DAY 15: HALLOWEEN ON THE COAST

Happy Halloween to all my family, friends and followers! Today is actually my second Halloween in Oregon. Five years ago, I was here to plan and manage a community Halloween event with a haunted house for a local natural grocery store in Eugene with a circus/freakshow theme. It was a dream gig and I spent an extended trip out here to plan it.

My second Halloween was a bit less festive, but still fun. We were up early...me around 6:30am to try and finish drafting yesterday's blog post. Then, Liz woke up and we lounged around in our beds since the sun hadn't come up yet. I took a walk to the cold and dewy deck of Redwood Commons at pre-dawn to find that our duck friend was gone, but bowls of food and water had been left for him. Without a dry place to perch myself, I stood with my computer on the railing and watched the pale pink moon descend into the ocean as the dawn faded sleepily into day. The pink and blue clouds shadowed above the ocean, a beautiful sight as I danced in place in lightweight pajama bottoms and yesterday's hoodie.

With the blog posted, I hurried back to our RV, where Liz was dressed and ready to hike. I showered in the mini bathroom, and the water was burning hot against my frozen fingers. I hurried to get ready and dressed in layers since the chilly morning was supposed to give way to temperatures in the 60s this afternoon. I wore my orange Patagonia fleece, somewhat intentionally for Halloween since I didn't have a costume. I dressed Portland in his orange ugly Christmas sweater to match and we were all off on a walk around the tiny home community.

Just one door down from our place, on the corner is a large square dog park that is fenced in and I let Portland off leash to run with no other dogs to worry about. It was a quick run in the chilly weather, and we continued down the block, admiring and each picking out our favorite tiny home. I wondered how many full time residents live here and how many are rentals through AirBnb, like ours. We also discovered the Doug Fir Lodge, a larger community center that we would have to visit later on.

I wanted to walk to the beach, but we were already getting hungry, so we headed back towards the RV and loaded into the RAV4 for a short drive into Yachats for breakfast. We ended up at the Green Salmon Coffee Company, where they didn't have any indoor seating available, but they had a nice menu so we decided to order. Portland waited in the car, and Liz and I both ordered lox bagel plates with everything bagels, that came with all kinds of veggies and capers and a big dollop of green tea infused cream cheese. I ordered a coffee and a marionberry blueberry bear claw to save for later, and also picked up a large bone shaped treat for Portland. The girl at the counter was dressed as a fortune teller, with fortune cookies off to the side, and her register dressed up as a fortune teller's booth with a Peanuts-esque sign at the top reading "Mis-fortunes 5 cents," similar to Lucy's therapy booth.

We waited for our food and then picked a round picnic table outside to eat. It was still chilly, but warming up, and the lox plates were really wonderful with locally made lox and fresh cut tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, microgreens and capers that added a refreshing crunch. We ate and headed back across the street to the car, walking to avoid a blocks worth of protesters that had gathered along the street.

After a short five minute drive to Cape Perpetua, one of my favorite places along the coast, we parked at the Saint Perpetua Trailhead. I have long loved the views from the cliffs of Cape Perpetua that towers over the water far below, with views of hillsides blanketed in evergreen trees, wrapping the coastline in waves before the ribbon of highway and the edge of the ocean where waves crash from deep blue to frothy white. I've never hiked here - thanks All Trails! This was the first trail use for Liz's new hiking boots from last weekend's REI Garage Sale, and as we worked our way up the slow and steady switchbacks, the day started to warm up.

The hillside trail was fairly smooth and straightforward, with some sections of roots and rocks that forced you to watch your step. The giant trees that towered beside the trail were the highlights of the hike for me, along with the gradually more impressive sneak peeks of the ocean and cliffside through the trees. Higher up, the hillside became more exposed and grassy, with more rocks and power lines, eventually leading to the clifftop trails that we were more familiar with.

We stopped at the top for pictures and to follow the trail around the winding path overlooking the water and waves. It is always quiet and peaceful up here and I never tire of the views. At the edge of the cliff, there is a stone lookout shelter that is always worth a stop. I always try to take pictures here, but it never works as well as I want it to. We walked a bit further and then looped back, sitting on a stone wall to let Portland eat his baked treat, slowly taking bits of the crunchy biscuit from my hand.

On the way down the hill, Liz and I ate mystery flavored honey sticks that she'd picked up at the farm stand yesterday. Mine seemed a bit spicy like a cinnamon or jalapeno. I've never really done honey sticks as a snack, but I can understand the appeal. As usual, the hike down seemed to fly by compared to the ascent, and soon we were back at the car and on our way back to Yachats.

Our original breakfast plan had been a bread and baked goods company in town, so we stopped by now, only to find that they were closed. We did find a few galleries to stop inside on our way back to the AirBnb, and it was fun to look at the art of over fifty local and regional artists that they had on display and available to purchase.

Back at the RV, we changed "for dinner" although it was only around 1:30pm, and got Portland settled in bed before driving further up the coast to Newport. We routed our way on a back road along Yaquina Bay to Oregon Oyster Farms, where we found a takeout window and bought a dozen petite oysters (most were as big as my palm), and a shucking knife. We rounded the corner of the building to a picnic table on a water, half shells strewn just anywhere and everywhere on the ground. An older gentleman in a puff coat and baseball cap that seemed to be the owner or manager stopped to talk to us for a moment. He asked if we were going to shuck oysters now, and when he learned I knew how to shuck, he offered me a job (surprisingly not the first time I've been offered pay for shucking oysters). Liz said that I was from Pittsburgh, and he said that their west coast oysters are much better than the east coast, and generally, I agree. Not that the east coast doesn't have some good oysters. I mentioned being at Hama Hama earlier in the week, and he knew the people there by name. He brought us a clean towel to help hold the oysters and then we were off, shucking away in my denim dinner dress, boots and a scarf.

The view along the bay was beautiful, with fishing piers and buildings suspended out above the water. These oysters had a much different flavor than the Hama Hamas, more buttery, less salty, and with a bit of a cucumber flavor. A dozen oysters split between us for lunch was a nice treat, and we briefly considered ordering another set in a different variety.

Instead, we moved on toward the Historic Bayfront of Newport, where we parked and walked along, stopping into shops and visiting the famous sea lion docks where the sea lions sunbathe and compete for space on floating docks, barking at the others and making a fuss when one leaps up from the water and disrupts the balance.

The stores we visited seemed more interesting that what I'd remembered from previous adventures, including an occult bookstore and an oddity shop, where I found an overpriced sweatshirt that had a quote from one of my favorite movies, Practical Magic, "There's a little witch in all of us." With some debating, I bought it. In another clothing store, we walked in and I overheard the worker ask if customers wanted a beer while shopping. I asked about it and she poured me a paper cup of a dark saison from Wolf Creek Brewery, just up the road. This means I got to browse and sip beer without my mask for just a few minutes. The beer worked and I ended up buying a t-shirt printed with the trees of the Pacific Northwest.

We walked from one end of the road to the other, and children in costumes and masks were beginning a "safe" trick-or-treat from storefront to storefront. It was pretty cute and through all the uncertainty, it was nice to see that kids still got to experience and enjoy Halloween this year. We stopped at the Rogue Public House for a snack and a beer, splitting the "totchos" (nacho toppings on top of tater tots) with beer cheese and green chili pulled pork, and the Marionberry Sour for me. The food break was great after only the oysters for lunch, and we were killing time before our dinner reservation at Liz's favorite restaurant in town. I ordered a second beer, the Forest of Illusions Hazy IPA so that we could stay inside and wait and use their WIFI.

Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Clearwater, that must be a bit newer because I don't remember seeing it on past visits. The seating was right on the harbor, with large windows that looked out on the boats, the dock above the sea lions, and sunset. We ordered drinks and appetizers. A "Flannel" bourbon and apple cider cocktail for me, and a pumpkin White Russian for Liz, with fried avocado and a locally caught Dungeness crab cocktail. As promised, the food was wonderful. Dinner was a crab truffle mac and cheese for Liz, and the seafood pasta for me, with a medley of seafood (salmon, scallops, shrimp, cod, halibut) in a Cajun cream sauce. We didn't need it, but we got the bourbon bread pudding for dessert. Everything was great, and I was glad since it is the last big night of our girls' weekend. As we were eating, we saw the best costume of the day, a group dressed in bright green, orange, yellow and pink -- the Hungry Hungry Hippos with strings of big white pearls around their necks. They were out on the pier watching the sea lions, and this made it even better.

After dinner, it was a brisk walk back to the car and an easy drive back to our tiny house in Waldport. I took Portland outside and then added a can of turkey stew to his kibble, and he yummed it all up after his afternoon nap. I changed into my new Halloween sweatshirt -- as Dad would say, if you wear it "x" times, it's only a dollar each time! Liz and I walked over to check out the Doug Fir Lodge, which was just about empty except for one woman doing laundry. The large room was divided into spaces for reading and board games, pool, ping pong, a media room with couches and a big screen TV, and a living room area around a wood burning fireplace. We stayed a few minutes and then walked back, making tea while I did yoga and then watched some funny videos that Liz had saved on her phone since we couldn't get the RV's television to work.

We lounged and talked for a bit until it was time for me to go and get a bit of work done, less stressful in the morning with a blog post finished. The full October Blue Moon hung overhead, bright in the sky, and while the moon and I are usually friends, the last full moon took someone very important from me, and so we’re on the outs for now. I walked through the chilly night air to the Redwood Commons, with the space all to myself to sit on a couch in front of big panoramic windows looking out on a dark ocean and sky on Halloween night.