Newport, Oregon.
August 15, 2013
Dear whoever takes the time to read this,
I sit, once again, in a Starbucks. This is simply because: 1. I love Starbucks. 2. I have a gold card, and 3. It's a place I know I can tap into decent wifi. Previs doesn't mind the bold blend so we make it work whenever it's time to make a blog post.
Since my last post we've made our way through Portland and onto a lovely little town called Hood River. This was one of my favourite stops on this trip. Hood River is filled with wineries, art galleries, cute shops, amazing coffee, microbreweries and it is also the home of the Full Sail brewery. I didn't know the beauty of beer and all of it's manifestations until I started really exploring all the local brews as we've headed west. Full Sail is the maker of the very popular Oregon lager "Session" if you've never had this beauty, next time you find yourself in the states, you best invest in a pint. Stouts have easily become my favourite type of beer the more I've tasted. The farther west I go, the tastier the beer. I've you're a beer lover... Go to Oregon.
After Hood River and a beautiful hike, It was time to head back through the traffic stricken streets into Portland once again to engage my lungs in their first experience with a Hookah. Strawberry Vanilla was the flavour of the evening. Hookahs are fun a tasty, but the headache that came with it was less than enjoyable. After finally figuring out how to blow smoke rings the excessive inhaling finally got to me, and it was time to make friends with the dirtiest, most germ infested porcelain throne I've ever had the pleasure of throwing up into. The Voodoo doughnuts weren't great going down, but experiencing the "voodoo goodness" coming back up shall forever haunt my memories of Portland's most famous pastries. No more hookah-ing for this Rachel.
"Enough of this city!" we found ourselves saying, and after another night in Hotel Mazda, this time located at a rest stop somewhere northwest of Portland it was time to see some coast!!! Cannon Beach was my first look into the rugged beauty of the Oregon coastline. This stop was filled with a cold wind, misty air, low tides and a glimpse into the underwater world that dwells on the lower portion of Haystack rock when the tides are high. I saw crab limbs, I saw green goopy globy things that came alive with a poke, mushy black cheerios and last but not least... the Starfish, ranging from bright orange to dark purple. Not exactly how I expected them to look but still awesome as ever. Previs has a nasty cold, but if in between hacks, coughs, sneezes and launching big globs of phlem into the sand, he was able to enjoy Cannon Beach half as much as I did, then we're good.
After a much needed shower that we stole from a random campground close by it was time to hit up a little spot called Boiler Bay. The weather was becoming increasingly worse as the mist from the ocean turned into rain. We were both determined to see some beauty so despite the weather we got out of the car all bundled up and armed with binoculars. Boiler Bay was the home of a handful of humpback whales that were hanging out really close to the coastline Previs spotted these huge hunks of mammal and we spent some time in the rain just watching their heads, backs and tails rise above the water's surface with a grace and finesse that you don't expect from an animal so large. This was an unexpected gem of beauty that was something I'll never forget. Boiler Bay just happened to be the same place Previs first saw the Oregon coast back in 2006. We stumbled upon the parking lot which, much to Previs' surprise, seemed so familiar to him. I'm happy to have seen a place that has been such a great memory for him over the years.
All of this brings us here, to Newport, Oregon. We slept just outside of the town on the side of highway 101, just trees away from my big old misty friend that I like to call Ocean. A cold foggy wet night was rewarded about an hour ago by a disgusting starbucks drink that I regret spending a taxless $4.00 on. Trying new things isn't always worth it. Hopefully our tour of the Rogue Brewery just across the bridge will make up for the misforture of yet another day's rainy, cold, lame weather.
Thanks for reading another Redwood Letter.
Sincerely, your loyal blogger,
Rachel
