It all works out

"On just about any trip through Chihuahua, someone is sure to have to console you with the local motto: "Nothing works out according to plan, but it always works out."

~ From Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

So the flashback trip down the coast didn't quite work out. We retraced the route as far as Newport, OR on the first day, but had to head inland after that. But we made it safe and sound yesterday around noon, and best of all for the pooch, we don't have to hop in the truck again.

She was clearly not fond of the trip. At the risk of making my dog out to be a person, it felt like a child in the back seat constantly saying "are we there yet, are we there yet?" She didn't agree to the move - well I didn't really ask her - and she certainly didn't sign up for the scenic route. In the end, it felt like I was forcing an unwilling participant to sit through a live slide show of my vacation. She was not interested.

We had a shorter day yesterday, so I was hoping to find a perfect breakfast spot where we could take a leisurely meal and enjoy the ocean scene. I drove along highway 1 looking for a cafe with outdoor seating, but couldn't quite find what I had in mind. We drove through a couple small towns, but nothing matched the picture I had made in my mind. As we went along, and I grew more hungry and impatient, I was willing to settle for a Starbucks with an outside table. In the end, I settled for coffee and donuts and eating on the run.

The trip down the coast was kind of a last minute addition. A way to give the trip more meaning (not that it needed any). And like my quest for the perfect breakfast spot, maybe it was just a bit too much to expect, a little too contrived. Maybe in this one instance it was more about the destination than the journey.

It would have been a great trip, and I would have really liked to go through the Redwoods again, but the coast and the woods aren't going anywhere. I can get back to the someday alone, or when everybody is on board. And I have plenty of new stuff to explore without worrying about revisiting the past.