Crabbing at Winchester Bay

Dean did it! He finally caught a crab. We have been at Winchester Bay with the Rovin Rods for 4 days and he has been crabbing everyday (two days on a boat and 2 days off the pier). finally he came home with 2 nice crabs. Hopefully we will get more in the next week.

We are having a great time with the

Rods. We have a happy hour each night and last night we all went into Reedsport to the Eagles for chicken fried steak. My diet has been totally blown apart on this trip. Tonight we are having a crab potluck. Everything hasbeen great except for the weather. Wonderful mornings but then the wind picks up and the afternoons are very windy and cold. Oh well, we can't have everything.

This is Jan and Chuck enjoying their breakfast at the marina where we are staying.

Tillamook to Winchester Bay

We finally made it to Winchester Bay and the Roving Rods Crab Festival. We got here today and Dean has already started throwing his crab pot in the water. He caught a lot of crabs today but couldn't keep anything because they were so small. Maybe tomorrow!!

We stayed at Tillamook for four days and did some interesting things. After one day of

just getting things done around the rig like cleaning, reading, and computer stuff, we rode with Chuck and Jan on the Three Capes Scenic drive to the Cape Meares Lighthouse and

the lovely beach of Oceanside. This is us sitting on the beach enjoying the sunshine.

Then the next day we went to the Air Museum which was really interesting. They have a lot of planes, some old and some new, in this

hanger that was built to hold 9 blimps during WWII. This picture is taken from our RV park which was close to the big hangers. At the museum we watched a video of the history of the building and then we walked around the airplanes. Dean and I would highly recommend this museum.

After the museum we went to the seafood market and bought fresh halibut and clams. That night we had a feast: Chuck and Jan provided salmon and salad and we provided clams and halibut. The picture below is our camp at the Airpark of Tillamook looking thru the blackberry bushes which I spent a lot of time picking fresh blackberries.

On Wednesday we drove to the Three Rivers Casino in Florence, OR to meet up with a group of Boomers (RV group we belong to)before going to Winchester Bay. The Casino has free parking and provides each new visitor with $10 playing card. Dean and I came out ahead - after using our $20 we had $6.32 extra. We probably closed the casino with our big winnings.

South Beach to Tillamook

We stayed at South Beach until Friday. This has turned out to be our favorite campground so far. On Wednesday we drove with Chuck and Jan around the Quinault Lake and saw some really big trees, waterfalls, and great views of the lake. Dean is actually standing inside of a large cedar tree in the picture below. On Thursday we bought coho salmon from the local fishermen at Queets. Then Chuck and Dean cleaned them and Jan and I vacuum packed them. We have a lot of salmon!

We left South Beach on Friday

and drove to Aberdeen for supplies and

stayed the night in the Elks club parking lot.

On Saturday we drove South thru some neat little fishing towns We stopped at Long Beach and visited the Kite Museum and then walked the beach watching the people flying kites. We meet a really interesting kite flyer, Chuck Blevins, and sat with him while he flew his kite in circles, squares and dives. Then we left Long Beach and drove South along the beautiful coast of Oregon.

We ended up on Saturday at Tillamook and the first stop we made was at the cheese factory. We are staying at the Airpark near the biggest wooden building in the country - a hangar turned museum that was built for blimps during WWII.

The above picture is our campground at South Beach on the Olympic Pennisula. The four of us have enjoyed a campfire every night. But there is rain today in the Olympic Pennisula. Of course, they get 140 " per year. Yesterday we had gorgeous weather: sunny, warm and clear. We are in the big town of Amanda Parks today, using the internet and making phone calls.

We have been at South Beach for 3 nights and no internet or cell. But it is beautiful.

Tuesday Dean and I went to Ruby Beach and to look at a very large Cedar tree. We have bought fresh salmon from the local Indians at

Queets and I am picking blackberries every chance I can. Life is great.

Yesterday this was our sunset.

Olympic Pennisula

We are on the West side of Olympic Pennisula. After we left The Rainer area and said our goodbyes to Dick and Beth we drove to the Escapees park in Chimachum outside of Port Townsend, WA. There we meet up with Chuck and Jan our friends from Iowa. Last Wednesday we went into Port Townsend and had clam chowder at Finn's Restaurant and it was fabulous. Then we walked around the town, went to two museums, and the local farmers market.

On Thursday we drove into the Olympic National Park and to Hurricane Ridge. This location, on the North side of the Park, has a panoramic view of the mountains including Mt. Olympus. And the weather could not have been better - clear sunny day.

Friday, Dean and I took the ferry over to Seattle and had lunch at Ivers on the wharf. Then we met one of Dean's old classmates for dinner at Bainbridge Island. Saturday, we left the beautiful Escapes park and drove West, staying this night at an abandoned visitors center. Sunday, we drove into the rain forest and did a hike among very big trees with lots of moss and ferns. Last night we drove into South Beach, recommended by Dick and Beth, and it is wonderful - right on the beach. We had a nice fire and watched the wave action. It is cloudy and we are hoping for sunny skies tomorrow. But this side gets 140 inches of rain a year so if we get sunny skies we will be very lucky.