Day Tripper

"We're on a road to nowhere..."


With the hustle and bustle of the last couple of weeks, I was feeling the need for an old fashioned Sunday drive. On a whim we packed ourselves into the car and headed out onto the open road. With just a hint of an agenda, "Go West!" We rolled along HWY 18 stopping for breakfast at a long time favorite joint. The best hash browns and freshly baked molasses toast you can imagine. From there we made our way to a new road. New to us I should say, considering the road we took was called Old Woods Road. Winding through coastal dairy country, passing Jerseys, Holsteins, and Guernsey cows on the small farms that dot the verdant green countryside. Many of these dairy farms are part of the Tillamook Dairy Cooperative.



The road brought us to the ocean, which was shining brilliantly under the sun. A bluebird sky and just enough wind to cast our kite into the air.




After our beach frolic, we pulled out the Atlas and looked for another new road to try. It's all part of the adventure you know, to travel the unknown; to discover something hidden; to be in no particular hurry and to really see what lies beyond. Our road took us through the tiny town of Beaver, Oregon. Don't be fooled by it's blink and you've missed it size; it has all the modern conveniences, such as one stop shopping...


We traveled the back roads through the deep dark enchanted woods next to The Nestucca River. We stopped to climb the bank down to the water's edge. Under stands of Maple and dappled sunlight we gazed into crystalline pools and secret waterfalls (oops, left the camera in the car). Little Nova said, "I wish we had our fishing poles." Indeed.

As we cleared the pass we came into the fertile valley of rolling hills and fields of bundled hay. Old barns and horses next to vineyards that grow that fickle beauty the pinot noir grape. Wine country! With a 4 year old aboard we thought it best to save the wine tasting for another trip. Soon, we found ourselves on the familiar road back home.

So, we visited farm, beach, woods, river, wine country and more. All this and we were home by 5:30 pm. With our bodies refreshed and our souls rejuvenated. Man, are we lucky or what? To live here and have the best of everything at our fingertips is a dream. How I love a good old fashioned Sunday drive!

and to you I say...
Go fly a kite!