So last week I was extremely excited to be hosting Ron Horton, a travel writer from PDX Magazineto show off our area. Ron seemed like exactly the type of writer I love, adventurous, outdoorsy, easy going, and a dog lover. Even better he didn’t know the South Coast so it was the perfect opportunity to bowl him over and ensure the type of article that would lure all those wonderful Portland residents to our neck of the coast.
I had an outstanding day planned for him. He was traveling with his dog “Truck” who was also part of the story. He was going to spend the night at the Mill Casino; my favorite dog sitter Carol Shaw was going to pick up “Truck” (ha – okay, that was funny) at the hotel so I could take him out for a fun morning of riding ATV’s in the sand dunes; a picnic on the docks, then he and Truck would head down the Cape Arago Loop to enjoy our fantastic hiking trails and beaches.
And then… the dog sitter got the flu; the don’t bother trying to man-up type of flu; the do not lift your head off the pillow or operate heavy machinery type of flu. AND it rained; and I don’t mean nice friendly Oregon Coast rain, go away in an hour type of rain. I mean rain and wind like lock yourself in the house and don’t leave for nothing type of rain, rain that fell like it was never going to stop rain, rain and wind that would shred an umbrella type of rain. Not exactly ATV’ing weather, or hiking weather, or running Truck on the beach weather, or outdoor picnic weather.
So what to do? I took the advice of our last travel writer that visited, Nancy Brown. I left Ron & Truck to relax in their hotel room and hopefully write about the wonderful dinner he had the night before at the Hilltop House in North Bend. Ran to Empire Cafe to pick up fresh baked bread, met Ron at Fishermen’s Wharf and got our crab and some crab crackers to go; and we proceeded to head out to the Storm watching Hut at Shore Acres. As luck would have it; there were volunteers from the Whale Spoken Here Program there and even at a small space heater plugged in. We proceeded to dig into our crabs and watch the waves from the sanctity of the hut.
Turned out; it was a great way to spend the day. Dungeness crab is really the cure all for everything. Ron & Truck finished out the day by driving the Cape Arago Loop and made their way back home.
And wouldn’t you know it…the next day was one of the most beautiful and sunny days yet. Of course it was. So the moral of the story….
Always spend an extra day if you can…and eat more crab!