Quiet time at the beach

Cooper and I were on the beach this morning before 7:30am. To our delight, the beach was deserted. The leash came off and Cooper took off running. I can see the joy on his face as he runs the beach, free and wild. Every now and then he'd run back to me, barking out his happiness, then off he'd go again. Joy and peace fill my heart as I walk down the beach in quiet solitude. There's a mist of rain in the air and I can see a beautiful rainbow stretched out across the ocean sky. As I look to the east I can see the sun peaking out over the horizon, ready to begin a new day. I marvel at God's handiwork and that I am here to enjoy it.

We walk on toward the jetty at the far end. Cooper chases birds and runs and frolicks to his heart's content and my heart is full just watching him play. Down the beach we find a dead seal washed up on shore. We end up finding two of them during our walk this morning. I wonder why they washed up and what happened to them that they can't get back to sea.

All too soon, it's time to turn around and head back. It was the perfect start to another day in the beautiful state of Oregon. My home.

Rain in Charleston

Yesterday we drove from Brookings to Charleston. The day started out beautiful and sunny but by the time we arrived in Charleston it was raining - but not for long it seems. I hooked everything up in the rain and then it quit in time for me to check out the beach. It's a nice beach, good for a long run with Cooper this morning!

The RV park is nice. They have movies to rent in the office. I tried getting my TV to work last night so I could watch a movie they were showing on the local cable but I never could get it to work. Each time I'm out in "Ellie" I discover new things about making her more a home and less a "camper". Hooking things up properly and more quickly is the key to my success! My dad has shown me numerous things to make life a little easier on the road. Yesterday he gave me a TV cable because I didn't know I should travel with one in case they have cable TV at the park. The things I'm learning! Now, if I can just get the TV to recognize the cable! Not that I mind really....I'm not much of a TV watcher anyway and I'm in the middle of a pretty good book.

After we arrived at the RV site we went to lunch at a great little cafe down the street and I had a sourdough bread bowl filled with homemade clam chowder. Since I'm blogging I really should write more notes because I can't remember the name of the restaurant we were at. After eating we went to Walmart and I got a clamp on desk light so that I can read in bed. The overhead light above the bed/sofa casts shadows on my book and the desk light is above and behind me and works perfectly for reading! I have it clamped to the magazine rack on the wall - doesn't look great but it works and I'm happy to be able to see the print in my book. I also took a little step stool that I had and I use that as my end table. Improvise, improvise.....

After shopping at Walmart we went to an RV sales/service place where dad wanted to pick something up. I thought I'd ask them about my slideout. Seems that it's dragging on one side when I slide it out. I noticed it when the panel under the dinette bench was bending when the slide was going out so I'd slide a little and then KICK the panel with my shoe, slick a litte - KICK. It was a slow process but I didn't want the panel to break. It's already cracked a bit and I know it'll be an expensive fix to get it replaced. So I asked Tony, the service tech if he could adjust the slideout this week. He said the BT Cruisers were a little tricky and so the job may take up to four hours (think labor cost!) but they could get me in first thing on Friday morning at 8am. I'm hoping that once it's adjusted properly it will stay that way and not be something that becomes misaligned on a regular basis.

After that we went to a little store called Chucks (I remembered!) where they sell fish/seafood/sauces/mixes....that sort of thing. I bought a small can of smoked salmon, a small can of smoked oysters (I hope I have crackers), a smoked salmon with jalapeno "stick" and some rosemary, olive oil facascia bread.

We were going to have a fire in mom and dad's firepit last night but we all decided we were tired after our excursions and were going to call it a night. A ranger came by earlier and told us there was a tsunami warning on the coast and to stay off the beach for the afternoon/evening. Keith loaded his car with necessities just in case we needed to drive to higher ground later on and I decided I'd better take the awning down just in case of high winds (or a tidal wave!). I woke this morning and I'm still here so I guess the tsunami was a little one after all. I'm looking forward to that run on the beach this morning!!

Beach Fun in Brookings

Today we drove from Eureka, CA to Brookings, OR. We're staying at the Beachfront RV Park which is right on the ocean. The site I'm in has electric and water hookup but no sewer. It's very close to my neighbor's site and has a small view of the ocean but no matter....I'm not really in the motorhome much during the daytime and it's quiet at night. I'm looking forward to falling asleep to the sound of the ocean. It was a beautiful, warm day at the beach and we took some nice walks.....Cooper played in the sand and water and had a great time rolling around with Lucy, my parent's Puggle. The sunset this evening was beautiful and so I was out on the spit snapping as many pictures as I could before it dipped below the horizon. We'll be here one more night before traveling north and I'm hoping tomorrow will be as spectacular as today was.

Last night we took a cruise around Humbolt Bay in Eureka and then I said good-bye to my daughter for awhile - until I can get down this way again. I really miss her and wished she were closer but she's happy where she's at now and plans to stay there for a few more years. There is so much to do in that part of the country that I'm sure it will be a great excuse to go back and spend even more time exploring.

When I got back from the bay cruise I ended up going to a Roller Derby bout at the fairgrounds. I'd bought the ticket earlier in the afternoon and thought it would be fun entertainment. It was, except that I don't know anything about roller derby and couldn't understand the announcer so I was lost as to what was happening. I stayed and watched for about an hour and then went back to "Ellie" and hit the sack for the night. I think I need to do a little research on roller derby before my next bout.

Back to today at the beach......we decided to grill for dinner and so I grilled my marinated chicken breast, some fish fillets and marinated zucchini that I bought at the Farmer's Market in Arcata yesterday. It was so yummy and I saved most of the zucchini and the chicken to eat later. The others had hot dogs and hamburgers. I felt like I was the gormet grilling queen!

Here are a few pictures of the beach, Cooper and sunset:

Sequoia Park

September 25, 2009

Today Cooper and I hiked in Sequoia Park which is a little over 1/4 mile from the RV park at the fairgrounds. We entered the park from Dolbeer, right past the Zoo, but there are many places you can catch the trail from the streets.There are many trails, both paved and unpaved in the park along with a duck pond, meadows, gardens, a big stone fireplace, old growth trees. We had a really nice walk and I was able to take a few pictures along the way.

 

Strawberry Rock

September 24, 2009
On this day we hiked an unposted trail called Strawberry Rock that's well known to the locals but hard to find for others. Alex & Mike, who'd been up the trail in the past, were our well-equiped guides. The first thing I noticed at the trailhead was the "No Tresspassing" sign posted on the gate, but this didn't seem to be a problem with Alex, who said that no one pays attention to it anyway! We hiked uphill until we came to a rock quary, where we could view our destination, Stawberry Rock, in the distance. I'm glad Alex was with us, as there were some forks in the road along the way with no clear indication which way to go. Along the trail were many kinds of ripe berries....blackberries and some that looked like wild blueberries. We followed a gravel road for a short distance before hiking uphill once again to face of Strawberry Rock.The first thing I noticed was that I had to climb (scale?) the very vertical (for me, a NON climber) face of that rock. I was last and had a lot of trepidation about whether I could make it up there but since I REALLY wanted to see the view from the top I persevered and finally made it up. It was worth it! Even though the day wasn't perfectly clear it was still an awesome view. Quiet. Peaceful. Serene. Now and then you could hear cars on Hwy 101 but you couldn't see them...they were well hidden in the trees. We stayed up there for awhile but all too soon it was time to hike back. I was nervous about climbing back down the rock but it proved easier than going up. Someday it would be worth a trip back at sunset!

Skunk Cabbage Trail

September 23, 2009

Today Mindi, Dena and I took a hike on the Skunk Cabbage portion of the Coastal Trail in the Redwood National Forest. We didn't start out until 1:30pm when the fog was finally beginning to lift and therefore we didn't make it the 5 miles to the ocean. The hike was lush and pretty and the weather was perfect for hiking - a cool breeze, the sun peaking out among the trees. We ended up turning around about 1-1/2 hours into the trip and it wasn't until we go back to the trailhead that we looked at the map and saw that we were almost to the overlook, which has a wonderful view of the ocean. The trail then continues along the bluff where the trees are replaced by grass and wildflowers. I was so dissappointed that we didn't make it that far. I guess it's a good reason to hike this trail again in the future only this time starting earlier in the day and bringing more water for us and the dogs. I think a good idea, if you don't want to make the 10 mile round trip, would be to park a car at the trailhead and another at the beach.

After leaving the trail we were all hungry and so we stopped in Orick at the Hawg Wild bar, which is a local Harley hangout. I've been there before so I knew what a great bar it was with a vast array of ecclectic odds and ends decorating the place....the bathroom alone is worth the visit by the artwork on the walls. We each had a IPA and a buffalo burger with fries. The trek through the woods made us all hungry and we ate every bite! The bartender was selling little plastic Harley Ducks to benefit "Relay for Life" so Dena bought us all one! Mine has a red bandana around his head and a black leather jacket!

Another great day in Northern California!