Heceta Head

My day and 1/2 at the coast were heavenly! I flew into Portland on Tuesday afternoon and by the time I got my luggage and my rental car and headed out to Lincoln City, the rest of the afternoon was gone. I arrived in Lincoln City just before dusk. It was raining a pretty steady drizzle, but I felt the ocean calling to me and just couldn't resist a long walk along the beach. My motel was just across Hwy. 101 from the beach and I could hear the waves crashing against the shoreline when I stood out on my balcony. It was a little chilly and I got pretty wet, but the beach walk was well worth it. I had decided before I left that I would not let weather decide if I would enjoy the limited time that I had at the beach. It was beautiful and I cried tears of joy at being back along the coast. It had been 14 years since I had experienced the Oregon coast and it just felt so good to be back. I walked along the beach for about an hour, but then it got dark and I went for a yummy bite to eat...the best clam chowder I had ever tasted, followed up by a Marionberry tart. Yummmm! You can't get that kind of stuff in NM. The next morning it was a little foggy when I first got up, but no rain. Yay! I got up fairly early because I wanted to fill the day with as much as I could. I headed south from Lincoln City and stopped at nearly every lookout to enjoy the sights. As the morning progressed the clouds parted and it turned into a beautiful morning. I can't say it ever really rained that whole day. It would cloud over and "mist" every once in awhile, but the sun would come right back out. Ahhh! Heaven. Julia had provided me with some great travel music and I was just cruising down the Pacific Coast Hwy. enjoying my morning when I rounded a corner and saw the Heceta Head sign. I hadn't realized that I was that close and it took me by surprise. Heceta Head is one of my two favorite spots on the face of the earth and I think of it often. I have two pictures of it hanging in our home. Well, I again burst into tears as I rounded the bend and drove down to the beach. It was SO much the same as it always had been--a place sort of stuck in time. I spent a couple of hours in that little cove, taking pictures, hiking up to the lighthouse, walking the beach, investigating the tide-pools, etc. And remembering. It was a very spiritual experience. Hard to explain to someone else, but so perfect. Feelings and memories from the past sort of washed over me, but they were joined by feelings of gratitude for the present and hope for the future. I spent the rest of the day investigating the Florence area. I drove down to some of the other beaches we had explored as children and enjoyed a bit of the dunes and Old Town. I eventually headed back north and returned to Lincoln City for the evening. Full of gratitude for a full and beautiful day. I'll share more about the rest of the trip on another blog. But, for now, here are a few of the MANY pictures I took to remember my day. Enjoy! I sure did.