Jessie Honeyman (3)

There always comes a point in our travels when we need to work out relationship crap. This is honestly part of the reason we do this, because struggle makes you stronger, and all that. It tends to happen when we are on the final stretch of summer break, and therefore starting to think about returning to real life. It’s not that these are the issues we’re working out, I think it’s just that there is an underlying anticipation of work taking over the unfettered time we have together, so perhaps it puts us both on edge. So far, we’ve managed to work through all of these rough spots and come out the other side more connected, and armed with strategies we can try for the future. I’ll spare you the psychoanalysis we do to get to the root of how we each get spun up, and instead share some of the solutions we arrived at this time around. For one, travel days tend to be a common trigger for unintended mutual irritation, so we have made a pact to try to front load expectations the night before. Like we need to make sure the “white board” is clear, the weather forecast and driving routes have been checked, and plans have been agreed to on the morning exercise needs. When I say “white board,” I mean we need to check in with each other about whether there are any residual unspoken gripes, even small ones, that need to get aired and cleansed; like those stupid small moments, “Remember three days ago when you shook your head? Yeah, that pissed me off.” An apology, clarification, recognition, are all that’s needed to wipe it off, but if you don’t, those things build up. Travel stress amplifies everything, so there’s our new protocol: check in the night before, especially before travel days. And secondly, we both acknowledge that it is harder to stay connected at home than it is when spending all our time together in small, acoustically accessible, spaces. We’re going to try building some habits at home after dinner, where we intentionally talk to each other without phones, or yarn, in our hands. It’s so easy to let that time slip away and so important to make the effort to pay attention to each other. That’s it. Nothing deep or TED Talk worthy. But those discussions were a big part of this particular stay.

What kicked all of this off was the spur of the moment change of plans to get a really early start leaving Tillamook in order to avoid forecasted wind. Richard thought he would be ok skipping a morning walk, but that turned out not to be the case. That all went according to the change in plans, but it came at a cost. In any case, we arrived quite early and, as anticipated, could not get into our site yet. I knew there was a nice Day Use area at Woahink Lake and that was a great place to park and knit while Richard blew off his I-don’t-like-to-sit-in-the-car steam. I used the inverter to heat up the leftover grilled cheese and fries, reminding myself that the inverter was a worth it expenditure. Then I just worked on angry sock knitting. I am super proud of having learned how to use a magic loop to knit teeny tiny thready yarn into a rib stitch sock cuff. Knitting also turns out to be an exceptionally good activity to do when miffed. Notice the slogan on the project bag: Knitting, because murder is wrong. That is so real.

Jessie Honeyman is a huge campground, and yet all of the sites have really nice privacy and plenty of space. There are so many family friendly activities in this park, and there were certainly a lot of families taking advantage of it. We took a nice walk past the lily pond lake and then over to Cleawox Lake. There, you can rent kayaks or paddle boats. I do believe I’m going to go the entire summer without taking my boat out, but that’s ok with me. It has not been hot enough to feel the urge to be on the water, and that is a good thing. Route planning to end up on the coast in July was brilliant. We have also successfully avoided wildfire smoke. I want to remember this for the future because returning home via the coast also means you are mostly traveling with the wind. We didn’t use the AC once all summer and are not likely to need to before home. We are the smart party.

We got in a nice bike ride and hike the next day up to Sweet Creek Falls. Richard knew ahead of time that part of the trail would be closed, but you can access almost all of the falls viewpoints if you continue a half mile to the Falls Trailhead. The bike ride was really nice and mostly gentle, meandering through farmlands and private residences. We drove up Highway 126 to get to Sweet Creek Road. This begins in the couple of businesses town of Mapleton. There is a market there which is nothing to go out of one’s way to explore, and a couple of store fronts that used to be businesses. That must be a tough location to try to maintain a business. We parked the car at the turnoff and got our bikes out.

The ride is about eleven miles to the second trailhead, where there is a small parking area. The trail itself is immediately rewarding. There are sort of constant little falls all the way down, with some of them being named on Guru Maps. It’s obvious when you get to the closure why it was a very good call to close that sucker down tight. The section of the trail directly above Annice Falls and Punchbowl Canyon Falls is on a suspended catwalk, precariously attached to a rocky cliff. We could tell what must have happened based on all the scraped up dirt on the road right above that spot. Clearly there was a landslide that went down from the road, over the cliff, and right onto that catwalk. Without the suspended portion, the river is too rocky and swift for a trail to get around the bend. I’ll be impressed if they are able to rebuild that structure and we will check in the future to keep tabs on it. Even without that section, it’s a beautiful trail. There are some downed trees you have to get around, and it’s rooty a lot of the way, but very worth the one mile out and back from the upper trailhead.

On the way back, we stopped at the Safeway in Florence to get a couple of things. We didn’t go into town this time around, but there are lots of restaurants, stores, and dessert options. Nothing was grabbing us, so we stayed in the campground. It’s a super nice campground and I’d come back. There is a nice hike to Woahink Lake that Richard did the next morning. The lake is lovely to look at, and I imagine nice to boat on. Someday perhaps. Service is spotty in the campground, but we could both hit service from this site. I think it helps to be toward the front and closer to 101. Otherwise, you’re in a service dip. The sites are spacious and private. Can’t complain at all.

Total miles from Barview Jetty: 134.9, 16.6 mpg, 3 hours 30 min. Site 68 hookups. Ok dump, but water tends to pool. Ok cell for both, but stronger signal closer to 101. Good cell at Woahink Lake Day Use. Water spigot in site.