Coast To Coast - Part Two

It’s been quite the ride to put it mildly. I drove just under 5000 miles in 15 days. That’s a very ambitious driving schedule, especially for me. My goal? To be with my girlfriend in Christmas, as she had a whole afternoon off to spend it with me.

In her words: “You better be here, or else..!”

I didn’t want to find out what the alternative was. So I drove on.

Fuel prices in California are sky high. They are leading the nation in trying to save the nation, so I get it… but it hurt the old pocket book, I’ll tell you that.

I barely escaped California. California is a gorgeous state to drive through, but it does not mess around when it comes to hard core weather patterns. I drove through the first wave of atmospheric rivers, up through the Redwoods on Hwy 101. There was a lot of flooding of lowland areas. The rivers were growing bigger, pushing at their banks and rolling massive trees like match sticks. Hours after I passed into Oregon, they closed part of the highway.

But then I got to the Southern Oregon coast, and I fell in love with it again. I got to Harris Beach State Park about 1530 pm, maybe an hour before dark.

I parked, paid and headed off to the beach. I needed a detox after the stress of driving through the flooded forests.

The roar of ocean waves took me out of the world I knew, and reset me back on beach mode. I wandered down the beach, looking at everything, finding every view more interesting than the last.

It’s been a long time since I sculpted with stone. I decided to make a rock figure, though I wasn’t sure if I was trying to force the issue. It had been so long.. I just wasn’t sure if the energy was right.

It was right! It was good! And though the light was failing, I mindfully worked with the stones. I am totally into natural sculpture again.

The next day I moved up the coast to Cape Blanco. Another one of my favorite playgrounds.

I caught the beach in good afternoon sunshine, and caught photos of surf sky and rock.

On my way back home, I detoured into the forest to chase mushrooms and moss. Everything is green. The while forest is covered with moss and lichen, fungus and flowers. It’s a great place to breathe.

The next day brought me to Ft Stevens. Here’s what’s left of the wreck of the Peter Iredale.

The forest at Ft. Stevens is very lush. This trail almost seems too perfect. Like it was manicured… but it sure is beautiful.

Port Townsend, Wasington has a nice park to stay at. I was there for one night, as I had a reservation to take the ferry across to Whidby Island the next morning.

I went for my afternoon stroll and found some more stones to play with. I wanted to make an arch. I tried hard to make a three stone arch, but it just wouldn’t hold. I needed another hand, which is tricky to come by. So I simplified my arch to two stones and the tower stacked up easily.

On Christmas, I took the ferry across and picked my girlfriend up on schedule. I think her band of revenging Amazons were disappointed I had made it on time, but she wasn’t, so I did good!

We spent the day hiking around Deception Pass, a wonderful state park up in the islands. It has a grand mixture of rocky islands with lush green forests of giant trees right along the ocean. It’s quite fantastic.

As for me, I’m ready to take it easy. I’m done driving for now, I’m going to see what Island life is like way up here in the temporate rainforest.

I can’t wait to sleep in, and fool around all day chasing my muse. I’m not one to laze around for long however, so we’ll see what I get in to.

Cheers!