Eventually this blog will get to Oregon but before it does, there's some small business to take care of.
I finally got around to printing some of the pictures I've taken. More to just see what they look like and a bit because I liked 'em. I picked out three and took 'em to the local Office Depot where Chris was a-waitin' to print 'em up.
Ah, the marvels of Modern America. In the olden days, getting a print this big or this shape would have cost a minor fortune and been a huge hassle. Hahaha, thank goodness for digital.
Well, I have them and now they're rolled up and sitting on top of the dresser. Hahaha, maybe in another couple years I'll get around to mounting them. Baby steps, y'all, baby steps.
So, let's get to the meat of the matter. I've had an itch to move on and discover some new part of the country for some time now. I've had the pleasure of living in Seattle for over seven years and it is time to be movin' on.
With no particular place in mind, I've been using Craig's List like a son of a gun the past couple months checking out places in Eastern Washington and Idaho. After a visit to Astoria, Oregon, I even started looking, without much hope, at places in Oregon.
I honestly thought pretty much everything in Oregon would be out of my fiscal league . . . I was wrong. Surprisingly, there's plenty of interesting places available.
For us, the deciding factor (within our price range) was simple. There were actually two deciding factors: If it were a great house that we both liked then it was a go. The other factor was location. If the location was great then it would be a go.
Well, we spotted a place that was at the seashore and so we thought we'd go down and take a look-see. It isn't exactly what I wanted as far as a house goes, but it has great potential as far as location and so, we were off.
Ah, here's proof that we could still smile even at Zero-Dark-Early hours. For you uninitiated, that translates roughly into any unearthly early hour in the morning. For us that time was 0555.
And it was raining. Upon which I shall comment several times more. Sometimes rudely.
It's Too Damn Early Selfie!!
We made great time heading south to our target, Lincoln City. My plan worked to perfection, up to a point. By leaving early, we toured round the traffic in Tacoma, missed the mess by Ft. Lewis and careened by the crap in Olympia. Hahaha, we wuz movin'.
Until . . . we got . . . to Portland.
#whatazoo
Please note the rapid rate of speed at which we were traveling. That's right, a whopping 2.5 mph.
Woo, woo!! Slow down, Speed Racer!!
And, we were still several miles from downtown Portlandia. Oh, please note the times shown on the Garmin between these two pictures.
One word - ARGH!!!!
We did finally make it out of Portlandia. They have some serious traffic issues in that city. Serious.
It was raining, no surprise there, with low-lying clouds when I got this grab shot out the front of the mini. This was taken on Oregon State Route 99W.
And, so, assuming they aren't lying, we're gonna see if it really is a great place to try new things.
Internet
There it is!! About a 110 miles south of Astoria, Oregon.
Internet
Fun Facts: Lincoln City is located on the scenic Oregon Coast in Lincoln County at the 45th parallel. It is bordered by the 680-acre Devils Lake and the Coast Range on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west. There's about 7.5 miles of beautiful, clean and sandy beaches with the Salmon River and Cascade Head to the north and the Siletz Bay and Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge to the south.
Internet
Fun Facts: The city enjoys a mild maritime climate. The daytime highs in the winter are around 50 degrees. Summer highs are 60-70 degrees on the beaches, increasing to 80-90 degrees just a few miles inland. They get most of their rainfall in the winter months. And, boy howdy, did it rain while we were there.
The prevailing winds come in from the northwest in the summer and the southwest in the winter. The consistent breezes at the beaches make Lincoln City one of the best places in the world to fly a kite. Surfing and kite-boarding conditions are supposed to be world-class.
Internet
After battling the perilous Portlandia passageways (aka - hahahaha, freeways), we finally made it to our destination - America's Best Inn & Suites in Lincoln City.
Internet
We Arrived Safely Selfie!!
And our deluxe room. Oh, it was still raining. Perhaps even harder now than it was previously.
We had an appointment to see the house at 1300 and so we had almost an hour and a half to kill. What better way than checking out the local Goodwill for some good bargains? Hahaha, I'm always up for a bargain.
Fancy-smancy!! I'm beginning to think these Lincoln Cityites are a bit ritzier than the normal Average Joe that shops at Goodwill.
Très chic, nes pas?
Carol found, no surprise there, a book and I found I was getting hungry. Fortunately, right there in the same parking lot was a Burger King.
Looks kinda new, eh?
No surprise, the Whoppers we had were good and the fries were adequate.
Alright, Bruno was taken care of so we could get on with our business. We met up with the realtor and drove on over to the property at 3425 NW Jetty Ave. In the rain.
Fun Facts: It's interesting what they've done here. All the streets that run east and west are numbered. The numbers, both NW and SW start with 1 at the river, D River, and get higher in either direction. Running across them are the avenues. Their names coincide with the alphabet and it starts with the letter 'A' at the ocean. We visited the house on NW Jetty Ave, the next street up is NW Keel. See the pattern?
OK, here's the house. Remember the three most important points when considering real estate: location, location, location.
You can see the ocean just to the right of the house. What's happened is the owner has the original house which is just behind this one. This house was built later.
Evidently, the owner is just biding time until he is ready to build a new home and so he is renting these two at a reduced price because they're both kinda rough around the edges.
Evidently, the owner is just biding time until he is ready to build a new home and so he is renting these two at a reduced price because they're both kinda rough around the edges.
And, as we heard several times from the realtor, the owner is not putting any money into improving these properties.
There's a small, 5-car parking lot with beach access just to the right of where this picture was taken. From the house you can walk to the bluff just across the yard that overlooks the ocean, but to get to the beach itself, you have to (I know, gasp!! The horror!!) walk over to the beach access. It might take two minutes total to get down to the beach, but I doubt it.
Here's the parking lot and you can see the beach access path just beyond the front of the mini. And the ocean, she was angry that day!!
There's a large bay window in the front room of this house where you can look out and see the ocean. Oh, that's the other house just behind the truck. Look to the right and you can see where the yard overlooks the ocean.
 |
| And it was raining. |
Here, you get the idea of how the yard overlooks the shore, right? Just to the right of that clump of shrub bushes is the parking lot.
Here's the access. Mind you, it's been raining, steady, since the day before. I mean it has been steadily raining for a long time. The tide was up, too. It hits high tide around 1400 these days.
Just to the left of the path is a look-out with a bench. Great view. Can you imagine the sunsets you can see from here . . . every single day (when it's not raining)?
Here's the whole thing.
There are just nine beach access points on the NW side of the city. I imagine these are all very popular during the summer. The bad thing is that parking near the beach is severely limited. There is, as far as I can tell, no parking allowed on the city streets.
 |
| It was still raining. |
The Pacific Ocean . . . not looking too peaceful or calm the day we were there.
Standin' in the Rain Selfie!!
Oh, it'll be a great adventure, Jack!! Trust me!!
Yeah, it's a house alright.
Checking the location of the mail box. Y'know, all the important stuff that makes up life.
What Chu Talkin' Bout, Willis Selfie!!
Oh, c'mon!! It'll be fun livin' on the beach!!
Looking south down NW Jetty Avenue.
Looking north up NW Jetty Avenue.
Fun Facts: Lincoln City was created March 3rd, 1965, from the small communities of Taft, Nelscott, Cutler City, Delake, Oceanlake and Wecoma Beach. These were adjacent communities along U.S. Route 101. Route 101 serves as Lincoln City's main street.
The name "Lincoln City" was chosen from contest entries submitted by local school children. They couldn't decide on which communities name to use so they held a contest to get a new name.
The house we looked at is in what used to be Wecoma Beach.
Internet
 |
| Happy Trails, to you, until we meet again . . . |
Evidently, because of the winds you may find the local beaches filled with colorful kites as they take advantage of the winds in this city on the 45th Parallel.
Fun Facts: I am sure you'll be happy to know, Lincoln City was named the Kite Capital of the World by "Kitelines" Magazine.
I'm sorry, what!?!
Hahaha, yeah, they really do have a magazine for kite-flying!!
Internet
They have a Sandcastle Building Contest in August at Taft Beach.
Internet
In addition to being a world capital for kites, there is a burgeoning business in glass blowing there too. During the winter months they play Finders Keepers. They go along the beach and hide glass floats and if you find them, they're yours.
I'm a gonna find me a couple, yes I am.
Internet
We drove down towards Road's End, that's what they call the area at the north end of the city. Carol got the umbrella out and took a stroll, in the rain, along the beach. That's her, with the large umbrella, walking along in the rain. Hahahaha, she's excited.
We had stopped at a small park that has an adjacent beach access pathway.
And an opportunity to learn something.
OK, I mentioned it was raining. It rained the entire time . . . I am not exaggerating . . . the entire time we were there. That's why you might have noticed I didn't take a lot of pictures. Most of these pictures were taken by Ms. Schubert with her handy-dandy cell phone camera.
Way to go, Schubert!!
We drove down south aways toward Depoe Bay just to see what we could see. The following pictures were taken at different points along the drive down.
Everyone knows it's Windy!!
 |
| Hey, you got a kite? |
Who Ya Gonna Call, Selfie!!
Hmmmmmm, what to do, what to do!?!
So, there it is. Whadya think?
Internet
I mentioned the river that separates the city between Northwest and Southwest and is the starting point for numbering all the streets. It has another distinction, too.
Fun Facts: D River is the rival to Roe River, Montana, for the title of Shortest River in the World. It has an average length of just 120 feet. The problem for the D River is that it runs between Devils Lake and the Pacific Ocean and so with tides it can be anywhere from 58 feet to 205 feet long.
No comments:
Post a Comment