Hey, I can hear the ocean from here!

We left the Columbia River RV Park in Portland this am, showered, laundry done, new (longer) tank dump hose firmly installed on board. The old one we had was a scant 5 feet long, maybe.... just NOT enough! With a thank you to the ubiquitously ever-present WalMart for its replacement, we hit the Interstate and navigated our way smoothly out of Portland, even with a stop at TRADER JOE'S!!!! (I KNOW, RIGHT??!!!!)  I was SO excited to do my first Trader Joe's that I didn't realize, until I was posing for this picture, that I forgot to put clothes on this morning and was still in my pj's when we got there.

$100 later (including a $2.49 bottle of Trader Joe's house brand, "Charles Adams" wine, (affectionately known to fans as "two buck Chuck"), a holdover to the days before inflation, when it was actually $2, and which I will review later, when it has chilled and I have drunk it) we hit the highway and headed west to the coast.

Highlights of MY day, as your driver for today, included driving the moho over one kickass-big, multi-level traffic bridge as we left Portland, the all-80's, all-the-time radio station we found to listen to 'til the signal ran out (yes sadly - I DO believe the 80's produced some of the best music of all time!), and the just-breathtakingly-beautiful (even with fog) drive between Portland and the coast.  Oregon is an amazing, gorgeous state.

Tonight we are in Nehalem State Park in Oregon.  Right (and I mean right) on the coast, our campsite separated from the Pacific Ocean by a mere small sand dune.  It's quite lovely, super-quiet except for the thrum of the ocean behind us (OK - I DID fail to read the signs as I drove in and MAY have parked in the wrong circle of campsites, those reserved for "reservations-only" campers, which would explain the quiet that surrounds us (really? Reservations in November?) - but so far no one has come to bump us and I doubt very much they will, so we are just enjoying the peace and solitude).  We went for a long walk with the dogs along the beach this afternoon.  Remy was totally pumped to see the ocean, and raced toward it (me in 5th gear tow at the end of the leash) only to eventually realize that the whitecaps and swells she saw just disappeared and couldn't be chased and caught.  Jen and Kinka got their feet wet in an unexpected surge!

It is weird, and a little embarrassing to admit, but I am feeling.... bored.  Horrible, isn't it?  We are SO very lucky to be able to do this trip, on so many levels.  And I haven't forgotten that, and I am absolutely NOT taking that luxury/luck for granted.  BUT I am feeling like I need to "do something";  that that contribution to society that we are all expected to make in our lifetimes is somehow lacking as I journey on. What that means for the next few months remains to be discovered.