Good news, and Bad

The good news is – when I’ve started my truck remotely the last few mornings, the heated seats automatically turn on!

The bad news is - when I’ve started my truck remotely the last few mornings, the heated seats automatically turn on!

You see, they only turn on when they think you might get a cold butt crawling into the driver’s seat.  Which means it has been cold enough that my truck worries about my butt!  And that, dear readers, is too cold – especially for April!

My condolences and thoughts go out to Kelly and Al (Cora & Max) from the Bayfield Bunch, who are sadly missing one of their team members, Checkers, who passed on peacefully yesterday morning.

            

Meanwhile, here on the Oregon coast, I have a rant.

I want to know who (actually who DOESN’T) maintain the coastal road from around Cape Lookout to Cape
Mears?  This road is a typical coastal road, narrow, winding, some great views, no shoulders, But with some of the nastiest, deepest potholes around.  These babies are Deep!  And the road is so narrow that the only way to avoid falling into one is to swerve into the oncoming lane – there is no shoulder.  I feel for someone towing one of those little boat or utility trailers with the small wheels.  These holes could easily flip one of them or tear the wheel right off.  These potholes would be the envy of even Edmonton!  They are better than Saskatchewan potholes – of Corner Gas fame!  Think I saw a couple of ‘smart cars’ driving around in the bottom of one of these, but there is no ramp out.  These puppies have vertical sides, and did I mention deep?

Hailey does Cape Mears, Oregon

At least the ones that were dry you could sort of envision how deep they were – a few kids thought they had arrived at the Grand Canyon.  I tossed rocks into a few and tried to time how long it took to hit bottom, but I could not count that high.  But after a night’s rainfall, they were full of water and you could not tell whether they warranted a swerve into the other lane to play chicken with the oncoming traffic or not!  I think I saw a guy fishing in one of them as I careened on by.  Come on ODOT or Tillamook County, step up to the plate and dump a few thousand tons of cold mix in these caverns before buses go missing.    Smart cars beware.  I don’t recommend that road for travel.

The ‘razor wire house’ has not changed much.  I first blogged this in April 12, 2008, and the house gets queried in Google quite a lot.  I still don’t know what it’s all about?

 

At a recent stop, I was fortunate enough to be able to catch these rare photos of the elusive ‘tabby tiger’ searching out prey in a tree.

After successfully avoiding plunging into a pothole on the road, we pulled in at Cape Mears lighthouse to have a look around, and some breakfast. The weather was highly variable, and I was forced to retreat to the truck once with a squirming ball of wet fur inside my jacket.

The second attempt was more rewarding, although the trees were still dripping.

We read some of the plaques …

and checked for any wildlife at the shallow end of the gene pool.

To be continued …                     (perhaps)