Half an hour south of Astoria, outside Tillamook, quite a different site beckons. See the world-famous Tillamook cheese and butter being made, big signs say. The Holsteins grazing in the pasture beside the creamery could just as easily be in Iowa. It is the only pastoral scene on the coast. No hint of the bucolic life.
People come to Oregon because it's Oregon.
People come anyway, and some never leave. You can carve out a nice life for yourself here, without many of the troubles of other places. But more come only for annual escape. Russ Scohy, a real estate agent from Denver, has been coming to the Oregon coast every summer for 25 years. By state law, the females have to be returned to the water, but males 5.75 inches across are fair game.