Oregon Coast! Day Ten!

 

July 16, 2026: It was a quiet night on the side of the one way road called Otter Crest Loop. A nice change from the traffic noise of 101!

I woke up early as usual and around 6am a white van pulls up and parks across the street where the cliff is. Is this the same white van from last night? It's white, but I don't remember details. I watched through the openings in my window covers. OMG! It looks like the same man! He gets out and walks to the cliff looking at the scenery. I really don't know. It's early in the morning, foggy, and truthfully, I was too busy last night waiting for a break in traffic to notice what he looked like other than older, slim, and short white hair. It looks just like him! I watched until he left. If he would have started toward my van, I would have grabbed my chef's knife and he would have been done with. LOL! He left. Later I saw his van at another overlook parking lot. I figured we were both heading north, but I hope not to run into him anywhere for fear of what I might say to him. I'm not into confrontations especially since I hate people on a good day.

The weather is cloudy, cold and drizzly. Well, I didn't want 100 degree temperatures so I can't complain! I drove to Lincoln City, but couldn't find anything to see. Continued to Neskowin where there was supposed to be a "ghost beach". In photos there were pieces of driftwood standing upright. I saw two. Not impressive. Nice beach with an island I walked around. Got to the far side and it's either try to walk on sand-covered wet rocks (TRAUMA RECALL!) or wade through a foot of water. I opted to walk all the way back around.

The beaches are starting to look the same...

Island

Walkway through wet rocks.

Barnacles covering the base of the island.

So even though I was a little disappointed not to see ghosts, the universe rewarded me...with a $20 bill! It was just laying there on the sand. There were people in the distance in every direction. For a moment I considered maybe I should chase them down one by one and ask if they were missing money. That sounds like a stink risk: perfume, detergent, body spray, hair garbage. No. I'll keep it. Then I thought, If I keep it, will that bring bad luck? I don't know where I got this karma retribution worldview. I think if I keep it, I'm just $20 richer!

Then I drove the gorgeous green countryside to McMinnville along highway 130 with single lane bridges all the way. All day I was passing signs for covered bridges, but I didn't stop. I was told by someone I might like to live in this town so I wanted to have a look, but the fields of toxic agriculture surrounding the town and the stench of fertilizer made me turn and run. So I headed to Salem.

Salem was weirdly disorganized. Or maybe that was Google Map's fault? Anywhere I wanted to go I felt disoriented with routes through strange neighborhoods and districts circling through repeating streets. It felt like a neverending maze. It was also very congested which didn't help with Google's directions. "Turn right immediately!" Ah, there are two lanes of bumper to bumper cars HOW am I supposed to over to the right? 

I went to the Kettle Chip Factory because I read online they give tours. Since I don't eat their potato chips I considered this might be a stupid idea, but since I was there, why not? Well, the guy who answered the high-security door didn't know anything so I left. Why do they need a high-security door on a potato chip factory? Maybe it's not a potato chip factory at all, but some secret government department planning nefarious activities?

I headed west to Tillamook and I hoped the Tillamook Creamery knows they have tours!! I was told by a swimming woman in Coos Bay to stay at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company. They have a huge grass field that serves as an overnight parking lot where one can stay for five days. FREE! So I followed directions and checked in during business hours to get my pass and the girl at the counter asks me if I'm a member of Harvest Host? No. (Not interested.) She proceeds to tell me I have to be a member in order to stay. Ah, no. Not according to online. I thought, Oh! Not again! Not some silly employee not having any clue what is going on. She tells me the manager will know and calls her over. The manager was lovely. Confusing, but lovely. She asked if I was a Harvest Host member. NO. She says that's fine, they charge, but we don't. I was so confused by these people, but eventually she said, "Yes, you can stay for free. No need to be a member of Harvest Host." People honestly make me want to scream. Thankfully I can keep the screaming silent and in my head while I continue smiling sweetly. I got my dashboard placard and I am good to go! Hooray! Lots of other nomads, mostly RVs, a few buses, and some vans. Not sure if this is a good idea, but for a day or two I might be able to tolerate parking next to others like sardines.

The blueberry thief showed up and parked in the back. I didn't think I'd see her again since I was making all these side trips. Hopefully I can avoid her so she doesn't throw her dog in my van again.

As you can see from the above photo, it's still cloudy, cold and drizzly. Sometimes in the afternoon it'll clear up, but not today. It's so damp here!