Walking and Tidepooling - Thurs., June 18, 2015

By 6:15 a.m., I was driving toward the Oregon Coast watching five hot air balloons ascending skyward, probably an early morning flight with one of the wineries in Newberg.

Newberg is where I graduated from high school, so there's many memories driving through town.

I arrived in Lincoln City for today's Volksmarch at 7:40 a.m., a little early for the 8 a.m. start time, but the local club was ready for us and checked us in early. I walked over to the Chinook Winds Casino to use the restroom while I waited for Susan and Darren to arrive.

In the entry, I found this...

If you've ever watched "The Flintstones," you'll recognize Fred and Wilma's car. The lady who took my photo was named Wilma, so she HAD to have her photo taken in the car too. LOL.

Susan and Darren arrived, checked in for the Volksmarch and we headed to the beach. What a perfect beach day: partly cloudy, no wind, very low tide, and about 61 degrees. Because the tide was so far out, we were able to walk on the wet sand and go tidepooling, something I haven't done for a very long time. We found starfish, sea anemones, mussels and barnacles.

Volksmarchers heading out on the beach

Headlands

Starfish

Barnacles, sea anemone, mussels

Starfish, mussels and sea anemone.

Exposed rocks, tidepool and the mighty Pacific Ocean

 There were two guys making huge bubbles on the beach...

Wow, looks like fun

Volksmarchers spread out along the sand

Watching the waves

Motel overlooking the D River and the beach

D River: world's shortest river (?)

We stopped in the Visitor Center for our checkpoint, then continued walking up and down the neighborhoods of Lincoln City. Our route took us into a small garden with some gorgeous flowers.

Bet this store is popular because of Jurassic World movie

Neighborhood with pretty view of coastal mountains

Cute beach house

Hydrangeas in full bloom right now

We visited Connie Hansen Garden

Irises

Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica)

One of the fun parts about walking is meeting new friends. I met Debbie on our walk today. She now lives in Lincoln City (moved there from Vancouver, Washington) and was getting back into Volksmarching after not doing it for a few years. Since she's local I asked her for a good place to eat lunch. She said Blackfish Grill. I asked her if she wanted to go to lunch with Darren, Susan and I. She didn't have any other plans and said, "Yes."

We continued the walk and finished at 10:30 a.m. Slight problem...Blackfish Grill didn't open until 11:30 a.m. Plan B, what was a good place to eat that would be open at this time. Without hesitation she chose the Corner Cafe on Hwy. 101 near 20th St. We were able to choose off the breakfast or lunch menu. I ordered the Crab Benedict. Wow, tons of crab, the English muffin was cooked just right as was the egg. It was a bit heavy on the Hollandaise sauce. I should have asked for the sauce on the side.

After breakfast, Susan and Darren headed to the Evergreen Air Museum (think Spruce Goose) in McMinnville, Oregon. I went back to Mom's house and took a two-hour nap!

When my son Michael got off work he joined my mom, sister and I to go to dinner at Claim Jumper at Bridgeport Village. All of us ordered the same menu item: a sweet potato stuffed with jerk chicken and mango-pineapple salsa. That was awesome. We even had enough left over to take home. No dessert for us because Mom had strawberry shortcake waiting for us at the house.

Sweet potato stuffed with jerk chicken and mango salsa

My son Michael

Mom and Jan eying the dessert case.

My sister, Jan; son, Michael, and mom, Margaret

At Mom's house we played pinochle while we ate dessert. I enjoyed spending quality time with my family.

Tomorrow will be Salem, Oregon and my one day of the American Volkssport Convention at the convention hotel.

Travel Bug out.