Opposite Ends (Atlantic to Pacific)

It's been over a year since being back in Florida. I started thinking of some of these comparisons shortly after returning, but now I have even more to add. And it's more comparing the Oregon Coast to this area, of course. If you're new here, we were in Pacific City, OR a little old town of ~1000 people. Now we're in Atlantic Beach, FL. 

1. The amount of laundry. I'd say 3 shirts a day in the summer is typical for this Florida heat and humidity. Go for a morning walk, change shirts...  Plant some flowers. Gotta change... Workout, definitely change. Shower, dog walk-- one more change before the night's done. 

2. The bank and post office are open on Saturdays here! And restaurants don't close for the winter. 

3. Florida neighborhood strolls: Seeing 10+ humans on every walk compared to often only 0. I love the community here! Lovely neighbors, gym rats, baristas. Even my parents! The Padres moved 40 minutes away vs 2.5! Yahoo! Pacific City was just so empty. Only a couple people actually lived on our street. The rest were empty second homes/vacation homes. I've benefited so so much from being near so many friends and family here. 

4. Oregon was a cozy up with sweaters, leggings, and wool socks with a glass of wine, Florida is barefoot walk with a fruity cocktail kinda place. 

5. We have a 1 minute drive or a 20 minute bike ride (to the farther Publix) vs 40 minutes drive to Tillamook's Safeway. 

6. The strange luxury of Oregon's gas station attendants. It was such a treat when it was cold and rainy or I was just feeling lazy to just pull up and boom, car is getting filled. 

7. So much less freedom. Florida thinks we're all about freedom? I don't think so, guys. Now I'm only going to discuss the freedom of the beaches and trails and not get into the more heated topics because phew, it's just too much. But these collie budz certainly miss getting to frolic freely through the forests and serene beaches. We have to sneak their playtimes on the beach while stressfully looking out for the animal control. Sometimes we'll enjoy a playground romp after dark to get their wiggles out too. 

8. Driving 2 hours through yucky interstate vs beautiful PNW forests through creeks and bridges and beautiful scenes. 

9. No more 1.5 hour drives one way to work! Now I'm fully remote (working for Oregon haha) and thoroughly enjoying it.

10. Smells of salty oceans vs dairy farms. 

11. Sounds of palm trees and our windchimes in Florida compared to the Pacific City buoy and roaring winds. 

12. Clear Florida springs and Oregon's forests creeks. 

13. The lifestyles are just truly very different. The jobs, the activities, the culture... Meeting people here, they're jobs might be like IT, finance, normal things... Guys in PC? Crabbers, fishermen, dairy farmers, loggers. One was even on the Greatest Catch show. A little more rugged lives out there. Everything was just kind of more rugged really. One time on our way back from a motorcycle ride to Carlton, we were told by a gas station attendant to watch out for trucks coming out of the side roads-- it was bear hunting season. Dylan was more rugged. He was rocking his motorcycle,  long-haired, pants tucked into his boots, big wave life. 

14. Oregon beach finds: Giant trees in the surf, giant rocks (on the beach and in the sea), King Tides, whales, seals, crabs, sand dollars, tide pools, starfish, long and tall capes jutting out into the ocean. I didn't even know what a "cape" was before going there. I also was skeptical of tidepools but turns out they're awesome. Bonfires, wetsuits, surfers, and boogie boarders (no matter the season), IPAs, dory boats. 

Florida beach finds: jellyfish, washed up weed,  umbrellas and tents, volleyball nets, sea turtle nests, sunburns, Coors Light, shrimp boats, beach fishermen, electric bikes, smash ball,  joggers. Oh the helicopters and jets! That's a pretty cool thing we get to see. We get the wildly entertaining Blue Angels too. They blew blue me away. 

15. Oregon critters: deer deer deer. They were often in our yard, always in the neighborhood. Elk! They were so elegant and grand! I can still feel the memory of spotting a huge herd of them on a hike, seeing them gallop off into the trees. Amazing. Apparently you were supposed to be able to smell some special musk when they were near, but we never quite caught that wind. 

Florida critters: squirrels. playful little squirrels chasing and running up the trees, being overall chaotic, exciting the dogs. Rare sitings of dolphins. Wish we saw them more. Armadillos! One hike we did in Guana, we spotted >20! The dogs did not know what to think about these silly guys that just chilled in the middle of the trail, not even bothered. Gators! Holy moly the gators have scared me more than ever. 

16. Oregon hikes: giant roots, mud mud mud, 300' high capes, mushrooms, some elevation gains. It was  no Washington, but we had some good leg burners. The hikes were often pretty diverse too where you'd go from those mossy fairytales forests to like a more piney, sandy area, then come out to ocean.  

Florida hikes: flat as could be, palm trees, ticks, armadillos (they gotta get a double mention), sounds of cicadas. 

       

   

Guess where this tree was! 

Oregon Outfits: 

Except for summer time-- you could still get away with a light sweater/jacket), you're pretty much in boots (hiking or rain), jackets, and hats. 

  

Florida digs: 

Crop tops, shorts, barefeet or sandals (or my cool vans, cuz it's time to be a kid again). I finally realized I could just wear a swimsuit top biking around-- This past summer was extra brutal. And a different kinda hat! Shoot some of our friends even just wear their dundies outside it's so toasty. That was even just spotted the other day in February, actually!

 

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                                                                          73 degrees February ride

                                                                          Oh also, we have Crossfit here, 

                                                                        so now I got strong legs. 

                                                                            Closest Crossfit in PC 

                                                                           was an hour away. :( 

Both beautiful. Both unique. Both full of lots of happy memories (and their own unique challenges)