Monster Crabs and Happy Birthday, Tammi

Volunteers are not paid – not because they are worthless but because they are priceless.

There’s another birthday happening in our family today.  This time of year there’s just one of those right after another.  Today just happens to be the birthday of our youngest.  Now I’m not saying she’s young.  It’s just our youngest!   Happy Birthday, Tammi.

Happy Birthday to you.

Dungeness Crab

Guess what we did Saturday?  You’re right.  We went crabbing again.  It was another gorgeous day on the coast.  We had no choice.  We actually heard the crab calling to us.

The first plan of action was to get another 3-day crab license and bait.  Neither of those are sold at the park we are at.  We had to run down to Jetty Fishery again to do that.  We came back with fish heads and our licenses.  Thus, we were ready to go.

The difference between being on the water Saturday and earlier in the week when we had been in the area was that there were lot more boats and a lot more crab rings.  However, the weather was absolutely gorgeous and no huge swells like last time we made the trek in this direction.

We ended up with some nice sized crab this time.  There’s a lot of difference between crabbing off the dock and in a boat.  The ones off the dock were mainly female and small.  In the boat we got our share of small ones but we also saw some nice sized keepers.

Park crab cooker

Jerry learned to pull those crab pots up fast.  We sorted them on the bottom of the boat and tossed those back that weren’t legal.  Seagulls swarmed us for rejects.  We also had a couple Bald Eagles soaring over the trees.  It was definitely a nice day.

The park has a propane crab cooker.  We had it lit and waited and waited.  It was pretty slow in heating.  After about 45 minutes, it still wasn’t close to a boil.

Crabs are cooking!

Finally one of the other RV’ers parked next to the cooker set up his own crab cooker for us.  He has a nifty little burner for outside cooking and it heated up in no time.  If we were going to do much more of this, we’d certainly have our own little cooker.

The cleaning station

The park also has a fish and crab cleaning station down on the dock.  That was nice since it meant no mess at our site.

Our appetizer

We certainly had a mess of crab with enough left over for a crab salad the next day.

Clam for our neighbors

Our neighbors at the park brought over some samples of their day’s find.  We thought that was super nice.  First of all, we each had a large clam they had fixed for each of us,

They also brought seaweed they had collected and prepared Asian style.  I normally totally dislike seaweed.  I think I’ve had enough of that in my mouth over the years and not by choice.  The idea of eating it was never an option.  However, I felt compelled to be polite and try it.  Actually, I would have to admit that the way they had it fixed wasn’t bad at all.  At least I had a bite and tried it.  You realize, of course, that I still have no intention of having more in the future though.  It’s one of those mental things I guess.

Seaweed

This is how they dried the seaweed.  They hung it on their clothesline.  We’d never seen that before.  It was definitely interesting.


Events of Saturday, July 31st

Beaching the Boat and Manzanita Beach

I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford.  Then, I want to move in with them.

Thursday turned out to be another gorgeous day on the Oregon coast.  Many times on the coast the fog will roll in during the morning hours and as the sun pops up it will roll on out.  That didn’t even happen on Thursday.  It was just beautiful from the start.

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After sitting around for a while drinking our coffee and then a trip into town to a little café for breakfast that was really lunch, it was time to launch the boat and take a spin.  That we did.

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First we headed down the Nehalem River to the town of Wheeler.  There were lots of fishing boats in the river.  There were also several kayaks out.

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Then, we turned around and headed to Nehalem Bay and the area by the Nehalem Bay State Park.  Since this area is close to the ocean, the beach is pretty sandy there.

 

The boat was beached and we started checking out the driftwood along the waterfront.   We were also   looking for treasures.

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This was the treasure that Janice found.  We weren’t quite sure what it looked like but we could imagine lots of things. 
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The sand was pretty soft close to the water’s edge.  Sinking into it was definitely something we did at times.

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When we finally got ready to return, the boat took a little bit of pushing to get it totally back in the water.  After all, it had been high tide when we landed and not so high when it was time to return.


The winds had picked up considerably.  Sitting and walking on the beach we hadn’t noticed this.  There were white caps and good sized little swells going back.  Since we had unzipped and taken off the front windshield covers, the water was splashing in and we were getting sprayed with salt water.

 

The good thing was it was only a short jaunt to the bend.   At that point we were protected from the winds coming in off the ocean and the water in the bay calmed.  Once the white caps disappeared the splashing stopped and our RV park wasn’t far away.

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In the evening we took a little drive down to Manzanita Beach.  It’s just one more place along the Oregon coast with a gorgeous beach.

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Another day behind us and we were totally zonked again.  Being in the salt air and on the water sure tires us out.

 

I’m beginning to think we need a vacation.  We seem to be very, very worn out every night.

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What a day!!!

Happy Birthday again, Lee.

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.

Launching the Boat in Nehalem Bay, OR

Any man who knows all the answers most likely misunderstood the questions.

Wednesday rolled around and we were on the road again.  This time we were heading inland for a doctor’s appointment.  We also planned on picking up the boat and two hungry teenagers.  Well, we didn't actually know if they were hungry at the moment but history had shown us if they weren't hungry when we picked them up, they soon would be!

By the time you make the slow 100 mile round trip and do what you need to do, you’re beat.  We were beat.  It was such a long day.  I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures but I didn’t.

While Terry was hanging out at the doctor’s, I made a fast escape to the Craft Warehouse and Jo-Ann’s in Vancouver,  At Jo-Ann’s I found the perfect spot right in front of the door.  I thought I was so lucky but didn’t realize until I returned to the car that it was empty because the sign on the other side of it indicated the spot was for police cars only.  Whee!  Needless to say, I got out of the spot .... FAST!

 

I have the Jo-Ann’s app on my iPhone.  This means that no longer do I have to search for coupons at the door.  I can download coupons automatically from their website as I enter the store.   The print-to-fabric item I was after had a regular price on it of $52.99.  With the 50% off coupon I downloaded entering the store, the cost was actually $26.50.  What a deal and no ticket for the parking spot either.

Since we were going to have Justin and Jordan for a few days, we figured we better stop by Winco and stock up.  It’s most certainly cheaper than eating out. I can’t remember the last time we pushed two carts of groceries out to the car.

Do you remember how much teenagers eat?  These two can really put away the food.  In order to carry it all back to the coast along with four people, we had to pack it in the boat!  Justin commented when he opened the refrigerator that he felt he had discovered a “treasure trove'”.   I wonder how long we’ll have it until it’s gone.  Any bets?

Thursday morning it was time to put the boat in the water.  We had to wait until the tide started coming in since low tide is currently a minus tide.  Now you’ve got to remember that we’re at the coast, there is a good little current and this boat hasn’t been in the water for a year nor has Terry launched one for quite sometime.  The launching went perfect.  However, the steering?  Need I say more?  I’ll skip the part that Justin thought embarrassing and just add the boat,  aka Wet Willy, is now tied up at the dock and ready to begin the catching crab adventure which is scheduled to begin on Friday.  Sun should be out and crabs should be hungry.  That chicken I bought for dinner on Saturday is now going to be dinner for a few hungry crabs.

What's with this weather?  It just seemed unusually cool and wet for the middle of July so I pulled up the averages.  There has been more rain than normal and the temperatures have been running 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the average.  This has definitely been an unusual year everywhere.  Even though I don't like it, I must admit I'd rather have a little more liquid sunshine and cooler temperatures than the wind and tornadoes other areas of the country have been experiencing.

While we waited for the current showers to continue heading east and the clear skies to return on Friday, we decided to make a return trip to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and the Cape Meares Lighthouse. To be continued ..............

Happy Birthday, Jordan.  This is one of the big ones.  She'll be 16 on Sunday.  
We'll be celebrating her birthday at the coast.  Her mom and dad are even going to 
show up to help her celebrate.

Little Coastal Town of Wheeler, Oregon

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground!

Tuesday it rained and showered and rained some more.  If it’s nasty outside, I don’t want to be in it.  When you’re either on the Oregon coast or the Washington coast, these things can happen any time.  However, the ocean itself is amazing to watch in any kind of weather.  That is, if you can see it.

The clouds were so low at times we could hardly see the water right in front of us.  It was how most of the day was to be.  The good thing is that eventually this would go away.  As long as we stayed inside, it didn’t bother us and we didn’t get wet.  Other folks were still outside fishing and crabbing off of the dock.  Occasionally, Duchess needed to take her walk.  That, of course, meant someone else was going to get wet with her.

The little “squall” played havoc with our satellite.  Sometimes we were getting signal and other times we weren’t. There is a lot of difference with the weather on the western side of the Coastal Range and on the eastern side of it. Actually the weather wasn’t really too bad but after sitting around for a while, we decided to take a little ride into the town of Wheeler.

Wheeler has a population of 375.  My high school graduation class was almost that large.  The surprising thing about Wheeler was the size of a couple of the stores we walked into.  First of all, we visited Creative Fabrics.  For such a small town, you normally wouldn’t expect much.  We didn’t and we were really fooled.  This was a fantastic store with loads of bolts of fabric.  I commented to one of the sales clerks how shocked we were.  She indicated with winter weather on the coast there isn’t much for folks to do but quilt or sew.  You can bet I’ll be going back.

Next door was an antique alley.  Again, it was huge!  We walked through the store and checked out a few of the antiques.  However, we weren’t tempted to purchase any.  Where we would put them anyway?   There isn’t much room in our motorhome for anything else.

The town has a few little cafes that are only open for breakfast and lunch.  In addition there is also the Tsunami Bar and Grill.  We thought about grabbing dinner there but it was a little early.  Instead we headed to the town of Mohler and the Nehalem Bay Winery.  We didn’t do any tasting but just looking and scouting.  Across the road is a pretty good sized little grocery store but since we were heading into the Portland area the next day, didn’t figure we needed to stock up on anything.

Nehalem is only a couple miles from Wheeler.  Like most of these little beach towns, finding a café or a restaurant open for dinner during the week can be a little difficult.  However, pizza is always good and our pizza from the Pizza Garden proved just that.  

That was about it for the day.  By the time we got back to the motorhome, our neighbors were building a campfire and the rain had moved on elsewhere.

I don't normally want to post every day but when we're so busy doing things, I need to post daily to keep up.  Sometimes I really need to post twice a day but I don't like to do that.  This is my Friday post so you know that I'm behind.

Wednesday it's off to Portland!!

Nehalem Bay, Oregon --- A Fantastic Area

I’ve learned one very interesting thing about money … it doesn’t buy class.

It was moving day.  We had been at the Seaside Thousand Trails park for two weeks.  We were anxious to move to another location on the coast.  So, just about 30 miles and an hour later we pulled into another site.  Even though we had a great site in Seaside, this one was even better.  Our site was fairly private and our view …. well, so much better.  We were sitting right on Nehalem Bay.

There are many special places along the Oregon coast that we love.  Nehalem is just one of them.  The little towns in the area are cute, the beaches are sandy and there are many different ways to entertain yourself.  As you drive along Highway 101, you notice that many of these towns have marinas filled with both individual and commercial boats.  The docks are filled with crabbing nets, small cafes and lots of fishermen who always happen to be telling wild fish stories. 

The dark cloudy sky looked threatening but it wasn't.  A few minutes later the clouds were gone and the sun started to set.

We love walking along the beach or just listening to the sound of the surf.  We especially enjoy sitting in a restaurant with a great view of the ocean or the bay with a plate full of good food in front of us.  There are several places just like this.  The ocean is nice during any season.  Some people plan their time at the coast during the winter.  The storms that hit the coast are beautiful to watch … as long as you stay safe and away from the high waves and winds.

There are seal caves to visit, dunes to ride on, covered bridges to discover, whales to watch, waters to fish in, crabs to catch and lots of sand to sink your toes in.  

Our goal for the evening was to find a different place to try the local cuisine.   The Sea Shack Restaurant in the little town of Wheeler was just two miles down the road and offered bay front seating.  Terry ordered the bison rib steak with potatoes. Duchess got more of the steak than Terry did.  Do the potatoes look appetizing to you?  They looked and tasted like they were cooked last week.  Gordon Ramsey wouldn’t have approved.  However, Terry said the beans were delicious.

I ordered the boiled pot of seafood.  Needless to say, I was a little disappointed not to actually receive the pot of seafood.  My ordered included 5 clams, 4 mussels, 2 pieces of sausage, the meat from probably half a crab leg plus half an ear of corn and the toast.  It was pretty disappointing.

The Oregon coast is a beautiful place to be.  And, that’s just where you’ll find us for a few more days.  We’re sure we’ll find lots of good fresh seafood around.  Of course, we plan on catching some of it ourselves.

Isn’t every park next to a railroad track?  Sometimes it seems that way.  We took a walk down this one.  We knew we wouldn’t be seeing a train.  The train that uses it is for tourists and doesn’t see this part of the track except for the one trip it makes on Saturday.

We’re settled for a few more days.  We have great satellite, internet is better than Seaside and things are good.  Our first day in our new location was coming to a close.  We had a great site snuggled right into a corner with no neighbors except for the seagulls.  After getting set up we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the water.