Disclaimer: This post is one of those that ended up being written years after the experience was had. While there was a paragraph or two posted way back then with a single photo, there were no other notes taken, so most of what is shared here must be extracted from the images and what memories they may have lent us.
Moss is the perfect accompaniment to a slow, lazy day where being on a chill plan of just taking things as they come is in order. On one of our excursions up or down the coastal highway, Caroline spotted something of interest, and without the promise of dramatic blue skies over a silvery ocean, we decided to head inland for a change.
This narrow road leads us to the Munson Creek Falls State Natural Site. I’m guessing you can figure out what that includes.
It includes a Caroline wrapped up in her playfully brightly colored thick beanie and scarf. Well, that’s it for the day; we can go get dinner and return to our yurt to listen to more ocean rolling in onto the shore.
As though there was no doubt about our season of celebration, we are here at our favorite time of year, fall.
This is Munson Creek and not the falls.
More of Munson Creek. If you are wondering about the namesake of the park we are in, the weather wasn’t cooperating to offer me the photo I’d be good with sharing, so you’ll just have to visit this area near Pleasant Valley, Oregon, and see the falls for yourself.
There was plenty of damp forest and small mushrooms to keep our interest along the short 1/2-mile trail.
We’re talking about some very small mushrooms and as you can see from the glistening fern fronds, light misting rain that all worked together to create mystery and wishes for even greater quiet in the November solitude.
The approach of mid-day left us feeling like it was eternal morning.
It’s lunchtime when we start moving into the town of Tillamook looking for food, but why consider our options when we know the only possibility is another luxury stop at the Blue Heron French Cheese Company? We picked up a couple of apples at a roadside stand selling fruits and veggies, and before we left Tillamook, we made a stop at Rainy Day Books (now closed), where a recommendation has us leaving with The Long Walk by Slawomir Rawicz describing his escape from Siberia.
We took a long, slow drive south to Lincoln City so Caroline could get some yarn shopping in at Nestucca Bay Yarns (now closed); scratch this wish list item off the list of things to do.
As the day winds down, we are driving back up north for another night at Cape Lookout. Reaching the Clay Myers State Natural Area and Whalen Island, we were offered a dramatic sky that hints at it being the best we’ll see of a sunset on this relaxed, almost languid day on the Oregon Coast.
No more owls were spotted overhead, maybe because the fog was too thick.
There may not be a lot to see, but what we do glean is maybe even more enchanting than on a sunny day, which is more common during our visits this far from home than these densely foggy ones.
Outside the front door of our yurt on the inky dark coastline, we got a fire going to make our dinner. If we had a hot chocolate from Dutch Bros. while we sat there warming by the embers, I can no longer remember, but I’d like to believe we did.
