Gary-Summer: August 5, 2022 - Tillamook and Salem

Friday, August 5, 2022

August 5, 2022 - Tillamook and Salem

Title: August 5, 2022 - Tillamook and Salem
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Car

Description:

I got up at 6:30, having slept through the night. I love sleeping in a tent, even though at times, the dawn may seem like it takes forever if one wakes up at 4am. But that was not the case this morning. When I got up, I walked around the Beverly Beach campground for about 30 minutes, making my way to the overpass again, mostly just to watch the waves. But my phone did catch a signal and downloaded some emails. I didn't even try to do a lightning report.

Rachel and Andrea in the Tillmook bus

We had our breakfast-granola for me, of course, and hot oatmeal for Sherri. We got packed up and ready to go. Last we heard, we are to meet Andrea and Rachel at Tillamook around 10:30, so we need to start soon. Sherri starts the engine at 9:15. It is an uneventful drive to the Creamery.

We arrived at 10:45 at Tillamook. Rachel texted and said they would be late. That is OK with us, so we just read, waited and analyzed the idiosyncrasies of various parking jobs. At 11:30, Rachel and Andrea said they were inside and wanted to do a photo-op with the Tillamook minibus. So we go in and meet them.

After taking their bus pictured, we follow the interpretive signs. This is mostly going down one hallway, watching how cheese gets made into packages from the raw milk. There are less people now than there were in June when we went. A good thing about doing this stop is Tillamook gives you some free samples.

Rachel on the phone with Jeopordy

By this time it is after 1 and I think we are all getting hungry. So we order from their cafeteria a pizza, hamburger and salad. As I was getting ready to pay for it, I discovered my wallet did not have any of my credit cards! I am hoping that they slipped out in the car. But our lunch got paid for through Sherri’s cards. Then we had ice cream afterwards. That is a way to soothe one’s soul. During all of this, Rachel was trying to straighten out her live audience Jeopardy! tickets. While not getting it settled then, she was able to get things set up later on. When she gets back to Los Angeles, she and Edrees will be part of one of the first live studio audiences. Exciting! When we get back to the car, I found the missing cards-they slipped out of the wallet, beside the seat.

Before we leave the area, Andrea wants to take us to Cape Meares. For a person who has been in Oregon about six months, she certainly knows her way around interesting places. She takes us out some backroads from Tillamook-still paved, but interesting. At the end is a parking area which is being well used-we still find good places to park. Signs by the parking area give background on the lighthouse and the area. It is about an eighth of a mile walk down to the lighthouse. The base is open, but we cannot go up to the top. But how the path descends to the base of the lookout, we can see right into the red lenses. Still just looking out from the area in front of the lighthouse has us gawking for awhile, particularly at the birds on a couple rock islands a ways off the coast.

After we had taken in the view from the lighthouse, Andrea led us up a trail towards the south. We passed by the parking lot and up the side of a hill. Then we came to a tree called the Octopus Tree. You can imagine why it got its name-it has eight limbs going straight up which look more like an octopus than a tree. Interesting. We go a few feet to another ocean overlook. The whole walk was about0.8 miles. Not long by hiking standards, still enjoyable and just what I needed

Octopus Tree

Dinner at Noble Wave

Then it is back to the cars and onward to Salem. It is roughly the same route we took in June. Except Andrea and I are driving-different cars. We arrive at Andrea and Lawrence’s place without incident. We unpack our car to get ready for tomorrow. And then it is off to dinner-with Lawrence.

Band playing on the Salem art night

This is a bit late. We start eating around 7:40pm at the Noble Wave in downtown Salem. I got a fried curd chicken sandwich. It was huge and good. Downtown Salem is having a regular first Friday of the month arts night, which includes music. There are groups playing on many a-corner including a variety of stringed instruments. It makes for a nice walking evening. We walked over to the river and through a park. In the park is a local band playing, which we listen to for a while.

We then returned to Andrea’s place. There was some talking about tomorrow, but we all were ready for bed.