Sign at Tierra del Mar

Back blip: Day 5 of our Amazing Oregon Adventure

Oregon has amazing beaches. Situated between the states of Washington and California on the Pacific coast, it has the best of both worlds - and the worst. Moderate weather, beautiful sand, gorgeous rocky cliffs, temperate rainforests... and lots of rain and storms and high winds. The day we toured the Three Capes Scenic Drive, where I took this photo, the wind was so strong that anyone walking on the beach would be sandblasted.

And the beaches don't tend to stay this beautiful unless they are well cared for, and controlled. This sign is perhaps a bit more extreme than others I saw along the coast, as the list of possible dangers is quite long! One of the dangers is Tsunami debris, which can carry all sorts of bad bugs that are not native to North America, and risk an environmental catastrophe. Another catastrophe, of course, would be a tsunami, and signs were plentiful at every low point on the coast warning people that they are in a tsunami hazard zone and giving directions to the nearest safe exit/high point.

The east coast of Canada is not quite as beautiful, I suppose, but it's also not in an earthquake and tsunami zone. And that's something else to appreciate about home.