I had the great pleasure, through the magic of Facebook, to reconnect with an old college friend of mine, Christine. Christine is such a wonderful person who is so laid back and would literally give the shirt off her back! She lives in Portland, OR and suggested that I come out and visit so I jumped at the opportunity. I explained to her my goal of riding in every state and she was up for it. She had never road before, but was willing to give it the good old college try. She said we could even get into Washington and get that state done as well.
We drove to Pacific City to ride on Oregon’s Pacific Coast at sunset. We got a real cheap Motel Room and rode with Oregon Beach Rides (
http://www.oregonbeachrides.com/index.html). Luckily, Christine and I were the only two riding with the two guides. I got a horse named Cola, which at the time was poetic justice since I had just given up Diet Coke… (Key words there are: at the time, as I sip on my Diet CokeJ).
We rode in the woods for a while. A lot of evergreen trees and trees that had moss growing on them; I almost felt as if we were riding in the Rainforest a few times. The ground also had a carpet of green moss that looked extremely spongy. We stopped every so often and there were huckleberry bushes and, it was our luck that they were in season. Huckleberries look a lot like blueberries and taste like them as well; however they have a hint and aftertaste of apple. At least they did to me.
The beach and riding in the sand, and actually we even got the horse’s hooves wet, was really cool for me. The sand was sugar white and we even saw seals hanging out and playing in the water. As they sun started to go down we were able to trot and even lope for awhile. The sunset was breathtaking and the sound of the crashing waves of the ocean was awe-inspiring.
