Lincoln City, Oregon

Stopped for lunch at the Crab Pot, a gray-shingled, dingy, roadside spot recommended highly by Roadfood. At least from the look of things, gourmet it was not. Fitting: the proprietor, a gruff, goateed man with shaggy hair and overalls, stopped working on his old car as we pulled up. Laura looked like she wanted to vomit/cut my ear off. To her credit, she kept a brave face and said stuff like, “This is not my thing, but I’m happy for you. Go nuts.”

Well, I did. Crab cocktail, oyster cocktail, a big hunk of smoked salmon, and two or three slices of smoked ahi, all for about $20. Holyshit. All so fresh, tasty. We (I) found a perfect spot on a cement highway divider next to the store/road and pigged out. LVL tried (and liked) the crab, wouldn’t go anywhere near the oysters, and (barely) tolerated the fish. At least one of us left happy. I guess I owe her one.

Just before lunch we stopped to check out one of the town’s electric car charging station. What an odd place to find it. One can only imagine that a LC politician and/or prominent biz person got a wild hair and bought an electric car, thereby forcing the town to take on the cost of the charging station. Pretty cool, and really funny.

Several incredible lookout spots and photo ops, both before and after LC. We stopped probably half a dozen times, most often just for a few minutes, which is all we need to take it in.* The specifics are way beyond me to describe, so all stick to some general highlights of the views:

• Steep mountain cliffs (some of which stretch as high as 800 feet from sea level) jutting right out of the water, many of which are blanketed by huge trees. Rare are the ones adorned with tiny lighthouses.
Near-deserted beaches, with sand ranging from bright white to darker, ash colored grey, all of which seem to stretch for miles.

• Rock formations that jut out from the water, most very close to shore. This may be a stretch, but I like the image of a huge giant sticking her fingertips (and toes, in some cases) out of the water. Especially beautiful as the waves crash against them.

• Several lines of white waves, running parallel to the coastline, sometimes coming in lines of three, four, five, one a-top the other.

The towns themselves seem to come in at least three varieties: beach town (Yachats), depressing fishing village (Bandon), and main regional hub (Lincoln City). Some have more money, others have more charm, still others seem to be just barely hanging on. No real insight into why one may thrive while another struggles, except to say that it probably doesn’t have much to do with the surrounding environs. It’s utterly gorgeous wherever you look.

We didn’t really stop to check out any of the towns, but do now harbor quite a grudge against Bandon. All we wanted was a coffee to steady us for the last hour or so, and couldn’t find ANYTHING open (save a very divey bar, whose coffee – or beer, for that matter – nobody wanted). Despite the mini-setback, we kept on toward Humbug Mountain, where we had a campsite reserved.

As an aside: mid-day today is the halfway point of the trip. Holy shit. Mixed feelings. We’ve done so much, had so many adventures – including getting married! – but don’t want to have to think about it ending at some point. Milestones like this one only remind us that the dream is going to be short-lived.

* Foulweather Cape is one notable exception. Great vistas and a hilarious gift shop, but no bathroom, which is what we needed most of all.