Tuesday, February 2, 2010

February already, where on earth does the time go!!

We have had a few quiet days here with nothing happening to write about. Sunday was a really nice day so we spent time outside enjoying the sun, the forecast is for rain all this week so we have to enjoy the sun when it happens. The cherry trees in the front of the park are all out in bloom and look so pretty.




Claudia came over with her pictures from diving and we really enjoyed seeing them, we always think of the Caribbean when thinking about all the pretty underwater sea life but it is just as pretty here; now I look at the ocean and think about all the underwater beauty as well as the majesty of the waves.

Claudia and Gene were saying the large hoist at the dock isn’t working so they haven’t been able to get out fishing lately. It is an iffy business between the tides, weather and getting up and down at the dock and we certainly have gained a new appreciation for the fishermen from talking to them.

Sunday night we went to the Crazy Norwegian for dinner and had their special for the evening, fish tacos, yummy! The last day of the month is cake and ice cream at 6:30 here at the park to celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries during the month; well there weren’t any to celebrate but we had cake and ice cream anyways and a nice visit, although there weren’t too many people there. The cake and ice cream were a great finish to our delicious dinner.

Yesterday we went to Brookings to pick up a few groceries and just to get out for the day. It rained off and on all day and was a bit foggy at times but we had a nice day anyways. We stopped at Gold Beach and got a Dungeness crab for dinner, and as usual it was delicious.

Looking North Towards Humbug Mountain in the Fog


On the way home we went down to the dock, there wasn’t a lot happening but we saw this pelican sitting on the dock, when I tried to take his picture he flew off and landed on this boat, so I did manage to get a few pictures.

Pelican on the Dock


And Peeking Out from His Hiding Spot on the Boat


Today is wet and overcast but the good part is that it just rains off and on, not a steady rain all day - that is forecast for later in the week. We were going to leave tomorrow and spend a day in the Fortuna California area but the forecast is for rain all day Thursday so it wouldn’t be much of a day for touring around, therefore, we have decided to wait and leave here on Thursday and just make a straight run through to Yuma, arriving there next Monday the good lord be willing and all going well.

I must say we are looking forward to sun and warmer days although we have really enjoyed our time on the Oregon Coast and especially here at Port Orford and hope to return some time. We would like to return in the spring on the way home in another year or two and see what the spring is like here.

And so ends more great gifts of days here on the Oregon Coast and we look forward to another interesting day tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Time for another catch up on our time here in Port Orford. Tuesday was a so-so day weather wise, it didn’t rain but it was pretty overcast most of the day. I spent most of my time reading Warlock, I just got lost in the story for the day so we didn’t do a lot of anything.

Yesterday was not a bad day, kind of overcast in the morning but it cleared off in early afternoon and was gorgeous. We went to Bandon as I wanted to go back one last time and wander around Old Town. On the way we stopped at Misty Meadows to get John some more Anitpasto and jam as well as pick up a few gifts. When we got to Bandon we had lunch, a yummy bowl of clam chowder, then wandered around some of the stores. We didn’t buy much but I did get a couple of pretty pottery bowls that were really cheap as well as some fudge. We were wandering through one store and they had a lot of Kitras glass so I was telling the owner that we were from where it is made and he went on at length about what a great company they are to deal with – nice to hear.

We stopped at another store after leaving Old Town, then on to the grocery store before starting to make our way back home. We went down to the north jetty and took a few pictures of the Coquille River Lighthouse, then to the beach for more pictures and then took the scenic route back out of Bandon with picture stops at a few more places.

Coquille River Lighthouse


We stopped at a pullout to take a picture and found this house down by the beach, I sure wouldn't like to have to do those steps all the time to get up and down!!!


Bandon Beach




Face Rock


When we got back to Port Orford we decided to go down to the dock and see if anything was happening there as our neighbours, Claudia & Gene, had gone out fishing so we thought we might see them coming back in. When we got there their truck and boat were gone so they had already come in but we saw a couple of boats heading in so got out and walked over to the lift area to watch them come in. Boy, was our timing good – we saw them unloading boxes of sea urchins off one of the boats and boxes of crabs off another. The people dive for the sea urchins and Gene told John that they get paid really well for them. There was another boat unloading crabs, one of the boxes they took off weighed 374 lbs – so I would say they had a good day as they took off at least 3 boxes and we know they get $1.99/lb for them. It’s interesting as they have a winch to lift the catch off the boats and unload the catch into large tubs, then the boats themselves move a bit further along the dock to get winched up.

While we were watching a boat come up we got talking to three fellows who were cleaning a steelhead they had caught in the Sixes River and were just at the dock to clean it. They had come from south of San Francisco for a few days fishing and said they had caught four steelheads but only kept the one and one of the reasons for keeping it was for the roe which they use for bait. It sure looked like a nice fish and I bet it was good eating!! There was also a seal swimming around in the harbour and it looked like a fair sized one.


Sea Urchins


Fishing Boat Being Hoisted Up




And Going on Its Trailer


California Fishermen with Steelhead


Boats Waiting to Come Into the Dock


Seal in Harbour


Crab Catch



After we got home we were talking to Gene & Claudia and they said they didn’t have a great day but didn’t do too bad either. They gave us some fresh ling cod for dinner and was it yummy, John put some lemon pepper and butter on it, wrapped it in foil and grilled it.

Today is another nice day so John decided to clean out the truck and I took advantage of his being outside to do a major cleaning inside, I even got the floors washed – something I just can’t get done when he is inside.

Gene & Claudia came back from another day of fishing and she said they again didn’t catch as much as they wanted but the wind had started to come up and the water was getting a bit rough so they decided to head in early before it got too bad. She was saying she used to dive but due to puncturing her eardrum a number of times has had to quit but she has an album of underwater pictures that she will bring over and show to me – should be interesting.

It is supposed to rain again tomorrow but we will see if they are right. We don’t have a lot planned for the rest of the day so I will probably start another book – tough life.

Tim is trying to get some grass cutting done while the weather is dry so as soon as he is finished he will fill propane tanks, we need ours filled so have it sitting out waiting.

And so ends more great gifts of days here on the Oregon Coast and we look forward to another interesting day tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like.

Monday, January 25, 2010

I guess it is time to do a quick catch up again, although there hasn’t been anything exciting happening.

Saturday was a nice sunny day for a change, it was beautiful all day but of course about 9 p.m. the rain started again – it seems like it is impossible to have a day without rain here on the Oregon coast!

Saturday night was the parks’ monthly potluck and this month it was soup and salads. The soups were delicious, I had decided to take a tossed salad with mandarin oranges and walnuts and a couple of loaves of warm bread, one a French bread and the other sourdough. I’m glad that is what I decided on as it was the only salad and bread although there were also some rolls. Of course there were some yummy deserts to finish off, all in all a nice dinner with good company.

Yesterday it poured off and on all day, not a nice day to do anything and even to go to the dock, Battle Rock beach or Paradise Beach would have been a waste of time as with the rain it would be hard to see the waves, so we stayed home and vegged all day. For dinner John went and picked up a pizza from the Hard Rain Café, it was really good and we had a couple of slices left over for today’s lunch.

I downloaded Warlock by Wilbur Smith onto my Kindle yesterday so spent most of the day reading, although we also spent a fair bit of time on the phone catching up with the girls, my sister and some friends.

Warlock is the third book in Wilbur Smith’s Egyptian series and as always with his books, once I start I have a hard time putting the book down. It is probably about 1,000 pages so a fairly long read but I am really enjoying it. I also downloaded the fourth one in the series so will have that ready to read when I am done Warlock.

Today is very overcast, but not raining, it feels really humid because it is quite foggy. Last night they had heavy wind warnings on the TV for this area but thankfully they didn’t happen here. They had said there would be swells of 22-24’ today so we grabbed a coffee this morning and went down to Battle Rock Beach, the dock and Paradise Beach to see what the waves were like. There were some good waves, not as large as we have seen, nonetheless the ocean is always awesome to watch and I did get some pictures at Battle Rock and the dock. I will post them for you to judge how they were.

Looking Towards Humbug Mountain from Battle Rock Beach


Looking Back to Battle Rock Beach from the Dock


Port Orford Jetty and Waves Breaking Over the Jetty







Port Orford Dock



Once I am done posting my blog I will probably bury my nose back in my Kindle and enjoy more of Warlock’s thrilling story – Alison & Bob you would love this book!

And so ends more great gifts of days here on the Oregon Coast and we look forward to another interesting day tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Another quiet couple of days have passed since I last posted my blog but again there isn’t much to write about.

On Wednesday it was raining in the morning but we decided to take a run up to Coos Bay and do some shopping. By the time we were finished shopping the sun had come out and it had warmed up – bonus!

We decided to go over to Charleston and take the scenic route back. Last time we were there we took the Cape Arago Road as far as the lookout for the Cape Arago lighthouse but we didn’t go to the end of the road so this time we decided to check out the rest of the road. It’s a good thing we did as we had missed Simpson Reef that is home to all kinds of seals, sea lions etc. There were sea lions up on the rocks sunning themselves and all kinds of them in the water – fun to watch.

Sea Lions on the Rock


Sea Lions In the Water


We went to the end of the road and again got out and watched the ocean and saw a few sea lions swimming past there so it was a good day for seeing ocean wildlife as well as watching the waves. Now, if only we could see a whale!

View at End of Cape Arago Road




Paradise Beach


Thursday was a quiet day, it rained in the morning then was nice in the afternoon. We went down to the dock to watch the waves but they had calmed down considerably and the same at Paradise Beach. There was a beautiful sunset, I tried to get a couple of pictures - it was hard trying to catch it on the camera through the trees but we knew if we tried to drive to Paradise Beach we would miss it by the time we got there.

Sunset at Port Orford RV Village

Today was another quiet day, it was sunny this morning but then rained off and on in the afternoon with little bursts of sunshine in between. I got the laundry done but that was about it for the day. It has cooled down the last few days with highs of about 51F (10C) and lows of around 45F (7C) – we would be happy to see it warm up a bit again.

California is getting torrential rains, and snow storms in the higher areas, so we hope it gets it all over with before we leave here in a couple of weeks.

And so ends more great gifts of days here on the Oregon Coast and we look forward to another interesting day tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Wow, what a couple of wild days we have had weather wise, lots of wind and rain.

Yesterday afternoon we went out to Cape Blanco then down to Paradise Beach to watch the waves that are just so fascinating to watch. It had rained in the morning but had stopped by early afternoon so at least we didn’t have rain to contend with when we went out. John walked down to the beach at Paradise but I didn’t as the wind and rain had done a pretty good job of beating the path up so I didn’t want to take a chance on it.

Monday's Waves






When we came back we walked around the park and stopped to chat with Claudia and Gene. They have 3 fishing boats here and have just had one revamped so are doing the final touches before taking it out. While we were talking the sky cleared off and the sun came out so I said something to Claudia about the blue sky and she said “oh yes, a sucker hole”. I thought that was a pretty apt term as shortly thereafter it was completely overcast and the wind came up and the rain came on. John had thought it would be a pretty good night to grill (that’s the sucker part of the blue sky!!) but he had trouble with the wind blowing the barbecue out, on the other hand he was lucky that the rain took a short rest while he was out grilling so at least he didn’t get wet!

I would like to thank Winchuck River Store & Electric Powered Kayak for telling me what happened to the Brooking Bears (see the comment on my January 17th blog) and it would be nice if Brookings’ could get their own bears as they certainly added pizzaz to the main street.

Last night was pretty crazy with the wind and we did quite a bit of shaking but it is nice and cozy in here while the weather is raging outside so we don’t mind it at all.

This morning was totally yucky – rain, rain and more rain although the wind had died down. High tide was just after 1:30 this afternoon so we thought we would again drive around and look at the sea and oh wow, what a sight it was. The waves were just pounding in at Paradise Beach and down at the dock they were crashing up on the dock and jetty like crazy – what a wonderful show they put on! It looked like the porta potty at the dock might have taken a bit of a ride in the wind – can’t imagine that that would be very pretty!!

Today's Waves





Luckily it stopped raining just as we got in the truck and while we were out there were lots of “sucker holes” with sunshine and blue sky, but we know that it isn’t going to last! The wind is coming up again so I imagine we will be in for another windy night, at least tonight we will be doing an inside dinner so John doesn’t have to worry about grilling. There was a lot of debris on the roads today from all the wind – lots of twigs, small branches and leaves and if the wind keeps up I am sure there will be even more tomorrow.

They are calling for five back to back storms so I think we are in for a few more wet and windy days so I am sure you will be getting real tired of storm pictures on my blog.

I just started The Devil’s Punchbowl by Greg Isles on my Kindle so will be picking that up when I get this finished.

And so ends another two great gifts of days here on the Oregon Coast and we look forward to another interesting day tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Again, it’s been a couple of days since I’ve posted but it is hard to find something to write about when you aren’t on the road and doing and seeing new things.

Thursday was a beautiful day and Tim (our park owner) built a fire for a happy hour, it was a nice visit with people from the park as well as Tim & Cindy. Other than that it was a quiet but pleasant day.

Friday it started to rain about noon and rained the rest of the day, a good day for doing laundry and I was lucky that I had the whole place to myself. I also settled up with Tim for our electric and propane for the past month and paid for the rest of our time here.

Earlier in the week I talked to a park in Yuma that we had hoped to try this year and they had just had a cancellation for February and March so we took the spot starting February 8th. We will be sorry to leave the Oregon coast as we really like it here, despite all the rain, but we are looking forward to getting some sun and warmer temps.

Yesterday was another rainy day but we headed south to Gold Beach where we picked up a couple of crabs for dinner and I bought a new sweat shirt, then we went on to Brookings where we picked up a couple of things at Fred Meyer. With our discount we filled up the truck at Fred’s for $2.899/gallon for diesel, we then drove down into California and the only gas station we saw had diesel at $3.219/gallon – OUCH!!

Tim and Cindy were in California and Nevada over the Christmas holidays and Tim says the roads in California are terrible – we can hardly wait to make the trip with bad roads and expensive fuel!!

A while ago I posted pictures of the painted bears on the main street of Brookings but yesterday they were all gone, we don’t know if it is just a holiday thing or if they put them away for the winter, I will have to ask someone about that.

Today was another VERY WINDY day with rain off and on - at times our house on wheels was shaking pretty good. Two motor homes came in early this afternoon and we are thinking they probably got off the road because of the wind.

This afternoon we went to the matinee at the local theatre to see It’s Complicated, we quite enjoyed it and the price was right - $5.00 each. From there we went to the Crazy Norwegian for dinner – we split a combination plate with shrimp, fish, clams, French fries and a pasta salad – it was very good and reasonable at a total price of $20 for the dinner and a beer each.

It is still windy, hopefully it will abate by morning. We drove to a lookout over the harbour on the way to the show and oh my, the waves were really something else. Unfortunately, I hadn’t grabbed my camera before we left so no pictures from today but I will post a few that I have taken in the last week. Hope my readers aren’t getting totally bored with water pictures!






And so ends another four great gifts of days here on the Oregon Coast and we look forward to another nice day tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like.