September 2, 2014

On September second, after traveling 7,487 miles, Maya and I put our feet in the Pacific Ocean. I don’t know why, but it’s a heady feeling to begin with your feet in the Atlantic Ocean and cross the continent to the Pacific Ocean. The campground we stayed in, Cape Lookout State Park, on the Oregon coast was wonderful. Our campsite was nestled in a pine tree forest just behind the dunes. Cross over  the dunes and there she was, the Ocean – you could hear the waves pounding at night and it was a wonderful sound.

Cliffs at Sonoma Coast

Maya and I exploring a sea stack.

People that know me, know I’m an ocean girl. The house I grew up in was on the Great South Bay of Long Island and summer was all about the ocean. As an adult I fell in love with Acadia National Park and camped there for many years. I was fascinated with the tide pools there and those underwater gardens became a subject for my art work. I was anxious to explore the west coast and see what ocean life there was like.

Maine has rocky granite shores but they are much older and more rounded and weathered down. The tide pools there are subtle, featuring many different colored algae and seaweed. If you want to see creatures you must sit patiently and wait, they love to hide and only emerge when they think the coast is clear. The Pacific coast seems sharper, more dramatic, in places the cliffs come right to the sea. I love the formations of sea stacks that change with the tide and the light. Monet would have loved the Pacific coast! The tide pools are also very different, in a way more dramatic as well. Giant colorful starfish and green and purple sea anemones along with mussels and kelp dominate the upper parts of the tide pools. As the tide gets lower, spiny urchins and sea cucumbers emerge.

A trio of bright starfish and some anemones.

Another thing I love about the beach is when I come across random beach art. When someone at the shore has spent the day constructing something from the flotsam and jetsam that has washed ashore. When folks do this they are creating for the fun of it, for the experience – they know their work will wash away but it doesn’t matter. It is art in the purest form and I always stop and delight over it when I find some.

A structure made of driftwood and seaweed.

On this trip I feel as though I flowed through a path of water to the Pacific Ocean. After leaving Acadia National Park, I went up the Canadian coast and experienced the Atlantic Oceans different moods all the way to Kouchibouguac National park on the Acadian coast of Canada. At my next stop at the town of Riveiere du Loup I finally saw the St. Lawrence seaway – so wide you wouldn’t know it was a river if you didn’t look at the map. I followed the St. Lawrence to Ottawa and encountered it’s tributaries all through southern Canada. At Sault Ste. Marie, I came to Lake Superior and again was impressed by the vastness of this body of water. Traveling to Minnesota I stopped for a night along the Mississippi River. Where I camped the river was small, just beginning the long journey to the Gulf of Mexico. My next stop, in Mandan, North Dakota, I found the Missouri River and camped on it’s banks. It was where Lewis and Clark had wintered so I decided to follow their trail to the Pacific. I camped along the Little Missouri in Theodore Roosevelt National Park and found that they had explored that area as well. In Montana I picked the trail up again in Missoula. They fished for Salmon on the Lochsa River in Idaho and took the Clearwater River to the Columbia River so I followed their trail to Celilo Village in Oregon where the salmon were running upstream and everyone was fishing if they weren’t windsailing! I would have loved to visit Fort Clatsop State Park where the Columbia river runs into the ocean but at that point in my trip I needed to head south so I broke from their trail and finally met the Pacific in Cape Lookout, Oregon.

Cape Lookout Oregon

I stayed in two state parks along the ocean in Oregon, and both where excellent. The second one, Sunset Bay State Park, had great interpretive programs, a botanical garden and a bay with a beach where you could safely kayak. Another thing I loved about the Oregon state parks was that they were much more dog friendly than in California. There were areas where dogs could go if leashed but also places where your dog could be leash free and run and enjoy the beach. I want to come back and experience some more of Oregon’s state parks.

The Japanese Garden

I can’t remember the real name for this flower but I always called it the “Hot Poker Plant”.

My little rig on the beach!

Along the California coast I stayed in several State Parks, Sonoma beach was beautiful but difficult to enjoy since dogs were not allowed (even leashed) in most areas. I loved the Juniper trees, the way their branches would come out at sharp geometric angles. Many places had this beautiful pink lily blooming and Ice Plants covered much of the dunes. My favorite beach in California was Pismo beach. It has been on my bucket list for years to tow a trailer out to the beach and stay right on the ocean. The area is mainly for people with dune buggies and ATVs but that really didn’t bother me – the beach had a sense of fun. My son was with me and he rented an ATV while Maya and I walked the beach and enjoyed the water.

Soon I have to turn away from the ocean and head back East so I can be home for Thanksgiving but I have a feeling I will be back again.

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