Pacific City
November 29, 2013
A lot of people look forward to shopping on Black Friday. Me, not so much. I've done that, though I've never lined up in front of a store window at four in the morning. It can be a good opportunity to knock off some Christmas shopping and presents can be left behind in Salem for the family. There's not a whole lot to do in Salem, after all. We've looked for alternatives the last couple of years. Last year we went to Multnomah Falls and hiked to the top in the rain. This year, we headed out to the ocean.
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| Wallace Marine Park, Salem, OR |
I headed out to the river early in the morning. I figured it would be pretty moody, and I figured right. The cold air had some bite to it, but the mist on the water was pretty. I like how it looks in black and white. There were a few birds in the water, but for the most part the river seemed quiet and empty.
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| Wallace Marine Park, Salem, OR |
I spent a lot of time at Wallace Marine Park when I was a kid. We went water skiing a lot in the summer months, and this was where Dad would put the boat in. We'd ride our bikes down to the park sometimes. There were trails we could ride through the trees, but sometimes they were too overgrown. Now there's a big softball complex there.
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| Dad's camera is not a toy! |
We headed out to Pacific City in the late morning. My brother tells me we used to go there a lot when we were kids. I only had the vaguest of memories of the place. There's a big sand dune to climb and a Haystack Rock out in the ocean. There's another Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, and I think there's a third one somewhere in Oregon, but I'm not sure about that.
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| Pacific City, OR |
We ate lunch at the brew pub on the beach. That's pretty sweet set up. There are a bunch of houses built right on the beach. I wonder how they keep the sand out. You can drive right onto the beach and park there if you dare. Somebody tried that in a Prius. It didn't work out. I'll give you my thoughts on Prius drivers some other day.
This was the first time some of us had ever been to the ocean. It seemed to go over well. It was too cold to go swimming (not that that would have been a particularly good idea given Oregon's penchant for riptides), but just right for exploring.
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| Pacific City, OR |
Most of the group headed up the big dune after lunch. I went over to the tide pools to check out how the locals live. Monterey has some fine tide pools to explore, but they don't seem to be quite as rich as the Oregon variety. Sea stars. Anemones. Sculpins. Mussels. Barnacles. There was a lot going on in the pools and on the rocks.
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| Pacific City, OR |
After the tide pools, I climbed up the cliff side of the dunes to check out the view from up there. There were some pretty sweet views. The cliff is all fenced off, but people don't seem to pay much attention to that.
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| Pacific City, OR |
There was a fire going when I got down from the dune. You can't go to the beach in Oregon without having a bonfire, right? Well, I'm not sure this qualified as a bonfire, but it was a fire, nonetheless. Some guy drove up in a pickup and donated a bunch of wood to the cause. That was pretty sweet. People are so nice in Oregon. I just wish they'd learn to drive in the right lane when they're going slow. I hate waiting for the guy to lumber over to pump my gas, too. That's annoying. The gas guys are always nice, though.
I wish I'd had some marshmallows.
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| Pacific City, OR |
The water was full of surfers. It seemed way too cold for that. They didn't seem to mind. Even as it was getting dark, the water was full of wave riders. Hats off to 'em. They looked like they were having fun.
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| Pacific City, OR |
That's pretty much it. We left as the sun was setting. The girls chased a rabbit through the grass before we headed out. They insisted it was somebody's pet. Made sense. It was black. I haven't seen too many wild black rabbits in my day.
Overall, it was a nice, mellow day. It sure beat shopping, at least in my book. Of course, that means I've still got a lot of work to do for the holidays. I've always had a gift for procrastination, though.
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| Pacific City, OR |
I headed out to the river early in the morning. I figured it would be pretty moody, and I figured right. The cold air had some bite to it, but the mist on the water was pretty. I like how it looks in black and white. There were a few birds in the water, but for the most part the river seemed quiet and empty.
I spent a lot of time at Wallace Marine Park when I was a kid. We went water skiing a lot in the summer months, and this was where Dad would put the boat in. We'd ride our bikes down to the park sometimes. There were trails we could ride through the trees, but sometimes they were too overgrown. Now there's a big softball complex there.
We headed out to Pacific City in the late morning. My brother tells me we used to go there a lot when we were kids. I only had the vaguest of memories of the place. There's a big sand dune to climb and a Haystack Rock out in the ocean. There's another Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, and I think there's a third one somewhere in Oregon, but I'm not sure about that.
We ate lunch at the brew pub on the beach. That's pretty sweet set up. There are a bunch of houses built right on the beach. I wonder how they keep the sand out. You can drive right onto the beach and park there if you dare. Somebody tried that in a Prius. It didn't work out. I'll give you my thoughts on Prius drivers some other day.
Most of the group headed up the big dune after lunch. I went over to the tide pools to check out how the locals live. Monterey has some fine tide pools to explore, but they don't seem to be quite as rich as the Oregon variety. Sea stars. Anemones. Sculpins. Mussels. Barnacles. There was a lot going on in the pools and on the rocks.
After the tide pools, I climbed up the cliff side of the dunes to check out the view from up there. There were some pretty sweet views. The cliff is all fenced off, but people don't seem to pay much attention to that.
There was a fire going when I got down from the dune. You can't go to the beach in Oregon without having a bonfire, right? Well, I'm not sure this qualified as a bonfire, but it was a fire, nonetheless. Some guy drove up in a pickup and donated a bunch of wood to the cause. That was pretty sweet. People are so nice in Oregon. I just wish they'd learn to drive in the right lane when they're going slow. I hate waiting for the guy to lumber over to pump my gas, too. That's annoying. The gas guys are always nice, though.
The water was full of surfers. It seemed way too cold for that. They didn't seem to mind. Even as it was getting dark, the water was full of wave riders. Hats off to 'em. They looked like they were having fun.
That's pretty much it. We left as the sun was setting. The girls chased a rabbit through the grass before we headed out. They insisted it was somebody's pet. Made sense. It was black. I haven't seen too many wild black rabbits in my day.
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