Day 1 highlights: Victoria to Kalaloch State Park, site D33
Music to start the day : The Commitments vol 2
Km: 160

Easy border and ferry crossing to Port Angeles. Parking within half a block to the grocery store I was bound for (by memory!) Finding my raw milk but also a lot of wonderful products to see me off (organic nitrate and nitrite free sliced local ham, organic roast chicken, lemon and tapenade hommous great taste! etc you get the drift of the west coast vibe (so to speak) not cheap but cheaper than home and all good. (the local, raw milk was way cheaper than our organic milk for example).
Fun driving, curves, ups and downs, a patchwork of surfaces with potholes and ‘sink holes’ galore. The kind of driving that is challenging enough to keep your attention. (c’est mieux en français le macadam (? pas de dictionnaire oublie sens exact, sinon la chaussée) une véritable courte pointe avec le bord, exposé, qui s’effrite doucement. Tout en gris et noir ou les demi-lunes et les rayures, les matériaux disponibles, déterminent le patron.)
Very good nights sleep in spite of, or aided by, a very heavy rain (was my cliff hugging campsite going to hold or be washed off, I live soo dangerously).

Day 2 highlights: Kalaloch to Nehalem Bay State Park, site F1
Music to start the day : Billie Joe and Norah Foreverly (Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong sing The Everly Brothers)
Km: 330

Turns out the fun driving was a warm up for today, raining in sheets, hail and very heavy winds. On the borderline of, should I stop driving, and might as well drive on as can’t do anything outside in any case. I drove on! Not many birds on the way, some raptors, Scaups, Western Grebes. Mating ritual initiated but given up. I figure the weather was even enough to discourage the grebes. (such is my life, mating rituals are confined to birds) (that was probably too much information). Into Oregon and camping near Tillamook (cheese tomorrow!).
A weird thing happened just as I drove in to the campground at 5pm. My phone rang,(which it shouldn’t as friends and family were asked to text message and I do not get many unsolicited calls, plus I was just not expecting it the way that something from your familiar world intrudes unexpectedly when you are in new environment (and concentrating on finding a camping spot in the pelting rain and hail.) In any case I choose to answer it, which is out of character, I would usually let it ring. And the strangest thing, it was my former boss who was calling to see if I was interested in a contract! I have been retired for 2 years and have no thought of work of any kind. Even gave up my volunteer work to be completely self indulgent (those who know me well know that is nearly an oxymoron). Anyways my first instinct was no way but I told him I would think about it. And then in the middle of the night (which is when I am writing this (the bottom part was written in my mildly anxious evening period, this is written in my can’t sleep might as well write period – note the style differences, the état d’esprit is evident) I started to think of how I could approach it and how it would be a worthwhile endeavor and … yesterday I saw that the group I went to Puglia with last year (and loved it, see messors.com) is having its art restoration workshop in a Chateau in France again this summer. I had dismissed it as unaffordable this year but then, if I took the contract…

But wait, if you go to the last section you will see a ‘weather as message from Don’ reference, here is another. Just as I hung up the phone , thunder and lightning! That was a new one on this day already full of weather! Was Don trying to tell me something. And now another thought (maybe I should turn off the light and go back to sleep moment) Before Don was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he was not feeling well and had been putting off signing a contract on a similar legacy project to revise a history of the Correctional Service of Canada (one of his former employers and a major part of Don’s life) He never signed the contract nor would he have been able to deliver it. Now this proposed work would be similar in that it would involve my writing of a former employer’s history. Portends and augurs vs common sense, trip money and a worthwhile legacy project. What shall it be.
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The following is dear diary, stream of consciousness stuff. Please feel free to skip. If I were a real writer I might save a few sentences or ideas but most likely would just press select and delete the whole thing but I am not so I won’t.

Nota :does the switching french to english bother you? My natural inclination would be to write exclusively in French. Please let me know if it is an issue.

Eh bien me voici. En Oregon, au parc d’état de Nehalem Bay. Aujourd’hui des très grands vents et de la pluie battante, des rafales, et en arrivant à mon camping à 17h00, du tonnerre et des éclairs. La conduite était difficile.

Not white knuckle driving – that would be foolish but certainly, 2 firm hands on the wheel. I am tall (or my vehicle is) and very glad I did not acquire the even taller and narrower Mercedes model. If this weather persists it will be inland for me as one cannot see much anyway. The wind was pushing me plus it takes more gas to ride into the wind as I was doing. (and the bridge to Astoria, in this weather, whew!)

De toute façon mon objectif est de me rendre le plus tôt possible ou il fait plus chaud. Mais je constate une chose que j’aurais dû savoir : je n’aime pas la noirceur, du moins pas dans un endroit que je ne connais pas. Au moins je ne suis pas seul dans le camping mais sur un total de 265 sites il y en a une douzaine d’occupée. En arrivant, un verre de vin s’imposait, mais comme d’habitude juste un. Là, il y a un bouillon de poulet qui cuit (j’ai acheté un demi poulet hier et je ne jette jamais mes os -au moins 3 repas avec un demi poulet). Et il y un concerto de Bach sur mon système de son (qui fonctionne heureusement !) Mais la question s’impose. Qui est-ce que j’essaie d’impressionner ? Moi, Don, vous? (en fait, parfois j’aimerais vous dire de ne pas me lire, que je le fais pour moi, mais inutile de m’en faire accroire – la beauté de ce medium est que je peux me parler tout seul ou être lu par des gens qui me connaissent, me connaissent peu, ou pas du tout et dans le fond c’est pas important d’une façon ou d’une autre. Si je me dévoile de façon peu discrète, tant pis, je n’ai rien à cacher après tout.

This trip is a test but I do not know what I need to do to pass. I guess I have been studying it in a way for nearly 3 years (3 years since Don died March 13th) and in another way I have been studying all my life. I am on my own. Do I like it? yes, I do. But yet, the darkness worries me, I make sure my doors are locked. I am somewhat anxious but by no means limited by it. Maybe that is the test, the surpassing myself (again). Ok, but there is not much fun in that. (the joy I expressed in my Italy trip last year cannot be unleashed when I am on my own. Sure I let out a whoop of joy when I started out my trip but I am not about to break into song and dance)

Certainement je veux, comme dirait Don ‘voir du pays’. En parlant de Don, ca fait longtemps que je n’avais pas eu un de ces moments de ‘contact’. Lors d’une pause après un bout de chemin assez difficile, sur le bord de la route, près de l’eau, et je demande tout haut : ‘ Eh bien Don, que penses-tu de ma conduite ? Je fais bien ça ?’ Et, voilà que le soleil apparaît, pour moins de 10 secondes, en cette journée de tempête. Comment faire autrement que de considérer un signe.

Je me sens mieux, écrire, c’est être un peu moins seul. C’est assez fendant de m’ennuyer quand même, je suis de nature solitaire et contente de ma compagnie mais après tout, je tente tout de même de faire quelque chose de jamais fait de ma vie, partir en voiture vers des terres connues et inconnues.

Enough introspection, once the sun shines, the world will be my oyster ( I did not buy any yet, drat! Drove through oyster heaven) . Not many birds, though I did see a number of raptors. I tend to make a guess at the species and then question my judgment when I check in my books. Raptors are notorious for their varied plumage throughout their growth that makes identification difficult. The campgrounds are lovely (though dark :^)) and the gas today was $1.85 for a gallon! (that is 2,6 liters!)

I have to say this writing thing is great! time flies by, nearly 8 pm, my broth should be ready soon. Should I have it with bread and cheese? Put pasta in it, or perhaps shred some of the excellent fresh corn tortillas. With my hot water on demand – best feature of my vehicle, even better than my 2 solar panels – cleaning up will be a cinch. With such mundane questions as my main preoccupation it must indicate good equilibrium so it is an opportune time to say goodnight.