Windy Days at the Beach



Maya at Nehalem Beach with a head wind

Oregon’s state parks are among the nicest we have visited and especially those parks along the coast.  The parks are clean and well tended and the sites are spacious with nearly all of them having electricity and water.  Since we didn't know when we would get our RV fixed for sure, we didn’t make a reservation but we thought on a Tuesday it shouldn’t be a problem.  So we drove from Portland to Nehalem Bay State Park where we had stayed when we were in Oregon two years ago.  The campground sign said “Full” but we thought we would check anyway.  I went up to the booth and the attendant there said yes, indeed they were full.  But right as I turned to walk away the park ranger in the back said, “Wait a minute.”  It turns out he was on the phone with someone who just canceled their reservation for the next two days.  Talk about lucking out!

A tail 'less' wind...

We settled into our campsite which was just a short walk from the beach.  Even though the temperatures were in the low 60s and the wind blew around 25 mph for both of our days at Nehalem Bay, we didn’t mind putting on a jacket.  We were just glad to be out of the sticky, 90 degree weather of Portland. 

 

Maya finds a feather

 

Like most dogs, Maya loves the beach.  It is sensory overload with all the many smells, stuff washed up from the ocean, so much excitement with people, other dogs, seabirds everywhere and the energy of those crashing waves.  As we were walking towards the beach, she started to whine and then once we were there she couldn’t stop bouncing, running and barking.  But once she settled down, then it was time for the serious business of ‘beachcombing.’ 

Maya loves to look for treasures that she can carry along with her or chew on or maybe even eat.  Crab shells, kelp, other dog’s soggy balls – she loves them all.  This trip she became quite enamored of a seagull feather she found.  She carried it around for hours but we finally took it away once she decided to eat it.  She was not too happy with us but as it was, she did get a little sick from the small bit she ate.  Lesson learned:  Don’t let your dog eat feathers, not even a little bite.

 

Mine!

 

 

 

All in all we had two days of windy beach walks and cool weather.  We congratulated ourselves on our decision to leave the heat in Portland. When we checked the weather and found out that the heat wave was covering most of central Oregon for the next week, staying on the coast was looking better and better.  We decided to travel south along the coast for the next week or so doing some more beach walks, catching part of the Oregon Coast Trail and maybe even hiking in a wilderness or two.

 

 

 

David's Stats:
Beach Days    2     
Total Miles Hiked    4.67     
Ave. Miles per Day      2.34
Total Elevation Gain     509
Ave. Elevation Gain per day   255