Some Letterboxing and a Lot of Relaxation

Last night we decided to make today a more leisurely day - so we slept in. We finally got up, dressed and were eating breakfast around 9:00am. While we ate we looked at clues and decided to drive back north to Pacific City. We started letterboxing at McPhillips Beach. This is a little secluded beach off of an easily missed road. After parking we headed up a little trail for a short walk and easily found a 'Grateful Letterbox' - the "Deadgeness Crab". A very nice carving. I stamped in and then Thomas and I went back down to the beach and took a walk. We returned to the car and headed for Cape Kiwanda. We looked through the clues and there were two boxes in this area to look for. So we walked a short distance down a road and took a ramp up to the beach. The box was hidden under the ramp near the beach - it took a little searching to find it and then we sat on a bench at the end of the ramp to stamp in. Once this box was back in place we headed back to the beginning of the ramp and found a second box nearby. After finishing stamping in we walked back to the car and decided to head south again.

We stopped at Neskowin Beach Wayside and found a giant fish. From that spot we followed the rest of the clues that lead to a tree next to a picnic table. Getting this box was a challenge. First it took a lot of searching because there were quite a few plants growing around the base of the tree. I spotted a couple of pieces of bark under a plant and figured the box was probably under there. But getting to it was a little difficult. There were blackberry plants and holly growing all over. I got stuck quite a few times before I retrieved the box. I stamped in at the picnic table and then found a sturdy stick to move the black berry plant and was able to replace the box without any more injuries. From here we decided to head to Otis - for a letterbox and for lunch. We arrived at the Otis Cafe and noticed that there were a few people sitting outside - Thomas found out they were waiting for a table. So I went around to the back of the cafe to find the letterbox while Thomas gave our name for a table. When I found the box I took it back to the car to stamp in. I was getting things ready when Thomas told me they had two spots at the counter for us. So I left the box in the car and we went in. The place was really small. Crammed into that small space were four booths (two on each side of the room) and one table that could sit six (very close together) in the middle of the room. Along the back was a counter with six barstools (that's where we sat). We placed our order and then chatted with a couple from around the Salem area who have a small cottage on the coast. We had a really great lunch and enjoyed the atmosphere of this great little greasy-spoon place. After we ate we returned to the car and I finished stamping in and the replaced the box in its hiding spot. Now it was time to head back into Lincoln City,

I looked at the clues and decided to stop at the first place we would come to on the map. That was Roads End State Recreation Site. So we followed the signs to the park and made our way to the beach. Just a short walk down the beach we found our landmark and quickly found the box. That box is called What My Sister REALLY Wants For Her Birthday. And it was my 1500th find - WooHoo - another milestone. We moved to some rocks so we could sit and stamp in. It took me a while to stamp in because there was so much going on. People were flying kites, some were having picnics and there was even a touch football game going on. We also watched some guys para surfing which was amazing. When I finally finished stamping and had the box back in place we decided to walk to the north end of the beach to see if any tide pools were accesible. It was about a two mile walk from where we were. We talked and walked and I took some pictures and we walked some more. We got to the end and we looked for some tide pools but the tide had already gotten higher and they weren't visible or accessible. But we sat on some rocks and relaxed for a while before heading back to our car. We really enjoyed the walk and the slow pace of the afternoon.

From here we drove further south in Lincoln City and found another beach access to look for a series of six boxes before calling it a day. We were actually only looking for three boxes because three were marked as missing. We skipped the spot for box one because the clue stated it was hidden along with box two. Well, we found the spot and found a box - when I opened it I found one broken stamp and two logbooks. There was a logbook for box one and a logbook for box two. The one stamp in the box was the stamp for box one and it was broken into two pieces. I stamped in, returned the contents to the box and put it back in place - I also searched around the are to see if there was a second box but didn't find one. We moved on the the next part of the clue. It stated that box three was missing and then went right on to box four. We found the spot, searched high and low but came up empty handed. We didn't search for boxes five and six because the clue stated they were missing. We decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel. Now that we are showered and rested we are ready for more fun tomorrow.