A Mother of a Day

Dutch Bros. Coffee saved Eureka, and that is a tall (or grande--ha ha) order.  On top of gouging us an additional 50% on our hotel bill, our hotel left things unplugged and what outlets they had were on light switches.  We had to plug in the air conditioner, plug in the refrigerator (which was on a switch, too), and I forgot to make sure the outlet I thought I was charging my cell phone on wasn't on a switch.  And--get this--they installed a door size mirror on the back of the bathroom door so that you had to stare at yourself while you were on the commode.  We weren't very happy.

But, on the way out of town we visited a Dutch Bros. Coffee stand where they not only gave me a free Mother's Day drink, but they also gave Jenni one.  I love Dutch Bros. Coffee.  We need one in Marysville.

We said goodbye to Eureka without hesitation and moved on north.  The road here is four lanes wide and 65 mph to the Oregon border.  We were traveling much faster than on PCH so we covered a lot of ground today.  The landscape is much more familiar, now, typical of what you see on the west side of the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest.  It was a comfortable familiarity and I realized I missed the trees.  Good to be back in the north.

Even the bicyclists changed.  The bicyclists on the PCH were primarily day trippers.  EVERY bicyclist we saw today was fully packed, some towing trailers.  Upon entering Oregon Hwy 101 is labeled with signs stating Oregon Coast Bike Route.  Most bikers were traveling south.  Perhaps they thought they were going downhill.  [On a side note: the bicyclists in Eureka were all scraggly, hairy, scary looking men.]

We're also seeing grander bridges.  Very long, very tall, and very wide.  These gargantuan bridges are crossing bays, estuaries, and very wide rivers.  We also crossed several smaller bridges due to either rivers & creeks or to canyons.

I must say, I am in awe of the original surveyors of this highway.  As we drove along I wondered how they decided this was the best place to put a highway.  Sometimes we were right amongst the sand dunes and other times we were a hundred feet up on a cliff.  Sometimes they required a bridge and other times the highway turns inland following a canyon.  The original surveyors didn't have a road to take them to this coast.  How did they get up those cliffs to really know what was up there?  I am just impressed.

As for fauna, today we saw egret, bunny, elk, and dead possum.  As far as flora, we drove past a skunk cabbage farm.  Who woulda thunk?

The Oregon Coast boasts several vacation destinations.  We drove past one Ogden family vacation spot in Gold Beach.  Jenni and I lunched in Coos Bay.  We were appalled to find a Wal-Mart in Newport.

We eventually found ourselves traveling past dairy farms so we knew we were nearing Tillamook.  Since I want to visit the creamery, we decided to spend the night here.  We have a much better hotel room--with working outlets--and at half the cost.  I like Tillamook.