Words that End in "Pid"

You'll need to let me know if we were intrepid or stupid this weekend. It was a short couple of days, but we packed a lot in. As I mentioned in my last post, we headed over to Neskowin, Oregon, to see the Neskowin Ghost Forest...an item that has been a long-time resident on my bucket list. And you know how it is when you travel with me...you see a lot of barns. Only, this time, not so many because the first barn caused me great frustration. This is how it is trying to photograph barns from a moving vehicle.

Often I can see a very cool barn as we approach, but when we're close enough to get a picture, there are trees, or houses, or power lines, or something blocking my photographic intent. What is up with people anyway? Don't they know I'm coming? Don't they know I am a prolific picture-taker-of-barns? It's the story of my life. Nobody ever considers my needs. And so I put my camera away, and I didn't take it out again until we got close to the campground. That'll teach 'em.

So, I wasn't really sure what to expect with this campground. The campground itself was part of the adventure. We've stayed at plenty of national parks and state parks, but this was a county park. We knew it must be sort of old because only a 30-amp circuit was available. And this doesn't mean much more to us except that we'd have to use propane to heat our water, rather than electricity. And, frankly, in the camper it doesn't matter because it's propane either way. Also, we knew it was a small campground...only 12 sites. The two of us were joking as we drove along, getting closer, and we'd see an RV parked in someone's yard, and I'd say, "Is that the campground?"

So it was both humorous and a big surprise when we drove up and realized it was just a wide spot right off the highway. In the image below, I was trying to get a picture of the sign, but I was a little stunned to see it wasn't far off from those RV's we'd just driven by.

And I forgot all about my camera and picture-taking until we got set up and I could walk around and take some real pictures. Okay...here's the sign. I'm not sure who or what "Woods" refers to since this is actually Tillamook County.

And I walked across the street so you could see the place. That's a state highway there in the foreground...fortunately, not a very busy one. That's us second from the right in the image below.

Still, you have to admire the fact that we were literally steps from the Nestucca River, which ran along behind us.

And it was kind of pretty there. These flowers...I'd call them daylilies, but I don't think they are...were growing in the kiosk beside our space.

There wasn't much room to walk, but we did get out and walk down the highway a little way. Along the way we saw this wildflower growing along the river.

Standing at river's edge, we looked right...

The campground was situated at the intersection of a state highway and a bridge leading into Pacific City. To our left, we were standing right next to the bridge.

We walked under the bridge and back to the campground. Along the way, we saw this. I'm so sorry, Scruffy. I don't know what happened to you, but I'm sorry for whatever it was.

Across from the campground was a huge pasture. This is dairy country. You can see a line of houses there. They are situated in a narrow strip of land that runs between the highway and the river. They are no more than 6 feet off the road, and one assumes, 6 feet from the river on the other side.

The view from here was expansive, and so I took a panorama. You can click on the image to make it larger.

Okay, and just one more barn for this trip.

After dinner, we walked up on the bridge and got another look at the river. Our RV is just off to the left, but hidden in the bushes.

The day we arrived was beautiful and sunny. The next day...the day we wanted to visit the ghost forest...rain, rain, rain. We decided first to visit a quilt shop I'd discovered nearby. I'm always surprised when I pick up my phone and say, "OK, Google, find a quilt shop near me." And Google, the love of my life, obliges. What a surprise in this remote area to find BJ's Fabrics & Quilts in tiny little Cloverdale, Oregon. I'll say more about this in a separate post.

We hoped the rain would let up, but it did not. But we were intrepid (or stupid...take your pick) and braved the elements to see it. To see the Neskowin Ghost Forest, one parks in the Neskowin Beach State Wayside. Then, you walk across the street toward the beach, then you ford a knee-deep stream (twice) to get to the forest. Along the way, one passes Proposal Rock. I'm sorry for the raindrops on my lens, but they stuck as quickly as I could wipe them off.

Here's the story about Proposal Rock from Salem's Statesman-Journal:

Our hero goes by the name Charley Gage, who may or may not have been a 19th Century sailor of the high seas. The lady of our tale is Della Page, daughter of a homesteading family that tended a farm along Neskowin Creek on the Oregon Coast.

The details are light — and change depending on the source, as legend mixes with fact — but what's important is that one day in the late 1800s, these star-crossed lovers headed out to a basalt sea stack above the Pacific Ocean and decided to get married. Della's mother was so thrilled she named the prominent landmark "Proposal Rock," a moniker that endures to this day.

Awwwwww...I always enjoy a good love story, don't you?

So, anyway, it was miserable out here, and since we hadn't dressed appropriately for fording the stream, we were quite wet. Our jeans were wet clear to our knees. Mike took off his shoes, but I left mine on. Here's the thing: my shoes are "waterproof." But waterproof only goes so far, you understand. The RV is also "waterproof," but if it's hit by a tsunami, I believe it will leak. And it was kind of like that with my shoes. As I stepped into the relative tsunami of a stream, it overflowed the tops and wet me clear to my toes. So, oh well. We were still intrepid enough to continue on (or stupid...take your pick).

You can read about the Neskowin Ghost Forest right here.  (You can also see some wonderful pictures there.) But here's what you need to know:

Geologists theorize that the ancient trees, carbon dated to around 2,000 years old, were felled during the major earthquake that hit the Cascadia subduction zone in 1700. The earthquake dropped the forested land into the tidal zone. When the ocean water rushed in, it buried the decapitated trunks in the mud, which staved off decay and preserved the forest remains for the years to come.

Before they met their watery fate, the mighty trees stood around 150 to 200 feet tall. Today, the petrified relics of those giants share the beach with small tide pools and various marine life. The phantom-like forest is revealed by the shallow waters of low tide, and more and more ancient stumps become exposed when the tide is at its lowest during winter.

And sitka spruce are very big trees. They aren't as big as the California Redwoods, but they are approaching the same massive size, height, and age. Here's a picture of one I took on a previous hike.

They are distinctive both for their alligator-skin-like bark, and for their whitish color. I've always thought they looked like ghosts in the forest in the way they stand out, and so seeing them here on the beach brings their "ghost-like" appearance to a whole new level of meaning. This was a large stump. I'm guessing the diameter of this tree might have been as much as five feet.

I put my wet foot up there for scale.

So consider the cataclysm it would take to bury these giants under sand for centuries until some random storm uncovered them. Even today, they can only be seen at low tide. (Yeah, I don't know those people, but I thank them for adding scale to my image.)

The bad weather added to the eeriness of the place.

And we would have loved to stay longer and explore more, but it was miserable out there.

Now that we've done it once, we'd like to make another trip over some time and see it under better conditions.

Instead, we headed for home and dinner. Mike grilled some swordfish steaks. We were trying to replicate a recipe he'd had at a local restaurant. The swordfish was first marinated in a tequila marinade. When it was cooked it was topped with pico de gallo and some sour cream, then sprinkled with some cilantro. You can find the swordfish recipe right here. I used this recipe to make the pico de gallo.

Our side dish was Canal House Zucchini. I harvested the baby zucchini off our own plants and then browned them. Then they were marinated for a couple of days and served at room temperature. Yummy.

But we weren't finished having fun. I'd learned of a quilt show an hour south in Newport, Oregon, and so we went there before heading home. I'll say more about that in a separate post as well. When we got home, the kitties barely noticed we were gone. They just yawned and stood next to their treat bowls, and all was good in their world.

Sadie missed having someone to cover her up.

Okay, so I'm going to have to owe you a couple of blog posts about the quilt shop and the quilt show, but for now, I have business to take care of. First, I can show you my first mystery project. It's been gifted and received, and here it is. This is an embroidery pattern from Jenny of Elefantz. It made me think of my friend Marei, and so I stitched it up for her.

Next, it's time to link up my goal for August's OMG.

This month's goal is to quilt and bind Quiltemala. Matthew will be here for a couple of weeks, and I want to finish it up and send it home with him.

Finally, it's time to link up to Sunday Slow Stitching with Kathy. I'm nearly finished with November's heart. I'll probably finish this up this morning.

The RV is unpacked, and so I have a day to catch up on housework and get started on my quilting. I'm hoping to get at least one quadrant finished up today.