Trip to Newport

We visited Newport yesterday on Oregon's southern coast approximately 122 miles south of Seaside and Gearhart.  To get there, we drove past the Tillamook cheese factory which is 47 miles south.  (We stopped in to buy some of their terrific cheese.)

The Tillamook cheese factory is an important landmark.  We enjoy their grilled cheese sandwiches and other menu items.






Moving on to Newport, we discovered their historic lighthouse.
It sits on a bluff overlooking the sea and there is a house attached to it for the lightkeeper.







Newport is several miles long.  It reminds us of other coastal cities which stretch out for miles but is only a few blocks wide.

One of the distinctive landmarks is the bridge which crosses a wide river.


We stopped at a restaurant and had a great meal, in my case, popcorn shrimp and fries and Barb had a club sandwich.  Perfect.  And then we headed back up the road...our mission complete!

Rob and Vera visit

We just had a visit from Vera and Rob Tuesday afternoon.  They stayed overnight and we fixed them shish-kebob on the grill.

One of the joys of the evening was watching their trip across country and viewing several videos that we could see on our large screen TV.  Particularly the bison that attacked their car.  No damage, fortunately.



One of the other joys was that they got to meet Tuffy, our cat!  Tuffy continues to grow and he is rounding out at four pounds now according to the vets' scale.

We took him in for his second vaccination a couple days ago.

While Ed kept a dental appointment on Wednesday morning,  Vera, Rob and Barb got out the Scrabble game and competed.  I didn't get the final score but I think Rob won again.

And...Tuffy was the featured "guest cat" in Vera's fabulous Tiny Letters!

Seaside United Methodist Church

We have found a church...Seaside United Methodist Church.
Today was the annual church picnic and it was a joy to participate.

I have already volunteered Barb for the choir and there is a delightful choir director who alternately goes by the name of Debbie or "Sparky" as she is known at camp.

I have been getting to know the church members and so far I have met "Ron" who is a retired United Methodist pastor, "Irene" who sits in the pew ahead of us, and Rich, the faithful video guy, whom I have offered my services.

I neglected to mention Rev. John Tindell who is the pastor of Seaside United Methodist Church.  His sermons are plain spoken and widely vary from week to week. One of the things that attracted Barb and me is the way they close the service singing "Let There be peace on Earth and let it begin with Me."  I love that touch.

Today, at the church picnic, we also met "Walter" and his mother, "Cathy"...and "Amy" and her almost 20 year old daughter "Nora".

The organist sits up front and she has a service dog...a poodle.  She also participates with the choir which will be meeting every Wednesday evening at 7 pm.

We are still getting to know our new church and shortly we will be transferring our membership from Epworth UMC.  So far, we have found them to be very friendly...just like Epworth.

Tuffy, the cat

We have a new kitten called Tuffy.  You may remember that this was the name given to Tuffy and Taffy who were my parents' cats. We are hopeful that we will have the same luck with our kitten.





He is only four months old, but he has gone from hiding (perhaps because he was spayed yesterday) to coming out of hiding in record time!

He is into everything!  He is very entertaining and he has a very good appetite!

It was a few hours ago when he ventured out of his hiding places and he allowed me to stroke him on the bed of the our first bedroom.  Since then, he has been a purring machine with a motor that never stops.

Matt and Mary Louise visited

We recently were visited by Matt and Mary Louise.  We love them both!

We spent much of the day exploring parts of our region to the north starting with the bridge that connects Oregon to Washington state pictured to the right.  We wanted to try a seafood restaurant which specializes in exotic foods and it was a real treat.




We began our trip by visiting Fort Stevens State Park which features on old shipwreck...the Peter Ireland.  It was blown off course when the captain was trying to get the crew to make it to port early when the ship was not loaded.  It ran aground at the ocean.

This is what it looks like today. Most of the ship has been cut up for salvage, but they left the bow for tourists to view.


While we were at Fort Stevens state park, Matt and Mary Louise went exploring next to the Columbia River.  For those of you who haven't seen, this Columbia River is very wide at this point and the view is fantastic.  It gives the appearance of looking into the ocean, but it is still the river.



We encountered these blue berries while were we touring the nature preserve at the state park.

From there, we visited the Lewis and Clark National Park and saw the recreation of Fort Clapsop where Lewis and Clark wintered during the four months.  President Jefferson had sent them on a mission in 1804 to discover "the west".  It took them two years. They traveled with an Native American woman and her French Canadian husband (and child!).  They crossed the Rocky Mountains and discovered the Columbia River gorge.  The group of 33 travelers lost only one man despite several encounters with Native Americans, but it turns out that already had experience with bartering from their exposure to ship captains from the coast.



This is what the fort looked like inside.  They had ample supplies of fresh water (there is a nearby river).  Sacajawea and her husband and child had their own quarters.  Meantime, about 10 miles down the road, three men set up a 24/7 system for producing salt which used five kettles to boil down the salt from the ocean.  They did this on the beach.

This is an example of the boats Lewis and Clark and their expeditionary group would have used.


From there, we ate lunch and returned home!

Shanghaied in Astoria

We saw a very funny musical last night in nearby Astoria.  It is called "Shanghaied in Astoria" and features a young (and not so young) cast with a lot of exuberance.  The premise is that a young man (a very sweet and innocent young man) is kidnapped to a local ship in Astoria harbor.  Apparently this actually happened in the days of the sailing ships.  There is an appropriate villain and he is pure evil.
We have heard stories about Fells Point in Baltimore, Maryland where the sailors were kidnapped off the streets (due to their drunken stupor) and were forced to work on various sailing vessels. Apparently, it wasn't very unusual.

The host of the show is a character and they serve lots and lots of popcorn including throwing a lot of it on the stage.  This is the 32nd anniversary of "Shanghaied in Astoria" and who knows how many years it will continue to run?  It was written by T.E. Phillips and "the entire production is performed and created by the Histrionic Citizens of the Lower Columbia River Community."  The host claims it is the longest running show in America.  Not sure about that.  Between the 2nd and 3rd act, they have "Raffle Goddesses", Judith Niland and Ashley Mundel, who raffle off several gift baskets to help support the Astor Street Opry Company.

There's a ton of ads in the program which is part of the fun.  The sponsor is "Music First 94.9 FM  The Bridge".  Not sure what that means, it is sounds nice. Finally, the program note: "Shanghaied in Astoria is probably the only show of its kind in the U.S.  It is the living image of Astoria's cultural heritage (lots of references to the Scandinavians) and its colorful history presented in the theatrical styles of its time....  It has been awarded the decreed "Treasure of the State of Oregon by the Governor's office."

July 4th in Seaside and Gearhart

Seaside, Oregon takes great pride in their civic events.  Gearhart, the sister town immediately to the north, also takes pride in their activities.  That's why it is a big deal when Seaside throws a July 4th celebration.  The Seaside Police started the parade and the Boy Scouts shortly followed.  Then came a bevy of beauties ranging from Miss Clatsop County to Miss Oregon.  They were all there.

There were marching bands and floats of all description.  There was even a character that looked like Sasquatch riding a tricycle.  Some of the more interesting groups were a group of young unicyclists including a couple of young (I mean really young) ladies who were sitting atop some very tall unicycles.  Their fathers helped them to get up, but after that, they were on their own.

There was a theatrical group from Astoria (about 11 miles to the north) who were promoting their current production called "Shanghaied".  Looks like fun and we want to go to it.








Meantime, on the beach, thousands of people had gathered to play volleyball (eight courts!) and some had dragged their propane grills to do their cooking.  There was a separation from the family-friendly no-fireworks zone and the less restriction zone that allowed fireworks.


In the evening, we went to a park in Gearhart and discovered an astonishing amount of fireworks already going on.  These people know how to throw a party.  To the south, we also saw the Seaside fireworks underway.  Next year, we have resolved to go down to the beach to get the full experience.