Oregon coast... FINALLY!

If you recall, last post was about our horrible experience at a Motel 6. We left early, had a good drive, but not long, to coast. Finally we'll reach our destination.

It's 8:30 and we've reached Reedsport. Fog had been with us a distance. Above is picture of the beautiful forest we traveled through. I've never seen a forest quite like it--very mixed woods. Must be awesome in the fall. And as we got closer, I noticed that moss grew on the tree limbs, which makes sense as the air is dense with moisture. And yet it's cool, and refreshing.

As we get even closer I'm seeing these Tsunami signs posted. It's a real deal here, folks. Wish I'd taken a picture of one

My husband informs me we've driven 2,199 miles to get to highway 101, which goes up and down the coast from California all the way up through Washington.

10:30: We've yet to see water, but I begin to see sand on the hillsides, and then... water. The ocean. My eyes tear up, and we slap a hi-5er. 

We find a drive down to a sandy beach, parking. Signs point to a drive up to the lighthouse. But we're too excited! Dennis gets on his sandals, and walks out to get his feet wet. He turned 60 this summer and had this one thing on his bucket list--to see the ocean. And there he is in the water.

We spend a lengthy time here. I pick up wonderfully rounded, black rocks for my collection. I also find the very brittle shells of small crabs. Might be the dungenous ones, and blue muscle shells. I pick these up as well. I take a video on my camera, as Dennis takes one too, for memory-sake.

The iconic rocks in ocean along the shore which I've seen picture of and wanted to see so badly in person.

Learned later this was Hecta Head. Below is a picture of it I found on Internet. We were in the portion of shore which you can't see from this picture.

We could have explored more, but we had to move on, we had to find some place to stay. Our lucky break it was Thursday.

We drove on, excited about being here, but searching for a place to stay. We see a sign that says Yachats Inn, named after the town. It was pretty much on the end of town, and we swung in. 

Gray buildings some two-story others ground floor, situated on either side of the black-top drive.

It was still early, even though we stopped along the way to see the sea lion caves, to eat up some time. But we went into the office and a woman greeted us. Asked if there was a room available. Yes, there was... "The best view of all the rooms," she said.

"We'll take it."

"I can only give it to you if you take it for two nights."

"We'll take it.

Our room wasn't ready, but we were able to see its twin on the other side. Upper floor in one of the two-story buildings. We walked in, not sure what to expect--well, it was a condo! kitchen off the living room, separate bed room and bath.

We needed to buy groceries, seeing that we would be staying here for two days. But we were also hungry, and went to a local restaurant and had halibut and salad--opting out of "fish & chips" for the healthier choice. The halibut was battered in gluten-free batter.

This is an areal view of Yachats. Very quaint, and when we were told that every establishment closed at 9 PM, we said we liked that. It's wonderful to find such a gem!

And this is view off our deck. We could hear the ocean from here. Dennis didn't understand why we had a fireplace (below).

Well, we found out that it got down into 40's at night. During the day, it didn't get out of the 60's. It was chilly enough for jeans--which we brought--and sweats at night--which I didn't bring, and had to use the extra blankets to sit outside in afternoon, drinking my wine and staring at the ocean. We were able to spot whales spouting in the distance during dinner, and after, just before dark.

More to come.

I'll end this section with these thoughts as I sit home, missing the ocean:

Dennis and I were on the same wavelength--as we usually are, it attests to our togetherness after 30 years--and we both felt a pang in our hearts when we came home. I found myself tearing up a lot feeling as though someone I loved went away. I can't explain it any better than that.

The sound of it, the sight, and the pure air. Both of us felt very good, physically, during our stay here. I didn't cough, or sneeze and my knees were feeling fine as we clamored about on the rocks to get down to the shore the two days we were there. Coming home it was horrible humidity. I began to cough more and more. Felt sluggish and had to push myself to do things around the house.

We'd love to become beach bums, someday, and live on the "Good Coast". I don't know if that can happen. But... we do want to go back, soon.

The ocean seems to have stolen our hearts, calling to us to come back.

I think we'll find a way to make that happen.