A Walk to the Beach

Today we ventured out to the beach. Now we are situated on the east side of Hwy. 101 and, of course, the ocean is on the west side of the highway. In order to get to the beach "they" have you follow this path lined with some kind of cool only-in-Oregon kind of trees with lots of flora of the fern types throughout the walk.




We end up at the five lane highway. Luckily, it's no big deal to cross because one can see both ways and there basically is no traffic! When we cross to the other side we're at the ocean, only up on a fifty-foot cliff overlook the giant bright blue Pacific, absolutely gorgeous and mighty!

Maybe a dozen, at the most, on the beach itself.

One family digging for clams. No driftwood or dunes like down in Florence—just a beautiful sandy beach, begging for sun bathers. I'm guessing it's not crowded like in California because it's too darn cold and windy!


I found that these two signs were strange . . . and not real friendly! Now who would think of bringing their "home garbage" to the beach, for crying out loud?

Heading back to camp.

Aren't these cool trees?

When we got back to the trailer I headed down to the "store" to rent a DVD for tonight's entertainment (I picked out Broke Back Mountain, which we haven't seen yet.) and when I returned I found K into his third book for this trip (Actually I love when he can relax and read, he doesn't have time for it when we're not on the road!) . . . he'll be into this one for quite some time. This one certainly can't be an all-nighter, I hope . . . it's three inches thick (over 700 pages)! . . . Nelson Demille's "The Gold Coast" . . . which he says I will enjoy when he's finished. We'll see.

Life is Good!

Whaler's Rest, Newport, Oregon

We're here for a week—part of our Thousand Trails/Leisure Time Resort membership. It's a beautiful camping spot with the beach a mere 150 yards from us. It's been quite cool and windy so we've not bothered to check out the beach yet. Hope it calms down in the next day or two. Here's a couple of pictures of our site and one with Ken enjoying a bit of sun (notice he's snuggled up in a flannel shirt) reading another good book. . . when he gets into a good book, I don't usually see him much until he's done. He's reading Ridley Pearson's Cut and Run ("A totally stay -up-all-night hang-by-your-finger-nails stunner!" according to some critic on the cover.)

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll get more pictures of the park and the beach. I've been busy getting fabric ready to make a quilt. It's a challenge doing it in such a small space, buy I seem to manage just fine.




We thought of Rick losing his boat while crossing the Waldport Bridge coming up 101 from Florence. It brought some funny stories to mind from years ago. Here's a picture I found to remind Rick of that time the Corinna spent waiting for his return!

The Waldport Bridge.

We just got back from a concert down in the clubhouse. Apparently at his campground, live music is provided every Saturday night! Tonight's entertainment was a group called Faithful Heart, a country western gospel band, who write and sing their own music. They put on a great show. After visiting their website I found out that they are a nonprofit group who sing in the northwest mostly at churches and "senior centers." They come from all walks of life and just do this as their ministry. They were really good and had awesome harmony.

Life is Good!

"The Ultimate Crabcake"

We've been in Oregon for about a week now, and the mention of "crab cakes" is in any magazine you pick up as the food of choice at the local restaurants. They all seem to have their own crab cake that they think is better than the next guy.

Well, I decided to google "Crab Cake Recipe" and I found a recipe called "The Ultimate Crabcake" which was featured on Tyler Florence's show from the Food Network TV . . . oh my gosh, it's meant to be! It just occured to me that here we are in Florence, Oregon . . . duh—of course Tyler Florence must have THE Ultimate Crab Cake recipe! So I decided to add that one to my collection I keep on my computer. We had two pounds of crab from last year's catch still in the freezer, so I shopped for the ingredients I needed and gave the recipe a try. I'm even going to share it with you just in case you're lucky enough to have some crab still in your freezer, or even the canned crab should be okay to use too.

Now don't forget we're in our little 25 foot Holiday Rambler trailer—which has what I call a "one butt kitchen!" But we can even cook gourmet dishes while on the road!

This is evidence of the "one butt kitchen!"

This is the fresh thyme from our traveling herb garden
. . . along with other flavorings!

No room for mixing bowl except to put it in the sink!

The recipe makes enough for six, so I'll have two more meals in
the freezer when I'm finished making the cakes.

They turned out to be very good crab cakes, however quite different from any crab cake we've had in the past. They seemed more like a potato pancake to me with the addition of crab. Next time I make them I think I'll cut the milk mixture in half and use shredded baked potato rather than mashed.

The Remoulade was delicious. We love fresh herbs in our cooking, especially fresh tarragon. Now, most of you know that we take our herb garden with us but our chives and tarragon aren't doing too well right now, so these were store-bought . . . however the thyme is fresh from our "garden!"

Life is good with a good bottle of wine to go along with
The Ultimate Crab Cakes!

If you would like the recipe, let me know.
I will email it to you.

Hike to Heceta Head Lighthouse

Another beautiful sunny—yet cool—day greeted us this morning. Our adventure for today was a hike to the first lighthouse ever built in the northwest, located about twelve miles north of Florence.

A peek through the trees to the ocean down below.

One of those "photo opportunities."

Sturdy, picturesque Heceta Head Lighthouse serves a dual purpose on its perch 205 feet above the Pacific Ocean. While continuing to aid mariners, its commanding presence lures folks like us to a 549-acre park of trails, viewpoints, tide pools, wildlife habitat, and a beautiful sandy beach.

A beautiful hike up the hill made for some nice photo opportunities. It was named for Don Bruno de Heceta, who surveyed the Oregon coast while on a Royal Spanish Navy expedition in 1775. He was the first European to note the significant expanse of shallow water off the headland rising 1,000 feet above. (Ken, our tour guide told us that the water was only 70 feet deep along this part of the Oregon coast.)

One of the beautiful wild flowers of Oregon, my favorite, is Queen Anne's Lace.

Native Americans valued this land as a hunting and fishing destination. White homesteaders claimed 164 acres of the head in 1888, the same year the U.S. Lighthouse Board approved building a lighthouse on the promontory. The federal government bought 19 acres of the homestead to accommodate the light station.

When the builders finished in August 1893, at a cost of $80,000, the complex consisted of:
• The lighthouse with a 56-foot-high tower;
• A house for the head lightkeeper’s family;
• Duplex housing for two assistant lightkeepers and their families;
• A barn, and
• Two kerosene oil storage buildings.

THE LIGHT
It has been on for more than a century. The U.S. Lighthouse Service lit the wick of the original coal oil (kerosene) lamp on March 30, 1894. That light, produced by five concentric wicks and magnified by a 392-prism British-made Fresnel lens, equaled 80,000 candle power. Its visibility—21 miles from shore—was limited only by the curvature of the earth. The original clockworks that rotated the lamp consisted of a 35-foot cable attached to a 200-pound weight that dropped through the middle of the tower to a weight room. A lightkeeper hand cranked the weight every four hours. Electrical power arrived in 1934, and a bulb replaced the oil lamp.

Three flights of stairs wind around up the tower.

I took this picture for my son-in-law, M, so he could explain it to the boys!

The light now uses a 1,000-watt quartz bulb that produces 2.5 million candle-power to emit one flash every 10 seconds. In 1963, the light became fully automated. It was transferred from the U.S. Coast Guard to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department in 2001.

That's me . . . you know, that little person in the picture!

THE LIGHTKEEPERS

This is our tour guide, Ken, dressed in the proper Lightkeeper uniform.
He claims his tie is an original worn over seventy years ago.

Keeping the light flashing once every minute from sunset to sunrise was no easy task. The lightkeepers had to manually wind the clock. To keep the wicks burning, they had to haul coal oil from the fuel houses up the tower. Then there was always soot on the lens of the lamp to clean off.

The lightkeepers and their families lived and worked in an isolated environment. Until the coast highway was extended to Heceta Head in 1932, trips over wagon trails and the ocean beach to Florence took five to seven hours. Guess you couldn't run to the store for milk!

The Lightkeepers house - today it is a Bed and Breakfast proudly serving a seven-course breakfast daily. What a beautiful home overlooking a spectacular view of the Pacific.

The arrival of electricity in the 1930s reduced the need for lightkeepers. By 1963, automation eliminated the need altogether.


After a morning full of vim and vigor we headed to Mo's for lunch. Mo's is known worldwide for its clam chowder . . . the Marion Berry Cobbler was fabulous too!

Life is Good!

Fern Canyon Hike

Yesterday we hung out in Trinidad, taking in some sights we’ve not seen before. A client of K’s found out where we were when he spoke to him on the phone, and he said “That’s where I grew up. You need to go to Fern Canyon . . . I’ve been all over the world and Fern Canyon is one of the prettiest places on earth!” Well, we didn’t need much convincing that Fern Canyon was the place to go for our field trip today. The weather was unusually clear and sunny and gorgeous. (When we left for Florence today it was totally fogged in!)

We drove up 101 (north of Trinidad and just south of Orick) turning onto what I thought was going to be another one of those “white-knuckle-roads” like we did with the Thompsons last week. Well, it was rutty in spots, but I think I’ll just call this one a “hold-tight-you’ll-be-okay” kinda road, because we made it using 4-wheel drive with just a few hard bounces . . . no big deal! Either that, or I’m just getting really brave! The trip in —eight miles on the semi-rutty dirt road—was so worth it. Fern Canyon is a highly recommended "must see" experience for anybody heading north on the 101.


We had a great time and were totally blown away with the canyon. Absolutely amazing.




The canyon was formed millions of years ago by the ocean retreating from the land leaving sculpted rock forming sheer canyon walls. Some of the beautiful ferns now clinging to the steep, shadowy cliffs are ancient species whose ancestry can be traced back 325 million years.

A fellow hiker I shot to show how steep the canyon is.

Winter floods periodically rush through the canyon, sweeping debris from its floor. Spruce and red alder saplings often survive for a few years on small terrace ledges, but they rarely reach maturity before falling off or being swept away.

Some of them land upside-down as you can see in this picture.

It was a sunny day as we started out on the hike, however, as we entered the canyon we could feel the moisture from the perennial waterfalls that cascade from the canyon rim, adding to the cool, moist canyon microclimate.

After our hike we drove down to Trinidad where we enjoyed some good clam chowder and blackberry cobbler for “linner.” Yummo!

A duplicate of the original lighthouse where those
lost at sea are memorialized.

Life is good . . . what a great day we had!

Abalone Dive in Mendocino

Rick and Jackie came up for an over-night stay with us in Mendocino. K took the time to inflate the Zodiac hoping to get a chance, while Rick was here, to go out and dive for abalone. He had been watching for three days lots of divers coming in with their limit which is three abalone per day. He rented the equipment (wet suit, hood, booties, fins, mask, snorkel, and a 24-pound weight belt) from the local dive shop and they went out to give it a try. When they got back, after being gone for nearly four hours, they had lots of adventurous stories to tell, three abalone, and Rick had some mighty cold feet! Here are the pictures showing K telling us the stories, cleaning the abalones. Tonight I pounded to tenderize, and fried enough to feed five hungry adults some awesome abalone sandwiches for dinner. The rest went into our little freezer for three dinners for the two of us later this summer. Thanks, Rick, for a memorable diving story.

Here's K telling the stories like only he can. Lots of laughs!


Rick trying to thaw out his feet.

Rick had taught him how to shuck them back in Healdsburg,
but actually doing the first one is a bit tricky.

He got the hang of it by the time he got to number two!

Grabbing the final piece of muscle to loosen the whole chunk of meat!

Life is good when you can have this delicacy for dinner.
What a beauty!