Day 20

Today I got to Oregon! I drove through the rest of the Redwood Forests, through extreme fog, this morning. I felt very earthy-crunchy as I snacked on the fruit-and-nuts granola mix I'd purchased for breakfast, weaving between the huge trees. The last restaurant I had to research in California was a little dive called the Palm Diner in Orick. Outside the diner I saw this lovely sign:That put me in a fantastic mood. "Bye, California!" I said. "Thanks for the blessing!" Then I hopped in my little car and sped off (not to worry, California, I'm coming back in 2 weeks). Oregon always has been one of those random places that I'll never go. Well, I'm here. And I was welcomed into the state by this breathtaking view:
Here I am, once again posing in nature. Check out that awesome estuary behind me!
I arrived in the tiny town of Bandon-by-the-Sea around dinnertime, and checked into the "hotel" in which I'm sitting right now. Yes, the room only costs $25 for the night. But no, it does not have any more amenities than your average jail cell at a state prison. There is one bunkbed and about ten square feet of space that is not occupied by said bunkbed. The man at the front desk kindly told me that he would not put anyone else in this little cell with me for the night. That made me relax a little bit, because sharing a room this size with another person would be quite awkward. I do, however, share the bathroom with a 60-year-old man named Bob who is a caddy by profession and lives in the little cell next door all summer. He seems like a pretty friendly guy, but I am for some reason terrified of bumping into him in the bathroom. To avoid any such situation, I brushed my teeth after dinner in the bathroom at the restaurant, ignoring the stares of the other patrons who probably thought I was homeless.

After dinner, tragedy struck. I returned to my car to deposit my carry-out box (filled with lunch for tomorrow, of course) in the trunk. Then I went for a walk along the pier and called Latina Lova to complain about how I don't yet have a job in LA. She convinced me that it's normal to be unemployed when you're just out of college, and calmed me down a bit. Then I returned to my car to get my overnight bag and realized... I didn't have my keys.

No.

Were they in the restaurant where I had eaten? I ran back to check, but the friendly waitstaff apologetically told me they hadn't seen any keys. I retraced my steps along the pier, tears welling up in my eyes as I contemplated having to call the rental car agency to ask for a duplicate key, and the costs that would no doubt imply. I didn't realize the gravity of my situation until I looked up and saw this in the window of a store:

Those are fake little cats and dogs, and the sign in the corner says, "We actually breathe!" Horrified, I backed away - was I really going to be stuck in a town that allowed those things to exist within it?! I called AAA, hoping that I had locked the keys in the trunk when I dropped off my carry-out box from dinner.

An hour later, Clyde from Clyde and Slide towing showed up, ready to jimmy my lock. Well, once we got the car open, Clyde and I discovered that there was no way to open the trunk from within the car. He didn't have the equipment to drill the lock out of the trunk, and reported that to get the equipment would take waiting for another guy to show up. Desperate, I noticed a little handle on the side of the backseat and tugged on it - voila! The backseat came foward and I could see into the trunk.

Clyde stood by as I crawled into the trunk from the inside of the car, rummaging around through all my possessions. I thanked my lucky stars that Clyde was not a crazy person who would slam the seat back up while I was inside, locking me in the trunk in the dark (inconveniently, the trunk light is not triggered when you enter from the other end). Finally, my fingers closed around the car keys, and I cried with joy. I would not be stuck in Bandon-by-the-Sea, with the horrible little fake breathing animals! I would continue on my way.