Restroom Emergency

So, this past weekend, I took a solo trip to the coast. I wanted to take some pictures of places we have stayed at and places we have eaten at for a new blog site called “T_____(insert my name here) and T_____(insert her name here) Travels”. It will be a review of hotels and restaurants and attractions in the area. I know the name is similar to a famous interactive play about T. and T.’s Wedding, but those are our names as well, so it fits.

Now back to the story. I left Florence and was driving up the coast on North 101, when the coffee and bottled water I drank was beginning to take its toll on me. I knew that I would soon need to make a rest stop. As I was driving, I began to look for parks on the coast with a restroom. This is easier sounding to do than the actual accomplishing of said event. The road is kind of winding and there always seemed to be cars very close to the rear of mine making a sudden pull over more difficult. When you are driving north up the highway, most of the turn offs for a park or wayside with a bathroom are on the left. So timing becomes the issue. I will have to notice a restroom quickly enough that I can signal and slow and pull off without the driver in the car behind having to slow suddenly and then give me their one fingered salute.

Every time I see a spot, my eyes veer left in search for a building. By the time I notice one, alas, I have driven past. Why do they put the turn offs right by a curve in the road? And I have a stupid “don’t turn around rule”. After several misses with a restroom sighting, I am now at an uncomfortable point of my journey. I need to stop now. So with more determination than ever before, and now willing to risk getting the “finger” from vehicles behind me, I spot a park with a restroom. Sadly though, I have just past it.

I decide to break turn around rule and backtrack to the coveted restroom. As I pull in, I notice a Lane County Sheriff’s truck in the parking lot. Along with an ATV. Along with a trailer that says Sheriff Mobile Command Unit. Along with a Mounted Posse trailer. Along with what looks like and armored covered Hummer. And along with me, and my Honda CRV.

I soon realize that this is near the area where during the past month, there has been a manhunt for a fugitive that shot a police officer up north and was thought to be hiding in this area, either in houses or out in the wilderness. I am now quite disturbed by this revelation, but I really need to use the restroom. Do I make a run for the bathroom and hope that I won’t have my car stolen or get killed by this wanted criminal? But I really need to use the restroom. So I bravely risk my life for a higher calling. The call of nature.

In hindsight, I was probably in the safest area since I was in the middle of a command center. But a full bladder and fear in the heart aren’t much help in the rational thought process. After a successful visit, I rush to my car and decide I will take some pictures of the vehicles to remember my encounter. But being uninvited to a command center and rolling down a window of a black SUV in order to snap some telephoto pictures, just doesn’t sound like a wise choice. So I quickly take one picture and pull out of the parking lot and to an uneventful trip up the coast.

A friend of mine sent me an article about the sheriff’s department looking for a missing woman over the weekend in that area. That is probably what I stumbled upon. There goes my only action adventure story I had. Except for watching “Super Why” with my son.