After lunch, Claudia said (VERY sweetly), “Can you give me 15 minutes and $5?” I (VERY sweetly) replied, “I’ll meet you half-way. I’ll give you 15 minutes!” She (VERY sweetly) smiled and replied, “Cute!”. She got both!
We went to the no-smoking slots and she plugged in a $5 bill. Ten minutes later, she was out of credits and plugged in a second $5 bill. When I protested, she just TOLD me that it was “either-or” and her 15 minutes wasn’t up yet. I didn’t remember it that way and protested. I lost! She did too! We then walked back to the rig where Gizmo greeted up with his customary lavish licking. Every time we leave, he acts like he hasn’t seen us in a week. Good dog!
Friday was a drive-around and look day. We headed downtown to visit the Visitor’s Center and then took off on a scenic drive. We headed west to Coos Bay and then turned south. As we were headed to Charleston, I passed a flea market and saw some crab rings out front. LOOK OUT…FULL BRAKES…LEFT TURN and stop. The rings were $20, the cheapest we have found. I bought one and continued south. We checked out a few things in Charleston and then continued south to the Cape Arago Lighthouse viewpoint. After shooting the required photo
we passed the Botanical Gardens and stopped at the marine mammal viewpoint to gaze at approximately 1,800 pieces of what should be shark food, commonly known as Stellar Sea Lions, Elephant Seals, cute little harbor seals and the worst-of-the-worst, the California Sea Lion.
Varmints!
More varmints!
and still more varmints!
After enduring all I could take of these varmints, we headed for the Cape Arago overlook. After a few minutes…”Thar she blows!” We sighted three California Gray whales blowing and cavorting just south of the Cape. Claudia was in heaven. She has had a mega-serious case of withdrawals due to not seeing any whales. Her whale clock has now been re-set. Several people began asking questions about the whales so I reached into my vast knowledge of cetaceans (Claudia swears my knowledge is half-vast) and gave a short primer on the California Grey whale. We then returned to Bend.
I have been hearing a “funny sound” from the car lately. Now, Claudia says that’s impossible because I never hear anything she says. Whatever! Anyway, I spotted an RV and auto repair facility and pulled in. They put the car up on a rack and pulled the rear differential drain plug. The mechanic soon returned and asked if I had been hearing any strange sounds from the car. I ‘fessed up and said I had. He showed me the drain plug. It was covered with metal shavings. Rats! Now we have to get the rear end rebuilt when we get home. We’ll just add that to the motorhome engine and the garage door opener at home. What next? This trip is getting expensive!
Returning home, we started on the paperwork for the area and got quite a bit done. Now…check the weather. We are supposed to be getting some rain Saturday and Sunday. Hmmm…if the rain gets here late, I may be able to sneak off and test out my new crab ring. According to the Weather Underground, the rain should start about 11:00 pm…TONIGHT! Rats! Plan “B”. What’s Plan “B”? I haven’t a clue! More work on the trip plans? Perhaps. More gambling? I sure hope not! We shall see. Stay tuned. News at 11:00…or whenever!
Hey, the weather guessers are better here than at home. The rain started around midnight and really hit at 4:00 am. It’s now off and on light rain and sprinkles. Gizmo and I got in our morning romp between sprinkles (mostly) but he still needed a toweling down after “playing” on the local lawn. Claudia and I got cleaned up and then started working on Plan “B”. Plan “B” started with Valentino getting a bath. Well, actually, you can’t give a fish a bath, but he got his water changed. He can now look out and watch the goings-on clearly. He is much happier!
Plan “B” continued with filling in the calendar with events.
I have been hearing a “funny sound” from the car lately. Now, Claudia says that’s impossible because I never hear anything she says. Whatever! Anyway, I spotted an RV and auto repair facility and pulled in. They put the car up on a rack and pulled the rear differential drain plug. The mechanic soon returned and asked if I had been hearing any strange sounds from the car. I ‘fessed up and said I had. He showed me the drain plug. It was covered with metal shavings. Rats! Now we have to get the rear end rebuilt when we get home. We’ll just add that to the motorhome engine and the garage door opener at home. What next? This trip is getting expensive!
Returning home, we started on the paperwork for the area and got quite a bit done. Now…check the weather. We are supposed to be getting some rain Saturday and Sunday. Hmmm…if the rain gets here late, I may be able to sneak off and test out my new crab ring. According to the Weather Underground, the rain should start about 11:00 pm…TONIGHT! Rats! Plan “B”. What’s Plan “B”? I haven’t a clue! More work on the trip plans? Perhaps. More gambling? I sure hope not! We shall see. Stay tuned. News at 11:00…or whenever!
Hey, the weather guessers are better here than at home. The rain started around midnight and really hit at 4:00 am. It’s now off and on light rain and sprinkles. Gizmo and I got in our morning romp between sprinkles (mostly) but he still needed a toweling down after “playing” on the local lawn. Claudia and I got cleaned up and then started working on Plan “B”. Plan “B” started with Valentino getting a bath. Well, actually, you can’t give a fish a bath, but he got his water changed. He can now look out and watch the goings-on clearly. He is much happier!
Plan “B” continued with filling in the calendar with events.
Click on the photo and check out Gizmo!
We just got a call from Ron and Juanita giving us the revised schedule for the San Francisco area (which was no small feat!), so that got installed on the calendar. We are constantly revising the calendar and getting the events in their correct time slots. The trip is coming together!
After a short planning session, we have decided that we will head for Florence on Monday, stay for three days and then move on to Newport. I can’t wait until we get to Newport as that was where I found the best clam chowder on the west coast in 2005. After Newport, we’ll head for Lincoln City which is just south of Tillamook, our final destination. Now you are all caught up.
The weather cleared somewhat in the afternoon so I took the mutt for a L-O-N-G romp while Claudia made 48 mini Almond-Poppyseed muffins. About ¼ of them didn’t make it to the storage container. I follow the “cookie rule” when she bakes. The “cookie rule” clearly states that only the ugly cookies may be consumed before the un-ugly ones are put away for safekeeping. There were quite a few ugly muffins!
We are going for a drive tomorrow and will stop at the store on the way home. Gizmo needs a new rope toy to play with and I need some turkey legs for my crab net. There is a long pier right next to the park here in Bend and I want to give it a shot before we leave. On the even more positive side, there is great crabbing up in Florence, Newport and Tillamook.
It rained again last night and it’s definitely more blowy and stormy this morning. You KNOW a front is making its way through the area. Today is a day to stay inside, in front of a fire and bare on a skin rug. Unfortunately, we don’t have a fireplace or a bearskin rug. I will have to improvise!
After romping Gizmo, Claudia and I took off the see the South Slough National Estuarine Interpretive Center. It looks like it had a lot of good information inside the center but it was closed today. We looked around and then left for the varmint lookout to watch the storm waves. There weren’t as many varmints there today as there were on Friday. The waves were hitting the rocks pretty good. I’d guess the splash (not the spray…the heavy splash water) was probably 25’ high. It was rockin’ and rollin’ out there. We then turned around and headed for WalMart for supplies. Included in the supplies was a package of turkey necks.
We got home, packed up the laundry, the crab ring and supplies and headed for the laundry. I dropped Claudia off and went over to the casino dock. I baited the ring, tied off the retrieving line and heaved it into the water. It started to rain so I waited in the car until it was time to pull. After 15 minutes, I pulled the trap. There was one small male in the ring. Oh well, at least they’re here. I threw it out again and went into the casino for an extra-large, double-huge white chocolate mocha…with whipped cream! As I started back, the sky cut loose big time. I ran for the car and jumped in, totally soaked. The rain drops are much bigger here than at home! After a while, the rain subsided to a manageable level and I made a run for the trap. I pulled it, stuffed the line in a wad, grabbed the bucket and ran for the car. I quit because Claudia was still in the laundry room and I didn’t want her to have to haul the laundry all the way back to the motorhome by herself. I needed to help her! Having the car there also would keep her from getting wet. I thought she would appreciate staying dry so I voluntarily cut my crabbing short to help her.
The clothes weren’t dry so I went home (after sharing a few slurps of my mocha with her) to take a shower and wait for her phone call. When the phone rang, I went back to the laundry room and we brought the laundry home. We put the laundry away, fed the animals and kicked back. The trip tomorrow is only 47 miles so we have a leisurely morning in store for us. The Elks have RV parking at the lodge and at an RV park a little ways away. We opted for the park and made a reservation for three days. Florence, here we come!
After a short planning session, we have decided that we will head for Florence on Monday, stay for three days and then move on to Newport. I can’t wait until we get to Newport as that was where I found the best clam chowder on the west coast in 2005. After Newport, we’ll head for Lincoln City which is just south of Tillamook, our final destination. Now you are all caught up.
The weather cleared somewhat in the afternoon so I took the mutt for a L-O-N-G romp while Claudia made 48 mini Almond-Poppyseed muffins. About ¼ of them didn’t make it to the storage container. I follow the “cookie rule” when she bakes. The “cookie rule” clearly states that only the ugly cookies may be consumed before the un-ugly ones are put away for safekeeping. There were quite a few ugly muffins!
We are going for a drive tomorrow and will stop at the store on the way home. Gizmo needs a new rope toy to play with and I need some turkey legs for my crab net. There is a long pier right next to the park here in Bend and I want to give it a shot before we leave. On the even more positive side, there is great crabbing up in Florence, Newport and Tillamook.
It rained again last night and it’s definitely more blowy and stormy this morning. You KNOW a front is making its way through the area. Today is a day to stay inside, in front of a fire and bare on a skin rug. Unfortunately, we don’t have a fireplace or a bearskin rug. I will have to improvise!
After romping Gizmo, Claudia and I took off the see the South Slough National Estuarine Interpretive Center. It looks like it had a lot of good information inside the center but it was closed today. We looked around and then left for the varmint lookout to watch the storm waves. There weren’t as many varmints there today as there were on Friday. The waves were hitting the rocks pretty good. I’d guess the splash (not the spray…the heavy splash water) was probably 25’ high. It was rockin’ and rollin’ out there. We then turned around and headed for WalMart for supplies. Included in the supplies was a package of turkey necks.
We got home, packed up the laundry, the crab ring and supplies and headed for the laundry. I dropped Claudia off and went over to the casino dock. I baited the ring, tied off the retrieving line and heaved it into the water. It started to rain so I waited in the car until it was time to pull. After 15 minutes, I pulled the trap. There was one small male in the ring. Oh well, at least they’re here. I threw it out again and went into the casino for an extra-large, double-huge white chocolate mocha…with whipped cream! As I started back, the sky cut loose big time. I ran for the car and jumped in, totally soaked. The rain drops are much bigger here than at home! After a while, the rain subsided to a manageable level and I made a run for the trap. I pulled it, stuffed the line in a wad, grabbed the bucket and ran for the car. I quit because Claudia was still in the laundry room and I didn’t want her to have to haul the laundry all the way back to the motorhome by herself. I needed to help her! Having the car there also would keep her from getting wet. I thought she would appreciate staying dry so I voluntarily cut my crabbing short to help her.
The clothes weren’t dry so I went home (after sharing a few slurps of my mocha with her) to take a shower and wait for her phone call. When the phone rang, I went back to the laundry room and we brought the laundry home. We put the laundry away, fed the animals and kicked back. The trip tomorrow is only 47 miles so we have a leisurely morning in store for us. The Elks have RV parking at the lodge and at an RV park a little ways away. We opted for the park and made a reservation for three days. Florence, here we come!
1 comment:
I thought I taught you how to crab better than that. On the Berkeley pier in, what was it... 55 or so, we caught probably 100 Dungeness crabs. Darn. You have a short memory retention period!!!
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