and take a beach photo:
I feel like the Pacific is somehow more wild here than other places I have experienced ocean? But perhaps that's because I havent experienced other ocean in a while? While there was some crazy surf in Indonesia, it didn't feel this wild. Maybe it's the cold that changes the perception. I stopped in the cute town of Bandon for some photo ops with these guys:
(see lighthouse in background?) before getting to Coos Bay for my Oregon coast stop (passed a GIANT GIANT pile of logging sawdust that was truly impressive) at a cute hotel, and then went through the Oregon dunes Tuesday morning, which were impressive but I neglected to photograph (photo fatigue). I arrived at the Tillamook Cheese Factory a little after noon on Valentines Day very hungry! And I was not disappointed! The pesto grilled cheese that I had was very good (not as good as Loleta Cheese in CA, but good) and then I got a GIANT tub of ice cream for $5. Seemed like a deal to me! 3 scoops!
That's what I thought of that! Yummy in my tummy. They are getting ready for a massive reconstruction project at Tillamook, so that will be interesting when it's done. They have self guided tours (cool boxes on the windows with labels so you know what you're looking at,) and it was very cool to see the process. I still think aging cheese that's shrink wrapped is cheating after the labor intensive aging room maintenance I used to help with at Boston Post Dairy!
I didn't take a photo of the packing side (which was cooler! Haha) Oh well. I drove over some mountains, past lots of people fishing in interesting super curved boats (again no photos, sorry) and what I think was bald eagle #1 of the trip, to happily surrender my rental car (though terror had mostly dissipated to just mild unease). Not sure if it was worth the hassle to find a gas station myself (rather stressful) but I did (instead of paying them to fill it for me) and also discovered that you can't pump your own gas in Oregon! Spent several hilarious minutes trying to get all my possessions out of the car and easily navigated the clear Portland light rail to my Airbnb. The next morning dawned very rainy, and as I am attempting to "train" for another half marathon, I headed out for a run in the rain through Tom Mcall Waterfront park, crossing bridges and running on a water-level sidewalk opposite the park to run back to my accommodation. There were relatively a lot of people out exercising and biking (to work?) for the weather, but not tons. I was really struck by whatever zoning that seemed to allow businesses on what appeared to be quite residential streets, so there were very cool restaurants and shops very near the nice house where I stayed. I warmed up and headed back out in the rain for a pilgrimage to Powells Books, one of the biggest independent bookstores in the US. It was amazing, I spent a while there and impressively emerged with only one book!
(Hilarious parody of Oregon Trail computer game above the books) I do have a weakness for cards though!
I met up with a friend and we went to Random Order for a quiche snack before our Portland International Film Festival movie about Mali and dinner at Bollywood Theater (a restaurant, not another movie!) It was great food all around (our quiche had Tillamook cheese on it and the Indian food was very good) and I left Portland the next morning for Seattle (with a home-made bagel/hand mixed rosemary cream cheese in my hand) While I didn't see a whole lot of Portland, I liked the sensical public transit, intense bookstore, neighborhood businesses, brave the rain exercisers/commuters and FOOD! Haha
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