How *NOT* to take a trip to the Oregon Coast.
Okay, so I took a trip to the Oregon Coast recently, with my best friend, and the Human PA System (kind of a friend of mine, but he's one of those who you can only stand in small doses). The "Human PA System" is called that, because he seems to lack a volume control.
Anyway, the first leg of the trip seemed promising, at first. We went south, past McMinnville, and out to Lincoln City. I met the first real girlfriend that I ever had in Lincoln City, so I do have an emotional attachment to that little town, even though my ex and I broke up long ago. This was also the first time that i'd been there in YEARS. We didn't get all that far into town before stopping at the Dollar Tree there for road snacks, and toured around the rest of the shopping center there for a bit; partly to just walk around after the car ride. I've been on much longer car trips before (Richland, WA to Lamoni, IA, as one example), but a few hours in the car is still a few hours in the car.
After we left the shopping center, we noticed that there were a lot of other cars on the road. Now, given that we were doing this trip on a Saturday (during the summer, no less!), I was expecting there to be quite a lot of cars on the road, but the other two evidently did not expect that. Now, I realize that at least my best friend is intelligent (even if he has a massive penchant for being random), but... HOW DO YOU NOT EXPECT THERE TO BE A LOT OF CARS ON THE COAST AT THIS TIME OF YEAR!
With this "unexpectedly heavy" traffic at Lincoln City, my friend turned the car around, and we went north up highway 101 to Tillamook, OR. I also have somewhat of an emotional attachment to this Oregon coastal town, but this time, it's not because I once fell in love with someone there, as is the case with Lincoln City. Don't get me wrong, Lincoln City is a very nice place to visit, but the emotional attachment makes it a little more special to me, at any rate.
No, my emotional attachment to Tillamook, OR is more of a result of the numerous times that my family spent day trips there as I was growing up. I've taken the tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory so many times, that I get bored by it.
Tillamook Cheese Factory: http://www.tillamookcheese.com/visitorscenter/
At the end of the tour of the Cheese Factory, you can get Tillamook Cheese, and Ice Cream. Enough people seem to agree with me that their products are very good, because i've heard of Tillamook Cheese products being sold in every state.
We didn't stop at the Cheese Factory this time, as my friend thought that there were too many people who had stopped there already, and while the parking lot did look pretty full... IT ALWAYS LOOKS PRETTY FULL! It's one of the top places to be on the Oregon Coast.
Leaving Tillamook (after stopping at the local Fred Meyers), we went farther north on Hwy 101, and turned off onto Hwy 53. This would later prove to be an annoyance, as we were to find out. We proceeded on Hwy 53, thinking that the highway would take us to Hwy 26, and home.
Well, as it turns out, the only sign that the highway was closed was a sign saying so, only one thousand feet before the highway was closed. Needless to say, this was several miles up the highway, and it very much annoyed my friend (who was driving, as we were going in his car). After turning around, neither one of the two other people who went with me knew how to get back home without going to either Seaside, or Lincoln City. Fortunately, i've been to Tillamook multiple times, and I knew that Highway 6 went from Tillamook, to where we wanted to go.
To this day, they still think that we were lost, but no, we were not lost. Even if i'm the only one who can think rationally about it. Needless to say, we got back just fine, if tired.
You know what? I'm glad that I actually do things like CHECK A MAP before I go on trips like this. Not that I had to do so this time (as I already knew the area), but it's a good habit to get into.
Anyway, that's how NOT to take a trip to the Oregon Coast.
Anyway, the first leg of the trip seemed promising, at first. We went south, past McMinnville, and out to Lincoln City. I met the first real girlfriend that I ever had in Lincoln City, so I do have an emotional attachment to that little town, even though my ex and I broke up long ago. This was also the first time that i'd been there in YEARS. We didn't get all that far into town before stopping at the Dollar Tree there for road snacks, and toured around the rest of the shopping center there for a bit; partly to just walk around after the car ride. I've been on much longer car trips before (Richland, WA to Lamoni, IA, as one example), but a few hours in the car is still a few hours in the car.
After we left the shopping center, we noticed that there were a lot of other cars on the road. Now, given that we were doing this trip on a Saturday (during the summer, no less!), I was expecting there to be quite a lot of cars on the road, but the other two evidently did not expect that. Now, I realize that at least my best friend is intelligent (even if he has a massive penchant for being random), but... HOW DO YOU NOT EXPECT THERE TO BE A LOT OF CARS ON THE COAST AT THIS TIME OF YEAR!
With this "unexpectedly heavy" traffic at Lincoln City, my friend turned the car around, and we went north up highway 101 to Tillamook, OR. I also have somewhat of an emotional attachment to this Oregon coastal town, but this time, it's not because I once fell in love with someone there, as is the case with Lincoln City. Don't get me wrong, Lincoln City is a very nice place to visit, but the emotional attachment makes it a little more special to me, at any rate.
No, my emotional attachment to Tillamook, OR is more of a result of the numerous times that my family spent day trips there as I was growing up. I've taken the tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory so many times, that I get bored by it.
Tillamook Cheese Factory: http://www.tillamookcheese.com/visitorscenter/
At the end of the tour of the Cheese Factory, you can get Tillamook Cheese, and Ice Cream. Enough people seem to agree with me that their products are very good, because i've heard of Tillamook Cheese products being sold in every state.
We didn't stop at the Cheese Factory this time, as my friend thought that there were too many people who had stopped there already, and while the parking lot did look pretty full... IT ALWAYS LOOKS PRETTY FULL! It's one of the top places to be on the Oregon Coast.
Leaving Tillamook (after stopping at the local Fred Meyers), we went farther north on Hwy 101, and turned off onto Hwy 53. This would later prove to be an annoyance, as we were to find out. We proceeded on Hwy 53, thinking that the highway would take us to Hwy 26, and home.
Well, as it turns out, the only sign that the highway was closed was a sign saying so, only one thousand feet before the highway was closed. Needless to say, this was several miles up the highway, and it very much annoyed my friend (who was driving, as we were going in his car). After turning around, neither one of the two other people who went with me knew how to get back home without going to either Seaside, or Lincoln City. Fortunately, i've been to Tillamook multiple times, and I knew that Highway 6 went from Tillamook, to where we wanted to go.
To this day, they still think that we were lost, but no, we were not lost. Even if i'm the only one who can think rationally about it. Needless to say, we got back just fine, if tired.
You know what? I'm glad that I actually do things like CHECK A MAP before I go on trips like this. Not that I had to do so this time (as I already knew the area), but it's a good habit to get into.
Anyway, that's how NOT to take a trip to the Oregon Coast.