Nothing is ever simple, really. It's not that I don't make a sincere effort to keep things simple, its just that it never seems to work out that way. Ever.
Take today. A simple road trip. In my mind I was thinking a short drive up The 101 to the Little Nestucca to see what birds were out and about. Then, maybe, depending, a short drive on over to the coast and back to LCO.
I've learned before, though, that life turns on the smallest of things. Such as a comment, "Let's drive out and see if we can find where Judy lives in the blue house." And, BAM!! Things get suddenly more complicated.
So, instead of bearing left at the junction with 18 and continuing on The 101, I bore right and headed east on OR 18 towards the vague "The blue house just past The Tackle Box Store on Salmonberry." The house is in the Rose Lodge area. Oh, Judy is a friend whom we met on a bird walk that looks like Carol's cousin, Adrienne. We'd run into her at the store and got to talking and she mentioned where she lived (see the previous pinpoint directions). So we decided to, what the heck, go on out there and see if we could find the place.
Challenge Accepted!!
We were off!! And we did find it. Couple of old pathfinders, we are!!
Then, and here's the point where simple really goes south, I had the bright idea of driving on out to Grande Ronde and then heading northwest on new roads back to The 101 and...whatever. So we kept on driving east along OR 18 until we hit the junction where OR 22 crosses OR 18. In other words , until we got to Grande Ronde.
Fun Facts: Grande Ronde's name is a variation of the French Grande Ronde or "Fine Large Valley", a description given to the area by the employees of the Hudson Bay Company, who were French-Canadian. The population was 271 at the 2000 census.
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community own and operate Spirit Mountain Casino, which is a major local employer. In 1997, the casino created the Spirit Mountain Community Fund, which supports a number of charities both within Polk County and throughout Oregon from the casino's gambling revenue.
OK, you got the idea of how this particular adventure got its start, now, let's get to the nitty gritty, shall we?
HI-HO!! It's off on an adventure we go!!
On an overcast and mildly cool day along the Oregon coast.
We'd found Judy's house. No stopping by...Hahaha, no one really likes surprise guests now, do they!?! No, it was just a game, really, of See If We Can Find It.
When you're retired, these kinds of things not only become possible, they become fun.
And after Judy's place I turned right with the idea we'd get to the coast eventually but first we'd see some new places.
And we got to Grande Ronde. Small Town!! With a capitol S and a capitol T!!
Seriously small town.
We've driven by it, it borders on OR 18, as we've motored to Salem a bunch of times. This was the first time we turned down the main drag of the city. And promptly stopped at ...
... the Grande Ronde Shopping Center.
Inside this one building there is a: Grocery Market; Hunting Supplies; Fishing Supplies; Liquor Store; Movie Rental Store; Laundromat; Convenience Store; Hardware Store and Pharmacy. Plus they put on a pretty good show at the check-out counter with the banter between the married couple running the whole shebang.
I found me a couple boxes of 'Strike Anywhere' matches and ...
... this Black Cherry Cream soda. Which was OK. Reminded me of sarsaparilla. But then, it's been maybe 30-40 years since I had me some sarsaparilla and my memory might be a bit weak.
Oh, and I got a ticket to win the $94 Million MegaMillions Lottery.
We drove through the town, such as it is, and it the homes were pretty run-down...lots of stuff in the yards and the houses were definitely showing the effects of age and the wet environment around here.
And then we came across this ... oddly out of place Alpine Chalet ... here in Grande Ronde. Kinda wild, eh? To stumble across this huge home out here. Now, and I don't know why, to add to the oddness, there is a coffin on the front porch.
Yeah, that's right. It appears to be a full-size coffin, the kind you see sometimes on Halloween. Still, that's not what you would normally expect to see sitting on the front porch of an alpine chalet in a small, rural Oregon town in February.
Strange.
And, as we were leaving, Carol got this shot of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church. Nicely done.
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| CB |
And then we were on OR 22 getting into country we'd never seen before. Which is kinda fun, y'know. Exploring and all.
And the country was beautiful. It's always been a pleasure to drive these country roads in Oregon.
Fortunately, there was very little traffic on this road. I was able to amble along at my own speed and take the time to appreciate the passing scenery.
Yeah, I enjoy this, tooling down the road and seeing the sights. And we saw a couple hawks and kestrels along the way, too.
Bonus!!
Soon enough, we hit The 101 again and breezed on into Tillimook. See, one of the thoughts I'd had earlier is that we'd stop by the cheese factory there and get some ice cream and some cheese curds. Hahaha, life is so doggone difficult when you're a Retired Adventurer of the Gentle Persuasion.
Because I'm always up for adventure (or so I tell most everyone who is still listening to me talk), I made one of my ginger snap decisions and thought we'd stop by the Blue Heron French Cheese Company.
And, what more French symbol would you expect at a French Cheese Company than a double-decker red bus straight out of Jolly Olde England!!
Don't ask. I don't know.
They've done a nice job at the French Cheese Company. The grounds are nicely kept and they have various old farm tractors, busses and such not scattered about. Plus they have their store inside this really cool old barn.
But before we got in we saw this menagerie of birds walking around.
We'll come back to them later. First, let's go in the French Cheese Company Store and see what they have to offer.
Hahaha, definitely not French stuff here!!
Hourra pour le tourisme!!
But, this is what really caught my eye.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........
You know what I mean!?!
They have a nicely appointed store filled with all kinds of goodies. I got to taste some of the mustards they offer.
There was one, a mustard with garlic and some other stuff that was, ooh, lah, lah!!
Surprisingly, there wasn't much cheese. Not like Tillamook Cheese. Lots of cheese there. Here all they had to taste was some different kinds of Brie.
Lots of fancy French stuff here. And then I found this ...
... a Hostess Twinkies Cookbook!!
Oh, to be a young man again and to be able to eat any and everything I want. Alas, not anymore. Oh, I could but, well, you know.
Then, over in the far corner, I found some more fancy French Cheese. None of which I could afford.
A nice place.
At the other end of the store they had a wine-tasting room. It's a good thing I don't care for wine because I would dearly hate having to pay these prices!!
We wandered around in the store for a while and then headed out to the barnyard. I'm gonna call it that because it had a lot of chickens out there pecking around.
And a garden. With daffodils.
Can you guess what this is?
I'll wait.
Got it?
It's an Emu!!
Fun Facts: The second-largest living bird by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. The Emu is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird. The Emu's range covers most of mainland Australia, but the Tasmanian Emu and King Island Emu subspecies became extinct after the European settlement of Australia in 1788. The bird is sufficiently common for it to be rated as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Emus are soft-feathered, brown, flightless birds with long necks and legs. They can reach up to 6' 2" in height. They can travel great distances and, when necessary, can spring at 30 mph. They forage for a variety of plants and insects but have been known to go for weeks without eating. They drink infrequently but take in copious amounts of water when the opportunity arises.
Plus, they're ornery critters. Mean little buggers, if you get a kick from one of these you'll have a mighty good bruise on you for a day or two.
A guinea hen. A seriously ugly bird.
And then, on the other side of the building there's a pen with other animals. At least, I think there are other animals there. All we saw was this Old Goat.
I am assuming there are other animals here because there was a sign saying the animals eat a special diet which, conveniently enough, could be purchased inside the gift store. Ka-Ching!!!
As we had no food to offer this Old Goat wanted nothing to do with us. Well, it was time to move on.
Just a few short miles away was the Tillamook Cheese Factory.
Ice cream and curds.
Hooah!!
And there we were!! Being February and all, the Factory wasn't busy. Just the way I likes it. We got to park pretty close to the entrance.
Carol went for her ice cream and me? I went for the cheese. I especially like the tasting room. Hahaha, I could have stayed there all afternoon.
Here's the part of the factory where they sell the cheese. And plenty of it, too.
So I gots me my cheese. This stuff is almost like candy it tastes so sweet ... and chewy.
And it does squeak. Hahaha, it really does.
And Carol got her ice cream.
And then I got this shot through the dining room towards the bridge over the Wilson River, one of the five rivers that flow into Tillamook Bay.
We drove up The 101 towards Bay City. The ASLC is going to have a bird walk at the Kilchis Point Reserve and we thought we'd get a small preview of the place ... if we could find it. Once again, we were on a quest. The directions were "The turn to the left just across from the Restore Store. There's no sign for it going north but if you miss it, there's one if you're heading south."
And, yeah, we found it. First time!! Hahaha, we're getting good.
When we parked we got a view of this building across from the Reserve. I don't know what it is for, but it is nicely decorated.
And here we were, at the start of the trails through the Kilchis Point Reserve.
Fun Facts: The Kilchis Point Reserve is approximately 200 acres along Tillamook Bay in Bay City, Oregon. The Tillamook County Pioneer Museum owns, protects, maintains and holds this land in the public trust. Kilchis Point is home to a wide variety of plants and animals that, together, form precious ecosystems.
Declared a County Heritage Area by the Tillamook County Commissioners in 2010, Kilchis Point is an important prehistoric and historic site. It is also the site of one of the largest Native American Villages on the Northern Oregon Coast. Tillamook County's first pioneer settler, Joe Champion, arrived at Kilchis Point in 1851 and lived in a Spruce stump next to the Native American Village while he built a cabin.
The Morning Star of Tillamook was built at Kilchis Point making it the first ship built in Tillamook County and the first ship registered in the Oregon Territory. Kilchis Point was also the headquarters of the Whitney Lumber Company from 1919-1927.
Thar she blows!!
Several miles of easy trails. This Reserve is really new and when they built it, they did the job right. The trails are easy and comfortable. You can see most everything on them so there's no need to get off the trail.
We started at the Trailhead at the bottom and then did the big loop. Next time, I think I'll try and walk out to where it ends at the Bay.
The very first thing we saw were these caterpillars skrunching around on a sign.
I thought they were kinda cute until I saw what they were doing to the pine tree next to the sign.
Not cool, caterpillar dudes.
Soon enough we were on our way, walking through the Reserve. Along the trail they have many well-kept foot bridges. Obviously, they laid a lot of brick for the walks.
Nicely done.
And there was some color other than green. Not much, mind you, but some.
And then Carol spotted this Rough-Skinned Newt. And had to get a picture of same.
Hahaha, Monkey see, Monkey do.
I got my own picture.
You can see why he's called a 'Rough-Skinned' Newt.
And some interesting facts about this fine fellow. That's good to know, y'know.
We were on the look-out for birds, slugs and snakes. And, doggone it, didn't see a single one. I mean, it was empty of birds. As for the slugs and snakes, well, sometimes you gets lucky and sometimes you don't. This was one of those don't days.
In the absence of any birds, slugs or snakes to photograph, I turned to whatever I could find to shoot.
Sorry.
There was a boatload of mushrooms, of all kinds, colors and shapes there.
And, yeah, I was bored and shooting most anything that caught my eye. Color helped.
Some more mushrooms.
See what I mean about the trails. All level and all easy on the feet.
Oh, and we heard the frogs. Lots of them. Didn't see any or else you'd be seeing them now instead of a sign about them.
After a very pleasant hour walking along, taking our time, we came back to the starting point. And to our ending point for this part of our adventure.
Pretty nice. I'm looking forward to our next trip to this Reserve. Who knows, maybe then we'll get to see some birds!!
Back on the road again, we headed for the coast and the Three Capes.
We were along the Netarts Bay when I stopped and got this shot. The Three Capes were 3 or 4 miles up the coast opposite the city of Oceanside.
Same shooting position, just looking to the south.
And a Blue Heron. We saw a lot of Herons today. It's becoming, regrettably, almost common to see these beautiful birds.
And, even though it was around 1400, the day was still overcast with a low fog in some places.
Right across the street from where I got the shots of the Three Capes, was this marsh. And, like the Reserve, no birds. I had thought I'd see a Redwing Blackbird here, but, sadly, no.
I did see some reeds and bulrushes.
And water. It was just nice, OK!?! Geez, get off my back, Man.
Another shot of the Three Capes. Really kinda cool, y'know, this coastline of Oregon.
Looking south.
Further down that coast road.
And another Blue Heron. I dislike seeming so blasé about seeing them because, well, they're cool. But, we had seen 5 or 6 of them by now. Today. In about an hour or less.
We hit the road again and Carol spotted this guy up in a tree. It's a Red-Shouldered Hawk. Which, by itself, is way cool. But this guy was in a tree on the left and ....
.... about 20-30 yards to the right was this hawk. A mated pair.
If one hawk was cool, how cool is two of them!?!
Hahaha, I know!!!
Then we were back on the road again. And it was fun.
If you've got to have a dark and gloomy day then make it better with a little hint of fog here and there.
And, what the heck, go ahead and make the fog a wee bit thicker ... just for atmosphere.
Hahaha, I have fun getting these pictures. And it makes driving more fun.
And around here, there's just so many opportunities. So much to see. And it helps that every time you drive somewhere around this area it's like doing it for the first time again.
The long and winding road
that leads to your door
Will never disappear
I've seen that road before
It always leads me here
Leads me to your door.
The Beatles
And so it goes. Casting about for something to do and coming up with a small thought and then being open enough to let that small thought grow into a full-fledged adventure. Maybe not the best, but certainly better than sitting at the house on your keister.
And, with practice, I can only get better at it, right!?!
Yeah, right!!
And so I go along. Not at a fast pace but a comfortable one for me.
And, life is good.
Hooah!!
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