Chapter 25 - The Quest

To dream, the impossible dream

To fight, the unbeatable foe

To bear, with unbearable sorrow

To run, where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar

Tor try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless

No matter how far

                                                   Man of La Mancha

And while my quest was certainly not as dramatic as the one Don Quixote de La Mancha, The Lord of La Mancha, sang about, it was, nonetheless, a daring, adventurous and exciting journey. For me.

What is it? Well, it's this. The 2015-16 edition of "The Oregon Coast Quests Book"

What it is is a series of hunts where you follow the clues from the beginning to the end and it will lead you to a secret cache wherein is hidden the much-desired 'Stamp', the reward at the end of the journey.

This one, the first one I've tried, helped me to explore the Beverly Beach State Park. And it t'were fun, mis amigos, a lot of fun.

You read the poem, follow the clues, find the letters and then...

Once you've put all the clues together, it tells you where to find the prize!! The Stamp!!

The answer I was seeking to enable me to find the stamp was "Behind the Rain Barrel" And it was. Haha, you'll see it, the Rain Barrel, later on in this saga.

The proof you need to verify you actually went on the Quest and succeeded!!

Oh, and once you get ten stamps you can send in for a patch.

Woo, woo!!

I'm already planning my next journey, my next quest...for the Stamp!!

And so let's take off on this Quest. 

And we'll start by riding down one of the residential roads around my house in the hazy, misty, foggy air of a Coastal Oregon morning. Kinda cool, eh?

And the surf was really up when I drove through Depoe Bay so, what the heck, I'm not on a time clock so I stopped to make a gander. Deep blue seas with a heavy surf.

So I made it to Beverly Beach. The Park is about 6 and a half miles north of Newport, Oregon and around 19 miles south of Lincoln City. I've been there several times before, most recently when the Boy Scout Troop camped there. I helped set up a walk on the beach with Dr. Chuck, the guy running the tide pool clinics. He worked on the Oceanography Merit Badge with the Scouts while they explored the beach.

But this time, unlike every previous time, I was going inland and not to the beach. On these Quests you read the clues and follow where they lead you. At various points along the way you find the clue and then write it in your book so when you're done, you can read the whole message.

Here's the first three clues to give you and idea.

"Welcome to the Beverly Beach State Park,

where the forest meets the sea.

On this quest you'll find bridges;

you'll see four, but cross only three.

First, walk toward Spencer Creek Bridge,

Where cars travel high, out of reach.

Look for a sign about Oregon geology

and see what it has to teach.

Find the name of the waves it describes.

The seventh letter is the Number 1 Clue.

Write that letter in the proper square.

Now go look for Clue Number 2."

Ok, so you get the idea, right? Follow the directions and find the clues. 

The picture below is the one it sent me to and the wave it describes? A Tsunami. The seventh letter? An 'I'. And now I had the first clue. Plus, I learned a little bit about Oregon's geology.

And I was off!! This was the first of the three bridges I would have to cross. In the background you can see the first of several camping areas they have in this park. There are several streams and creeks through the area but the one the footbridge is crossing is Spencer Creek. We'll be seeing a lot of it on this Quest.

And, here I was at the second clue.

"The sign tells an interesting story 

of something long buried under sand.

Then a storm carried it into the creek, 

very close to where you stand.

The title of the sign tells its name. 

It is something much older than you.

Find the first letter of the very first word;

this letter is Clue Number 2.

And so I got an 'A' to add to my collection. 

Seriously, though, this was fun and I was learning something, too. This would be a great activity for families in addition to old people...like me.

Here's The 101 as it crosses Spencer Creek. The creek drains into the Pacific here.

And, following the clues, I ambled along through the campsites. A nice and quiet park.

Very quickly, and after several more clues, I crossed the second bridge of the day. Remember, I was told there were four but I'd only be crossing three.

I mention this because, if you're going to be good at this, I learned you must read, and comprehend, each verse of the poem giving you directions. Hahaha, I learned the hard way, of course.

This was the part of the park I've never been in before. Like I said, I've been here several times before but always went out towards the ocean. 

It was quite a surprise to see this heavy forest just off the camp sites.

And I made the most of the morning sun filtering in through the trees. Sorry.

Following directions, I set myself down this trail. 

I didn't notice it at the time but later, when I was downloading and beginning to work with the pictures, I found that I had shot up towards the tree tops, towards the sky, an awful lot.

But I still managed to angle down a bit to catch some more earthbound pictures. Here's Spencer Creek further inland. Slow moving stream and the water was crystal clear.

Up, up and away...

Some of the local fungi. This was a lush and verdant forest. Didn't see any wildlife but I did get to meet the local gnat/mosquito/no-see-ums populations.

It was a nice walk thorough the woods.

Always following the creek. 

here's the clue for this sign.

"Find the sign that tells the importance

of leaving fallen trees in the creek.

Title line...last word...second letter

is the Number 10 Clue that you seek."

Someone did a good job writing out all these verses. And I bet they had a good time doing it, too. Oh, in case you didn't get it, the second letter of the last word was the tenth clue, 'I'. And I actually learned why it's a good idea to, for the most part, leave Sleeping Logs Lie.

See!?! Exercise, fun and a small dab of education!!

Another sign; another clue. Plus another mini-lesson.

I was working my way through all the clues. Here's a shot of the page for the 7th clue.

Not too hard to figure out when you're looking at the sign in front of you while you read it. 

Haha, thank heavens for those 'Selfie-Sticks'. 

Haha, yeah, I was having fun. A great day for a walk.

Oh, be quiet. This should come as no surprise.

The third bridge took me over to the north side of the creek and I began making my way back towards the Welcome Center.

OK, let's jump forward, shall we. 

The directions led me to the Welcome Center. I found the last two letters there on the sign in front of the Welcome Center and the Answer to where the coveted stamp was hidden was, "Behind the rain barrel".

I quickly found the rain barrel and, if you look very closely on the ground on the left side of this rain barrow you can see the cinder block partially hiding the box with the stamp in it.

 

Here, this will help you see it.

Inside was a stamp and a ink pad plus a small book for you to date and sign. Oh, and you could leave a short note, too.

And I did cuz I'm that kinda guy.

After all that fun, I had to decompress a bit so I went back to the mini and got my lunch. I'm eating healthy and so I had an apple and a ... pepperoni meat stick. Hahaha, what a great lunch.

Then I strolled on out to the beach. This little house as a bit off but you can easily see it here. What great fun for that baby girl, right!?! 

A fortress or a castle or whatever she wants it to be. And a place for Mom to sit for a spell.

That's Spencer Creek in the foreground and, just beyond it and a bit to the right of center, you can see the little girl's fortress.

A lot of people were out enjoying the beach despite the heavy surf.

And there's the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. In the picture above, you can just make it out in the distance.

A stark contrast between the bucolic creek and the pounding waves of the ocean. Not a lot of middle ground here in Oregon.

And so my quest ended. It was fun. I'm looking forward to the next one. When I've one ten quests, I can receive an Oregon Coast Quests Patch. Ah, a goal to shoot for.

And, OK, I mentioned you have to be a bit diligent in reading the entire verse and following directions. I wasn't as focused as I could have been and missed two clues entirely. Well, one I missed, walked right past it and the other I lost, the trail it was suppose to be sending me on. So, yeah, I had to do a little scouting to get back on track but that, in the end, added to the fun.

The next quest, I think, will be over by Knight's Park along the Salmon River.

Well, fun is where you find it. It's also what you define it as. And, for me, this was fun. Taking it easy and enjoying life.

And getting pictures for my blog. Hahaha, it all works!!

Because, as I've said before, Life is Good!!

          Hooah!!