And, after all, in the end, that is the best you can do.
And so we begin with a panoramic view of the beach by the 34th Street Access. It seems I never tire of taking pictures of this vista.
Once again I need to make my usual disclaimer. The pictures presented have all been taken with several cameras and so when they appear here they aren't in chronological order because I'm too lazy to take the time and put them all in the order I took them.
Too. Damn. Lazy.
Alrighty, then, let's get started. I haven't been anywhere, really, for a long, long time. I've sat around and watched all these salad days go by and done nothing. Hahaha, by way of explanation, I'll refer you to the previous paragraph.
But it was a glorious day (October 25), and there aren't many of those left in this year, so I thought it'd be a good day for a long drive. I loaded up the cameras and then asked Carol if she'd like to go along and we were off!!
I thought we'd drive the back roads down south through Siletz and then on to Toledo. And so, naturally, we drove along the Siletz River for a while.
This is where we would launch our kayaks for a little river cruising. And, yeah, that's the Mighty Siletz River there looking peaceful. But you can see the results of some of the recent storms.
The two things I really disliked about kayaking was getting into the kayak and, later on, getting out. There was no way I was doing either of those with any kind of grace. My most fervent wish with both of these maneuvers, these trials, was that I wouldn't end up in the water.
The boat launch. I tried getting into the kayak here but ended up just doing it the old way. Leaving part of the kayak on land for balance while I got in and then pushing myself off into the water.
The seasons are changing. It was evident during the drive but I didn't see the dramatic foliage I've seen before in Washington. I was looking for some brilliant fall foliage on this trek but ended up with this meager entry floating along in the Siletz.
Hahaha, hold onto your hats because here we go again. The B&W shot, again.
We were out fairly early, around 1030, and there was still a lot of dew on the ground...and on the webs. And, boy howdy, there were a LOT of webs around.
The things you notice AFTER you take the shot. I never saw the leave coming into the web from the lower right corner. It was there the whole time but I could only see the web. That's a skill I need to work on...seeing everything in the composition. A step or two to the left might have taken care of that distraction or minimized it but, doggone it, ya gotta sees it befores ya can deal with it.
I was shooting with the Nikon and I've been disappointed with how close I can get with the zoom lens. Seems I need to back off a lot farther than I am used to in order to get a detail. Big difference between the Nikon and the Canons I have.
I prefer the Canon zoom for this.
I was looking for some Fall foliage and got some. Not a lot but some.
It is fun for me just being somewhere and 'seeing' the area around me for the potential pictures. Oh, I'm not a whiz at photography but I'm grateful for the opportunities it gives me to see. It causes me to look at the world around me with keener eyes.
And for different light. Like this backlit tree.
Whup!!
We came upon an old I-beam bridge. I tried a bunch of shots and this was the only semi-reasonable one. Hahaha, my fascination with abstracts. Gives you an idea of how beautiful this day was.
I have to mention the discomfort I feel standing alongside a road with high speed traffic whizzing by. At my age, I don't see myself getting too far off of any road looking for pictures. But I'm also not at all keen about standing 4-5 feet from cars and trucks going from A to Z.
The Great Conundrum.
Boom!!
Just roll with it, OK? Somehow when the computer laid out these pictures, in whatever order its logic dictates, it decided these pictures from the Little Nestucca River would appear here.
Hahaha, I'm OK with it. What the heck? It's my Blog and so, I'll roll with it.
It was another beautiful day (October 31 this time) and we were headed north up towards Tillamook. I figured we'd drive up 101 and then take the coast road back down to LCO.
And the first stop was the launch ramp along the Little Nestucca River. We've been here before, a lot and we weren't disappointed. First off was this Great Blue Heron taking the sun on a rotted timber across the river.
I still marvel at how these ungainly, awkward, clunky and cumbrous birds cut through the air and, while in the air, they manage to look graceful and sleek. Seriously, go and watch a gaggle of Canada Geese on the ground and then watch them when they get into the air.
Night and day.
Stupid crows.
They were big enough to look interesting but too far away to tell what they really were. In cases like this, I zoom out as much as I can, grab the shot, and then figure out what they are when I download the image in the computer.
Hahaha, I was thinking Kestrel and ended up eating crow.
Interesting aside, a couple of visits ago there was a bald eagle resting in this same snag.
And then we drove up the loop road through the countryside.
BAM!!
There's that American Kestrel. How cool is this!?! He was a good distance away and so I had to really reach with the zoom and that causes the pic to look a wee bit fuzzy but, hey, we saw him and got a shot.
Hooah!!
I mentioned earlier I've been looking for some dramatic Fall foliage. Didn't really see anything to write home about. This was about as close to scenic as I got.
But I keep trying.
The 101 parallels the Nestucca River once you get past Hebo and I've wanted to stop at this vista along The 101 just for a look for a long time. It's just a glimpse in the car as you speed past the clearing but this time I pulled off the road and walked back a couple hundred feet to get this view.
Just an everyday scene here in beautiful Oregon. Hahaha, having grown up in L.A. and having lived in El Paso for far too long, I was never around many water features. Seeing all these rivers is still a huge treat for me.
And seeing the small ait in the river is a huge kick for my inner child. Hahaha, I had visions of camping out there but, honestly, those days are long gone.
You'll see Tillamook in a while but we're following the computer's logic system in ordering pictures and so from the Nestucca we jump, quickly, over to Netarts Bay. We'd been in Tillamook and were driving back to LCO along the coast.
There's a lot of wildlife there like this cormorant drying its wings on the rocks. They dive into the water for lunch and then, when they're done, they find some sunny place and spread their wings to dry them out.
This photo and another one you'll see later on have a 'manipulated' look. In that I mean it looks like it has been altered in PhotoShop. And yet, it came straight out of the camera like this.
How cool is this!?!
Same spot we've been before and, whadya know!?! A Kingfisher flies in and lights on the same rock that another Kingfisher was on when we saw him months ago and I got a picture of him.
Same rock.
Kingfishers are among my favorites and it's always a kick to see them. Hard to get a good shot as they seem to light, wait for me to get one or two hasty shots and then, POOF!! They're off.
This guy followed the usual modus operandi. In, couple shots, out.
Still, I got to see him and that's always cool.
This shot interests me like the one I mentioned before. I had zoomed in as far as I could with the Nikon and grabbed several shots. They all came out like this. Overexposed, showing something of an outline of the cormorant with little detail.
It's something like a heavily processed picture but it isn't. Again, I was pushing the lens and lost a lot of the fine detail hence the fuzzy look.
Hahaha, after all these years you'd think I'd be able to minimize these surprises. You'd think.
So we'd driven maybe a hundred yards down the road and stopped. I was looking back up the Bay when I saw this guy back on the rock again.
He was teasing me.
None of the grand colors I've seen in the past. The Falls here in Oregon are more muted, There's color but generally it is dull and boring.
But it's still a grand scene. I gotta say, I do love to drive along the back roads here along the coast.
I haven't done any road pictures in a loooong time. I was back trying my hand at it again. This was on the road trip south to Toledo.
Through heavy, thick forests and then out into an open farm valley.
We were nearer Toledo and it was beginning to become overcast with a touch of fog.
Let's leave the country roads and come back to The 101. In Taft.
It's a foggy, gray day (October 28 to be exact) and Kiwanis was out in force to clean it's stretch of The 101 just south of Taft.
Somewhere out there is Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).
It's one of six NWRs in Oregon. The Siletz Bay NWR was created in 1991 in order to reestablish a salt marsh here. Prior to this the land had been diked and ditched to create pasture land for dairy cows.
Here's our hardy band of intrepid cleaners. Steely-eyed determination and a strong desire to police The 101, they risk life and limb to keep the highway clean.
There were more of us for the actual event but hey, if you don't get there on time you don't get your picture taken.
Hahaha, thank goodness for the time delay on the camera. I even got into the picture here.
On The 101 doing litter patrol. And you can tell the speed limit is a healthy 55 mph here.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!!
We'd parked south and then hiked along the highway heading north. So I had to backtrack to get back to the van and was able to grab some shots.
From the bridge over the Siletz River, I was able to see the fog rolling over the pilings along the river.
And I worked it. I had over 20+ pictures of these. Working it.
And out of those 20+ pictures I've only used the three here.
You're welcome.
And after a hard morning cleaning America's byways, you deserve a treat, right!?! And so we pulled into the Cruise Inn for breakfast.
I had the Chicken Fried Steak...looks good, eh!?!
While Carol went off-script and got herself a shrimp and cheese omelet.
Hahaha, what you lose in decor and ambiance, you make up for with serving size and taste.
I am always amazed at the good (greasy) food you get out of this small kitchen. Always.
Wazza!! Wazza!!
I actually won a drawing!! Scout Store, an arts and crafts store, was celebrating its opening. Both Carol and I know Jerome and his wife, Gietl, and so we stopped by to enjoy the fun. I entered a drawing and, ta da!! I won!!
A shirt!!
One of their artsy-fartsy shirts!!
Hahaha, it surprised me!! And last week I won a prize at the Kiwanis Luncheon.
Is Jackie's luck beginning to change?
And POW!! We're back on The 101 driving up to Tillamook.
Looking down on Daley Lake with Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp and the Pacific Ocean spreading out behind it.
It looks like my kind of camp. Quiet lake on the one side and beach on the other. With, I presume, a well-stocked camp kitchen and mess hall in between.
We were on the loop around the Little Nestucca River when I got these shots.
Take me home, Country Roads
It's just a kick to drive around this area. Especially when the sun is shining.
It's not a major road but it gets the job done.
What the...!?! It's that Kestrel, again!!
Oh, c'mon, lighten up. No one ever said this blog would be logical...or entertaining.
Welcome to Cloverdale, Oregon. Handy little town with three restaurants and a grocery store with an impressive array of fast food for purchase. All this on maybe two blocks of city street
We've been through here plenty of times and we've eaten at two of the three restaurants and so today I decided we'd make it a three-for-three.
The last restaurant had been a Mexican-themed small Mom & Pop kinda restaurant. We'd stopped before but they'd been closed every time.
Not today, Bucko!! Not today!!
But the Mexican restaurant was gone, same owners, just a different style. I asked why and was told things had happened and they couldn't do the Mexican thing anymore.
Hmmmmmm, wonder who got food poisoning?
But it was an interesting little Small-Town America cafe/diner/restaurant...just the kind I love to eat at. We settled in and ordered up.
I'll spare you pictures of the food but for me I had an All-American Hot Dog covered with kraut while Carol, going with the Tillamook theme, had a grilled cheese sandwich.
Too much kraut and the bun fell apart so I had to eat my dog with a fork but it was OK. Next time, however, I'll try something else for some more flavor. Like a greasy burger. Good stuff.
Carol enjoyed her grilled cheese. Didn't overwhelm but it wasn't bad, either.
And then a short walk along the boardwalk in Cloverdale. Two minutes to get up the street and, by golly, two minutes to get back.
But it has some interesting buildings. This one is empty and looking for a new business to come in. Mighty small shop area, though. Mighty small.
Greatness happens everywhere. It's not just confined to the big cities, like Tillamook or LCO. Here in Cloverdale they have their own hometown heroes. This plaque was outside one of the stores. I bet Cloverdale didn't have three restaurants and that deli back in 1920.
The local hero: Colonel Reusser.
Fella put his time in with a trifecta. World War II, Korea and then Vietnam.
And, given the number of decorations he earned, he was no shrinking violet either.
I would have enjoyed meeting this gentleman.
OK, we made it.
And it's been a while since we've been to Tillamook. They've built a small bypass in the city which eases getting through a formerly difficult intersection and that was a surprise. They're also working on The 101 heading south entering the city and that has traffic backed up but, by golly, they're doing something that might have utility.
Good government.
But here was the BIG surprise. Heading north I figured we'd stop at the Cheese Factory. Two reasons...one, I love me some cheese and when it's free I loves me some cheese even more. Second reason is Carol has a deep affection for the ice cream concoctions for sale here.
So we were both a little bummed out when we saw the visitor's center was closed for renovation. They're remodeling this Bad Boy big-time!!
But they took care of the tourists and, more importantly, their tourist dollars by creating this 'temporary' visitor's center.
Not bad, Cheese Makers, not bad.
Thank goodness they still had their free cheese samples. Hahaha, it takes a heap o' willpower to keep from loading up a napkin with a pile or two of these cheesy tidbits. But I kept control and just went through three times.
Mmmmmmmmmm...
They've done a yeoman's job of recreating their visitor center. Of course, there's no tour through the factory but c'mon, let's be honest. The adults that come here do it for the ice cream and cheese. The tours are for the littles and, if you look closely here, you'll see very few of those annoying little critters roaming around.
OK, another lightening shift and now we're in Pacific City on the coast.
And as a quick aside, The News Guard, the local rag, had a story today about sharks being sighted along the coast near Pacific City.
Cue the theme music,
I know, right!!
Craziness!!
But on this day, October 31, there were no sharks...just tourists. And Carol and I fit right in with them.
I decided to finally stop in at the Pelican Brewing Company and try a couple of their boutique beers.
Yes, I am living "La vita local!!"
It's a total tourist trap, a trendy little seaside bar. The staff was even dressed up for Halloween. The bartender, in the red, was decked out as a pimp. Good choice. The waitress was a Zombie. Hahaha, no one dressed out as the ultimate monster this year for Oregonians, Donald Trump.
But it was a fun place with a good view of Cape Kiwanda Rock and the beach.
Sans sharks.
Always looking for a key shot. I think with this one I should have moved the whole shot to the right and left out that door. Next time, eh!?!
I had me a Scottish Ale called McPelican's and then, because I was feeling a bit adventurous, I tried something called a Seahops IPA.
Both were good but if I were to order another one I'd have had to go to the Scottish Ale. It were gud!!
Oh, there it is, down there.
And, because I was definitely feeling adventurous and Carol particularly likes this, I ordered an appetizer of calamari.
And they were GUD!!
Hahaha, I know, adventures in eating.
On the road again heading back to LCO.
It really was a great day for a drive.
Ka-Ching!!
Hold onto your hat for another fast-paced change.
This last Thursday we had a new member orientation for our, well, new members of Kiwanis. We meet at the Aces Sports Bar and Grill for our weekly meetings and so afterwards we just slid on over to the bar area and commandeered a couple tables and dived right in.
There were two there that I have sponsored. That's Jerome on the left wearing the cap and Jedd is just behind Carol. I've somehow managed to get named as the sponsor for five new members. Everyone thinks I did something great but I'm still trying to figure out how it happened.
And I got the obligatory group photo. You know, to commemorate the event.
I also send these pics into Mike Yost who runs the weekly newsletter.
The kicker is, if your picture appears in the newsletter you're usually get fined a dollar. Every time.
Hahahaha, notice I'm not in the picture!! However Carol and all the others will be paying a $1 fine for having their picture in this week's newsletter.
Keen fun!!
And just last night Carol and I joined the other members of the Flag Committee to eat pizza, drink beer and stuff envelopes with the bills for the Flags Kiwanis places along The 101.
It was a fun evening. And we got all the bills ready to be mailed. They were signed, sealed and soon to be delivered.
OK, on one of those FB things they had this advertisement from the 50s about Spam Cakes!! The taste treat that combines spam with Bisquick mix for a taste treat. I posted an entry and ended it by telling everyone I would be soon enjoying this delish dish.
Ah, the moaning and groaning. Regardless, I got the spam today and soon, very soon, I will be trotting out some Spam Cakes!!
MmmmmMmmmmm, Gud!!
So imagine my surprise when I saw this more recent advertisement for something they call Bacon Pancakes.
Hahahaha, it's a Spam Cake with bacon instead of spam.
I'm pretty sure I'll be trying this one, too.
Hahahaha, life is good!!
And that's it.
Conatus Sum
And this was the result.
And now, having gotten out and seen a bit of the countryside while the weather was still good, I hunker down, grit my teeth and prepare to soldier through the upcoming winter weather.
Ugh!!
Not excited.
But I tried. It's the road I chose that lead me to this destination.
