Look Forward, Not Backward

Usually this is very good advice and one that we have been following on the trip so far. Look out the front windshield and not the rear view mirrors.
But for this post we felt it appropriate to give you guys our impressions of the OR coast and the fine time we have had here the past 10 days.
First off, the OR State Parks system is superb. Along the entire coast we did not drive more than 5 miles in any direction without seeing a State Park, Recreation Area, Public Boat Launch, Trailhead parking - it was absolutely unbelievable.
So I'm out on my morning walk and I get talking to a local guy and I compliment him on the Parks system and said whatever you Oregonians are paying in taxes it sure has been put to good use. He retorts - that's the beauty part, NO taxes! Sure enough later that day we went on a  Safeway run, no sales tax. Your box of Coco Crispies costs $5.99, you give the clerk 6 bucks and you get a penny back - pretty damn sweet.
Seems that these beautiful Parks are supported strictly by user fees - AND - the State Constitution requires that a new State Park be established every year, how's that?
And all of the parks are carefully planned to find that difficult balance between nature preservation and user conveniences, they pull it off just fine in my opinion. Maintenance is excellent - I visited the nearby men's room about 9 PM on a Friday nite - peak hour for campgrounds - and the room was spotless with paper towels/toilet paper freshly stocked.
Here is a typical campsite you'll find along the OR coast:


This was at Beverly Beach and you'll notice the spaciousness of the site, excellent privacy from neighbors and this one had a nice little stream running behind it - great napping music indeed! The beach was an easy 5 minute walk away. This site with electric and water hook ups was $26 a night which we thought was very reasonable.
Overall the people were very friendly, we met so many nice and helpful folks here. They really take great pride in their State, are eager to show it off to visitors and we liked that very much.
So the big question on everyone's mind - what's the best damn beer on the OR coast?
Well, we have the following candidates: Chetco, Misty Mountain, Wild River, 7 Devils, Rogue and Pelican.



Hands down winner - 7 Devils out of Coos Bay, OR. Best beer on my ballot was their Trillium Double IPA and best beer on Debbie's ballot was their Vanilla Stout. So there you have it beer afficianados.

One last comment on OR coast, did we mention that it can get a tad breezy here?



We are coming back her in the future to spend about a month along the coast, any of you guys up for it?

We are now in WA, the Evergreen State and posted up at Cape Disappoinment SP, Lewis and Clark territory, for the weekend.
Here's our entrance to WA over the Columbia River:


We got settled into our campsite at lunch time, got set up - we've done it so many times it takes us 5 minutes - sat down, looked up and saw these 2 beauties in the tree above our campground. Oh how I wish I had a nice camera, lens and photographic talent. But this one isn't bad.



Next post will be a bit on the historical side and seeing as we have the Memorial Day holiday approaching it's going to take a uniquely American slant to it.
Take care, thanks for reading and keep looking forward.