Day 93, Wednesday, November 9, pm - South Beach State Park in Newport Oregon, 11,608 miles so far.
Up at 7...fog. Light drizzle. Heavy rain stopped during the night. Nevertheless, i am glad i came here 120 mikes off my route to revive some memories and enjoy the dramatic vista of the ocean. Got campsite 33 with a wonderful view of the ocean, and what an ocean it was.
Off at 10...stopped at Kalaloch Lodge i learned about Trump. What a tragedy for the country, although i understand his appeal to people. We all remember where we were when we learned that JFK was assassinated. I will now remember where i was when i learned about Trump. From now on, when "God bless America" is sung, i will sing, "God help America."
Absolutely terrible drive down the coast road to Tillamok OR. Rain, fog. etc. to Tillamok, our next camp destination some 250 mikes away. i followed Garmina's (my GPS) detours and the 2nd time she almost did me in. To save perhaps 10 miles, she took me on an 80-mile detour through one of the most scenic back country roads i have ever been on, but also one of the most dangerous by far...curves, winds, hills, empty road. I ignored her detours after that and just took 101 the rest if the way, although every time i ignored her, she punished me by adding a few miles to my destination distance.
By the time I got to Tillamok at 3:30 the sky had cleared and the sun was out, so i decided to move on to save a day. (Remind me to tell you about my terrible time two years ago here at Cape Lookout State Park.) To shave a day off my itinerary, I figured i could easily drive 101 in the dark to my next destination, Umpquah State Park 190 mikes away. Big mistake. Not only did dark set in soon, but thick fog too, and i mean thick fog. Driving narrow two-lane highway 101 in the daylight is bad enough, but at night in the fog is downright dangerous. It is difficult enough to see the signs alongside the road for camps, but impossible when the headlights of oncoming cars blind you and local traffic is right on your tail preventing you from slowing down, and Garmina shouting detour directions to you every five minutes. Etc. i eyes were riveted on the road and my hands frozen to the steering wheel the whole time. This is not why i take these trips, i told myself, and why i set a rule of no driving at night. Finally, after encountering two bad accidents, at Newport at about 6:30, i decided to err in the direction of safety and call it quits, especially since Garmina added a whole 2 hours to my destination arrival time. As I passed a Days Inn in Newport, i was tempted to bivouac there (they all take dogs) but decided to press on for the next state park. Fortunately, I found one right up the road, South Beach State Park, right on the ocean.
In the camp, I was hoping to get a Yurt to save a few hours, but they only had two dog-friendly yurts of the 40 or so here, and both were taken. (You would think if 60 percent if the people own dogs, there would be 24 dog-friendly yurts.) In addition to yurts, the camp is loaded with RVs. We are the only tenters. (Reminds me of my neighbor who thinks that getting back to nature is making a fire in his penthouse fireplace.) It is quite a nice campground, though, i have to add. Great decision to bivouac here.
The sky is clear tonight and the stars are out. I hope that is a good omen for tomorrow, when we head to the Redwood Forest in northern California.
More tomorrow.
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