OREGON STATE PARKS FUNDRAISER WALK
ASTORIA TO BROOKINGS
2008

This journal is in two parts.  Part 1 of the trip is on this page. The total length of this walk was about 360 miles.

Click here to read the second part of the journal, the walk from Newport to Brookings, Oregon

PART 1 - Walking the Oregon Coast from Astoria to Newport about May 25, 2008 - June 2, 2008

Lori Tobias wrote an article about our walk for the Oregonian newspaper 6/7/2008: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1212801920165540.xml&coll=7
We appreciated and enjoyed working with Lori Tobias. She's a very professional reporter as well as a very nice person.  Thank you, Lori!

Want to make a tax-deductible donation to the Oregon State Parks Trust Fund on our behalf? You can to that online here:
http://www.oregonstateparkstrust.org/Donate

Introduction:  (to be added later)
Oregon State Parks Fundraiser Walk Contact:  Michael excelsale@gmail.com

Sunday May 25, 2008
Astoria Chamber of Commerce, 111 W. Marine Dr., Astoria, OR 97103 – Hammond, OR 7.6 miles
Hammond, OR – Fort Stevens State Park 1.4 miles
9 miles

I've been through the desert on a horse with no name It felt good to be out of the rain

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Confucius

"All I ask is that this action or activity, whatever it may be, should add up to a first tentatve move toward that goal in life... remember the way to start walking is to get off your ass and move your legs." How to Make Your Own Luck by Bernard Gittelson.

Arrived in Astoria in the early afternoon. Put trailers together. Light to medium rain. Took pictures in front of the Astoria Chamber of Commerce. Got parking permit from the Chamber of Commerce.

Do You Know the Way to San Jose'?

Walked across the bridge from Astoria to Warrenton. Lupe’ was waiting for me, while I picked up a few groceries at Fred Meyer.

A woman walked up to her and asked, "Did I just see you walk across the bridge?"

"Yes." She saw the sign. Lupe’ told her what we were doing. The woman handed her a $20 bill, our first donation to the Oregon State Parks Trust Fund. http://oregonstateparkstrust.org/

When we arrived at Ft. Stevens State Park, the sun was shining through the trees. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_179.php

Everywhere We Go People Wanna Know
"Where are the Babies?"

Shafts of sunlight lit grassy fields flecked with miniature daisies. We chose a campsite that was secluded. Surrounded by large trees with a picnic table and fire pit. We noticed a young couple of baby hippies, both wearing packs walking into the hiker/biker area. She was 18 and he was 20 years old. They were walking and hitchhiking from Portland a couple o days before she had to return to the East Coast to go back to college. "Are you going to play your violin for us later?" I asked. She said, "Yes, you should busker while we’re here." They had a piece of twine strung between two trees with a tarp hung over it at the corners, which served as their tent, pegged at each corner. She was sewing a bright pink handbag, which she had been working on for several days.

We hiked about ¼ mile to the beach to view the rusting ruins of the Peter Iredale and took a few pictures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Iredale

The old rusty ruins of the wreck of the Peter Iredale
All Lupe' needs is a wire brush, some elbow grease and a few coats of Rustoleum paint
to flip this fixer ship and make millions.

We were tired from our walk and went to bed around 7:00 p.m. and never did get the opportunity to hear the busker violin music.

From Lupe's Journal:

We arrived at our starting point about 1:00 p.m.  It's been raining all day.   People at the Astoria Visitor's Center are very nice and helpful.  We took photos of us and they wished us well.  We parked the car at the Visitor's Center and walked to Fort Stevens, where we spent our first night.  As I watched Michael hooking up the trailers, it was cold and raining.  I thought I don't thnk I'm going to like this.  What am I doing? We walked across the Astoria-Warrenton bridge in the rain and received our first donation in front of Fred Meyers from a woman who saw us on the bridge and asked, "Did I just see you walk across the bridge?"

I had never camped out so I was surprised to see that the tent had a floor bottom in it to keep the creepy crawlers and the bugs out. I had imagined we were going to be laying on the earth with just our thermarest pads and sleeping bags and that critters would be crawling on us.  I found that I enjoyed staying in the tent.  Previously my idea of "roughing it" was to grilling a steak on the back deck and bringing it in the house to eat it.

Monday May 26 Memorial Day
Fort Stevens State Park – Motel 6 2369 S Roosevelt Drive
Seaside, OR 97138
14.2 miles

We packed our tent early, loaded the trailers and started walking toward Seaside. On the way out of the park, we took a few pictures at the entry to the park. After several hours, we finally got to Highway 101, but not before we had to push the carts up a hill on a very narrow stretch of road, which was intimidating because the road was curved, and we couldn’t see if cars were coming around the curve until they were right on us.

By the time we had walked all the way to Gearhart, we were also intimidated by very heavy Memorial day traffic. I was concerned that we might have to walk the carts on the narrow 2-lane bridge that goes over the inlet at the just south of the Seaside airport. Fortunately, the sidewalks were barely wide enough to accommodate the carts. We were both relieved to make it safely across the bridge and enter Seaside.

We waited for an opening in the traffic, ran across Hwy 101, headed down 24^th Avenue, turning south on N Holladay Drive. Then we turned West on 12^th Avenue and made it safely to the Seaside North Promenade, where no cars are allowed, only bikers and walkers. We walked down to the end of Broadway Street where Lupe’ took a couple of pictures of the Lewis & Clark statue at The Turnaround.

Lewis & Clark Statue, Seaside

We continued on the South Promenade and turned left on Avenue A.

We walked a few blocks on South Holladay Drive, and walked to Hwy 101. When we got to Hwy 101 there was no crosswalk within about a mile of where we were so we decided to take our chances.

Fortunately for us, it was about 6:30 p.m. and the busy Memorial Day traffic was dying down. A saintly lady in an SUV stopped her vehicle right in the middle of the busy highway, risking a rear-end crash in order to allow us to cross the highway safely.

Motel 6 was less than a mile south on Hwy 101. As we were walking through the 76 Station, the guy pumping gas asked us where we were headed. "Brookings" we replied.

"How far did you walk today?"

"Oh, about 14 miles"

"Good! Well, you’ll be walking 30 miles a day within the next few weeks."

"That’ll be the day," I replied, the Buddy Holly song playing in my head, that’ll be the day, whoo hoo, yes, that’ll be the day!

There was another gas jockey in front of the service station.

"We should fill up the buggies while we’re here," I quipped to Lupe’

He looked at me puzzled.

"On second thought, I don’t know where we’d put it. We forgot to bring our gas tank."

When we arrived at Motel 6 we were a bit tired, but very relieved and thankful to have made the walk on these busy roads on one of the busiest days for traffic on the coast during the year.

The folks at Motel 6 were really impressed when Lupe' drove up in
her Mercedes

Bigfoot was still in bed the Morning After He Served
us a Giant Plate of Oysters & a Burger with tons of Curly Fries

From Lupe's Journal:

We walked from Fort Stevens State Park to Motel 6 in Seaside.  After we had walked for quite a few miles, we thought we had reached Hwy. 101.  We made a rest top to call our families.  After that we discovered we weren't on Hwy. 101 and had to walk about 3 more miles before we finally did get to Hwy. 101.  The road was very narrow, with no shoulders.  The day was overcast and cold and we made a rest stop at Pirate's Cover Restaurant and Store where we had hot coffee.

Tuesday May 27
Motel 6 2369 S Roosevelt Drive
Seaside, OR 97138 – Oswald West State Park
16.2 miles

We hooked up the trailers and left Seaside early in the morning, just after daybreak.

After about 1-1/d hours of walking, we started up the long climb of the hill that goes to Cannon Beach.

After 4-1/2 hours we were in Cannon Beach. We went to the grocery store and asked for an espresso. The store had a machine. The clerk told us "If you want espresso, you may want to go to the espresso shop a few blocks down the main street in the courtyard behind the Pizza Place." We found Bella’s Coffee shop and got our espresso & double Americano.

Lupe’ had gone in to buy a few groceries. While she was in the store a man came riding up to me on his bicycle.

He asked, "Where are you headed?"

"Oswald State Park."

"If you’re going to Oswald, you can go down to the end of town and turn to the right. That will take you all the way down to Tolovana Park where you can rejoin the 101. You’ll get a good view of Haystack Rock from there."

"That would be great. We wanted to get some pictures of Haystack Rock."

Haystack Rock

"Be careful along the road going up to Oswald. The roads become narrow once you get out of town."

Fortunately for us, that wasn’t exactly true. However, there were some big hills to go up and we were pretty tired by the time we got to Oswald State Park.

We were surprised to see surfers with their boards and wetsuits in the parking lot.

When we got to the campground, we walked to the beach and counted 13 surfers in the water with 4 more suiting up getting ready to go into the water. We did see several surfers get up on their boards and surf for awhile.

We took the carts down a steep hill on a path through the woods for about 1/8 of a mile. We came to the first campsite #1. And it was beautiful. We would have been perfectly happy to camp there, but I decided to have a look at the rest of the sites. I walked down the trail and saw a water outlet followed by a self-registration kiosk and bathroom building with flush toilets and running water. Behind the restrooms, I noticed $12 campsite, a large area close to the bathroom and water. I went back and said to Lupe’, "Go down to campsite #12 and reserve it for us. I’ll be down in a few minutes with the trailers."

Lupe’ had just arrived at the site when 2 young ladies carrying armloads of wood walked into site #12.

Lupe’ told them, "This campsite is taken," ready to do battle if necessary. There were plenty of other sites available and the two young ladies ambled away without incident.

There were bluejays, crows, chipmunks and squirrels in abundance at this campsite.

This chipmunk ripped our bread off when Lupe' turned her back on him
We were so mad we wanted to strangle the little bastard & throw him in our cookpot

Lupe' at Happy Hour
Ready to do battle & defend our campsite from all invaders
especially bread-stealing chipmunks

The Beach at Oswald
Some of the small dots in the water are surfers, all were wearing wetsuits

We had inadvertently left our food bag unzipped when we walked to the beach and when we returned to our site, a tiny chipmunk had gotten into our food bag and stolen our loaf of fresh-baked bread which were were so looking forward to eating that night with our dinner.

We were disappointed to see that chipmunk ripping away at our bread loaf, obviously pleased with his booty, which was almost bigger than he was.

We had put forth a strenuous day of pushing the carts up and down the big hills between Seaside & Oswald State Park.

The next morning, I spoke with one of the rangers about history of the park and the reservoir and filtration system that supplied water for the campsite and the restrooms down by the beach. I was amazed that there was clean running water in such a remote campsite.

James Reinke
Ranger Jim

The tent sites all had large flat sand boxes on which to pitch tents, a very nice touch for such a primitive campsite.

From Lupe's Journal:

7:00 a.m. departed from Seaside Motel 6.

Wednesday May 28
Oswald West State Park – Manzanita 4.9 miles
Manzanita - Nehalem Bay State Park 1.3 miles
6.2 miles

We headed up the trail to the parking lot. It was raining that morning and soon we had to cross a long, winding narrow bridge. It was early in the morning and fortunately for us, no cars passed us on that long narrow fast walk over that narrow bridge.

It was foggy and rainy as we pushed our way up Nehakanie Mountain. Shoulders were narrow.

When we got to Manzanita, we stopped at the grocery store.

Scotch Broom
I had to explain to Lupe' that these are not flowers.
The State of Oregon spends a lot of money trying to get rid of this beautiful stuff.

Entrance to an awesome nice Hiker/Biker camp

The Beach at Nehalem Bay with Dunes

When we got to Nehalem Bay state Park we met Tom Perry who was cycling from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia.  He estimated the time it would take him to go the distance of over 4,000 miles would be 90 days, but it only took him 63 days. Tom is a retired environmental engineer who retired early.  He said that doing an ironman triathalon last year gave him increased confidence.  "This is not a big deal.   Anybody can do it!"  He recommended to increase training distances by 10% a week, and said that rest is important in the recovery and rebuilding process.  His wife planned to join him in Yellowstone to follow by car for 700 miles.

The amazing Tom Perry
http://tomstrans-americabiketrip.blogspot.com/

After Tom left, we met Lucas Kirby who was on his first day travelling to Virginia on his bicycle. (pix)

Lucas Kirby, musician
Got himself in awesome shape by riding his bicycle across America, summer 2008
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=3619&v=Ad

Check Lucas' music out here:  http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=421709

The next day, we would be doing 27-1/2 k- 28 miles walk from Nehalem Bay State Park to Tillamook.

Thursday, May 29
Nehalem Bay State Park – Nehalem, Or
2.4 miles
Nehalem - Mar Clair Inn, 11 Main Ave, Tillamook, OR 97141
24.1 miles
26.5 miles

How far by car?  Oh, about a half hour.
How far walking?  Oh, about 12 hours.

Wow! We've walked 2 miles already!
Only 11 hours more to walk to Tillamook
Whoop Dee Do!

Retired Log
Looking south toward Wheeler

We met Lori from the Oregonian in Rockaway Beach. As we were walking into Rockaway, she had rolled down her window, slowed down as she passed us and yelled, "I’m a reporter!"

"Well, whoop dee frickin’ doo" we both said outloud.

She stopped down the road about ¼ of a mile and took pictures of us as we were walking toward her.

She told us that she’d like to do a story on us. She said she reported on the Oregon Coast for the Oregonian Newspaper. She said it was very hard to get a story accepted by her editor and the story probably wouldn’t get past his desk, it wouldn’t fly.

She asked us some questions about our trip and what we were trying to accomplish as she furiously took detailed notes in shorthand.

Then we saw her about about another ¼ mile down the road. "I just called my editor and he gave me the okay to do the story" she said.

She asked us to call her on Sunday and let her know our location and our itinerary.

She said she wanted to walk with us on Monday.

I said, "Make sure to wear some comfortable shoes."

Late in the afternoon, after a long, shoulderless walk, we finally reached Garibaldi.

We were nearing the far end of town why a guy named Jim came running up to us on the sidewalk. Jim and Eva are the owners of the Parkside Coffee House in Garibaldi, Oregon.

"Would you like a soda? Can I get you two a soda? It’s a warm day out here, come on in our shop, and I can get you a soda."

"No, thank you. It’s late in the day and we still have a long walk to Tillamook. We need to avoid getting sugared up at this time of day." I replied.

"Well, then, how about something to eat? A sandwich? Would you like something to drink?

"Well, perhaps and Espresso," I said.

Jim noticed our sign: Oregon State Parks Fundraiser Walk.

"Are you raising money for the parks," he asked?

"Yes, we’re raising awareness of the need to support the parks, and we’re collecting donations for the Oregon State Parks Trust Fund. http://www.oregonstateparkstrust.org/About

Jim said, "Just a minute. Wait right here." When he came back, he had a donation for the trust fund, but wished to remain anonymous. I went into the Coffee House and met his wife Eva.

Wake Up & Smell The Coffee
Only 3 hours more walking to get to Tillamook
Jim & Eva's Parkside Coffee House
Garibaldi

"Are you closed?"

"Yes," said Jim, "But that doesn’t matter. We’ll serve as long as we’re still here and the door’s not locked."

I ordered a double Americano and a single Espresso for Lupe’.

"My daughter called me several days ago and she told me she had seen you two walking around Gearhart. She said mom and dad, when these people come through your town, you need to stop them and give them something to eat or drink at your shop."

By chance, Jim had glanced out the window and saw us parading by the coffee house which had caused him to come running out to greet us.

When I took the espressos out, Lupe’ was a bit peeved and raring to go.

"We need to get going," she said, "We need to be in Tillamook before it gets dark."

"Relax," I said. "Everything is in divine order and we will get to Tillamook okay."

"Yes," she said, "But you told me we need to cover about 28 miles today and I’m not sure we’re going to make it that far before dark. We really need to get going.

"You should just relax. Everything is going to work out. We’ll be in Tillamook before dark.

As it turned out, that double Americano was exactly what I needed at that time to help get me through the mid-afternoon fatigue of this 28 mile walk.

Tracks and Bay
South of the "big G" - Garibaldi

The afternoon was beautiful. There were nice, wide shoulders on the road. For the most part, it was flat and well-maintained and there wasn’t much debris on the side of the road.

Jim & Eva Keyser
Parkside Coffee House
Garibaldi, OR
503-322-0357

We made it into Tillamook before dark and spent that night at the Mar Clair Inn.

From Lupe's Journal:

We're meeting many nice people and we usually have time to visit with them.  But sometimes we don't have as much time to tak with them as we'd like because we want to get to our destination before dusk.  On the way to Tillamook, a woman passed us, then came back and waited.  She said she's a reporter with The Oregonian.  She checked with her editor, and said that he gave her permission to do a story on u.   She asked us a few questions.  We'll call her on Sunday to confirm a meeting on Monday in Neskowin. 

Today is a beautiful day with much less steep hills than a couple of days ago (tuesday).  We had a great lunch at Rockaway Beach.  Great food, great value, the place was friendly and clean. We met Jim and Eva, the recent owners of Parkside Coffe House Espress and Cafe.  Jim gave us free coffee and offered pastries, he was very hospitable.  We'd like to visit them more when we can stay longer.  Their daughter saw us in Seaside.  She called Jim & Eva and said, "Mom and dad, when they come through town, be sure to flag them down and offer them something."

Jim had seen us on the road when he was driving through Cannon Beach and though he'd like to meet us when we came through Garibaldi.  Today, he looked through the window of the cafe and there we were.  He came running out and seemed to appear from nowhere.

We're becoming more efficient at getting up and taking down camp.

I saw my reflection in a window somewhere and I though how different I look than I dd even a year or six months ago.  My hair is buzzed short, sometimes I almost have no makeup left on my face.  I have two broken fingernails.  My manicure is shot and I've never been happier.  I look absolutely radiant, sleeping in a ten in a campground.  Wearing pants daily, having only 3 shirts and two pants to wear, sometimes going without a shower to public places.  This was just not a part of my former life.  W're getting noticed on the road and people are sometimes giving a donation for the Oregon State Parks Trust Fund.

I've never seen more beautiful blooming scotch broom in all my life!

Friday May 30
Mar Clair Inn, 11 Main Ave, Tillamook, OR 97141 – Cape Lookout State Park
12.3 miles

The next morning we had breakfast at the Dutch Mill Café, kind of a historic landmark in Tillamook and apparently a popular and frequent hangout for the locals. We were pleased that they served logger-sized portions, becuase our appetites had increased a lot due to our daily long walks, pushing the trailers. The food was really great and the portions were large. The waitress explained to me that the loggers would get real grouchy if they weren’t served larger portions, so that’s what they do at the Dutch Mill. The walls of the Dutch Mill were kind of a history of the place, with pictures of loggers and some large framed photos of Bayocean, the town that fell into the sea. http://www.oregoncoast101.com/articles/ghosts_from_a_dream.htm

I spoke with one of the locals, a 93-year old man who is a frequent customer at the Dutch Mill Café. I asked him why there were some many logging trucks. Logging trucks were running by the café at the rate of about one per minute.

"The mill’s down the street about 4 blocks." "See that picture up on the wall?"

"Yes," I said. The photo was a black and white showing a man sitting on a huge tree stump with a hand-operated crosscut saw next to him.

"That photo was taken about 70 years ago. The guy in the picture is me."

Sunseri's Dutch Mill
206 Main Ave
Tillamook, OR 97141

After we got back to the motel, I walked to the local Coin-Op Wash and Dry Laundromat on 3^rd street, about 3-blocks away and did some needed laundry, giving Lupe' time to get ready for the day's walk.

When I returned, it was about 10:30 a.m. and we got off to a late start. Put the trailers together and walked a few blocks to the Blue Moon Café’ for a cup of espresso.

While we were sitting outside the café, a police officer walked up to us and asked where we were going. We told her we were walking to Brookings, raising funds for the Oregon State Parks. She told us she had done a lot of walking and that would probably be something she might like to do. We invited her to join us on the walk, but she declined.

After the espresso, we walked to the library, where we met Lori and Dean who were bicycling from Vancouver, BC to San Diego, California. http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=67948&v=C1

The previous year they had done almost 5,000 miles "Riding the Northern Tier West to East 2007".

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/twehues2007

We were pleased to take their pictures and then went into the Tillamook Library to use the computers.

Cycling Masters
Lori & Dean
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=3201&v=Mk

The old library was nice, but their new library is impressive, it’s really beautiful and modern. To quote from their website: "A bond for a new Tillamook County Main Library passed on September 16, 2003. Groundbreaking for the new Main Library started in March of 2005. The new Tillamook County Headquarters Library opened September 30, 2006!" http://www.tillamook.plinkit.org/about-us

Yeahhhh!

We left the library and headed west on 3^rd street (Netarts Hwy W) past the Tillamook County Hospital and had gone a little over a mile when I noticed a building that said KMBD AM1590 KTIL FM94.3

Even though we were getting a late start on our walk that day, here was an opportunity to stop and see if they would like to interview us. We were informed that the lady who did the interviews would be returning within a half hour, which she did. We met the station owner, and were invited in to do the interview. I stayed outside to watch our carts while Lupe’ did the interview. While I was there, a guy with long hair came walking along the road and I said "Hello". He introduced himself, his name was Donald. I could see through the plastic bag he was carrying that he had plenty of beer. He said that he did crafts and showed me some a cigarette pouch that he had hand sewn.

He said he was going across the bridge and was going to spend the afternoon on the dock by the river. He invited us to come down for a visit.

He said that he had been trying to get to Netarts, but that he had accidentally taken the wrong road from the coast and ended up walking to Tillamook. That’s a long journey when you’re walking, probably about 20 miles.

When Lupe’ finished her interview, we continued walking on the nearly shoulderless Netarts Hwy West. I was surprised at the amount of traffic on the road, and at the number of large trucks that have to use the highway, carrying everything from Pepsi-Cola to Fritos Corn Chips out to the coast to supply the demand.

The Netarts highway became quite steep in places, and we took frequent rest breaks not only to catch our breath, but just to get off the road and feel a bit safer.

We finally reached the top and turned left on Whiskey Creek road, again shoulderless, but at least there was a lot less traffic.

When we got down the hill we found that this road is one of the most challenging on the whole route due to the large number of cracks and potholes. The roughness of the road makes it difficult to ride a bike, and walking, we nearly twisted our ankles when we stepped into some of these holes.

It was a relief to get to Cape Lookout State Park. The roads are well maintained once you actually enter the park. The traffic was very light and walking into this beautiful park gave us a feeling of peace and serenity.

When we reached the registration booth, I turned the trailers around so the Park Ranger could see our sign for the Oregon Parks Fundraiser walk. We told her a bit about what we were doing, raising money to support the parks. As we were registering, she told us there was only one other camper in the hiker-biker site and that the primo site, with the view of the ocean was available. Naturally, when we got there, we took it.

We took a rest day at Cape Lookout State Park, and it turned out most of the time to be rather cold, in the 50’s.

From Lupe's Journal:

The weather today is nice.  It's clear, somewhat cool, but at least there's sun. We met Dean and Lori today who are on their way from Vancouver, B.C. to San Diego, California.

About noon we stopped by radio station KTIL, which is on the way to Cape Lookout State Park.  A lady named Barbara gave me an interview about our fundraiser walk. Our rest day at Cape Lookout was cool, with no sun.  We met Graham at the park.  He's from England, is semi-retired and teaches tennis lessons.

Cape Lookout State Park
Looking South from our Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Campsite

Cape Lookout State Park
Looking North, Grey Sky Over Me

Saturday May 31
Cape Lookout State Park Rest Day

On the morning of our rest day, I notice a paraglider who had just landed in the parking lot.

I went over to him and asked him where he was from. He said he was from Vancouver. He was retired and his main occupation was paragliding in the Northwest. He told me he kept a careful watch on the weather, and if conditions looked good for paragliding, he would get in has car and go.

On the 2^nd day, our rest day, later on in the day, an English fellow by the name of Graham took the campsite near us. We swapped stories and he told us about his bicycle adventures in France and Italy.

Lupe’ and I thought we had brought plenty of food with us, but we were eating about twice as much as we usually did. We discovered that there was very little substance to Minute Rice. We ran out of rice. Evening came, and we were still hungry, and out of food. The nearest grocery was about a 10-mile walk round-trip at an average walking speed of 2-1/2 miles per hour, that’s about a four hour walk.

"We’re out of food," I said, almost laughing. I couldn’t remember being out of food since I was in college and money was tight and I lost about 10 pounds.

"I have some stuff that I don’t want," Graham said after a moment’s pause in the conversation.

"I’ll be back in a minute."

When Graham came back he had a block of exotic Cheese, a box of Thai noodles, a tin of Herring in Basil and Tomato sauce.

Wow. We really were getting hungry and would have had to go to bed hungry, but here, in this campground a total stranger gave us food.

Those Thai noodles with the herring mixed in and the cheese were just enough to make us feel comfortable.

We went to be and slept well that night.

Something Other Than a Mosquito Just Flew In
Jim the Paraglider in the Parking Lot at Cape Lookout

From Lupe's Journal:

We had the day off at Cape Lookout.  The weather was cool, with no sun.

Sunday June 1
Cape Lookout State Park – Anchorage Motel, 6585 Pacific Ave, Pacific City, OR 97135
15.5 miles

The next morning I awoke about 4:00 a.m. to the sound of rain on our tent.

It was cold outside, but I got up and made coffee, walked over to look at the beach, listened to the portable radio we had with us and just relaxed and waited for the dawn.

The next morning, it was misting, but by the time we got to the entrance of the park and started the long 3-mile climb up the hill south of Cape Lookout, the rain had stopped.

It took us over an hour to get up the hill, and it did rain a bit on the way up.

Graham passed us on the way up. He said we would probably pass him later on, but we never did see him again. He said he was going to take a rest day at the campground in Lincoln City, but it was raining so hard when we got there, that we checked into Motel 6.

We started down the hill, and stopped about halfway down to make some coffee and eat breakfast at a turnout in the road. We were passed by a couple of dozen bicyclists on our way down the hill, and as they went by, most of them were shouting "Whoooo Hoooooo," as they careened down the long hill at speeds of probably over 30 mph.

Sandlake Grocery, Cloverdale, Oregon

Looking north, just south of Sandlake Grocery
The mountain we walked over from Cape Lookout is in the distance
It was enveloped in a cloud which explains why we got rained on up there
A photo can't really do justice to the amazing size of this hill.
We walked uphill nearly 3 miles which took us 1-1/2 hours and then down for about 45 minutes.

Sunday traffic was steady, but not overwhelming. The major difficulty was the roads from Sand Lake to Cape Kiwanda.  Most of them were without shoulders.   We walked on the left side of the street, facing traffic. Every time a car or a stream of cars would approach us, we would push the carts off the asphalt onto the shoulder.  This caused our first flat tire. The sun finally came up just south of Tierra Del Mar.

Lupe' bent over to hide behind the trailers so she wouldn't be in the picture
"Stand up Honey, your butt's stickin' out"
She looks much more regal standing up

It was actually getting sunny and warm by the time we started walking down the hill toward Cape Kiwanda. We were only about 6 blocks from town when Lupe' said

"I need to bandage my feet."

"Honey, it's only 6 blocks to town where we can get something cold to drink.  Can't you just wait until we get there to bandage your feet?"

"No, I need to do it now!"

Lupe's feet had been hurting for several hours, but she hadn't said anything about it.

"Why didn't you tell me when your feet started hurting?"

"Because you needed me to walk up and down those mountains and I didn't want to slow our progress."

After her blisters were bandaged Lupe' said "Okay, my feet feel better now."

From Lupe's Journal:

We started walking early in the morning, in a light rain.  After a while it cleared up and became sunny a few miles before we reach Cape Kiwanda. We stayed at the Anchorage Motel in Pacific City and had dinner at Los Caporales restaurant.   Very good Mexican food.

Bandaid Stop just before we get to Blister City.
Looking south toward Cape Kiwanda.
"Stop!" Lupe' said, "I need to bandage my feet RIGHT NOW!"

The beautiful people hanging out at Cape Kiwanda State Park

Monday June 2
Anchorage Motel, 6585 Pacific Ave, Pacific City, OR 97135 – Motel 6, 3517 NW Highway 101
Lincoln City, OR 97367
19.6 miles

There was a nice shoulder on the road going out of Pacific City. We had agreed to meet Lori from the Oregonian newspaper at Neskowin at 10:00 a.m to do an interview for an article for the paper.  We left Pacific City at 7:00 a.m. which allowed us three hours to walk 8 or 9 miles from Pacific City to Neskowin.  The walk wasn't too bad, but there were a couple of fairly steep hills we had to walk up and down on the way to Neskowin.

We arrived in Neskowin a few minutes before 10:00 a.m. and Lori came shortly after that

Neskowin
Lori Tobias, reporter for the Oregonian Newspaper

After the interview, we left Neskowin about 11:30.  We had previously thought about walking the bicycle route to Otis, however we dropped that idea after thinking about how rough the roads were on that route, and decided to walk on Hwy 101 up the approximately 780-foot hill that starts about a mile south of Neskowin.

We walked on the left, facing traffic, because that's where the shoulder of the road was the widest.  Walking up the Neskowin hill and pushing carts, it just seems to go on and on, so we needed to take quite a few breaks to catch our breath and allow our heart rate to slow down.

I pushed the carts and Lupe' pushed from behind.

"I think I'm getting stronger," she said. "The hill going to Cannon Beach was more challenging than this, and I think I'm getting in better shape."

Lupe' put her pancho on, and I wondered why, since it wasnt' raining very much. When we got near Lincoln City, we were greeted by heavy traffic and darn near shoulderless roads.  I had to walk the carts mostly off of the road, with only one wheel on the asphalt.  By that time, Lupe' was past her comfortable limit of walking for the day, so she was riding in the front cart.

I tried to keep my thoughts away from how scary this walk into Lincoln City actually was.  However, Richard rode his bike up there a few days a later and sent me an email with a comment about our walk into Lincoln City:

"I marveled at some stretches of highway you guys managed to navigate, especially that couple of miles coming into Lincoln City from the
north.  Gadzooks and eureka!"

Walking across the parking lot to Marketplace Outlet, a couple was walking by peering into our carts.

"Where are the babies," he asked.

I pointed to Lupe' walking across the parking lot in her yellow pancho.

"There she is," I replied.

We picked up a few items at Marketplace Outlet, and then walked over to Safeway to get the rest of our groceries.  We had intended to camp at Devil's Lake campground that night.

Just as we walked across the Safeway parking lot, it start raining cats and dogs.  After about 1/2 mile we came to a motel 6 where we checked in for the night.

Later in the room, I got our propane cookstove out and started boiling water for pasta which triggered the fire alarm system at Motel 6.

Lupe' was talking on the phone with her brother, who was telling us how to turn the fire alarm off which was screaming loudly throughout the building.  However, in spite of the simple instructions from her brother telling us how easy it was this was a fire alarm from hell. There was no  way to reset it or disconnect the battery.   It just kept screaming.

I went to the check-in desk to fess up and tell the poor lady we had just set off the fire alarm. I wanted to let her know what I had done before we got busted and she called the fire truck.

"Have you been smoking in your room," she barked.

"No," I answered answered meek as a mouse.

"What were you doing then?"

"I was cooking pasta."

She followed me to the room with the fire alarm from hell still screaming.

"Damn, damn, damn!" the desk clerk ejaculated.

After a few moments, a miracle happened and the fire alarm from hell stopped screaming.

"You need to use the microwave," the desk clerk told me.

Unfortunately, all we had were metal dishes, which are good for camping but you can't use them in the microwave.

I took my propane stove and pan of pasta out of the motel, went to the corner of the building and finished cooking our pasta in the rain.

From Lupe's Journal:

Today, after we walked about 9 miles from Pacific City to Neskowin, we had an interview with Lori, a reporter with The Oregonian.  We split a turkey sandwich and headed out for Lincoln City. We have a new friend in Oregon.

Tuesday June 3
Motel 6, 3517 NW Highway 101
Lincoln City, OR 97367 – Beverly Beach State Park
20.6 miles

The rain was heavy all night long, as well as in the morning.  In the morning, the wind was blowing 30 mph.

"Let's go home," Lupe' said wearily, as we looked out the window into the windy rainswept gloomy streets.

"Maybe it will clear up. Let's wait a while and see."

Sure enough, the rain died down in about 3 hours.  We checked out of the hotel, trailers loaded and walked down the street to have breakfast.

That day, it rained on and off.

When we got to Salishan, the it started raining really hard.   Fortunately there was a nice coffee shop in there, so we took a break, dried off and had a cup of coffee. That was pretty much the way it went all day long, with the on-again, off-again rain.

One of the most wonderful things that happened for us on the way to Beverly Beach State Park with being able to get off the busy and intimidating Hwy. 101 and take the Otter Crest Loop up to the lighthouse, and then the long beautiful walk down with almost no traffic at all.

Lonely Sailors Pass the Time Away and Talk About Their Home
They say Brandy, You're a Fine Girl
Your Eyes Could Steal a Sailor From the Sea
500 Feet Above the Sea
Where the History of Oregon Began

Wow! only Four More Miles to Walk to Beverly Beach.
Looking South from the Parking Lot at the Lighthouse on Otter Crest Loop

We put in a long day of walking.  Just as we arrived at Beverly Beach, a rear tire went flat, and we pushed the trailers up the hill to the hiker/biker campsite with a flat tire.

There was only one other person, Richard at the hiker/biker site at Beverly Beach State Park. Soon I noticed Richard walking into the hiker/biker site.   I had the advantage of knowing his name, because the Park Ranger told me when we checked in.

"Hi, Richard," I said.

Richard smiled and said hello.

We ended up swapping stories the next morning over a cup of coffee. Richard told me that he had been on the road for the past six years.  The first year, he walked.  Then he picked up a one-speed Schwinn bicyle and rode that many thousands of miles around the country. Finally, last year he picked up the one-speed dream machine.   It cost less to buy the new dream machine than it would have cost to have the old Schwinn rebuilt, because prices for the obsolete parts have become so expensive.

One of the main things Richard enjoys doing is taking pictures.  He told me that over the years, he would spend the winters in Arizona and then ride up to Montana in the summers on his one-speed bicycle.  One of his favorite books is Illusions, by Richard Bach.

He highly recommended TAO TE CHING Lao-tzu by Taoist Master John Bright-Fey, which I was able to order on the web.

Mystery Man
Home is anywhere I can feel the tao beneath my feet
My feet must be fine-spun as well
- Tao Te Ching


Richard

Richard's Dream Machine: a one-speed bicycle,
Camp Lupe' in the background

The happy camper was amazed
to find that the tent had a floor on it
to keep the slugs, earthworms and creepy-crawly things out

From Lupe's Journal:

The weather today was cold, rainy and misty, but it finally cleared up some in the morning.  Then it was rainy and cold again, about one hour before we arrived at camp.   Thank you, goddess.

06/04/2008

We called the car rental.  Yes!  They have a car one way to Astoria on a beautiful synny day.  Overall it was mostly cool and overcast with light to medium rain, mist, with some sun.  However, even when the sun came out it was still cool. I got more sunburned there after I used sunblock.  About 10:30 a.m. the driver from Enterprise Rent-a-Car picked us up at our Beverly Beach campsite. We arrived at the Astoria Visitor's Center about 4:50, just in time to unload and return the rental car.   It's been great, but it's good to be going home.  I am feeling sooo earthy!   My feet got blistered twice.

Richard Bach   ~ from "Illusions"
Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river. The current of the river swept silently over them all - young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current going its own way, knowing only its own crystal self.
Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth.
But one creature said at last, 'I am tired of clinging. Though I cannot see it with my eyes, I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom.'
The other creatures laughed and said, 'Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!'
But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks
Yet in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.
And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, 'See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!'
And the one carried in the current said, 'I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.'
But they cried the more, 'Saviour!' all the while clinging to the rocks, and when they looked again he was gone, and they were left alone making legends of a Saviour.
Copyright © Richard Bach

Wednesday, June 4
Beverly Beach State Park to Enterprise Car Rental – Home to Kirkland
Total Miles: 140.1

We called Enterprise Car Rental at 8:00 a.m. that morning as soon as they opened. We had been told a few weeks earlier that it was impossible to get a one-way rental to Astoria, because they just didn't have enough cars in their inventory to do that.

"Hello, Enterprise? We need to rent a car one way to Astoria today."

"We can do that. We have one car going into Les Schwab for an oil change and servicing this morning.  It should be done in a couple of hours."

"That's wonderful!"

"And, we can pick you up.  Where are you?"

"We're at the hiker/biker site at the Beverly Beach campground."

About 10:00 a.m. Enterprise called us and sent their driver to pick us up.  We were happy and grateful to do the impossible and find a one-way rental car back to Astoria.

I never even had time to fix the flat tire.  Maintenance on the trailers would happen during the couple of weeks before the next part of our adventure.

From Lupe's Journal:

Things I liked/enjoyed the most:

That I overcame my fears and concerns and allowed myself to be open to the experience.   I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed sleeping in a tent (perhaps because it was much more comfortable than I imagined). The sounds of unfamiliar birds and other critters such as chipmunks and the meditative experience as we walked for hours every day.  The downsizing I did was amazing.  I was down to just 4 shirts, 2 pants and 6 pairs of underware.  I liked the appreciation and spiritual connectedness I felt towards the earth.  I was tempted to cut flowers but decided to leave them alone and let them be happy where they were. I learned about camping and prioritizing.   I learned how to set up a camp site.  I discovered that I was able to "rough it" a bit, watching and feeling my body become stronger and more able.   I enjoyed the beautiful sights and ocean vistas.

My senses sharpened.  I enjoyed simple meals of salads, bannanas and nuts, and dry cereal.  On our days off we were cold all day.  We were hungrier than we had anticipated.

We were getting very low on food at Cape Lookout. Though we had planned well, we found our minute rice was not very substantial and we were hungrier than usual and therefore our food supplies ran out.  It was early evening and it would have been about a 10-mile round trip walk to the nearest store.  We had a long walk prior to that. As our thoughts seemed to be mostly on eating we talked about possibly toasting marshmallows, or a hot dog the next time we were at a store.  Then I said "Some pasta would be great to give us a break from rice."  Within about an hour Graham came to our camp.  We invited him for chatting and a cup of wine.   Michael jokingly mentioned how we were running out of food. Graham sweetly and graciously said "I have some Thai noodles and fish that I don't want." He said that we could have it if we wanted, and he even shared a bit of soft cheese with us.   That meal was as delicious and satisfying as a gourmet meal.   Outdoor living can increase the appetite, and even the food in restaurants tasted better than usual.

I liked the smiles, waves and good comments people gave us on our journey as well as the people we met along the way.  Instant coffee, made from boiling water over a cylindrical propane burner on a cold morning is wonderful, and it helps warm up the hands as well.

Being willing and able to change my normal day-to-day life routine and reach outside my comfort zone enriched my life and caused me to be, do and experience life more fully. I appreciated being able to find and discover more of my strengths, adaptability and creativity.  I experienced the comfort and joy of being able to walk even with bandages on my feet after they became sore and blistered.

(Part II to come sometime in August, 2008)

Misc

The Beach at Seaside

She likes to camp at the Hilton

copy of the email from Vanessa Demoe:

From: "Vanessa Demoe"
To: Lupe'
Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 14:13:27 –0700
Subject: State Parks Trust information

Hello, it was so nice to talk to you. Again, thank you for your support and dedication to Oregon State Parks. Please do call and you have to send me pictures!

http://www.oregonstateparkstrust.org/
Oregon State Parks Trust | 2100 SW River Pkwy, 4th Floor Portland, Oregon 97201
503-227-0479 or 800-497-2757 | info@oregonstateparkstrust.org

Vanessa R DeMoe
Oregon Parks & Recreation
Assistant to the Director
725 Summer St NE Ste C
Salem, OR 97301

503-986-0719
vanessa.demoe@state.or.us

PART 2 - Walking the Oregon Coast from Newport to Brookings June 24 - July 31, 2008