Exploring.

An absolutely clear sunny day on the coast. We decided to take advantage of it by checking out the town of Corvallis, due inland from us; a tactical error on our part, as that inland valley was completely socked in with low clouds and with temperatures significantly lower, in the middle 30's. In the end, we weren't even sure if we found the pertinent part of Corvallis for a good "read" on the place:. We found their "old town": several blocks of 1880-1930 commercial buildings with a high concentration of bicycle stores and coffee bars. It was okay, but with the cold and the gray we didn't quite get our bearings before it was time to head back to the coast. The coastal range of hills, by the way, was quite striking, a dense pine forest with small ranches in the valleys. The whole layout is a bit like the relationship between Malibu and Thousand Oaks, at least in terms of population and shopping options. But with many, many more trees.