Winter road trips

By the time we decided on a destination and itinerary for our three-day road trip last weekend, I felt like I had crested Everest, or at least a really tall dune in Oregon. Sometimes, it’s hard to decide when you don’t have a specific destination in mind. And tourism websites and guide books make even the dullest places seem like great places for a weekend getaway. They often lull me with the prospects of discovering a sleepy-town, lesser-known attraction that’s a bit farther afield than my usual destinations. When we’re on route, however, we discover that the only thing worth seeing on our getaway is the lone structure – a customs house or old church for instance – strategically photographed in the guide book or on the municipal website. Of course, these mishaps have turned out in our favor, as we always expect they will, and we end up discovering something else entirely. 

When you are paying peak-season hotel rates and are dependent on winter weather conditions or off-season ferry schedules to get back to the mainland, the destination better be worth our while. Backwater adventures are great in the summertime, but in the cooler, darker months, we’re just less willing to take risks.

 

Fall Road Trip: The Oregon Coast

Cannon Beach, Oregon

 

Some friends recently shared their memories of walking on deserted, white-sand beaches in New Zealand with not a home or construction in sight. We’ll eventually travel to New Zealand to take in the natural beauty of the two islands, but as far as Northwest beaches go, Cannon Beach is probably as good as it gets: beautiful sand, drift wood, big waves breaking and beachcombing treasures in a beautiful seaside town.

 

Naturally, I did what every seasoned traveler knows not to do: I turned my back on the Pacific and almost got swept away by the current.

 

Random beachgoers storm Cannon Beach, Oregon.

 

Cannon Beach Iconography

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach is a 235-foot volcanic rock jutting out of the Pacific Ocean. 

My Christmas Wishlist

– The new Zune digital media players are amazing. Why didn’t they release a Zune phone? I like the Zune and I need a new phone.

– A cable provider other than ComCast. They just raised the price of on-demand movies from 4 to 5 dollars. Why? Because they can.

– Wireless headphones for my 8-GB Zune media player.  I’m surprised this technology doesn’t already exist.

 

Salmon Ecology Field Trip

This weekend, we drove to South Puget Sound to take part in a field trip organized to teach people about stream ecology and wild salmon. As part of our trip, we visited the Kennedy Creek salmon trail. Returning chum salmon spawn in the lower streams and November is the best month to view the fish. Chum, as I learned recently, is one of five Pacific salmon species: Chinook (also called king salmon), sockeye, coho, chum and pink salmon.

What an amazing experience. I had never seen salmon in the wild. The adults die shortly after spawning and the carcasses serve to nourish other animals.

 

 

Bus Monster

Someone recently turned me on to Seattle Bus Monster (www.busmonster.com), a website that gives real-time information on where buses are and when they are scheduled to arrive at a given stop. You can search by bus stop (e.g. Redmond library) or by bus route (e.g. 545). I have always been disappointed that the bus stops in King County don’t provide real-time information on bus arrival times. This might offer me a way to find out where my bus is and when I can expect it. Of course, now I’ll have to buy a smart phone or PDA.