Tuesday October 12,2021

Portland to San Francisco

Day 1: The Coast of Oregon

Last year, on my 48 states in 48 days tour, one drive I had penciled in, was the coast of Oregon. My plan was to stay in Newport Beach, drive down the coast of Oregon, to Redwood National Forest and then over to Redding California for the night.  Three days out of Oregon, I became concerned about Forest Fires in California, specifically about one near Redding. I called the hotel I had booked to inquire about the fire and the front desk clerk told me “According to a fire fighter staying here, the fire is moving away from town” Not wanting to be stuck in a fire, or even take a room from an evacuee or firefighter, I changed my route to cross over through central Oregon and stay in Lake Tahoe California.

Yesterday I flew into Portland and headed to the coastal town of Seaside. Seaside is a cute little town on the coast, not far from the Washington State border.  One of the things I could not do last year was hang out at a bar or talk to people at dinner.  I was able to do so today, the Red Sox we in a playoff game and I got to hang out and watch the game.  One guy I talked to was a newly retired Portland Police Officer who was a big Red Sox fan. I convinced him to investigate Team Rubicon in his retirement. Another guy and I talked about how much we enjoy watching sports with our daughters. My conversations, plus a Red Sox win made my night.

Today, I with through my guidebook and wrote down 9 different stops along the Oregon Coast.  The highlight was the little town of Cannon Beach. In 1999 I worked for Intel Corporation; at the time my division’s headquarters were outside of Portland. I was there over a weekend and took the same drive from Portland to the coast that I did yesterday.  On that day my first stop was Cannon beach and I always thought it was a cool town.  Today I stopped at the same state park I went to in 1999. Even though it was early, and I didn’t see anybody around, after walking to the ocean to take some picture I came back and found a note on my car, remaining me to pay the $5 park entry fee.  Thinking it would be bad karma, to not pay the fee I complied. Speaking of karma, in 1999 I went to a park and started talking with a guy who was going surfing.  He said he expected more surfers that day and because of safety he didn’t want to go in the water without somebody being there.  He asked me if I could stay and watch him for a while. I declined saying I had places to be – which I really didn’t, I was driving north to Washington State but without a time commitment. I have felt bad about that ever since.  Today when I pulled up to the same spot, two surfers were getting their gear on. I told them the story, and the women told me she absolved me of my guilt, and they didn’t need me to watch them today.

The rest of the day I wound my down highway 101 stopping at beaches, overlooks, lighthouses and even the Sea Lions Cave (but all the Sea Lions left in August to go feed, and won’t be back until May.) One of the other things I noticed everywhere on this drive, is the help wanted signs. I even saw an ad during the morning news that Intel was hiring. Ironic that Intel gave me a severance package in 2002 to leave the company. My mask report is that it’s required almost everywhere inside in Oregon and the compliance is very good.