LAZAROW WORLD HIKE-ABOUT

Nepal: Evening below Annapurna.

'LAZAROW WORLD HIKE-ABOUT: WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HIKE-ABOUT?'

Hike-about is an adventure that commenced June 2010. After storing our household movables, ridding ourselves of a house but retaining our 'home' together, we set off with the purpose of hiking in different parts of the world, not forgetting the home country, the USA.

Our primary focus is hiking to mountain peaks but any challenging hike will do just fine. Extended stays enable us to enjoy and experience living in various places amongst differing cultures. Hike-about has evolved into a way of life. It's also a process of discovery, both the world and ourselves.

We work and live 'on the road' but return to the city in which our grandchildren reside, every couple of months. This provides us the wonderful opportunity to be with them as well as a child or two, even three and of course, friends.

By the end of 2023, the blog contained over 1,560 hikes (less than that actually undertaken), each a set of pictures with stories and anecdotes from the trails. An index to the right allows the viewer to identify earlier experiences.

Finally, we are often asked about the journey's end.
O
ur reply, as accurate as we can state, is: "When we are either forced to cease through health issues or the enjoyment level no longer reaches our aspirations, we will hang up the boots."

"A Life Experience As No Other: Dare to Seize the Day Together", published by Fulton Books, depicts our life on the road and mountains until the beginning of 2017. It has developed 'exponentially' since then.

Jenni and Jeffrey Lazarow

Whereas we continue to update the blog regularly, we circulate email notifications infrequently.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

12.10 Cape Lookout, the longest peninsula in Oregon


Looking back towards the beaches, an unusual vista


It's a hike to/for the birds


Some color near the dunes

We spent the previous Shabbos just north of Coos Bay, close to the Oregon Coast in a wonderful motel suite. Many speak highly of the coast; in our opinion, the praise is more than warranted. We hinted in the previous missive how beautiful Oregon is. It’s covered in trees, colorful plants and water everywhere. Many of the roads, we mean highways, are more like wide lanes with tree canopies shading them while rivers of sparkling, clean water flow parallel. It is truly different from the norm and so attractive—it makes driving an enjoyable experience.

What of the people? This is our fifth or sixth trip to the state so we are still not competent to pass opinions, expert or otherwise. Not that we don’t have opinions or that we would not express them whether asked or not. Back to the people. We have noticed that hunting is a big deal in this state. We even remember being in the wilderness one fine summer day when we came across a hunter and his dog. The latter was dressed in a bright pink cover—we don’t know anything about pet attire so we don’t have a name for it. Our curiosity got the better of us and we approached the hunter with arms raised just in case he thought us game. We’re as game as the next hiker but not the way we feared a hunter might interpret it.


A favorite, standing along the cliff and absorbing incredible colors, shapes and setting


End of the hike, respecting the barrier

He explained that his wife dressed the dog in bright colors in the hope that a hunter would recognize the human clothing and withhold firepower. It did not make us feel too good knowing that we were potential targets for some locals with a rifle slung across a shoulder and perhaps a beer in the hand. At that stage, we decided to wear bright clothes starting with shocking pink and lime green tops. We thought our editor’s suggestion that we paint signs on front and back reading: “We’re not game”, a good one. However, in the end we decided against the idea as someone said not everyone can read in this state.


Serene, calm and colorful, not usual weather we understand

That was a bit of a digression. We meant to write that we notice on many of the properties, the backyards house old and broken down vehicles. Wherever we travel in Oregon, whenever we see homesteads, smallholdings or houses in outlying districts, a collection of rusting metal fills the yard. Who knows what this means but it sure looks untidy. However, on the natural side, it is a beautiful state.

We traveled along the 101 Pacific Coast Byway towards our destination, the town of Garibaldi. It’s not a city as it fails on two counts. In the old days, the criteria were a cathedral and city hall. Nowadays, to qualify, the town should have a Best Western Motel and a MacDonalds Fastfood establishment, preferably with WiFi connections. We stopped for a short hike on the dunes in a town we can’t recall, then pushed onwards to a fabulous hike at Cape Lookout. As the land extends 2.5 miles into the ocean, hence a peninsula, we were able to look back at the beach and mountains, effectively from the ocean—it’s different and quite a sight. It reminded us of our recent trip to South Africa where we hiked at Robberg Peninsula. We were intrigued to see hundreds, if not more, birds floating on the water and making one helluva racket. We were hoping to see whales but that did not happen. We suppose they couldn't deal with the noisy fowl either.


Similarity with Robberg near Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

We do not wish to cause dissension amongst the different nationals. However, as beautiful as the Cape of Good Hope is, the coastline of Oregon is no slouch; we could imagine many favoring it. We like both very much and are fortunate we don't have to choose one above the other. With so much beauty about, we enjoy it all, trying not to make comparisons except when we stand in front of ... and...


The colors and setting rest comfortably within the mind

After a five-mile hike that went up-and-down along the peninsula, we returned to the car and found our way to our motel after another travel day that included a couple of hikes. We worry about hiking on travel days as our car contains all our possessions and valuables including food that would be adversely affected in the heat. Sometimes we take a calculated risk. We don’t quite know what that means but it sounds intelligent, we think.


Gazing through the trees while appearing to stand in the ocean

We completed hike-about 12 with the previous blog, on Saddle Mountain, above the clouds. In the meantime, as we approach the 'Festival of Weeks', we are counting like many others. We count the days to fifty, the weeks to seven as well as the days until we leave Washington and head for Austria. By that time, we'll have finished counting except for our assets. However, that has become easier because as the price of precious metals falls, we have less counting to do. As we mentioned to our editor, we might have to count on...Mom.

We'll see you in Europe, N'H.

Cheers,

Jenni and Jeffrey



After arriving in Garibaldi, we watched the sun set over the bay


A typical Oregon scene, trees and water in wonderful settings




Washington State: A national monument and active court in South Bend (top left). Olympia, the capital.
Gavin with niece and nephew.





Goodbye...goodnight

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