Labor Day weekend at The Emerald Coast

When I first came to Philomath Oregon it was with two thoughts in mind. 1) To see my ol friend Tracey from Haines 2) meet her husband jerry and get clutch fixed in Jeep.

This morning at 6 I left for the next leg on my trip I left behind my ol friend from Haines Tracey and a new friend her husband Jerry who turns out to be a really nice guy. He also fixed the exhaust, and alternator problems on the bus. I enjoyed my week very much, asIi said Jerry was a very nice guy and they were both very nice hosts.

Jimmy said good bye to all the Keebler Elves and they gave him a Fudge filled brush and a can of Fudge to dip it in when he got low. (That didnt last long, and no, I did not get any)

The girls have been after me to quit traveling by interstate and to slow down and see the country. With that in mind I headed west. "Go west young man" was a statement referring to the Manifest Destiny and popularized by American author Horace Greeley. It has been one of my favorite saying in this blog as I traveled around. The plan was to hit the Emerald Coast. A stretch of Oregon Coastline through which Highway 101 traverses. Then Portland to surprise Maddie (A young ol friend from Haines)

As I said I left at 0600 and other than stopping for ice where Tracey worked I drove straight through to Newport on the Coast. It was a pleasant drive since my headlights worked much better with the new alternator. The country was marvelous and the views were playing peek-a-boo with the morning fog. The sun was rising behind me bathing everything in that morning glow.

I arrived in Newport, and parked in a shopping centers lot. It was at the intersection with Hwy 101 and I wanted to get my bearings before heading onward up the coast.

Since there was a big NO OVERNIGHT PARKING sign right outside my door when I stopped I walked over to ask permission to park for a bit.



On the way out I saw this little Bus which I new Dan and Ashleigh would love a picture of. The license plate says 1 Hippy. I talked to the guy who said he restored it changing the paint scheme from the original Champaigne Edition. He didnt like the dark brown on the botton so used the top brown at both levels. He had some really nice woodwork done inside. All in all a really sharp 78.

He also told me there was a Farmers Market setting up down the street and he would be at the back selling Kettle Corn.

Sounded like somewhere I could go and buy some healthier food and stuff. (Ashleigh would be proud LOL) So away I went walking a few blocks to the Farmers Market.

In front of City Hall was this sculpture of a bycycle from aluminum and Jimmy thought everyone would like seeing it .

The market was just setting up. I saw lots of booths with vegatables and fruit which is pretty Farmer Market'ish. But I also saw handmade jewelry, rugs, knick knacks and two booths with tye dyed everything from shoe laces, to shirts, pants, underwear, kids clothes, and onesies. I bought Jimmy a tye dyed onesie, and some dried mixes, and fruit. So breakfast was blackberries, bananas, kettle corn and tea. On the way back I stopped in the antique store shown there behind the bike sculpture. It was large with a lot of "stuff" in it. The lady said they mainly did estate sales and bankruptsies. A lot of old farms around here being hit hard she said. The stuff was expensive but mostly pretty nice.

Jimmy and some flowers at the Farmers Market

The food and soup mixes at the market

After the market we headed North on the 101. Here is our first stop and Jimmy's first ever ocean view. It took forever to get him to turn around for the picture. He kept wanting to look at it and then wouldn't sit still.

Notice his new tye dyed shirt.

This is Steve and Meideth. I had broken the alternator belt and needed to return to Newport to get a new one.  I saw them outside Walmart. They were on a trek across the country (see thier blogs at stumbalinafalls and the longroadgoodbye both at blogspot . com) They had been recently robbed by "friends" that were left to watch thier stuff and watch thier stuff they did leaving the stuff and taking the money. Thier jobs started in two weeks back home and they were trying to get there. Nice people.

The end of my day was surprising Maddison at her work. A nice day, a nice trip, and a nice time.

No more heading west since everything on solid ground is now East.