The yearned for/dreaded day is nigh. So I am going to share something OFF topic

 My sweetie and I have had two little forays out into Covid land prompted by a near lethal accumulation of cabin fever. Both outings have been to the Oregon Coast. The first one was one night only at  the Yachats Adobe Motel in August. We had a second floor room overlooking some rocky coast, a window which opened, and a door into a hall which was funneling cool outside air it's entire length. Until bed time we kept our hall door ajar as we delighted in cool air over my skin. He also likes it when I become human again. (I feel sexy when cool, and homicidally inclined when hot, so the difference is stark indeed.) It was a stolen ahhhhhhhh moment in the midst of 2020 horrors. For those who feel travel trepidation I can report that the venues we visited were using good virus control procedures. We had lunch in Winchester Bay at Griff's in a nearly empty and very distanced way. John ordered dinner to take out from the motel and he had a very good full dinner (excluding the bread side I claimed to accompany my soup and his salad). Safe and cheap-ish. We did find menus sporting higher costs, but rarely exorbitant

They like darndilions

 

 

 But the SECOND foray was better (except for my under-researched motel choice) I was looking for a two night slot in mid October, but left it too late. We ended up going to Bandon (nice) but in a motel which was on Hwy 101 right where the cars begin accelerating up a hill. We could however see where the boats were due to a few masts which peeked over the old town buildings. We had lunch at Griffs in Winchester Bay and pizza in our room for dinner on the first night. Day 2 we drove south to Port Orford for lunch at Griff's on the Dock! Do you see a theme emerging? Another inside dine (the wind being too brisk) and a drive around. As we lost our way in a residential hodgepodge we encountered two goats, one very small, eating alongside the road. It was magical. I would like to have a pygmy goat to take care of my weedy back yard. For dinner, we grocery shopped packaged salads and yogurt for dessert. This was a Sunday night, and the entire town seemed to shopping. This was our sole RED STATEish experience in these out of town ventures. There Were quite a few T***P yard signs.

Day 3 we dinked around in Old Town and were gob-smacked by an art installation by the Washed Ashore organization. Neither of us knew of it, and after getting back to an internet connection we discovered that it was founded and still resides in Bandon! Next trip we will see if we can visit the inside gallery. Here is the site which shows some of the offerings: https://washedashore.org/ 

My co-traveler has photos of the one outside. I will ask him to send a few.

So, then it was back to Winchester Bay where John was still game for fish, though I was ready for anything else. Next to Griff's there was a new restaurant (formerly a Christmas all year store) so I asked to check out the menu. While we were trying to read the too small print above eye level, the owner came to the door. He asked if we would like to dine on the back deck. Why, yes!. It was expansive: we were 20 feet from the only occupied table. We both sat with our backs to the sun and ordered up breakfast for lunch. He was a friendly and garrulous new owner since January (ouch). He was eager to satisfy our every request. It was a very good meal with uniquely cooked hash browns. He was eager to know if we liked them OK, as they had not been grilled. (The exhaust hood over the grill did not have a stand alone fire suppressor, and one would cost $30K, so they were improvising). They boiled potatoes, diced them small, then "dry" grilled them with a tiny bit of sprayed oil. Actually a great improvement over it's greasier cousin.

I admit I have mocked folks who rhapsodize on their culinary adventures. And I have pushed that same envelope a bit. But in the age of Covid, merely eating OUT is not just a meal, but a re-affirmation of life as we knew it and a reason to keep on keeping on.