Beautiful country, this.
A visit to wine country in the Dundee Hills

Then, the Pacific! The last time I saw the Pacific it was from the other side.

I have always preferred crab to lobster, and a couple of years ago on a trip to San Fran for the Winter Fancy Food show, we decided to try Dungeness crab wherever we could. I was pretty underwhelmed- lots of work for little reward. But, I got a hankering to try again, so when we got to Newport, OR, I was ready. This critter below changed my mind about the Dungeness. Meaty, delicious, briny, crabby!

We continued down the coast, and turned inward at Waldport, heading into the Siuslaw National Forest. We wound around the valley looking for forest service roads, and found one, crossed the river and headed into the hills, finding this spot at the end of an offshoot road, with soft grass to set the tent on. There were berries everywhere, and quite a lot of bear scat, which worried me a little, but we saw no bears. What we did see was a marvelous sunset.

That may have been my best night of sleep in that tent. We woke rested and hungry, eventually very hungry as it was quite a drive to the nearest diner, Deb’s Cafe in Alsea. Slightly surly service, but very good food. She warmed up to us after a bit, when we complimented her excellent marion berry jam.

Happy Campers