The wheels are in motion. The planning is finished. Arrangements and reservations are in the proverbial bag and soon, we’ll be on the road. In my previous post, I mentioned a late summer vacation, but what I didn’t share is that we are about to embark on a hybrid getaway that initially didn’t require much planning at all. While our Eastern U.S. and Canadian adventures had me toiling over maps, lodgings, things to do, places to go, where to eat, ferry schedules, flights, and the absolute best way to spend our time while underway, this upcoming journey that starts in just a couple of days, leads us into the very familiar Pacific Northwest of the Oregon Coast.

Back in April, Caroline and I were discussing how in winter of 2022 we sacrificed a work-remote opportunity because her company required her to remain present for an important project. Well, here in the spring of 2024, we thought a window was opening that might allow us to capture that almost forgotten wish. I didn’t like the exorbitant prices I was finding for summer at Airbnb and VRBO and was about to put this idea on pause until winter when the rates are a lot cheaper until I thought about reaching out to someone we know who lives on the central coast of Oregon. Being a local up there, maybe this person would know something that I was missing. It turned out that she and her husband were heading to France for a month in June, and that we could have their place. While we would have to delay our plan for a bit more than a month, this would also save us from some of the hot days of the Phoenix summer (starting tomorrow, we are supposed to have our first temperature of over 110 degrees, actually 112 degrees or 44 Celsius).

Our visits to the Oregon Coast began in March 2002 on a crazy five-day trip that took us through Nevada into Idaho before joining the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington for a drive out to the coast. From Astoria, Oregon, we enjoyed a brief but incredibly scenic road trip along the Pacific Ocean before hitting the Redwoods of California and returning to Arizona. That was enough to cement a love affair with the state of Oregon; so much so that in the summer of 2002, we explored Crater Lake National Park and then, around Thanksgiving in November, we visited Bend and Mount Hood on our way to Washington. Since that time, we’ve returned to Oregon nearly 20 more times. What I’m trying to get to is what I shared above: this trip didn’t require much planning as with our month of lodging fixed, we pretty much know how and where we can spend our time.

The thing is, I wasn’t ready to return to intensive writing quite yet, and in my effort to occupy myself, I started considering other things, specifically where we might go hiking and what we would do about a meal plan while we were up there. Using AllTrails, I identified nearly 70 potential hikes and walks within a three-hour drive south or a two-hour drive north. As for our meal plan, Caroline had brought up our last visit to Oregon a couple of years ago during which we stopped at a new grocery in Lincoln City called El Torito Meat Market. We’d shared a spatchcocked grilled chicken on Thanksgiving Day thanks to this amazing Mexican grocery store. Feeling inspired, I started considering what ingredients I might be able to buy there and how I could have those things influence our meals while on the coast.

I came up with 14 recipes of dishes I’ve never prepared before including Cochinita Pibil, Pepian de Pollo, Machaca, Pollo en Jocón, and Rajas con Crema. We’ll be buying and cooking with things such as chorizo, cecina, chuleton, nopales, epazote, cotija cheese, cream Oaxaquena, jicama, poblano and guajillo chilies, chayote, jalapenos, banana leaves, and tomatillos among a bunch of other things.

So, while this month away will be a remote-working situation, our days will start with a two-hour walk along the sea or in the forest just offshore before I make us a Mexican-influenced breakfast. Part of Caroline’s lunch hour break will be spent with at least another mile-long walk on a nearby beach and after her work day, we’ll drive out along the coast to take in the sun setting over the ocean, flying a kite, bird watching, or hiking up to an overlook to change our perspective of a place we’ve likely seen dozens of times before. To us, this doesn’t sound like work is involved at all, it’s more like a luxury vacation with some minor responsibilities.