It was really nice to stay at a park for two weeks instead of moving after just one week. We have stayed at Whaler's Rest before, but for only a week, and by ourselves. We also had lots of company while we were there, besides being there with Ron and Alice. I made reservations for next June for us and all of our kids to be here together. I rented two RV sites and three rentals, which are 26' to 30' camp trailers with decks. They are really nice. I think we will have lots of fun.
I haven't taken too many pictures of the ocean this year because I took so many last year. But, I really like this one that I took on the way to Newport.
The first few days we acted like real tourists, visited the
wharf and watched the sea lions.
They are continually making barking noises and fighting for space on the docks. I think they hang out here because of all of the fish being brought in and processed close by.
These two serenaded us with their songs!
There is a long jetty of rocks out in the middle of the bay. I zoomed in on it and look what I found! More sea lions. We could hear them barking from clear across the bay where we went crabbing!
I said we went crabbing, but I didn't say we got any "keepers." So, because Terry, Ron, and Alice all professed to get sick when they go out in a boat, they voted that I would be the one to go out on the crab boat. When we found out that it would only cost $40 and we were almost guaranteed to come back with our limit of crabs, we decided it would be a pretty good deal, because fresh crabs go for about $12 each in the markets. We split the cost of the trip and here are Terry, Alice, and Ron seeing me off!
This is the "Miss Raven," the fishing boat I went out in. It is about 40' long. We had to wait for it to get back from a 6-hour fishing trip. There were about 20 people who went and they came back with their limit of sea bass and about 9 crabs apiece. So, I was hoping to get lots of crab, also. But, our trip was to be much shorter because all we were going after was crab.
Another reason we were hoping to get our limit of 12 twelve crabs each is because there were only four of us going out--a dad and his two sons, and me. They were all very nice and lots of fun.
This was the restroom on the boat. They were really serious about not using it to get seasick in. Thank goodness, none of us had to use it for that!
We each had an assigned chore on the boat after we got out where the crab pots were. They had been there for a couple of days and we were hoping they were full! I was assigned as the "hooker" for the day. I had to hook the ropes of the pots and bring the rope up to the guy who pulled them into the boat, using a pulley. Then they would sort the crabs and keep the large males. Then someone else would put new bait in the pot and then throw it back in when the skipper blew the horn.
This pot wasn't as full as most of them. Three of their pots had been "robbed" the day before (they caught the guys who robbed them,) so they didn't have as many in them. The rest of the pots had fifteen to twenty crabs in them. Of course, they were not all keepers. Some were too small and some were females. You can only keep the large males.
We got so many crabs that even the skipper and the boathand got to keep some. And some of them were very large. It only took us a little more than an hour to get that many. We didn't even have to pull all of the pots before we got our limit. As we were coming back into the bay, the skipper blew the horn (which usually meant that it was time to through the newly baited crab pot back into the water.) Someone yelled, "Through the hooker into the water--she has crabs!" We all laughed and they told me I was a good sport!
As we headed back into the bay from the ocean, it showed how much room there was under the bridge into Newport. The bridge is not a drawbridge so the large boats need to know if they will fit or not. I am not sure there are many ships that are taller than 120 feet above the water, so there is probably not ever a problem. (I could be "all wet" about what these numbers mean! Terry says the bridge is a lot higher that that.)
When we got back to the marina, we paid this guy to cook our crabs. Then Terry and Ron took them to the cleaning station and cleaned them (you boil them live and then clean them after they are cooked.) When we got them home, they were ready to eat.
And eat them we did! Ron and Alice's son and his wife, Matt and Stephanie, showed up to spend a couple of days. It was lots of fun and they got to see a little of Ron and Alice's "new lifestyle." I think they had a good time.
Matt is a long-haul truck driver and he was able to bring his truck (without the trailer) right into the park and put it in the RV dry storage, which was right around the corner of our campsite. This is them leaving. (Sorry the picture is blurry. It was fairly early in the morning and I hadn't been up too long. This is probably what it looked like through my eyes!)
The day Matt and Stephanie left, Bob and Lolita showed up. They were able to get a campsite close by us. Then cousin Bob and his wife Carol came visiting. They live in Toledo, which is only a few miles from Newport. it was fun visiting with them.
It is nice to have a 5th wheel big enough for all of us to sit in comfortably and visit. I even let Bob sit in my nice comfy chair (I was sitting in the computer chair taking these pictures.)
Yes,
Ron and Alice were there, too. A couple of days later, everyone but me went out to Bob and Carol's home in
Toledo and visited them. I stayed to do my work on the Computer.
One day we went to the Chowder Bowl and ate. While we were there, we saw the ambulance drive by. After we ate and went outside (the Chowder Bowl is right on the beach), we learned that a small fishing boat had capsized and two men were in it. They had already dragged one man from the ocean and were looking for the second one. Our truck was blocked by everyone in the parking lot, so we couldn't get out. A little later the second body was washed ashore. This picture shows the some of the emergency vehicles looking for him. He washed up right in this area and we were standing just a few feet from the ambulance when they brought him in. They were doing CPR on him. We learned later that neither of them lived. They had both drowned before they were found. They were brothers and their last name was Howard!
The ocean was really rough that day. After that, it was kind of scary to watch those big waves breaking. This is a picture a couple of days later when we went to Depot Bay. The ocean was still really wild and it was kind of foggy. It still made my stomach a little sick to look at it.
We found a little shop in Depot Bay that sold salt water taffy and
carmel popcorn--
irresistible!
Taking a little rest at Depot Bay. Here are Alice, Lolita, Ron, Bob, and Terry.
I have to get a picture of myself in there once in a while to prove that I was really there! We have had a great time at Whaler's Rest and Newport. Next stop is two weeks at Seaside!
Terry is terrible about stopping, for whatever reason, when he gets on the road. But with "encouragement" from the others, we stopped at the Tillamuck Cheese Factory. They were busy packaging cheese, which we were able to watch from big windows. We all got "squeaky" cheese to eat on our way to Seaside.
We were lucky again and got spots next to each other, Bob and us on one side . . .
. . . and Ron across the street, with the best spot as usual! We always give each other a bad time about who got the "best camping site."
I had to put this picture in because if any of Ron and Alice's kids look at this BLOG, they can see this big smile on their Mom's face and know she is having a great time!
Some friends, Larry and Elaine, of my brother Bill have been coming to Hell's Canyon with him every year for forever and they have become like family to us. Larry was raised in Seaside and inherited the old family home. Last year they tore down the old house and built a new one. It is very nice. Here we are with thin in front of the house. It is really a nice home! They will just use it as their vacation home for now.
One of our first days we went up to Astoria. It is built right at the mouth of the Columbia River and has quite a history.
Terry, Alice, and I took a tour of the "Flavel" house. It belonged to one of the first people who lived in Astoria. He started a bar pilot business guiding ships in the Columbia River. At one time he was the richest man in the area and he built this house. It has since been donated to the City as a historical site. It was amazing to go through it. I really think that I could live in those times with the horse and carriage and long skirts.
Terry and I rode our bikes a lot. The grocery store was even close enough for us to ride to. We could handle two sacks apiece--one on each side of our handlebars. One of the funnest places to ride was down on the Promenade. It was a mile and a half of cement walkway right along the ocean on one side and the little stores or beach houses on the other. We even saw some whales one day, blowing out water.
There were swing sets every once in a while along the Promenade. We stopped to watch the water for a while.
My brother, Bill, came from Boring for the weekend. One day we took a ride to Astoria with him. We went across this bridge. It is 1 1/4 miles long. Twenty years ago when we drove across it with our kids, there was a toll charge on it. We paid a toll and drove across, then turned around, paid a toll, and drove back across it. We had pretty cheap entertainment back then. There is no toll on it today. The bridge was paid for in the 1990's and they took off the toll charge.
There is a tall monument on a hill above Astoria. We climbed it, also, two years ago with the kids. We climbed it again with Bill. 
Terry is not sure he wants to go that high! He says, "It's sure a long ways up there!"
As you can see, it is a long way up! There were about 156 steps to the top and there is only room enough for a skinny spiral staircase. When you met someone coming down, you has to squeeze over to the side to make room for them. So, with Terry being kind of claustrophobic, besides not liking heights, I was surprised he climbed up the tower!
Well, here he is looking out the door. He said, "Whoa, this is as far as I am going!" And he headed straight back down the stairs! I must admit that it took a little courage to step out on that narrow balcony. I couldn't imagine how I ever took our six kids up there and let them out on it. I was gripping the railing most of the time I was up there.
It didn't take Terry too long to get to the bottom. If you can see that small speck of red, that is him, without zooming in on the camera. Bill threw him down a quarter and it looked like it just floated to the bottom.
Thank goodness there was a nice railing around the little walkway at the top of the tower.
There were great photo shots from the top of the tower!
These are the big freighter ships waiting for their turn to go north to where they get their loads.
This huge anchor is in the parking area of the Maritime Museum. It must have been a huge ship that used it!
This bell was out by the anchor. I wanted to ring it but Terry wouldn't let me. He said it would probably bring out the Coastguard or something. Right after that, some kids went over to it and rang the heck out of it and nothing happened! I am not listening to Terry anymore!
I thought this was such a good idea--kids life jackets that you could just borrow and bring back. We need some of those at Hell's Canyon!
There was a little trolley that you could ride for about an hour and it only cost $1.00. That's the kind of entertainment out budget likes! We hollered to Bill, who was over looking in the window at the Maritime Museum. He came a running and off we went on the trolley. It went up and back right along the river.
There was only one track so we wondered if we would have to sit backwards on the way back. But, at the end of the line, you just get up, take ahold of the little handle on the pack of the seat, and move it to the other side of the bench and you were facing the other way when you sat down! Pretty cool!
The conductor told us lots of interesting information about Astoria as we travelled along. This is a picture of the school where Kindergarten Cop was filmed. The whole thing was filmed in Astoria.
This is the house where the movie, Goonies, was filmed. It was way up on a hill so I had to really zoom in for this picture.
The original Astoria was built on these pylons out over the water. There was even a road that was built on top of them. But, Astoria burned down once, they rebuilt it, and it burned down again. The land under the pylons is privately owned until the pylons are removed. Then it reverts back to the government. Some buildings have been built back, but there are a lot of these posts sticking up all along the water because the owners haven't rebuilt, but they don't want to loose ownership of their land. They say that from the water down, the posts are preserved and are as good as the day they were put in, so they are just removed down to the water level, new ones clamped on, and a building is built on them.
Apparently, once in a while a ship will have a problem, such as breaking a rudder, and they run into the buildings along the edge of the water. That is what happened to this one.
This building has no protection around it and the conductor advised us to think twice about spending the night in it.
We had a barbecue while Bill was with us and invited Larry and Elaine to come.
We had a great time and great food!
The morning we all left Seaside, Bill agreed to go on a bike ride along the Promenade with me, so we left Terry to get hooked up and we took off. Bill hadn't ridden a bike for about ten years, so he may have been a little stiff and sore the next day after out 6-mile ride. We told Bill he needs to retire and join us on some of our adventures. He said he would consider it in a couple of years!
