Coast Weekend

As much as I love living in Corvallis, I find that I need to get out of town every now and then. Two of the reasons I moved here from Illinois were for the beauty of the great outdoors and how close both the mountains and the ocean are. To celebrate my birthday this weekend, I plan to take advantage of my proximity to the coast by taking a little overnight trip there with My Honey. Since it is my birthday present, there is still some surprise in our exact location, but I'm excited to try and plan some activities anyway. How to do that? With a stack of books, of course!



I moved here in August 2000, and ever since then, I have been a huge fan of William L. Sullivan's hiking and outdoor guides. Since I know that from here we are at least heading west, I will be checking out 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Oregon Coast & Coast Range. The newest edition was published last year, and includes a few color photos along with its very useful collection of maps, trails, and places to visit. I never make a trip to the coast without tossing it into my car.
($16.95 paperback, isbn 0981570119)





A book I just discovered today that may also be a useful tool for my Oregon adventures is The Northwest Nature Guide by James Luther Davis. This handy book provides a month-by-month guide to the best bets for viewing wildlife--animals and plants both--throughout Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. For each month, they provide information about the best things to see, and the best places to see them. March on the Oregon coast? I will definitely be scouting locations to view migrating whales. A few pages of color photographs provide temptation, and will definitely lure me out of town again.
($24.95 paperback, isbn 0-88192-867-4)



I don't know about you, but as I walk along the Oregon beaches, I have an irresistible need to pick up pebbles and bits of shells and...stuff...from the sand and collect it in my pockets. If I come home from the coast without a little bit of something that's been bathed in cold Pacific seawater, then I must not be feeling well. While at the beach, though, I also see things that will definitely not fit in my pockets, but I can't help but wonder how they got there or where they came from. Bonnie Henderson writes of her own discoveries, and their place in the larger world, in Strand: An Odyssey of Pacific Ocean Debris. In case it rains, this will be a great book to include in my collection of options to read while I listen to the waves crash on the beach.
($18.95 paperback, isbn 0-87071-299-3)



As if that isn't enough, I will probably take one or two novels to read. Such difficult decisions I have to make just for one night away: How am I supposed to pick between the seven books I'm currently reading? Sigh... Unfortunately I don't think My Honey will ever understand my dependence on books, but at least I know that my friends at Grass Roots always will.

See you soon at the bookstore, my friends!
Pamela.