mud." His bridges are special because they feature "Art Deco" artistry on the pilons, spires, and railings. Sure enough, after we were educated we crossed the bridge to the Rogue River Brewery and noticed the beautiful lines and flutes. (And Greg was right, Rogue River Brewery wasn't as nice as Full Sail, but I tried the Chipotle and Juniper brews!)

A sidenote: The People's Coast is a good name for this oceanfront. With all the state parks preserving the beaches, there isn't much room for big resorts and chain hotels gobbling up the sights. Lots of camping and RVing to be had here instead. We noticed that the towns reminded us of the atmosphere along the Gulf Coast in Florida although the coastal terrain is entirely different with neat rock formations called sea stacks sprinkled along and nice open beaches in between with not much traffic. However, we noticed that without the resorts and other establishments that tend to saturate coasts in Florida, it affects the economy of the towns too. Good thing and bad thing, but interesting.

We stayed the night at Carl G. Washburn State Park. The Heceta Head and Lighthouse was beautiful! All the sea lions that sometimes hang out in the largest sea cave in the world were actually hanging out near Heceta Head below the wall next to Highway 101. So you could pull off and look down at them curled up on the rocks below barking and making strange noises. There is a private establishment owned by a family since the 1930s where you can pay to take an elevator down to the sea cave, but we didn't go down. Arriving at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, we stayed at the Myrtlewood Campground. When we were watching the sunset over the lagoon there, a woman walked up that was also traveling like us in a Ford Explorer, but sleeping in the car each night. Eric and I had been discussing where we want to be for the winter months. I've been frustrated with living out of our car lately and not sure where God was going to lead us. Maybe He is going to allow us to make a decision and bless it? Am I listening and praying enough? All these things have been worrying me, which I know I shouldn't do. I fried up the fresh fish with parmesan and flour, and we ate.

The next day, we sat on the beach listening and watching the waves. Eric sculpted a really neat slug out of sand. We kept waiting for the incoming tide to flood the slug, but decided to leave and canoe the Siltcoos River to the lagoon. Maybe we would see the nesting Snowy Plovers? Later on that day, we camped outside of Coos Bay at a county park, which was one of the worst sites in a while. I won't describe the behaviour of several neighbours at that park on this blog. Coos Bay has a neat farmer's market on Wednesdays. We used their library extensively to apply to a small moutain lodge in Colorado of which we are pretty excited about.

Sooo.... that brings us down the People's Coast to Gold Beach, which is a great town at the mouth of Rogue River. We crossed another beautiful Art Deco bridge and will be crossing across the stateline into California in about an hour. I just got off the phone with my sweet Pa - he will be mailing me my laptop to my girlfriend's, Carol Ann, place in Orange County. She is getting married January 16th - I am so excited for her and I hope to help out with any details she needs while we spend a week with her. Our immediate plans is to visit the Redwoods National Park, drive along Highway 1 along the California Coast for a bit. I miss all my special people and you should know who you are! God bless you and keep you and protect you!!