Great day on the beach, ok, a little chilly with wind and fog. The trip over to the coast was pretty and interesting to see the changing scenery, from dry, hot valley’s, to rain forest, to large sand dunes. The temperature change was from the 90’s to the 50’s and the water was probably in the upper 40’s.
Traveling from Reedsport to Coos Bay down 101 is interesting. Their is the raw beauty of the coast mixed in with the working class towns, small factories, and tourist driven sites. The Oregon State Parks were busy and nice to visit. We played with Katie on the beaches and that was fun. I threw the ball to the edge of the water and she would run out to get it keeping a sharp eye on the incoming waves. As soon as she saw one coming in, she was all about getting out of the way and back up the beach. She got all the throws except for one that the rip tide sucked her ball out toward the ocean. I had to go get it in knee deep ice water. It was great.
To put our location in perspective we are about an hour away from the Pacific Ocean and about an hour away from the Cascade mountains. Yes, trapped in the valley of Oregon wineries. Aw shucks.
A note of interest on cannabis. In Washington there are retail shops all over. They advertise on billboards and with hawkers on street corners. In Oregon, where cannabis is likewise legal, there is no such advertising or widespread retail distribution (at least in this area). Our first siting was in Reedsport and upon checking the only other outlet in the general area is Grants Pass, over a 100 mile drive. Don’t know why. Other differences, gasoline must be pumped by an attendant, that’s right you can’t pump your own gas. It is legal to pump diesel but only one of the stations we stopped at allowed it. I understand the law is an attempt to save jobs; however, the result is that the store attendant is outside in a booth running between vehicles instead of inside watching it all. Interesting.
One other big thing here is there is no sales tax. Right, no sales tax – the price tag is what you pay at the register. You spend $100 dollars at the grocery store, you pay $100, not $109.50! In the states we have travelled through this summer, sales taxes run in the 9%+ range and are applied to everything (in Arizona, if you fart there is 9.75% sales tax – honest ok exaggeration warning).
Be safe out there.
Sjh
Steve and Peg's Adventures 