Blogs from Oregon, United States, North America - page 125

We are packing and unpacking our bags tirelessly in anticipation of our trip. This is not a picture of it. ... read more

Believe it or not, birding can be a sport. As an activity where there are winners and there are losers and there are stats, birding is indeed a sport. Allow me to elaborate: In the world of birds, there occurs a phenomenon where, on occasion, a particular bird will have some wires crossed (just as humans do), and they get a little lost in life. Instead of returning to their wintering grounds or sticking with their conspecifics en route to their breeding grounds, they find themselves on vacation hundreds of miles from where they belong. On occasion, birdwatchers run across these "vagrants," as they're called, and report to fellow birders of their serendipitous find. When it comes to rarities, word travels fast throughout the birding community, as it means "tickers," or "listers," have the opportunity to ... read more

I have done it again, and left it too late to update the blog. I didn’t keep a diary, and dates and a lot of details have escaped through the sieve of my mind. So, I am bunching the rest of our Oregon holiday into this one entry. Three Capes Loop: Cape Mears State Park, Cape Lookout State Park, Cape Kiwanda State Park When we woke up in Pacific City, we went back to the Pelican pub brewery where we had dinner and were blown away with the views that were just a curtain of black when we had had dinner. The brew pub is right on the beach front, and what an amazing beach. Unfortunately they let 4 wheel drives on this one to. I get quite upset about this. Beaches should be left alone. ... read more

I love arriving at new places in the dark and discovering them in the morning. We did not have high expectations of seaside, as it was merely the first place we came to and we needed to stop driving. But it was a really cute low-key seaside village. Maybe the main street was slightly prettied up for the tourists, but if so, it was done sensitively enough. No Shopping mall ugliness or gold coast style high rise development. Just little coastal shacks and old bagged brick hotels whose peeling walls had seen years of salt and rain and wind. We woke up and walked to the beach. It was sooooo good to see waves again for the first time since Hawaii. You wouldn’t want to be going swimming without a full winter weight wet suit, booties ... read more

It snowed. Not a white christmas because it was too warm to settle, but it was lovely anyway. I'm experiencing a few days of winter up here before I go back south, so I'm not complaining at all, even if I am struggling to keep warm. In fact yesterday involved huge amounts of food and drink, and the food was excellent thanks to my friend Carl, an avid student of the Nigel Slater school of comfort food cooking. It was also good to go out and walk round while the shops were all closed. Arriving back from Cuba, America's commercialism was thrown into sharp focus, with a barrage of adverts and shops as far as the eye can see full of people making last ditch attempts to buy crap for their families. It's an interesting contrast. ... read more