Oregon

After escaping the snow and ice of the Koots and a very slow, treacherous drive to southern Washington and into Oregon, we've been spending the past week slowly traveling down along the coast of Oregon. The first couple of days were quite wet; we had near-torrential rain once, but the past few days have been sunny with great views. Not especially warm most of the time, but I'm not complaining. It's warmer here than at home and there isn't any snow.

The scenery has been pretty fantastic: wild surf and waves, neat offshore rock formations, big trees. I've uploaded some representative pictures to Facebook. Food is cheap, wine is inexpensive (less than half Canadian prices) and we're able to cook almost anything we want in the camper. With all the wining and dining, it's probably a good thing that Catherine is a bit compulsive about both of us having a 5-mile walk each day.

The Oregon coast has obviously had some major storms recently. There are the remains of many downed trees all along our route. I have to say that the State parks have cleaned things up very well: trails are cleared of debris, campgrounds are clean and their winter rates are a bargain.

California is only an hour's drive south and then it's the giant Redwoods.