All Oregon Stuff

Today I got to meet Kacy of All Horse Stuff in Oregon. What a sweetheart she is, just as nice as you could ever hope someone would be, and it bothers me that she will have to be a long distance friend. Lucky Oregonians..

If anyone is anxious to see more photos of this area, I think Kacy has done an excellent job of capturing Oregon's natural beauty. Her blog's scenery is soul candy.

It started with my family's yearly Oregon beach vacation, and honestly, escaping the Seattle heat into the coastal cool was nothing short of euphoric. I counted down the temperature as we drove West, and when it got to 69° F, I opened the car windows and we waved our arms outside and cheered. My family rents out several rooms that face the ocean for an entire weekend in a tiny town called Rockaway Beach (one of Oregon's best kept secrets, Shhh!) and you can see in this photo where the town gets its name.

In fact, I'm sitting in our hotel room right now at 10 pm, in front of a fire in the fireplace. Yup. It's just that cool here. The ocean is raging outside our balcony door, which I have closed so my man can watch the Mariners...wait a minute.

"You watch BASEBALL!???"

Ah yes, I caught him looking at wikipedia to learn baseball rules yesterday. Hmmmm.

Anyhoo, driving into Oregon, noticing the gas tank was empty, I knew it would be a funtime at the gas station. Since it is still true, they do not let you pump your own gas in Oregon. So I cautiously pulled up, and said thru the window, "I'd like to buy some gasoline?" and the Chevron man said, "Sorry, we only sell pizza here!"

I asked him why we are not allowed to pump our own gas in Oregon and, I KNEW IT, he didn't know. In fact, if anyone knows, please please tell me. This seems so odd to me.

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My uncles both went fishing in a charter boat off of Garibaldi, and they caught 48 crabs. FORTYEIGHT!!! We are feasting on crab here. I just jumped over the balcony railing, shocking my cousins out of their video game, and said, "I can eat more crab!" They obliged and I just ate three more dinner plate sized crabs. mmmmmm.

Tomorrow is my turn to go get oysters. I love oysters hot off the grill!

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We left the cool beach today to go geocaching cuz the very first geocache was hidden in Oregon, in 2000, as soon as the United States government made the satellite data available to the general public.








We found it! Kacy, it is off Redland road, then right on Fellows Rd., then as soon as there is a car turnout on your right, pull over. There is a sign that says no dumping, and the cache is in plain sight. Logbook is in an ammo can chained to a tree nearby.










First Geocache ever! The reason it says "Stash" on the plaque is cuz originally they called them Stashes, but there were connotations with this word, so they switched to Cache a bit later. Normally a geocache does not have a plaque telling you where it is, normally they are hidden, but this one is special.












Now that we have visited Groundspeak Headquarters, and seen the first Geocache, we need to set new goals for ourselves. I like the goal of finding caches in every state in America. No, no, no, don't suggest every county in America, please! I'll go nuts.






We also did the "Canby Challenge", finding 10 caches in one day in Canby, Oregon, and then reporting in to the Canby Chamber of Commerce with our results, to receive a neat Canby geocoin. I'm not much of a coin collector-trader myself, but it was neat to have a coin that had to be earned. We earned it, alright. The temperature was 90 and I thought if the AC goes out in the car, my man will have to just call an aid car immediately. I didn't feel well anytime I was out in the heat yesterday. At one point a vulture was circling overhead, his red face catching the sunlight. I think vultures must love this weather ...people dropping all over the place.








I stood in a river in Canby that kids were jumping into, and it was actually warm.











One of the Canby caches was hidden under the Office porch of the Dahlia farm. I had never seen fields of Dahlias before. It was awesome! Anyone who likes Washington's tulip fields should take a trip down to Oregon to see the Dahlias.











I cooled off in their sprinkler system.












One cache under another historic building's porch had my man in fits of laughter, cuz these have been so easy to find, like childsplay. He grabbed the ammo can and jumped back in the cool car to sign the log in comfort.










I have been taking lots of pics on this trip of homemade signs on the side of the road. Here is today's sign.










Finally we made it back into town to meet up with Kacy from All Horse Stuff. She just walked into McMennamins in her riding clothes, looking totally confident. Stylish in a way few people can pull off after a trip to the barn in 90 degrees! I was so thrilled to meet her, I just knew she would be cool, and not a crazy internet person. She's all good. Totally sweet and she even "called it!" first, which means she got to pay for our dinner.

Next time I see Kacy, I have to card her, cuz she claims to be older than I am. Hm.

We talked horses for a long time, I could have gone on and on with that part! She is so much like me, her ability to string words together, and her tendency to talk on a voice mail message until the beep says Time's Up! *lol*

Kacy is so interesting, I wish I had more time to find out more about her! Like me, she blogs about mostly horse stuff, and that leaves a lot to find out.

We showed her the closest geocache in the area, on the next block, and walked over to get it. It was a historical marker for Oregon's first Catholic Church.

I hope her man wants to come to the beach tomorrow, cuz we have an extra room attached to our own room that we are not using.

Really, I have no idea why we have this extra room with a bed, TV and door attached to ours, but they are welcome to it!









Come on Kacy, if you are reading this, come enjoy the cool with us, and the magnificent Pacific out the door. Here is another photo meant to lure you westwards.












Kitchen with dishwasher, full fridge, and dishes and pans so you just bring food.











Here is hwy 26 West to the Ocean. Try not to make your passenger carsick as you drive its curves!










Oregon has never been so welcoming to us, in more ways than one. Thank you Kacy for making it even better!