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the end of the journey
Aug. 21st, 2012 05:13 pmThe pictures.
When we got up it was still really cold and gross - it actually had rained last night. Reg's back hurt, and we weren't terribly hungry, so we just packed up, had shitty motel coffee and honey bun, and left. (As an aside, I don't get how motel coffee is so awful. Usually it's like motor oil and you have to add like six little things of creamer to get it to a drinkable consistency, but this time they actually added water, so it was more like... tea.)
But seriously the coffee was doing nothing for me, so when we got to Port Orford, we stopped at a diner - it was called Paradise Cafe, but it was a diner, trust me. We were the only people at 1pm (it closed at 2pm) that weren't high school students, ok. That is the mark of a good place. I absolutely try not to stop at tourist places if I can avoid it, just like I enjoy being the only white person in Asian or Mexican places. Anthony Bourdain, I salute you again. But yeah, this food took 20 minutes and was the most delicious diner food I've tasted outside of the South. Seriously, the Pancake Corral is pretty good, but Paradise Cafe lived up to it's name, let me tell you. (It was also across from a Mormon church, oddly enough). If you're ever down the 101 that way, check it out.
Reg took over then, but he was not driving very well, so I asked if he was ok, and no, he wasn't, and then he fell asleep. So I took over, again, and god it was gorgeous, I swear as soon as we crossed the state line the clouds and fogs and mist were gone. I found this amusing, as it's the opposite on I-5. But yeah, I put on Pure Phase and Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space and drove along the Oregon coastline on US-101 and it was brilliant, I swear on J. Spaceman and Terrence McKenna, totally brilliant.
The only problem - once again - the speed limit was 55. People were generally going 60-65 unless the road was curvy at least. But, well, the road is always curvy. Spaceman kept me sane till the albums ended, at which point it was 6pm and I was going to AK every tourist I saw. Stopped at one of the last public beaches before the road to Portland. It was a lovely balmy 65F nearly all day, the wind kept it from being truly pleasant, but really, I couldn't have asked for much more out of that day, aside from no idiots on the road. Unfortunately we started hitting more populous areas at 5pm - rush hour. I was really getting pissed off by the time we took 18 to Portland. It seemed like people were driving even slower than they had on 101.
Reg woke up a bit, but not enough to drive. He put on some hip-hop, and that got us almost to I-5. I bought some cloves just before the exit, for $5.35. I was very excited. Of course Reg's normal Camels were $4.30. Boy, it's a good thing we don't live in Oregon. I guess the income tax would kill us. (OR has no sales tax, but does have income tax, and the reverse is true of WA.) I played my favorite remix of "Somebody That I Used To Know" and some other mixes to get us out of Portland and into oh wonderful 70mph WASHINGTON. I stopped to pee in Woodland, and decided it was time for Butt Rock.
(If you haven't seen Hesher or are wondering what Butt Rock is, think Skid Row and Guns'n'Roses.)
The playlist began with "Don't Fear the Reaper." Then Styx - Come Sail Away, which Reg and I actually sang along rather beautifully to. Then "I Remember You", "Rag Doll", "Once Bitten Twice Shy", "Here I Go Again", "Mr. Brownstone", "Hot Girls In Love", "Good Times Bad Times", "Mother", Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On", "Paradise City", "Freebird", and "The Seeker."
And then we stopped at a rest stop after Tacoma and I told Reg that I drove over 550 miles and smoked 3 cloves and HE WAS DRIVING HOME.
He played some Eminem+late 90s crossover stuff, like, Linkin Park with Eminem, or Marilyn Manson with Eminem. Really weird, but pretty energizing.
So that was that!
And I still haven't seen Cannon Beach.
When we got up it was still really cold and gross - it actually had rained last night. Reg's back hurt, and we weren't terribly hungry, so we just packed up, had shitty motel coffee and honey bun, and left. (As an aside, I don't get how motel coffee is so awful. Usually it's like motor oil and you have to add like six little things of creamer to get it to a drinkable consistency, but this time they actually added water, so it was more like... tea.)
But seriously the coffee was doing nothing for me, so when we got to Port Orford, we stopped at a diner - it was called Paradise Cafe, but it was a diner, trust me. We were the only people at 1pm (it closed at 2pm) that weren't high school students, ok. That is the mark of a good place. I absolutely try not to stop at tourist places if I can avoid it, just like I enjoy being the only white person in Asian or Mexican places. Anthony Bourdain, I salute you again. But yeah, this food took 20 minutes and was the most delicious diner food I've tasted outside of the South. Seriously, the Pancake Corral is pretty good, but Paradise Cafe lived up to it's name, let me tell you. (It was also across from a Mormon church, oddly enough). If you're ever down the 101 that way, check it out.
Reg took over then, but he was not driving very well, so I asked if he was ok, and no, he wasn't, and then he fell asleep. So I took over, again, and god it was gorgeous, I swear as soon as we crossed the state line the clouds and fogs and mist were gone. I found this amusing, as it's the opposite on I-5. But yeah, I put on Pure Phase and Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space and drove along the Oregon coastline on US-101 and it was brilliant, I swear on J. Spaceman and Terrence McKenna, totally brilliant.
The only problem - once again - the speed limit was 55. People were generally going 60-65 unless the road was curvy at least. But, well, the road is always curvy. Spaceman kept me sane till the albums ended, at which point it was 6pm and I was going to AK every tourist I saw. Stopped at one of the last public beaches before the road to Portland. It was a lovely balmy 65F nearly all day, the wind kept it from being truly pleasant, but really, I couldn't have asked for much more out of that day, aside from no idiots on the road. Unfortunately we started hitting more populous areas at 5pm - rush hour. I was really getting pissed off by the time we took 18 to Portland. It seemed like people were driving even slower than they had on 101.
Reg woke up a bit, but not enough to drive. He put on some hip-hop, and that got us almost to I-5. I bought some cloves just before the exit, for $5.35. I was very excited. Of course Reg's normal Camels were $4.30. Boy, it's a good thing we don't live in Oregon. I guess the income tax would kill us. (OR has no sales tax, but does have income tax, and the reverse is true of WA.) I played my favorite remix of "Somebody That I Used To Know" and some other mixes to get us out of Portland and into oh wonderful 70mph WASHINGTON. I stopped to pee in Woodland, and decided it was time for Butt Rock.
(If you haven't seen Hesher or are wondering what Butt Rock is, think Skid Row and Guns'n'Roses.)
The playlist began with "Don't Fear the Reaper." Then Styx - Come Sail Away, which Reg and I actually sang along rather beautifully to. Then "I Remember You", "Rag Doll", "Once Bitten Twice Shy", "Here I Go Again", "Mr. Brownstone", "Hot Girls In Love", "Good Times Bad Times", "Mother", Vanilla Fudge's "You Keep Me Hangin' On", "Paradise City", "Freebird", and "The Seeker."
And then we stopped at a rest stop after Tacoma and I told Reg that I drove over 550 miles and smoked 3 cloves and HE WAS DRIVING HOME.
He played some Eminem+late 90s crossover stuff, like, Linkin Park with Eminem, or Marilyn Manson with Eminem. Really weird, but pretty energizing.
So that was that!
And I still haven't seen Cannon Beach.
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