Happy Camper Wine and Lee's Birthday

Wine is proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.

 

Several weeks ago we visited Tacoma Boys and had a lot of fun reading the names of the bottles of wine.  Remember when?  We also had purchased some bottles of “special wine” to give to others.  We finally remembered Tuesday morning about the bottle of Happy Camper wine we had bought for the Hyders.  We made the formal presentation just before they took off to tour the area south of the park while we headed north.

Yes, this was Tuesday so we are several days behind.   We left the coast for our drive inland.  Final destination before we just turned around and headed back was just about 230 miles.  Well, actually, the final destination was really back at the coast where we started from.  So, that's closer to 460 miles.

Not far down the road from the park we saw 3 elk grazing along the main highway.  Needless to say, many cars stopped and were out taking pictures.  This picture was taken through the windshield.  The elk certainly didn’t seem bothered by the attention they were receiving.

We were on our way to our son’s house to spend the evening.  The following morning Michael needed to be dropped off at the airport in Seattle for his trip to New Jersey.  It was going to be a very long day for him and for us..

 

We had made the trip between Astoria and Longview many times.  We also had seen the sign advertising the Black Buggy Furniture store but had never stopped.  This time we decided to drive the 2 miles off of the main road to check it out.  The furniture store is extremely interesting.  It has lots of Amish furniture and gifts.  The items are made mainly in Indiana and Ohio and shipped out.  Not only did we stop but we also walked out with a few items.

Michael’s birthday is the 30th of July.  He’ll be in New Jersey then and we won’t be.  Thus, Sabrina had cake and ice cream for him.  I tried to get a picture of him with the cake but getting him to pose and stay still just wasn’t something that happened.  Anyway, here’s the cake and that’s the best I could do.

 Wednesday morning came early. It always seems to when we have a long drive ahead of us.  We had already figured it would be a long day. We were right.  The trip to the Seattle airport wasn’t so bad.  It was freeway all the way and we could cruise down it at 70 mph.  However, other places there were construction crews and if we didn’t want any speeding tickets, we needed to drop down to 60 mph.  We met Tammi at the hotel where we were to drop Michael off.  Our visit wasn't long but we decided to extend it a tad by dropping them off at the airport.  Then, we were back on the road again.

We needed to stop and pick up the boat AGAIN so our route wasn't quite direct.  It was the route back from Longview to the coast that made the trip seem so long.  The road winds through little towns with lots of traffic.  The roads are bumpy and the speed limit drops to 30 mph in many places.

A quilt shop I discovered in Kalama.  Guess where I'm going when we get back there.

We were totally zonked by the time we returned.  The boat didn’t go in the water.  That was put off until the next day.
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This is the season for birthdays around our family.  So, now my wish is for a Happy Birthday to our son. His birthday is Tuesday.  He's reached that age where his mother is younger than he is.  That does happen sometimes.  Happy Birthday, Lee. 

Playing Tourist – Plus a Couple More Birthdays

Whoever said money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to shop.

Saturday is Michael's 18th birthday.  So, Happy Birthday, Michael!!  Duchess shares her birthday with Michael.  Duchess is 10.  We'll have to come up with a special treat for her.

Here's Michael on our whale watching trip.  Michael and I flew from Texas to Seattle.  We took the hydrofoil to Victoria, stayed at the Empress Hotel and went whale watching plus many other  things.  It was a great time we had together.

Happy Birthday, Duchess

Another day out and about meant another day visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  However, we made a quick little stop first showing the Hyders where to go for a fairly private spot at Manhattan Beach.  Of course, no place is private on a weekend.  This wasn't a weekend.  It was foggy but still beautiful.  It’s one of those places that’s always nice to know about so you can return to it.  I took a few pictures but amazingly they were foggy too.

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The beach was a quick stop mainly to scoop it out.  The stop at the cheese factory wasn’t quite so quick because it was back to being tourists.  Jerry and Janice took the self-guided tour, sampled the cheese and even bought some.  Then, they opted for an ice cream cone before walking out the door.  The intent is to spend money and they did.  That’s what the Tillamook Cheese Factory wants you to do.

Next, we made another return trip to the Latimer Quilt and Textile Shop.  Actually, I drug them there because I liked it and hoped that they would too.  I think they did since they spent some time looking at all the fantastic quilts.  Some of those quilts were absolutely fabulous.  We also enjoyed checking out the weaving machines.

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The Blue Heron Cheese Factory is just down the road from both of these places.  However, we had never stopped there before.  It is well worth the stop and I think we missed out by not stopping there.  They have cheese samples as well as a wine tasting bar and  jams and preserves.  Plus, they have a nice little café inside.  It’s definitely worth the stop.

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On the way back to the RV park we made one more stop at the Pirate's Cove Restaurant.  The restaurant sits on Highway 101 and overlooks Tillamook Bay.  Terry had another bowl of oyster stew but the rest of us had different items off the menu and I don’t remember hearing any complaints.

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Lunch at Pirate's Cove

After lunch all four of us were ready for an afternoon nap.  That’s just what we did until dinner time.  Then, it was out with the cheese and crackers before a dip in the hot tub.

Notice that we didn’t go crabbing.  There also aren’t any beachie pictures and I didn’t show more pictures of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  It was just a great day with good friends.

Besides if you think you're tired of reading about crabbing and boating and beaches, you can imagine how tired we must be.  You're just reading.  We're the ones doing all the doing.  Believe me ... we are tired.
We are very, very tired.




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On the Dock of the Bay .. Again

Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life.  You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you.

With the weekend came tons of folks to the beach.  Everywhere we went there were people and more people.  Parking lots were full and the roads had many more cars than during the week
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Hey ... look what I caught!

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We decided to spend one more day “on the dock of the bay”.  Since none of us had thought about sunburns, we were surprised that Michael got one.  The weather had been nice but cool.  We doctored him up with a little aloe vera and sunscreen.  He also played it a little safe and sought shelter when available.
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A perfect day to nap in between checking crab pots

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Justin and Michael, being the pro crabbers they had become, were the teachers for Janice and Jerry.  Before long everyone was tossing the nets and sorting the crabs.  Saturday was a beautiful day.

Eating was another thing that didn’t take much convincing.  As you can tell, Michael and Terry weren’t that interested in it.  The rest of us were pretty happy that we didn’t have to share with more than necessary.
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You catch them.  You eat them.

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Sunday was the day the boys needed to head back inland.  So, after fiddling with WOW for awhile we all headed towards Seaside with them.  That little town was more than packed. Kids and their parents were everywhere.  Finding parking spaces was extremely difficult.

We returned to Pudgy’s for some of their “killer” chowder.  Isn’t it amazing that the first time we taste something we seem to like it better than the second time?  It was good but not quite so memorable the second time around.  Oh well …….. still in search of the perfect chowder.

Clam chowder bread bowl at Pudgy's.

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The boys were off north and we headed south to spend another evening enjoying life on the road.

Crabbing Do-Overs with Michael

I’ve learned that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.  It kinda brings you back down to earth again.

By now you may think that we’ve done it all in this part of the northern Oregon Coast.  You also might think that we are through with do-overs.  Actually, we’re not.  We’ve had a lot of do-overs.  Crabbing and the Tillamook Cheese Factory are no exceptions.

WOW!  Look at all those crabs!

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With Michael being left behind by his mother when she headed back to the airport without him, Justin decided it was time he learned a little bit about living in the Pacific Northwest.  So, he loaded him up and headed back to the coast to give him a lesson or two in crabbing.  And, crabbing is exactly what we did on Friday.

How do I pick it up without getting pinched?

Since our boat was back in its storage spot at Lee’s house,  we opted to spend the day on the “dock of the bay” at Jetty Fishery.  Needless to say, Michael picked up on how to crab just like a pro.  At first the claws from the crabs were a little intimidating but once he got the hang of how to pick them up without being pinched, there was no problem.

A lesson on sex -- how to tell a male from a female crab.

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It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  We all enjoyed it immensely.  We got a ton of crabs.  The problem with it this time of year and so different from crabbing off a boat is that many of the crabs you pull in are either too small or females.  You can’t keep either of those.  However, it really is the experience that counts most.

We also had steamer clams.

After turning in our crabbing gear, we sat down at one of the picnic tables at Jetty Fishery and ate crabs and clams.  Well, Michael tried both the clams and crabs but wasn’t too fond of either.  Of course, that meant more for us.  He liked doing it but not eating it.  I only had to share with Justin.  You have to be fast if you’re sharing with Justin or he’ll get more to eat than you.  I wanted no part of that.

Late that afternoon we ended up with new neighbors at the RV park.  Now remember we have been at the far end of this park for nearly two weeks.  All the other people have been a good distance away.  We liked it like that.  Then, a big Alfa pulled in right in front of us!! 

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Thank goodness the other side isn't crowded! 

I guess we probably should admit that we know these folks especially since we spent most of last winter around them.  We couldn’t “hyde” from the Hyders!  We tried but they found us anyway.  Now they even want to go crabbing with us on Saturday.  This should be very interesting!!

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No.  They aren’t sun worshipping in the picture below.  They are checking out the antenna as it was automatically searching in the tree branches for a satellite signal.  Once they finally realized that trees don’t have signals, they moved their rig right on top of ours ---- picture above.  Without the tree in its way, the antenna was able to lock onto a satellite.  Funny how that works.

Is it gonna miss that tree?

Return to Tillamook Cheese Factory

I’ve learned that I should have told my Mom and Dad that I love and appreciated them more often than I did!

Michael and Justin showed up as planned early Thursday.  We could have taken them down to Jetty Fishery to do a little crabbing.  However, it was very foggy and very drizzly.  Obviously it wouldn’t have been a fun day to be out on the dock.

Remember the cheese line from the other day?

Even though we had taken Justin and Jordan to Tillamook Cheese Factory last week, it had been many years since Michael had been there.  However, once inside he adapted rather nicely to the line of free cheese samples, free fudge samples and the ice cream cone.  Isn’t it amazing how things like this don’t take much direction or training?

Jordan, Sandi, Michael and Justin

Was it 2004 that Michael was here last?  Well, I was certainly pretty brave when I decided to hop on a plane in Texas and take a vacation with all four of the grandkids on the Oregon coast.  It was just me and them.  I was definitely outnumbered. Most grandparents I know will take one or two at a time.  Not me.  I had to jump in with both feet and take all four of them.  How did it go?  Marvelous … we had a great time.  The Tillamook Cheese Factory was just one of the places we visited on our trip to the Pacific Northwest seven years ago. 

Sandi, Jordan, Justin and Michael

In addition to beach time, we also spent time at Multnomah Falls and visited several of the waterfalls along the Old Columbia River highway.

Michael, Justin, Jordan and Sandi  --  This was before the hike to the top of the falls.  You should have seen them afterwards!

Actually, I’ve visited these waterfalls many times and taken hundreds of pictures of them.  This year will be no different.  I just haven’t been there yet but I do have plans to return.  Just like I have plans to do another whale watching tour in the San Juan Islands.  I have lots of plans for this summer.  However, I’d like to slow time down a bit.  I have a lot I want to do and not a lot of summer left!

Now that I’ve shown pictures of my grandkids … on to the rest of the day.  It included another stop at the wharf in Garibaldi.  This time I did get to try the clam chowder at Fisherman’s Corner.  And, as usual, Terry had his normal oyster stew. It just seems that one little bowl of chowder can be made so many different ways.  Sometimes it’s absolutely fantastic and other times not so much.  This was not so much. I’m anxious to go back to Pudgy’s in Seaside for their killer chowder. It’s way past time I had another bowl of great chowder!

Tomorrow we're going to pull out those crabbing rings and try our luck again.  My mouth is already watering for some more crab.

Manhattan Beach, Oregon

Tears are words the heart cannot express.

Manhattan Beach --- gorgeous

There were several things going on in our little world.   The kids were no longer at the beach with us.  Our reservations at our current park were coming to a close and to top it off, Tammi and Michael were flying into the Portland airport.  We weren’t sure where we were heading next but figured it would be inland … someplace.  You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m not very good at making plans and keeping them.  Oh, I’m really, really good at the making of plans.  It’s just the keeping them that causes the problem.

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Tuesday -- After our fantastic boat ride, we took the boat out of the water and headed inland to visit.  Of course, the reason we took the boat out of the water was because we thought we would be leaving the coastal area in just a few days.  You might have guess that’s not what happened.  We’re still at the coast.  We’ll be here for a few more days.

Manhattan Beach

We put the boat back where it belongs and ran fresh water through the two engines.  After having them in salt water, we needed to make sure they are cleaned and ready to go again.  That salt can certainly cause a lot of damage so we wanted to be sure the engines were rinsed out with fresh water.

While in the Portland area we had a chance to visit a little with Tammi and see her new home.  The moving van arrives from New Jersey on August 8th … her birthday.  After being a Texas resident for 19 years, a New Jersey resident for nearly 3 years, she’ll finally be a Washington resident again.

Remember building sand castles?

Wednesday -- The weather was gorgeous.  We decided to hunt out another beach.  It was still just Terry and I … so far. This time we stopped at Manhattan Beach which is just a few miles away.  The gorgeous beach was totally deserted.  As you can tell by photos above, there weren’t a lot of people on it.  The tide was way out.

Low tide at Garibaldi

We continued on down to Garibaldi.  The tide was still out and we could see someone digging for clams in the bay.  We watched for a while as he continued to dig and put the find in his bucket.  Since he was using a clam gun, I'm guessing he was getting razor clams.  I should have asked.  I would have thought since it was the bay it might have been butter clams but I've never seen one dig butter clams with a clam gun only razor clams.  Usually just a small shovel works with the others but what did I know.  It has been a long time since I've done any clam digging.  Now I mainly just eat them and not dig them.

I wanted to try the clam chowder on the wharf at, Fisherman's Corner. They boast about about the chowder but since they were closed I didn’t have a chance to see if the boasting was justified.  Oh well ………… maybe another day.

The RV park below is Harbor Inn.  It sits  on the bay at Garibaldi.  I said the other day if we were going to pick a place to spend a month or two at the coast, this would certainly be it.

Justin and Michael did decide that they wanted to spend a few days  with us. I probably need to rephrase that too. They decided they wanted to do a little more crabbing. It just so happened that we were in the right area for them to do it. All they had to do was change Michael’s airplane ticket to next week and out of Seattle instead of Portland. Of course, this meant we were back looking for another place to stay closer to Seattle so we could transport him to the airport.  Perhaps a return to Murray Beach is in the near future ... we really liked it there.  Besides, eating at Anthony's on the wharf wouldn't be hard to do again.

Next, Justin had to drive to the coast (his truck but Tammi’s gas) and everything would be provided -- including bed, food and free activities. What a deal!  Guess who gets to take Michael to Sea-Tac for his flight out on Wednesday?  You guessed it!

Our find -- a perfect little sand dollar

As far as we’re concerned, it’s memories in the making and we were all for it. I certainly wish I had more memories of spending time with my grandparents … but I don’t. I lived in Washington. They lived in Texas. Maybe that’s why I feel memories are important. So, we’re going to be doing a little more crabbing but this time without the boat. We’ll be doing it from the dock.

So, when Thursday rolls around we’ll have two boys staying with us for a few more days.  Our food supply is getting a little low but we'll cross that bridge after they eat up what we have left!!

Best Chowder on the Oregon Coast ??

If you could have everything, where would you put it?

Since Justin and Jordan left with their parents Sunday night, it was just us.  We still had food left but decided we were going to run into the little town of Nehalem for breakfast.  We had eaten at the Baywater Café several times before and always enjoyed it so that’s where we went.  It’s a nice little local place and definitely worth stopping at if you’re in the area.

Many of the stores in the beach towns decorate with hanging baskets of flowers.  The flowers are gorgeous.

After breakfast, Terry and I took another spin in the boat.  This time we headed in the opposite direction.  It was a gorgeous day and we certainly enjoyed a day on the bay.

 

We didn’t go crabbing and we didn’t go fishing.  We just enjoyed being out on the water.  The motors were working perfectly and it was a perfect day.

Later in the day we made another stop in the little town of Rockaway Beach.  One of the little street side cafes had a sign out front that tempted me.  Remember …. I love good chowder.   I think I’ve mentioned this at least once or maybe a dozen times before.

I also know what someone considers good chowder isn’t always what I call good chowder.  Isn't it great though that we all have different taste buds?  If we didn't, all the good chowder (in my opinion) would be gone before I got there!!   Posting this sign for me to see was like issuing a challenge. 

It was a challenge I had to accept.  Of course, I had to try the chowder.  I can definitely say that in my opinion I do not believe it is the BEST clam chowder on the coast.  Matter of fact, would I order it again?  That's the real test.  The answer to that is NO.  There is another little café on the wharf in Garibaldi that boasts about their clam chowder.  If it works out, I'd like to see if they really have chowder to boast about.  I'll let you know.

Another Day of Crabbing on the Bay

If at first you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you!

On Saturday we got a late start.  It wasn’t actually our fault it was because the fog was very low over the bay and it just wasn’t a nice morning weather-wise to take the boat out.  You have those days at the coast more often than you’d really like.

The fog finally lifted, the weather moved on and we were ready to go.  At least we thought we were ready to go until we had a little hiccup.  Or, maybe I should say two little hiccups.  We already were having trouble with the bigger motor idling down but the little 8 HP kept cutting out.  We figured it wouldn’t be a smart thing to get out in the bay with both motors having issues.  We didn’t.

 

Instead of fighting the motor we went down to Jetty Fishery and crabbed off the dock while we borrowed their mechanic to look at our motors.  We also bought some goop for our gas tank since we figured that might be one of our issues.  So, half an hour and $20 later we had both idles set and the motors purring.

It’s still fun to crab from the Jetty Fishery docks.  Their docks are in a great location and they have all the dead fish to feed the crabs we would ever need.  That’s what we did on Saturday.  The good thing is that they’ll even cook the crabs for you.  They did and we sat out on their picnic tables devouring them.  It was a great little appetizer.  Even though the shells appear to make it look like a lot of meat is under them, there isn’t and especially this time of year.  We could eat a lot.

The Jetty Fishery also has a small RV park right. You get a gorgeous view and you don’t have to drive to do any crabbing.

We were beat by the time we returned to the motorhome.  What started a little rough turned out especially nice but we were totally zonked and very smelly.  After a wonderful shower and a relaxing hot tub, we were ready to hit the sack.
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I mentioned a few days ago that there is a little railroad track right behind our motorhome.  Only once or twice a month does a train even use these tracks.  It’s for their dinner cruise.  We knew that before we pulled in or we probably wouldn’t have wanted to be quite this close to the tracks.  The park has some huge sites but they are up the hill.  Other than the site we are in, most of those on the bay are a pretty tight squeeze.  We were lucky to get the one snuggled in the corner.

Sunday was Jordan’s birthday and a party was brewing to celebrate her 16 years honoring us on this earth.  Terry gave up his TV, Justin gave up an opportunity to play WOW and Lee and Sabrina drove 100 miles from town just to spend it with her.

 

While I cleaned house, dabbled in making preparations for the big event, Justin, Jordan and Papa went out in the boat with Jordan taking her turn driving. She must have done okay because they all returned unharmed and even the boat was still afloat. Good job, Jordie.

What did I do?  Well,  I cooked two whole ribs for her …. just for her while the rest of us had chili burgers.  She certainly must have gotten the idea that we thought she was pretty special.  Actually, she did grant us permission to taste her barbecued ribs especially when she realized she wasn’t going to be able to eat all of them by herself.

After the boat, the food, the cake and the presents, it was time for the four of them to head back home.  Needless to say, our motorhome feels pretty empty tonight.  Even Duchess misses them.

It was such a pretty evening with another gorgeous sunset over the bay.  I think one of the nicest we’ve had since we’ve been at this park.  Tomorrow’s another day and another adventure.  For now, I’m really beat!!