Day 358 – Crescent City to Harris Beach State Park
Sunday was a huge milestone…we finally made it back to Oregon! We stopped to take a picture at the border and then again for some shopping. We needed groceries and a replacement for our small electric space heater (the one we had made it almost the entire trip, but it finally gave up).
We camped at one of our favorite spots on the Oregon coast, Harris Beach State Park, just outside of Brookings. We got there in plenty of time to do a little hiking down to the beach before making dinner and settling in for the night.
Day 359 – Harris Beach State Park
Monday Michael worked from the campground, but we also had time for more exploring down at the beach. We also walked into town to do a little shopping and get some exercise.
Day 360 – Harris Beach State Park to Coos Bay
Tuesday we spent the morning at the campground, then headed north up the coast to the next campground south of Coos Bay. The weather was on the dreary side, so we finished up work and spent the evening relaxing in the van.
Day 361 – Coos Bay
This was a classic rainy day on the Oregon Coast, so we worked and watched movies in the van.
Day 362 – Coos Bay to Yachats
Our next destination was one of the few towns on the Oregon Coast that we’d never really explored, Yachats. We checked into Deanes Lodge (super cute with great decor and view of ocean), watched a movie and then had a great dinner at the Drift Inn.
Day 363 – Yachats to Lincoln City
We continued north up the coast, where the waves were perfect for seeing the spouting horns at Depoe Bay. We got a great show, but as we were getting into the Westy, we weren’t paying attention and got completely soaked by a particularly large spout.
We continued on to Lincoln City, where we first made a quick stop at collectibles store we had stopped on our Oregon Coast trip last February. They had Blazers Dairy Queen pint glasses from the early 90s and we had regretted not buying them before. Fortunately, they were still there! We bought them for good luck in the playoffs (the less said about that the better) as well as for glassware for our apartment
Next, Tracey did some window shopping (except for a $5 Trail Blazer hat!) at the outlets to wait out the rain while Michael finished some work. Then, we celebrated our final night away from Portland by checking into our favorite hotel. It was the first place we ever traveled to together on Labor Day 2014, and we’ve gone every Labor Day since including our mini-honeymoon.
Day 364 – Lincoln City to Portland
We enjoyed a relaxing morning in the hotel, then headed east to Salem to get lunch (and so Tracey could visit a crafts store). Then we continued on to Portland, where we spent the night in the Crown Plaza near the Rose Garden, because it was time for Playoff Game #1 vs. the Pelicans! While that didn’t go as well as we’d hoped, a Blazers playoff game was still a fantastic (and fitting) way to end the trip. It was hard to believe it was over.
Day 365 – Portland to Vancouver
We officially completed the final leg of the journey and drove by our house (it’s still being rented and looks okay). Michael insisted on breakfast burritos at King Burrito, and then we truly felt at home. However, we weren’t because our new apartment is actually in Vancouver, WA! We picked up the keys at the office and then unloaded the van, and spent the rest of the day settling in to our new home for the next six months.
Epilogue
Why only six months in the new place? Because that is when our next big adventure begins! We’ll be posting more information about that soon.
