My great Oregon road trip needs a list for my lists…

I’m headed north on April 22, 2017. I’ll be driving to Oregon where I’ll spend five weeks roaming and wandering, getting to know the people and places that call my neighboring state home.

My solo trip will take me to a writer’s conference in Salem, a tour of Tualatin Valley’s green wineries, two seafood festivals, a cannabis friendly inn, Tillamook Creamery, a coastal house-sitting gig and untold beaches, rivers, estuaries, mountains, valleys and meadows.

I admit it, I’m a list maker, and this trip is breaking the list record.

As the time to leave creeps closer, the to-do list gets longer while the packing list vacillates between minimalist explorer and an Everest expedition.

Bridges and buildings, plants and animals, sunrise and sunset are on my photo list. Museums, town squares, old barns, people and food are on my get-to-know list. I have a contact list, an emergency list, a picnic list, possible hotels list and of course, a story idea list.

Getting anywhere from Fort Bragg is tricky. We’re remote and clinging to the crumbling edge of the Pacific. My chosen route north on CA Hwy 1 is a no go. Several miles north of here during recent flooding, landslides rendered the road impassable. I guess I need an alternate route list.

My 1995, rust-bucket pick-up gives me a little anxiety. But other than the body (eaten by salt air and the north wind), Blue Bell is in good shape with low miles for a gal her age – a lot like me I guess – a less than perfect body, but the engine still purrs.

I’ll keep you posted on my adventures. Thanks for stopping by, MaryGo