Monthly Archives: June 2014

The Land of Cheese, Trees, and Ocean Breeze…

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With my beaming new 300 watts of solar now in place, I am ready to head back to the coast and pick up where I left off with my lighthouse stalking.   I have loved every single mile of the Oregon coast and decide I don’t want to miss a single milepost, so I head due west to Newport where I left off a week ago to come inland for the solar install.  Only the weather has now turned dreary and rainy, an ironic twist considering I am now on a mission to see how many days I can go without plugging into the pole! Continue reading →

Some Eugenes are Harder to Leave than Others

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I was married for eight years to a man named Scott Eugene.   When I was in a teasing mood, I called him  “Euge” for short.   I once read that the thing that most attracts us to a person initially is the thing that drives us crazy after eight years of marriage.  Scott had a dry, sarcastic rapier wit which kept everyone in stitches.   When we first met, I was enamored, until which time that wit became directed at me, and then it wasn’t so funny anymore.   Leaving the marriage itself was difficult.  Leaving Scott Eugene was not. Continue reading →

Heading Inland to Catch a Little Sun…

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IMG_0897Anyone who knows me knows I don’t make large purchases easily.  For example, it took me almost two years to buy my rig, but once I found it, the honeymoon is still on.  The indecisive Libra in me makes me feel compelled to survey everyone I know and trust before I end up with what I feel is the best decision for me.  The knowledgeable, helpful, unflappable folks at AM Solar got a taste of my MO this past week as I vacillated on solar options like a shifting cloud cover on a springtime day. Continue reading →

The Lights of Yaquina

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As if Newport’s variety of excellent fresh seafood and craft beers, along with a picturesque harbor and marina was not enough to make it a great place to spend the week, it has not one, but TWO lighthouses!   I would typically appreciate any one of those things as an ideal stopover spot, but to have them all in one place?  Continue reading →

Enough About Lighthouses for Now, Let’s EAT!

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After my weekend lighthouse crawl, it is now late Sunday evening, and I need to find a place to settle in for the work week.  Newport looks like a good option as it is a big enough town to guarantee a decent signal, as well as lots of access to conveniences.   I decide on the Newport Marina and RV Park under the famous Yaquina Bridge, another designed by bridge engineer Conde McCullough.   I like the idea of parking at a marina near the water alongside the boats. Continue reading →

Weekend Coastal Crawl, Part 1

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It’s Friday afternoon on the last weekday of the month, and I am looking forward to a weekend “coastal crawl” of more gorgeous beaches and more lighthouses to explore!   I can’t leave until I finish my end of month reporting.  I am burning up the keyboard, feeling like a drooling puppy who has been caged all week, and is about to be let off leash to run for 48 hours!  Insert the word “LIGHTHOUSE!”  for “SQUIRRELL!!” Continue reading →

Cape Arago, I Feel You!

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Moving from south to north along the Oregon coast, the next historic lighthouse in my sights is Cape Arago.   I check to see if it is close enough from Bandon to make a run after work one day, particularly since I work Central Time hours, and can start out as early as 3:00pm.   I consult my “Oregon Coast Lighthouses” State Parks brochure to find that it is only about 25 miles north of Bandon, up a smaller two lane road, so I wouldn’t even be backtracking all that much when I continued on up Highway 101 come the weekend. Continue reading →