Oregon celebrates 150 years this year. It is a relative new state, and there are still many towns that sit 20+ miles from each other, under 2,000 people. On the south coast of the state, before it becomes California, these towns are a bit more pristine and unspoiled. Those people who reside here enjoy the pastoral and ocean views, appreciate the unspoiled vistas, and don't mind running to the bigger towns for supplies and entertainment.
We run to Coos Bay, the big city in our region, about 16,000 people, a day long event. "Run" is the incorrect word here, but it is the phrase we use to indicate a day when we have to stock up on stuff. Coos Bay is the place where there is a mini-mall, a casino, multiple shops, and a twelve screens movie theater. When we plan a trip to Coos, we try to do everything we can on that trip. It was mainly a fishing and lumber town, now a tourist destination, since both fishing and timber harvesting have slowed down to nothing.
When we first moved here we purchased an SUV for just these occasions. Furniture, plants, tools, and multiple loads of wood and appliances were transported home the same day we bought them. We felt like pioneers, going to town for provisions. For us old city folks it was revisiting the conveniences of a freshly baked pizza, or a hot and juicy quarter pounder with cheese, and we looked forward to these trips.
Today, we'll go up to Coos to buy soil amendments and new berry canes. We'll stop at the hardware store for irrigation tubing; then ,we'll go to Sizzler for our salad and salmon. Quarter pounders have done us wrong; and pizzas are only allowed to float in our dreams. We'll stop at the marina, and check the catch of the day. We have standing coolers with ice that travel with us on these runs.
We'll return home before sunset, ready to work in our gardens tomorrow, and thank God for such a beautiful place.
21 comments:
Your picture made me wish I was looking at that ocean, right now! You can keep the shopping...
thanks for stopping by my blog. Both of us liking 'Joy Luck Club' and you noticing it could only mean one thing - the blogosphere wants us to be friends :) Glad to have found you :)
I lived in Oregon from the age of eight until just before I turned 16. I miss it and your picture reminds me how much.
Thank you for showcasing our amazing State ........... hope Coos Bay was just what you ordered.
lovely picture, its a bit more built up here in London ;-)
Wizz :-)
Thank you for taking us along on your healthy shopping spree, and grand Coos Bay tour, Rosaria.
The photo is fantastic. From all your posted pictures, Oregon appears wilder than I thought. It's like the unspoiled California around Big Sur, another one of my favorites.
You sound better, refreshed. I can read between the lines that the physical therapy is starting to produce its desired effects. Brava.
I wish you a relaxing weekend, although I know you'll be very busy in the garden.
Ciao cara
Sounds like my idea of a grand day out! Wonderful! They took our Sizzler away - gasp!!! I miss the crab and celery salad. :(
Wonderfully descriptive Rosaria. I'll be honest and that say although I know the name, I'd never thought about Oregon's location within the US before What a fabulous photo.
What a gorgeous picture. Oregon is a beautiful place. My sister lives in Eugene - I should plan a trip back there!
Hi Rosaria,
I am looking at my road atlas of the US which I keep on my desk close by so that I can see where my friends love and my missives are heading, and I have found Coos Bay there on the coast...
It sounds as if you are fortunate to live in a small town but have access to the goods and goodies of the larger one nearby. I can see why you are often up later than some of your compatriots - being on the western rim of the country - only about 6 hours ahead of AU time (but the day before)
P.S. I left a bit of an explanation in response to your question at my home.
Happy gardening day
Oh My! How breath taking! I didn't realize what a beautiful place that was!
Wonderful scenery, wild looking ...
and it sounds like a wonderful life.
A wonderful pic - I love the Pacific North West and have spent time in and around Vancouver, the Island and Seattle, but have not got down to Oregon - it's on my list as it looks and sounds great.
I approve so of your quiet life away from the cities. One day.
Thanks for the beautiful mini-travelogue. I remember going down and up the coast from Canada to Northern California one summer, with my wife and her friend. Loved it all. Would love to do it again, but I don't travel so well these days.
P.S.: Thanks for dropping by "Newspapers RIP??" Did you ever think you were making history with your blogging?
Jinksy-I know, I still feel awe and so much good luck to wake up to these vistas. Like the song says, "I must have done something good!" ( It's from a musical that escapes me now.)
Pink dogwood--Welcome. Yes, we have lots of things in common.
Elizabeth Bradley--My husband grew up in the Northwest, and for all the years we lived in California, he missed the greenery and the rives, and the majestic Ocean. He gest his wish. I get to live in the best place on earth.
Helen--You have the other side of the state to talk about. I confess I haven't spent much time in your parts. I do miss all the sunshine you have.
English Shepert--Everyone has a dog or more here; They ride everywhere with their humans. Since the weather is cool most of the times, they can wait in the back seat for a while, patiently. Very civilized for our companions.
Lola-I finished therapy just as the weather began to clear and gave me reasons to be outdoors. I'm a frustrated gardener. Everything grows fast within weeks; now, besides tilling, mulching and planting, I have a lot of weeding to keep up. I do feel great.
Natalie--We started going to Sizzler again because we have to fill up on greens on instructions from the doctor. Sizzler offers enough choices. It is also kind on the wallet.
Siobh`an--I love your distinctive name. Oregon's first inhabitants were Irish and Welsh farmers, who brought gorse along, to keep their sheep and animals sheltered from the wind and other wild things. This time of the year, the gorse is resplendent. Later, not so much.
Reya--If you get to Eugene, let me know. We have a daughter there, and do much visiting with her. We can meet in real time and real space. Lunch at Marche!
-Delwin--I'm glad you found me on the map. I live in Port Orford, south of Coos. For us Coos is too big already.
Janis--You'll like it; but your girls will want more excitement.
Sarah Lu--The entire Pacific Northwest is like this. Cliffs, rivers spilling into the Ocean, caves and stacks, and ondulating coast line. Between Port Orford and Brookings, south of us, are the most spectacular vistas I've ever seen. California has a bit of this; we have the most.
Rob-I-Welcome. You know the Pacific, It is breathtaking.I have not been to Canada. You must share what it is like.
Rob-Bear. No, I don't think of myself as making history. In a sense we are all shouting at the same time, creating so much buzz, we are seen and felt as a mass/swarm of noise. If this lasts, the blogging, we might see more differentiation and grouping taking place. Right now, we're all childen in kindergarten, stopping at each playground equipment, meeting and slipping away until....
This whole experience -sharing a shopping trip that takes all day- feels unusual enough to me as it must be for all folks who don't live in such isolated places. I shared this incident because of its unusual quality.
Maybe, you are right, Bear. Maybe, in our own little corner we are experiencing and reporting. I'm reading Arthur Schlesinger's A Life in the Twentieth Century. He speaks of the life in the midwest when he was young, and later in Boston. He speaks in first person, with an intimacy that we find in the blogging world. They used to call these writings illustrative essays. Now, they are just posts.
Beautiful! One of my favorite vacations was a trip out to the Pacific Northwest, which included a stop in Seaside, Oregon. It was a wonderfully mysterious place at time, with dense fog and the smells and sounds of the ocean.
You are, indeed, lucky to live in such a beautiful place!
Incidentally, yesterday I heard something on Public Radio about Oregon. Someone mentioned that there is a significant stretch of the Oregon coastline that is now a dead zone, due to lack of oxygen in the water. A result of pollution. Have you heard about this?
I am dying for drive to the coast. It calls you back once you have been, over and over. Lucky you to be there!
As to the concern over my blog name- No worries, no apology needed. I was honored to be mentioned in your post!
(I once post Authorblog's name wrong, after he awarded me POTD. I was MORTIFIED!!)
Beautiful photo of the coastline. I would love to see this part of the country. What are berry canes? I'm not familiar with that term.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!
Oregon has, for a long time now, held a certain fascination for me. Perhaps it's because I imagine it to be a little like parts of the Western Cape coast. I love the stunning photographs and the eloquent, evocative descriptions of your world, lakeviewer.
Unbelievable vista. I'd be running to Coos every chance I got.
Absolutely gorgeous! Aren't you lucky to live by such beauty. I loved the coast of Oregon from my one visit. You capture it well.
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