I have been out for a week road tripping. My wife and I enjoy doing that on our vacations. Generally we pick a direction and based on the time we have select a reasonable destination and play it by ear from there. In this case we targeted the California redwoods for the far point with a a return route up the coast or through central Oregon.
As free form as this sounds, at times I will get a bit fixated on a specific area I want to photograph. In this case I wanted do some shooting on the Oregon coast at Bandon. There are a lot of sea stacks there and it is considered by some as the most photogenic beach on the west coast. As it turned out, between the campground being full, clouds and high winds (sand blasting anything on the beach - like your camera). I didn't get to shoot there as I hoped. Instead I ended up at a place called Sunset Bay beach. As it turned out, there was greate light that evening and I ended up with some really nice images. So while I thought I was getting the lemon, I was really getting the chance to make lemonade.
Bottom line - as a photographer you need to stay flexible and work with what you are handed - it could be some of your best work.
Images:
The first image reminds of some 70's water color that was on books and cards - remember the 70's? This image like several others was shot around -2/3 EV to better saturate the colors (more like I saw them). It was also shot well after sunset - it always pays to stick around until you are sure the light show is over. I saw another photographer come and go before the really great light.
The second image was shot earlier, but still after sunset. The colors were more pastel at this point.
The third image was shot the next morning (cloudy/foggy day). The color pallet was totally different - very soft hues - but I still like it.