CrossCountry Bob

Posting from Newport, Oregon.

Although it might be warmer further south, Newport was a pleasant 13 degrees so CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie decided that sitting a while was a grand idea; time to explore the area on the bikes, eat fresh, whole crab, and stock up with fresh shucked oysters and a beautiful ling cod filet (for dinner fried in butter if you were wondering). After two nights hanging out near Newport, the largest commercial fishing port in Oregon, Winnie wandered south a bit to Sunset Bay State Park, a nice spot for a hike along a rugged piece of Oregon coast complete with misty, salty air and occasional drizzle.  There was time for CrossCountry Bob to write and ponder about the workings of America after checking out such things as this for hire sign in Newport:

And, of course, CrossCountry Bob could not consider this post complete without showing y’all the carved “Trump” at the chainsaw carving emporium in the town of Umpqua.

Meanwhile, far in thought from such American show and tell, Paintin’ Peggie paints or sketches and edits all the great pictures she takes (CrossCountry Bob might be the one posting the pictures but the photo credits go mostly to Paintin’ Peggie – she has that artist’s eye).

Changing channels now, America seems mostly business as usual so far.  CrossCountry Bob noticed some outdoor enthusiasts encamped in the outskirts of Portland but that was as close to downtown as Winnie would venture (not that CrossCountry Bob was arguing, having read a fair bit about the joys of “police light” downtown Portland).

And to round out this Post, some photos courtesy of Paintin’ Peggie, captions by CrossCountry Bob.  Feel free to use the Comments if you are so moved.

After biding their time since the New Year, CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie finally spotted a break in the Okanagan snow and wasted no time in bolting south in Winnie – the idea was a quick breakout across Washington before winter noticed CrossCountry Bob and Paintin’ Peggie were missing. And it worked. A cold, bleak and snowy Washington State interior (see those pics below) gave way eventually to the Columbia River (day 1 and less snow) and then west to the Pacific Ocean at Newport, Oregon (day 2 and No. More. Snow!) What CrossCountry Bob noticed instead of snow was Americans – they were everywhere (not a suprise of course), some masked, most not and so, what to make of it all? CrossCountry Bob couldn’t tell a Biden from a Trump, nor a Democrat from a Republican. Well, plenty of time to figure that out. CrossCountry Bob will see if any of it makes sense to a northern nobody. No rush though, because the weather down south is warm and the living is easy.

And so it begins; a foreigner in America…