Drizzly and Grey and Totally Charming

"I stood there in the salt spray air, felt the wind sweeping over my face..."
- Diana Krall, Narrow Daylight

I love the Oregon Coast. I was reminded of this abiding love when I found myself, on a cool, grey day, sitting on the damp bench of a pale blue paint-chipped picnic table next to smelly crab pots outside a hole-in-the-wall crab shack eating my favorite halibut 'n chips with the breeze lightly tossing the clammy drizzle onto my face, shivering just a little, and I caught myself only noticing how good those bits of halibut were and how nice it was to be on the coast. The rest was just part of the charm of being there. I remember thinking, "I should probably be thinking this is a lousy way to spend a vacation," but I could only think, "Life is good when you're eating the best fish 'n chips on Yaquina Bay."

As always, we took way too many pictures. I took all the shots I'm not in below (except the go-karts and pizza). No, they're not crystal clear or perfectly exposed, but hey, having a fancy schmancy camera with cheap lenses does not make a professional photographer out of me. I have much to learn.

After the several days on the coast, we spent the night in Portland, and I was able to have dinner and play Scattergories with Nichole and her family, which was much fun (she has a pretty OK family, as far as I can tell), and also visit with Jonny and Sarah in Vancouver for a couple of hours. Also good times, and I'm really grateful for all of them letting me drop in for a bit. It was a good finish to the weekend.

So it was time to leave Oregon once again, with a renewed store of memories: go-karts, crabbing, Abby's pizza, picking wild blackberries everywhere you go, Mo's chowder, the world's best saltwater taffy right next to Mo's in Newport, agates and two weddings on the beach at Fogarty Creek, getting stuck atop a rock formation until teenage girls showed me the way down, Neptune Beach, playing games while watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, marionberry french toast, blue heron, the humor of Tyler microwaving two cookies into two lumps of charcoal and leaving with his fish bouncing up the stairs as it dragged behind him, along with other family antics, sunrise and sunset on Yaquina Bay, sea lions in caves and taking our crab bait from below the dock, the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Aquarium Village, the fishy bay air and fog in the morning, saltwater taffy, Tillamook, Breach the Moon, canned smoked salmon by the box, Seal Rock, a gorgeous beach sunset, meeting random people on the dock each night... It's good for the soul, I say.