While we were tide pooling in Oregon (blog below) Richard was walking with Sami along the beach. They were walking on the wet sand which is more firm and packed. Richard decided he would let go of her hand and start running in the sand to see if she would join him. Instead of joining him she became visibly upset. She started whimpering and yelling, "DADDY!". Richard of course stopped short to console her and find out what was wrong. She was pointing to his footprints he had made in the sand. His running had pulled up the sand from the pressure and weight beneath his feet. Richard said, "What's the matter baby?" and she pointed, crying and said, "Daddy...broke." Daddy had broken the sand with his feet and she was not very happy about it. She was pretty devastated over the matter until Richard had her run in the sand with him and she broke it on her own. The broken sand was something to laugh over at that point.
I am a little late with this posting...better late than never!
Last year my Aunt and Uncle moved to the Oregon Coast in Port Orford and left behind their beautiful ranch in Ellis, Idaho. I have wonderful memories of the ranch that will be forever in my heart but I can honestly tell you that their new place in Oregon is just as beautiful and wonderful to create even more memories.
My Mom was gracious enough to take me and my kids to the Oregon Coast last year and I absolutely loved it. There was a huge part missing though...my husband. We have discussed for the last year how we really wanted to save up and take a trip this summer to visit but it just didn't seem in the cards for us with finances. About three months ago I couldn't stand it any longer and demanded that we just take the trip. I told Richard I was going to put a little money in savings every week and I didn't care what it took....WE ARE GOING TO OREGON!
So we timed it just right for Richard to stay out driving a little longer than usual so he could take a few more days off. He came home at about 5pm the night before we planned to leave. We were determined to drive all day to get there so we could spend more time on the coast. Boy we had no idea what was in for us. It took us over 15 hours to get there! The highway was closed due to wildfires and the only detour was several hours out of the way and through Crater Lake (which was beautiful to see). The roads were horrendous with winds and curves. Richard and Sami get car sick very easily so we had to stop quite a bit. Not to mention the GPS was set on shortest route instead of fastest and yes there IS a difference, believe me. I wanted to throw that stupid GPS out the window! My husband had more faith in that stupid GPS WOMAN over me with the map even when she was leading us down dirt only, backwoods roads in the middle of nowhere. We were done in but we finally made it.
The next day we hung around Sis and Chuck's beautiful place for the morning and headed out to the "hobbit holes" on the ocean cliffs. Sis had her two grand-daughters Claire and Caylee with her so we took all the kids on this cool trail on the coast line. Gorgeous, lush forests and you could look over the coastline that has jagged black rocks where the waves crash against them. I have never been a real beach person but this kind of coast is down my alley. You can smell the salt and the mist from the fog feels cool on your face. The trail led us to these cool holes formed in the bushes that were the perfect size for the kids to play around in and walk through. We even spotted some sea lions on the rocks below.
The rest of the day Seth played in the Elk River with the cousins back at Sis' house and Sami, Richard, Dad (Dad stays there all summer in Gold Beach to fish) and I drove down to Gold Beach. Dad and Richard fished off the bar while I watched Sami play with the rocks and run from the waves. We ended the day with a weenie roast by the campfire and smores of course to top it off.
The next day was Richard's fishing day with my Dad. My Uncle Chuck was gracious enough to let Richard take his spot on the ocean fishing boat that day since he and Sis took the girls to the airport in Portland. Richard was lucky enough to catch 5 black bass, 2 vermillion and 1 long cod. He caught several other fish but the rest weren't keepers. I was glad that he had a chance to fish since that is his real passion in life. He has been so confined to his truck for the past year that it was nice to see him in his element doing what he loves to do.
Next morning was tide pooling. If you have never tide pooled you really must go sometime in your lifetime. It is great fun. You wake up at the crack of dawn in hopes to find a low tide and search the rocks and the beach for creatures, crabs and starfish. We didn't get in a great low tide this time of year but it didn't seem to matter with the great treasures we found. Our best find might have been the magnificent sea slugs that were heavy and molded to the shape of your hands when you held them. We saw a few jelly fished washed up on shore and several hermit crabs and sand crabs. We even found one smaller than a pencil eraser. The rocks were great. They looked similar to swiss cheese with the barnacles and creatures that burrowed perfect circles in them to the point of hollowing them out. On the way out we saw the most disgusting creature of all that Richard tells me was a banana slug. Probably a foot long it stretched across the trail where Sami and I almost stepped on it. If I had touched it at all I would have gone home and cut off that particular limb from my body anyway it was so gross. Later that day we went to check out the myrtle wood place to see if they could do any better than Richard's wood work...and of course they couldn't. We tried to go look at the litehouse but when we finally reached it it was so foggy there was not point to take the tour if you can't see anything.
Our last day was spent in Bandon. Crabbing of course. I love Bandon, it's my favorite place. I feel we saved the best for last. I was so excited to take Richard there to spend the day I couldn't stand it. Richard, Chuck and Dad went up early to set the crab pots while Sis and I slept-in with the kids. We met them up there and they were just coming in from setting the pots for a second time. First soak they caught a whopping 25 crab! While the pots were soaking we walked to this great pastry shop along the pier and had cinnamon rolls, pastries and coffee. The men and Seth went out to grab the pots while Sis and Sami and I played and chatted on the pier. Great pier! There were little minks playing in the rocks that Sami loved. Right off the pier there is this wonderful little sitting area that a woman must have spent hours upon hours decorating with little rocks and beads and shells that formed into this beautiful, jeweled design. When the boys came in they had caught another 19 crab! We had 44 crab in all to feast on that evening. Dad found out while they packed up that the price of crab that day in town was $21.95 each. We actually had almost $1000 worth of crab sitting in our hot little hands!! After all the cleaning and packing up, Richard and I and the kids stayed behind to walk around Bandon while everyone else went back to the house. There was no way we were going to leave without a sourdough bread bowl filled with yummy clam chowder. We went to the candy store and several other quaint little shops in this little fishing town. Love Bandon. Such a charming small town.
So of course that evening was the crab feast. There is nothing like fresh crab. Chuck has a great set up for a crab feast. He uses one of my Gramps' old chef pots and sets it on top of a rigged torch that boils water in an instant. Boils up all the crab and sets them in nice cool water and throws them in coolers. They pull the coolers over to the patio area where we gather around to eat crab, corn on the cob, marinated fresh cucumbers, tomato slices, bread and many other wonderful foods. When you get done with one crab you just reach into the cooler by the side of the table and grab another. We could definitely get used to that kinda eatin'!
Needless to say with my vacation blog that has turned into a novel, we had a great vacation. We truly needed to get away and we didn't want to come back to Meridian. There was nothing about coming home that was at all enticing. Of course it never would have been the same without Sis and Chuck allowing us stay with them in their newly redone home and being such wonderfully gracious hosts. Dad was great too for taking Richard fishing and just being there to spend time with us on our vacation.
Since coming home, Richard and I are seriously contemplating how we can possibly move to the Bandon area. Unfortunately their unemployment rate is even higher than ours here in Idaho. I must admit that I have added that area to my daily routine of job searching for Richard. We both truly feel that it is where we belong. We would like to retire there, raise our kids and just live.
For some reason this slideshow has cut off some of the pics. You can view them in full if you click on view images.
