Newport, Oregon

Newport is the biggest town on the Oregon coast and we are staying in an RV site right on a marina where we can watch the fishing boats come in and out. It finally stopped raining today - so glad to see the sunshine - but still only a high of 64 degrees. Not exactly the nice beach weather we enjoyed in North Carolina!

There is a bait shop right next door to us that has a side business of boiling the Dungeness crabs that the fishermen catch  - 50 cents/crab - the fisherman we talked with caught 38. His friends from Michigan were here visiting and they were planning a feast! Most of them are about the size of a sandwich plate - they throw them in the pot of boiling water alive and boil them for about 15 minutes - then rinse them in cold water to cool them down quickly - apparently this helps the meat come out easier. They sell for about $12.50 each in the restaurants around here. The camp host told us about a place to buy fresh fish that posts the name of the boat that brought them in that morning!

Remember the hot tub story from when we were near Mammoth Lakes? A couple we met that night told us about two places to eat while we are here. We went to one for lunch today - Noodle Café - and had the best Asian food we've had in a long, long time! The other one is for chowder some other time this week.

After lunch we shopped around the waterfront area and stopped to watch when a fishing charter docked. Two women were set up ready to clean their catches. OMG, you should see them fillet a fish - zip, zip with the fillet knife and it's done!

Then we drove out to Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. What a gorgeous landscape! Thousands of birds nest on the rocks just off the coast and we saw a whale breach several times not far from the beach.

Oregon Coast

Oregon Coastline

We are taking our time traveling up the coast of Oregon on Hwy 101. Beautiful views of the ocean around almost every curve! Although, it is a little unnerving to see scattered signs that read "Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone!" We saw a herd of elk yesterday along the road.

Elk herd

We shopped at a local farmers market yesterday and bought homemade hummus; homemade salsa; fresh veggies; fresh basil and the best piece of candy I've ever eaten! We stopped at a booth selling homemade chocolate because Roger had to try their "chocolate covered bacon" - does that sound disgusting or what?! So, I chose a chocolate covered caramel with sea salt sprinkled on top. OMG - good thing I didn't eat it right away or I would have bought all she had!

Our good weather luck finally ran out and it has been raining for 5 days straight - the locals call it a "light mist" - I presume they are the experts on rain! But, we do as the natives, put on our rain gear and go exploring anyway.

We stopped at the Sea Lion Cave this morning. It is a huge sea cave where the sea lions and seals take shelter.

Sea Lion Cave

Then on to Heceta Lighthouse.....

Heceta Lighthouse

They were setting up for a wedding at the light keepers restored home - now a B&B - a beautiful spot. This is one of many weddings we have seen at state and national parks and the other day at Lake Shasta Dam!

We are in Newport now and will stay for a few days hiking, biking and eating seafood!

Rogue River

We camped at an Oregon State Park along the Rogue River for two nights. We needed full hook-ups for laundry and time to fix some of our shades that were misaligned. The shade job is a pain in the rear because you have to take down the valance that extends along all the side windows – and then take the shades down to adjust them. These MCD shades we bought are supposed to be the “best” – they are certainly priced that way! - but in our opinion they need product improvements! Anyway, we got them fixed, hopefully, permanently!

We left this morning, heading for the Oregon coast. The main road that would take us across involved us “backtracking” about 60 miles so Roger picked a route chosen by our new Rand McNally GPS. We trust it more than the Garmin GPS in the car because it allows you to enter the length, height, width and weight of the RV and takes all that into consideration when it calculates a route. But…….it failed miserably today!! We drove about 30 miles down a winding, narrowing road along the Rogue River until we got to an area that looked even less promising. We pulled off the road and Roger talked to a guy that said “no way are you driving that rig down this road!” Apparently it got even narrower, turned to gravel and there were steep hills! Plus he said we would meet several vans shuttling rafters along the river. So, we unhooked the car, turned around and went back to where we started from! The campground we are going to is “first come, first serve” so hope we get there in time to get a spot!

Just a scenic detour on a “road less travelled.”

 
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Lassen Volcanoe National Park

We drove to northern California and are camping in Lassen Volcano NP – woke up this morning and it was 29 degrees at 7am!! Back to jeans and sweatshirts! I want the beach again!

But, it turned out to be a glorious day for a drive through the park. The last time Lassen Volcano erupted was in 1915 – between the volcanic explosion and the avalanche it caused it wiped out miles of forest.

“Hot Rock,” a 5 ton lava stone was found 5 miles away from the volcano and the local residents said it sizzled for 40 hours in the snow.

We hiked to “Bumpiss Hell” – an area of bubbling hot mud pots and pools that reminded us of Yellowstone NP. It is named after the man that discovered the area. It was his dream to mine the area and then make it a tourist attraction but he stepped onto an area he thought was firm, broke through, his leg was engulfed in 240 degree mud and had to be amputated. How horrible! His dreams never came to fruition. Glad there are boardwalks now! The 3 mile hike was invigorating but we forget how the altitude and elevation changes can zap our energy – we came home and took a nap!

The next day we drove to Burney Falls and had lunch at a really good Mexican restaurant. Burney Falls is in McCallister Burney State Park, CA and is gorgeous. The best part is its location – visible right off the parking lot! We were still tired from the hike to Bumpiss Hell!

Our third day in Lessen we hiked the Kings Creek trail to Kings Creek Falls. We are such “gluttons for punishment!” The signs said “moderate, 1.2 miles, one way” – doable for us – so off we went. We got about .8 miles and there is a detour sign that says the foot trail is damaged and unsafe so we had to take the horse trail that added about .5 miles – so now we’ve added an extra mile total. What the sign did not say is that the detour is no longer “moderate” but now “strenuous!” But, we did it! We met a couple in the campground from San Antonio and had planned to invite them over for “happy hour” but we got home, laid down to rest and almost slept through dinner!!

Having trouble loading my picture of Kings Creek Falls!

Eddy Family Vacation - Corolla, North Carolina

This was our "home away from home" last week as all the Eddy's met for our traditional family vacation. We had such a great time reconnecting with each other - laughing, crying and just having fun being together!

The beach was just a short walk from the pool!

We divide into teams to share cooking and clean up duties and then we compete in the Eddy Olympics. This years grand prize winners were the "Surfboards" - Roger, Mel, Nicole and Emily. They got "Eddy Royalty" ball caps and everyone else had to do whatever they asked until midnight the next day. When I saw Emily in her hat I curtsied and said "What can I do for you Princess Emily?" - she thought for a moment and said "a hug." My heart melted!



The Surfboards - winners of the Eddy Royalty hats!

The family in the house next to us judged our sand castle competition - we had to verify they had not been bribed with money, food or favors first! Samantha's team won with their mermaid and her shell tail - the judges liked their "presentation." The teddy bear and elephant were good but we thought our state of North Carolina with the mountains, lighthouse and turtle was great!

 

Emily's idea - her teddy bear!

The winners!

Beauty, Brains and Brawn

State of North Carolina

We toured Kitty Hawk and the girls earned "Junior Ranger" badges by listening to the presentation and answering questions geared to their age level. We flew from Oakland, CA to Chicago and then on to Norfolk, Virginia - pretty incredible to think that because of the Wright brothers we were able to travel from the west to the east coast in a few hours!

 

Kitty Hawk

The cousins all went out to dinner one night and we got to babysit with Samantha, Emily and Charlotte. Charlotte turned one in April and is so proud of herself for walking all over! We see her so infrequently and she changes so much each time. What a cutie!

 





The beach was great for walking, playing games, chasing crabs, flying kites and jumping the waves. The girls loved riding the waves on the boogie board Mel brought.

 

 

On Thursday morning we were given tickets and a program for the "Eddy Awards Banquet" - "Celebrating Over 60 years of Amazing Family Vacations." It was that evening in the home theatre. The girls made it very clear that we better not loose our tickets or we wouldn't be allowed in! After we had all gathered, Samantha welcomed us and warned us not to talk and to turn our cell phones on "airplane mode!" The special evening began with a dance/gymnastics routine by Samantha and Emily and then the photo contest began.

 

Several months ago we were told to find an old photo of ourselves, preferably when we were a child, and recreate it for the photo contest.  Kirt made a great presentation where we saw the original photo, then the recreated one and then both side by side. It progressed from the youngest to the oldest. We were all given ballots and asked to vote once for each category: the most authentic; I can't get that image out of my mind; and best overall. OMG! We haven't laughed so hard in ages! Everyone did such a good job redoing their pictures - we were amazed. Roger won for "most authentic;" Kyle Liskow won for "I can't erase that image" (Heather & Megan were close seconds!) and Judy and Mel won "best overall" for a picture of both of them together. I can't share the pictures - we all made a pact they would not hit the Internet! But, suffice it to say, they were hysterical!

 

The grand finale was the "Eddy Dedication" - a slide show of Mom and Dad and old family vacation photos - and the kids talking about how much family vacations and spending time together means to them. That got the Kleenex box moving around the room! The final picture was of a park bench, which the kids had erected, with an inscription - "In Memory Richard and Kathryn Eddy" - on Cascades Golf Course, near #13 men's tee, for Dad and near the ice skating pond, for Mom.  Mel, Judy and I were so touched that they thought of something so perfect to honor Mom and Dad. I looked around the room and thought - all because two people fell in love and raised a family! Seems as though the kids have all inherited their best qualities!

 

Roger and I tucked Samantha and Emily into bed the last night and Samantha said "When are you coming to Houston to hang out with us? You've been hanging out with your friends too long!" Emily said "Yeah, you've been gone too long!" Then Samantha said "They are just your friends - we're family!" Good to know the sense of family importance will be handed down for at least the next generation!

 

 

Judy is our "official" family photographer and took many pictures during the week - anxious to see them and relive the memories!

 







Go Spurs!

Congratulations to the San Antonio Spurs - NBA Champions for the fifth time! It was so fun watching them not only beat but embarrass the Miami Heat! It was probably my armchair coaching that helped them win! Hopefully, the LeBron show will be over for a while! Hope the guests in the townhome were ready for the melee after the game!

Alcatraz

Alcatraz

We spent the day in San Francisco yesterday - took the ferry from Vallejo to Fisherman's Wharf

 (1 hour) and then took the Alcatraz ferry out to tour "The Rock." It was sunny but cool and windy. The boat rides are a great way to see the SF skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge but I wouldn't want to do it twice a day like most of the commuter passengers. I guess it beats being stuck in traffic.

 

I didn't think I wanted to tour Alcatraz but everyone told us it was a good tour and interesting to learn the history of the place - and they were right. We finished the day with clam chowder in a sour dough bread bowl on the wharf with a great view of the bay.

 

What a great life we have! Two more sleeps until we fly to North Carolina for family vacation!!

Roger in "solitary"