Masters Of The Pivot - Plan D

Plan A was our usual week at the 7C’s in Arch Cape… until we got an e-mail telling us the house had been sold and the new owners weren’t honoring the reservation. No worries, how about plan B, a cruise up and down the California coast? All booked and ready but nope, got an e-mail cancelling that too. Plan C, a trip to La Pine state park and Bend, followed by some days Lava Beds? We woke up hoping to leave Monday morning, but smoke from California fires made Bend’s air quality the worst in the nation.  All the state parks up and down the coast were fully booked – time for something out of the ordinary. So here we are in the Newport/Waldport KOA (a president’s award winner, by the way) overlooking Alsea Bay.

Normally you’d take Hwy 18, but the google lady heard about a crash and took us the back way, on 99W and then who-knows-where until we hit Hwy 20 somewhere west of Newport. Twisty, bumpy roads with no shoulders made the drive less relaxing than it could have been, although we did drive by Airlie winery, which was one of the early wineries we visited and has fond memories. And the drive really was beautiful if you were lucky enough to be the passenger. We arrived and got checked in and set up (which did not go as smoothly as it sometimes does, but we got it done) and then headed out for a walk over the Alsea bridge and around Waldport, which is pretty much a wide spot on 101. It was low tide and the bay was mostly sandbar, which was pretty interesting to see. The temperature was lovely although the breeze was fierce (thank goodness for our purchased-in-Wellfleet hats with the chin straps!) which made the trip back over the bridge an adventure.

We had a little downtime in the recliners and then off to Ona’s for dinner. Dave found Ona’s in Yachats (pronounced Ya-hots), which is usually my job, but he did such a good job of choosing that I think we’ll be sharing the responsibilities from here on. They had a nice patio, tables a little closer than we would have liked. We had very tasty fresh oysters (possibly as good as Mac’s!) and mushroom pate and delicious grilled seafood – I would definitely go back. Also delicious desserts, and a very interesting wine list of mostly mid-quality local wines. I had the berry crisp which was excellent, but can’t help wishing I’d had the sticky toffee pudding instead (or as well). Much of the time we were there I was trying to figure out where Jen and I ate lunch when we went to Cape Perpetua; I was pretty sure it was in Yachats but couldn’t remember the name. Ona’s is at the south end of Yachats, so there’s no way we could have not driven past it – it was very confusing, and I spent some time this morning trying to figure it out.

After dinner it was more recliner time - we’re opening bets on how long it will take us to get recliners for the house, by the way – and then time to take down the murphy bed and do some sleeping. The trailer has nice dark shades and it’s nice and cool an quiet here, which makes for good sleeping.