Welcome to Oregon

The feel in Oregon is more our style.  Although NoCal is beautiful and appears much the same the people are less stressed.  In California people were wearing masks on the trails.  Here in Oregon people just move back far enough to allow you to pass safely.

And I must be honest.  I truly am a fan on the beach.  This beach is different than any I have previously seen.  I'm used to Florida beaches or San Diego/Santa Monica beaches where the focus is the sand and water, mostly free of rocks and cliffs.  This was new and unique and delightful.

I would have loved it to be warmer so we could go into the water and enjoy it, but it really was too cold for that craziness.  It was windy and chilly and Mindee was very happy to be on our backs in a bag. 

There weren't a lot of tourists out, but there were still some.  We simply all treated each other with Covid etiquette and walked past each other as far away as possible - each hugging their side of the path.  People were friendly and smiling and it was good to be done with the masks.  At this point we were all pretty confident it was over hyped and we would be just fine in this beautiful air.

Dean was still struggling with anxiety but was trying to play it close to the vest so it wouldn't become a big part of the trip.  We are both out of shape, so we never did long hikes and used our walking sticks to help us along the paths.  Although he was trying to enjoy the trip, I could see he was starting to get a bit uncomfortable.  I hoped it was just that we had been delayed and that had caused him stress.  I was looking forward to the days ahead, when he could calm down and we could both enjoy the trip.  My eye was feeling so much better I hardly noticed it, although I faithfully took the drops to keep it that way.

We stopped often at sites along the way.  There were more spots to pull over and park than had been in California.  The weather here was always breezy and a bit chilly, so we always used our windbreakers, but that was enough to keep us mostly comfortable.

Sleeping was great.  The bed in the van is really pretty nice even though we had to be downsized to fit in the width of the van.  I had cut the mattress to be able to move it alone, so there were times we settled into a joint and that wasn't perfect.  Still, we were able to get the rest we needed.  I'm loving life.