The 5th Annual Rose City Volksters Beach Cruise was held on Saturday, September 25th. The sun was shining and it promised to be a great day as people started showing up at the North Plains Chevron for the cruise. We departed North Plains for Del Ray beach in Gearhart with Mark in his "Turbo Bus" taking the lead. The drive out to the coast was awesome as the weather was perfect and the cars were running strong. We took a short "pit stop" in Seaside before reaching our intended destination.
The weather on the beach was a different story. The winds were blowing quite strong and while the tide was supposed to be going out, the water was getting pushed close to where we had parked (a couple even got their tires wet). A sign of the difficulties we were facing presented itself with a vehicle being towed backwards off the beach behind the County Sheriff's truck. At least 5 of the cars on the cruise required assistance from others to free their vehicles from the sand. With the wind not letting up, and no one interested in getting their paint sandblasted off - it was decided to relocate to the parking lot to see if the winds were better up there.
The situation in the parking lot was workable, but not ideal. We decided to relocate further up the coast to a park near Ft. Stevens. It turned out the park did not have picnic facilities, so the final destination was Coffenberry Lake at Ft Stevens State Park. Once there, the picnic started quickly. The grill was fired up and in no time burgers and hot dogs were being served. The location provided a good place for the kids to play and adults to socialize. After a few hours, the picnic wrapped up and everyone went their own way - some south to Hug Beach and others home.
