We had nothing on the agenda today. Nothing as in Nuttin' Honey! Nada. Zilch. Zero. The Big Goose Egg. There was nothing we had to do.
But, it's Monday and that means the Library is having their once-a-week book sale and that means there is a golden opportunity to get some neat books at a very reasonable price. And, if you know me at all, you know I am very much into getting anything at reasonable prices.
And so, after a little hemming and hawing, we finally got ourselves presentable and we headed out for the library. But, first, there were some pictures to be taken of the clouds sitting off the coast over the ocean....
....and this one.
These clouds were hanging beyond Cascade Head. I was too lazy to walk all the way around to the beach to get a picture of the Head with the clouds over them. I figured this would be good enough.
Laziness...it's a real thing.
But I realize I am in terrible condition...due to my abject laziness...and that I desperately need to get out and stay active. So, my grand plan was to drive to the D River State Park right in the center of town, park, and then walk to the library, a mere half-mile...up a slight hill.
And so, we did. First shot was of the colorful flags across the street signifying the presence of a Kite Shop. And wind socks, too.
We walked down towards the beach first. Y'Know, just to see what's what down on that piece of Lincoln City's Beaches. And it was a photo shoot. What first attracted our attention to this was that she was jumping in the air as he shot her picture. Hahaha, I guess it isn't only us that jump in the air for a good picture. I kept waiting for her to jump again but she wouldn't do it and so....I got this picture.
Once we got started, we were posed with a huge dilemma....should we walk up The 101 or take a neighborhood street, Ebb Street, to the library.
Taking Ebb would mean a slight detour and, possibly, a bit more distance to cover. Hmmmm, what to do, what to do.
Fortunately, my excellent sense of adventure, my dashing personality and my overwhelming desire to shoot pictures of just about anything overcame my natural inclination for always choosing the easiest way out. I chose to take the road less traveled...which was, y'know, true, cuz Ebb Street doesn't have one-twentieth the traffic that The 101 has.
And that's what we did. We went up Ebb Street.
And thus we made our laborious way up Ebb Street, I stopped every so often to get a picture of where we had been. The thing about travel is that if you really want to see everything then you have to walk back the way you came up. Seeing the same thing from a different direction you see so many things you missed the first time.
Which is a long way of saying that you need to look back or double-back every so often to get some fresh views.
Duh!!
Not much going on View Wise so we enjoyed the architecture in the area.
And then we stumbled onto this '48 Studebaker Starlight Coupe. We saw it as we were going up Ebb Street and so we made a slight detour to get a closer look.
What a beautiful car. Good grief, they could design cars back then.
C'Mon, you don't get stuff like this these days!! Classic!!
And, you could fit just about anything in that trunk!!
And here's Jeff. He and his family moved here not too long ago from Sacramento. Like us, they're enjoying the heck out of the area.
Jeff was doing the windows of his classic when we walked up. He was nice enough to answer our questions and let us drool over his Studebaker.
And he kept his French Mastiff, Gus, safely up on the porch. Although he did keep his eye on us the whole time we were there.
Awwww, lookit that face!! Who couldn't love that face!?!
Before we left, Jeff suggested we go up the hill towards the beach. There is a walk that parallels the crest of the bluffs overlooking the beach.
And so, we took off. Our adventure was, again, taking us in a new, unexpected direction. And as we walked up to the bluff, we got to see some sights. I really enjoy the original architecture from days gone by. They evidently were able to create new floor plans without breaking the bank. It made for some interesting houses.
So we crossed Ebb Street as we headed toward the bluff.
And found another Irish door. Nicely done.
Although, to be exact, few Irish doors had all that glass in them.
So the road petered out into this small path up to the crest.
And, as we walked up the path, we passed some honeysuckle.
Looking good!!
And we finally got to a place where we could see the beach. This shot is looking north toward our house and Cascade Head. That dark spot there in the center of the sandy beach is where D River, the World's Shortest River, drains into the Pacific Ocean.
Kind of an odd angle, but as you come to understand it, you will be able to appreciate how sheer the drop was off this bluff.
We walked along the bluff about 200 or so feet and then, when the trail petered out, headed back towards our main objective, the library.
And along the way there were some more cottages to appreciate.
And we found another lighthouse...an impressive lighthouse. They did a great job with this one.
And another cottage...with a white picket fence.
And as we headed down to the library, we crossed Ebb Street once again. We were getting to know Ebb Street very well.
OK, no surprise here. Daisy's are one of my favorites.
And, finally, we made it. What was suppose to be a short walk for a little exercise turned out to be a fun adventure and we found a new place to come back and visit again in the future.
But, we were there at the city hall/library/culinary center. Whew, they put a lot into that building.
And we were able to spend a pleasant hour browsing through the books for sale. And we got ourselves some good ones, too.
Like this Audubon book for Carol...
...and this 1943 edition of Pollyanna (Trade Mark), The Glad Book (Trade Mark), for me.
See the disclaimer beneath the author's name? It reads:
This book, while produced under wartime conditions, in full compliance with government regulations for the conservation of paper and other essential materials, is COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED
In '43, when this book was printed, the war was entering its second year. Wartime production took precedence over everything else and rationing was now part of the everyday American life.
We ended up with a bag filled with books. And it were heavy, too!!
While we were hoofing it back to the Mini at the State Park, we both were feeling like we needed a treat and so we popped into the Red Hook Restaurant and Bar. It's been on my list of places to eat at here in LCO and this seemed like a good time, sooooo.
Carol got herself the ol' standby, Fish 'N Chips. She said they were good, she ranked it 3rd out of the six places she's had Fish 'N Chips at here in Oregon. The fish were real and they were crispy but the insides were kinda soft and mushy....like they'd taken them right out of the freezer and plopped them into the fryer. The fries were good.
Me? I went off the grid here because they didn't have either a Reuben or a Patty Melt on the menu. So I opted for a beef sandwich on sourdough with a bowl of clam chowder.
The sandwich was...OK. No great shakes. The chowder was very good. I think it's the best I've had so far here in Oregon.
Haha, I was feeling pretty good as I worked down that chowder.
(P.S. Yes, all the really cool guys do wear their shades while they eat in restaurants.)
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| CB |
We finally made it back and found this pleasant surprise.
About a week and a half ago, while I was working in the yard, a car stopped and an older woman got out. She asked me about the people living next door to us. Seems many years ago she would vacation here in LCO and one year she met the lady that lived in the cottage next to ours.
That woman polished stones for a hobby and gave her some. So the woman from the car said she was back and trying to find the woman who had given her the rocks. She was getting on and had no more use for the stones and wanted to return them to the woman who gave them to her.
I told her the folks that lived next door now would be home later that evening and suggested to her that, if they weren't the ones, I knew someone who would appreciate the stones that lived right next door, Carol.
Well, I forgot about it but when we got back today, this package was in our mailbox.
And, once we opened it, we found these!!
Carol wasted no time in getting them into a glass vase so she could display them.
What a neat surprise.
I've been trying making some new dishes and I tried another new one tonight and it wasn't that bad. I put 12 chicken drumsticks into the crock pot along with a half cup of soy sauce and 8 ounces of Coca-Cola. Well, that's what the recipe called for but since I didn't have any soy sauce, I used some Teriyaki Sauce instead. They're almost the same thing, right? Right!!
So I put them all into the crock pot and then cooked them for seven hours and served them up with some mashed potatoes. They weren't bad. Well, they were edible. Now I've got some tasty left-overs for sandwiches.
After dinner we decided to take a walk up the beach.
It wasn't as sunny as it was earlier in the day but, still, it was nice. And there wasn't too much of a wind and that kept things reasonably pleasant and warm. Mind you, we started our walk around 1940 so it was around 2000 or later when most of these pictures were taken. But it doesn't get dark in these here parts until around 2200 so we had plenty of time.
And, even as late as it was, there were still people out on the beach.
The clouds were hanging off shore about 10 miles or so.
Whenever we go on a beach walk, we always see a lot of dogs. So it was no surprise when this guy came racing across the beach and into the water in front of us. Then Carol let out a whoop and yelled, "It's Cooper!! It's Cooper!!"
Back story - when we first arrived in LCO, we stopped by the local Sears Hometown Store looking for a weed whacker. The woman who owned the store was there....along with her dog, Cooper, who comes to work with her and hangs out around the store everyday.
We (and by we, I mean Carol) fell in love with Cooper, who is part Wolf, and gave him a good rub-down. Well, bottom line was, we had a new friend and learned that Cooper liked to take walks on the beach after work.
And we finally met him on one of them!!
Great friends.
Smilin' Jack and Carol Anne!!
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| CB |
As if seeing Cooper wasn't enough, while we were talking to them, a squadron of Pelicans came flying up the coast.
How cool is that?
Then, after the main pack flew by, these guys came back and began hunting.
We got to see several of them hunting. They would fly along and then, all of a sudden, they would dive, head first, into the water.
But, by now, it was time to be heading back. The weather was closing in and the beach was getting a bit foggy.
And we still saw the occasional pelican hunting along the shore.
Hahaha, I was thinking about some leftovers...a chicken sandwich maybe.
Feng shui for the beach. I'm a-thinkin' these rocks are pretty much in harmony with each other here.
Ahhh, Grasshopper, my work here is done.
But the clouds were closing in.
It was time to go home.
It was a great walk and a good capper on a great day.
No plans but the whole thing worked out well. A good walk, some new sights, some new books, a reasonably good meal and another great walk where we met an old friend and saw us some pelicans dishing up their dinner.
Definitely, a great day.
Sometimes big things happen with little effort. Sometimes you just gotta, sorta, go with the flow, y'know.
Life is pretty doggone good.
Hooah!!
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