Opting Outside

This year REI started a campaign in which they closed their store on the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and gave all their employees the day off with pay.  They also urged others to 'opt outside' instead of shopping. The State of Oregon also decided to waive all parking fees at any State Park for the day.

Friday morning the temperature in Corvallis was below freezing at 20˚F (-6.6˚C). While that was not encouraging for motorcycling, we did opt to get outside anyway.  We chose to take the Fiat and drive to the coast where the high temperatures were forecast to be at least 50˚F (10˚C).

Our destination was Lincoln City.  A group gets together a few times a year and hides glass floats on the beaches - they call them "glass art drops".  There were 100 glass floats to be hidden for Thanksgiving.

(Corvallis , OR to Lincoln City, OR via Hwy 99w and Hwy 22)

We took the route in the screenshot above and arrive in Lincoln City about 1 pm.  We stopped at the Jasmine Thai restaurant for lunch.  It wasn't great, but at least they have vegan options when you ask them to omit the egg.

After lunch we tried looking for beach access that wasn't too busy.  No such luck and we weren't willing to brave the crowds to search for the floats.  We drove a little south on Highway 101 and stopped at a State Park in Gleneden Beach where we watched the ocean and took a few pictures. I was surprised at how loud the waves were when breaking.

(Pacific Ocean at Gleneden, OR)

(Looking southwest at Gleneden, OR)

After a few minutes we went a little further south and Troubadour turned down a side road towards the beach.  We parked and watched two surfers paddle in the water.

(A surfer, just south of Gleneden, OR - photo taken through tinted windshield)

Further south we drove until we arrived at Fogarty Creek State Park.  A place we've never stopped in all the times we've driven Hwy 101.  There weren't too many cars in the parking lot, which was promising.  After parking it is a short walk along the creek and under Hwy 101 to the beach. Luckily the tide was on its way out.

(Looking southwest at Fogarty Creek State Park)

(Looking North at Fogarty Creek State Park)

(Starfish in the tide pool)

(Troubadour showing off his find - he put it back in the water just after the picture)

(A second starfish was also spotted by Troubadour)

(My Oakleys were no match for the bright sunshine - and yes I cut off my long hair back in January)

(Troubadour went for a climb)

(I zoomed out for scale - this is the same rock formation as in the first pic I took at this beach)

(Sun starting to go down)

As the sun began its descent, we started retreating inland and to the north to get back into the sunshine.  We seem to have found the 'golden hour', as Dom would call it.

(Troubadour spooking a seagull)

(the ebb and flow of the tide)

(Shadow play)

(Notice the concrete support pillars and that the fence on the left is just hanging)

(Starting to see some nice reflections on the water)

(Troubadour takes a break)

(Interesting caves eroded into the cliffside)

(Looking north- we eventually sat on the medium rock in the foreground to watch the sunset)

(Trees surviving in the wind and salt spray)

(The Pacific Ocean at Fogarty Creek State Park)

(Trobairitz and Troubadour)

(Seagull carrying around a starfish)

(The colors really starting to show)

(Thinking of Bobskoot - we had to take a shoe picture)

(When zoomed in the colors are brighter with the Canon)

(Troubadour by the sea)

(Troubadour had the idea to take a picture through my polarized Oakley lenses)

(Getting lower.......)

(Going......)

(Going.......)

(Gone!)

(Almost back at the parking lot)

As we were walking back to the parking lot we marveled that the sun we had just watch set on Friday at 4:30 - 5:00 pm was the same sun that folks in New Zealand were seeing at 12:30 - 1:00 pm on Saturday. Now that is amazing.

Back in the parking lot we saw the bridge below and the signs for the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT). The OCT is a hiking route along the Pacific Coast in Oregon approximately 425 miles in length. MAP

(Wooden bridge with Oregon Coast Trail sign)

(Close up of the bridge/sign)

We headed south into Newport so that we could stop at Starbucks for hot chai tea soy lattes.  A nice way to end the day.  Traffic was surprisingly light on the way home via Highway 20.  We arrived home about 6:30 pm and the temperatures had once again dipped down below freezing.

(Our route from Lincoln City home to Corvallis via Newport)

The rest of the weekend saw overnight lows in the 20s and high temperatures in the low 40's. We did not get outside much.  Saturday we went to coffee and ran a few errands and Sunday we bummed around the house and went and fetched groceries.

I am happy to report our temperatures have finally returned to normal for this time of year (lows in the 40's).  Good timing since the rains have returned.

- Au Revoir

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." - Edward Sandford Martin

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