Beaches of memory hard to find

Many years ago, we enjoyed a family picnic on a windy beach in Lincoln City. We were there a short time and I vowed to return one day.

On my recent trip, I found the town had grown and changed so much I couldn't be certain where we had stopped on that long-ago camping trip to California. Was this the place?

Lincoln City beaches, while much built-up, are still beautiful. Even more lovely is Depoe Bay, a few miles south, seen below.

The dramatic beauty of the open Pacific has a dangerous side, of course.

Depoe Bay experienced major storm surges after the tsunami that followed the devastating 2011 earthquake that devastated Japan, 5000 miles across the Pacific. That quake was the 7th largest ever recorded.

The same wave did serious damage to boat and harbour facilities in Crescent City, a few miles south on the California coast.