Some weeks get so crazy busy that I look forward to the first empty square on my wall calendar. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do on that day; it just means we don’t have extraordinary things going on.
After several full weeks of activities I was missing my Tech Guy. We were still both living at home, of course, but activities were controlling us. I was hungry for some talking time with him. Down time.
Our best chats have been in the car going nowhere in particular, or possibly somewhere but stopping to smell the roses on the way. That usually means hopping out of the car to take a picture of the roses. [ We would drive Type A personalities wild. ] Fortunately, Tech Guy has become quite interested in photography himself and now we each carry our own camera and I’m not the only one who wants a U-turn.
So,recently, I asked him to take a day off so we could just get in the car and go. Someplace. Anyplace.
We drove the back roads to the beach which can be reached in an hour and a half but we managed it in about 4. We went through the tiny towns of Jewell and Mist where the runners in the Hood to Coast Marathon pass by at 3 o’clock in the morning. I think I have only seen Jewell and Mist in the dark, wee hours as I drove a van of runners. 
An old trestle bridge
A goat and some chickens find the sun
an enormous tree:
In the distance, you can see why they call it “Mist”
One of many, many log trucks on the road
A more substantial bridge. I just love bridges. [In a high school aptitude test I scored high in engineering with a possible career of bridge construction. That is a true story. Scary, huh.]
Behind the trees you can see the shadow of the bridge as we come upon it:
I got out and climbed down the hill for this one.
Our first stop in Cannon Beach was the library where they often have books for sale. This blossom carpet is just outside.
Haystack Rock, the famous landmark of Cannon Beach. The tide was out, exposing rich tide pools in front of it.
The sun is struggling to come out:
We ate lunch at Mo’s, a famous-in–Oregon chowder house:
view from our lunch table:
Then, bolstered by our fish and chips, we headed back to the little shops. The sun shone in the window of one:
and Tech Guy found an opportunity to start one of his just-acquired books.
In the town of Seaside, on the river, hope for warmer weather: 
We enjoyed lollygagging so much that we got a motel and stayed overnight, armed with our new paperbacks but no toothbrushes!
We travelled home the next day along the Columbia River, a busy port.
I’m a lucky girl.
