South Jetty, Florence OR 8/10/09 - 8/17/09

It is a good thing that things were slow in Bend, because they were at high speed in South Jetty. The day after we got there, Terry's uncles, John and Gary Beutler, showed up. We had made reservations for them and when we got to the park, it was really full. We figured they would end up on the other side of the park from us. We couldn't believe it when that morning there were two empty sites, one between us and one on the other side of Ron and Alice. Someone moved into the one on the other side of Ron, but I think he sent them some type of weird vibes because they left after about an hour!

John and Gary, with Val and their granddaughter Hailey, got there and the fun began. the next morning we went to Old Town Florence to a seafood restaurant and they bought us breakfast/lunch. John couldn't believe Terry would go to a seafood restaurant and order a hamburger! Terry said it was a very good hamburger! Then we went shopping in the little shops. Val and I got a great deal on leather jackets (two for the price of one), and everyone cached in on the carmel popcorn, fudge, and ice cream.

I think the best meals we had were the ones we all cooked and shared. We had so much fun that I am sure that all of our neighbors were jealous that they were not part of us. We even had a couple of comments from them about all of the "happy noise."

Hailey had some huge marshmallows she wanted to try roasting, but none of us had any wood for the fire. The first night we didn't have a campfire, but the second night, she got ahold of her grandpa . . .

. . .and he (Gary) found some wood, although it was a little wet and smokey. I, Hailey, and Val had fun roasting the big marshmallows. We all kind of agreed that the marshmallows were a little better raw rather than roasted, but it gave us an excuse for a campfire.

The guys all went golfing, even though Terry and Ron complained a little about the 7:45 am T-time (you have to remember that they are retired), but they all made it there on time. They split off as partners, Terry and Gary--the young'uns, and Ron and John--the oldies, and played "best ball." Terry said they did actually count a couple of his and Ron's balls. John used my camera and took some great pictures. Here are Terry, Ron, and John getting ready to hit.

Terry, John, and Ron just finished a hole. The young'uns ended up winning by one stroke! Terry is hitting this ball towards the clubhouse where they ended having breakfast after the game. There was mention the night before that the girls would join them for breakfast, but we got stood up. Apparently, no one took it seriously but me, but they were still in trouble when they got back. It was okay, though, because they made it up to me by letting me cook waffles and eggs for everyone the next morning.

This is one of the great pictures they took on the golf course--a moma dear with her two little spotted twins.

Well, the next morning came and it was time for the Beutlers to leave. We were sorry to see them go, but made plans to meet up again down the road somewhere. John is "full-timing" in his motorhome, but it is usually parked at Gary's. He is having so much fun traveling around in it that he plans to take a trip across the United States (with Vall--although Gary will probable go along, too.)

We were proud of John because he doesn't usually "do dirt." Our campground has no cement pads or paved roads, but he seemed to handle it okay. After he pulled forward a little with his motorhome, he was finally able to get satellite, so he was pretty happy.

We have met up with Gary and Val several times on the road. They have a nice 5th wheel and we have had lots of fun with them, although I am not sure how Val is going to put up with both Gary and John on a long trip like they are planning. But, she will probably have them both whipped into shape before it is over!

After our company left, we got out the crab rings and headed to the wharf. We found two crab rings for sale at a yardsale in Emmett the weekend before we left! We couldn't believe that we would find crab rings in Emmett right when we needed them! We all pitched in for a license for Terry and planned on eating crab for dinner. Well, we caught a lot of crab, but they were either too small or females (they have to be over 5 3/4" and they have to be males), so we didn't get crab for dinner that night.

Since Terry has the only license, the rest us us just got to watch, but we had fun watching Terry, the seagulls, and the occasional sea lion that would pop it's head up.

This sea lion was a little friendly. The seagull didn't seem to mind sharing space with him.

One day we went back down to the wharf and there was a small flea market/farmer's market going on. As you can see, we loaded up on fresh vegetables and fruit, and kettlecorn.

We had been on the coast for almost a week and hadn't seen the ocean, so we took a ride to find it. Florence is separated from the ocean by six miles of river that runs between Florence and the ocean until it dumps into the ocean. There are huge sand dunes that also separate you from the ocean. But, we persevered and found it! Alice, Terry, and I walked out on the beach for a bit, while Ron sat in the pickup, nursing a sore ankle. We hope to see much more of the ocean when we get to Newport. See you there!