Nestucca Valley Pt. 2

Well, the Coast has issues with internet technology sometimes, but I love it here and I'm enjoying all the scenery at a pace of 2-4 miles an hour. It is delightful to go so slowly and not be worried about racing to get to "the next place." It is apparent that a lot of the 4-wheel crowd is in a great hurry and it amuses me that they move so fast and see so little. The Nestucca Valley is similar to the area around Tillamook, cows included. I mentioned earlier that cheese and milk lovers ought to be grateful for those cows, then someone wrote to me to say ice cream lovers should be grateful as well! So, thanks be to God for cows.

Cheese, Milk, and Ice Cream in the Making

One of the graces of the journey from Tillamook to Beaver to Neskowin was the silence that marked a few stretches. In just a week of the walk, it seems that my attention to listening has been heightened. It's not only a matter of doing little talking, it's also being aware of the beauty of the natural sounds all around. Someone once told me that nature is not tongue-tied! Trickles of water coming down rocks on mountainsides, lambs scurrying in a field to remain close to their mom, tall grass waving in response to an afternoon breeze . . . all have led me to appreciate how vocal nature is, but how little its sounds are like "noise." I make no claims to be a poet, so I'll let a professional add this: "The thing to do with nature is to listen to it, and watch it, and look deep into its eyes in a sense, as though you were listening to and watching a friend, not just hearing the words or even just watching the gestures but trying to guess, or get a sense, or share the spirit underneath it . . . ." (Bob Lax)

Grassy island on Beaver Creek

Twin Lambs with their Mother

We are still working on getting a map posted here within the blog. This will help those who are geography-challenged to more easily follow the path of the Pilgrimage. In all sincerity, you don't have to be all that challenged to have a hard time locating the village of Beaver, nor the town of Neskowin for that matter. Until we get the map operable, you'll have to take my word that Cape Lookout Park and Pacific City provide an alternate route to Lincoln City. Those two places were on our original itinerary, but we chose to head more directly south out of Tillamook. The net effect is that we are now in Lincoln City a full day ahead of schedule. We also had what we're calling a "cushion day" for the whole of the trip (29 days of travel and 30 days in which to do it). Well, now we have two cushion days available for when we need some extra rest or, heaven forbid, if we need to recover from injury. By the way, thanks to friend and blog follower Ilona for suggesting that St. Anthony Mary Claret may be the patron Saint of shin-pain sufferers. He was known for trudging, always on foot, from parish to parish across the vast Catalonian territory to deliver his sermons. I agree with Ilona that, if he's not already, he should be the patron of those suffering leg pain! St. Anthony, pray for us.