A Working Vacation at Rockaway Beach.

There are always projects to be completed at our old family cabin at Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast.  

Recent improvements have left the need for some finishing touches, and when those jobs can be done by us old retired people, we do what we can. 

 The younger crew had installed Hardy board and insulation under the newly raised cabin last spring.  We now added caulking and battens to seal the seams. 

 Nail guns are a wonderful invention, but Tom is the power tool guy, not me. I hold stuff. 

 When that was finished, we added cedar fascia boards to the foundation beams. We had to figure out how to apply them over the bolts and brackets. 

 Then we had to figure out how to fill the air gap under the wall. 

 And then that was done. 

Inside, Tom installed new door knobs and locks.  My mother was a very generous person and she distributed a lot of keys to the place over the years.  It was now time to change the locks and get back control of access.  

But it wasn't all work.  Tom had time to read and nap.  I had time to write and read and walk. We both found time for eating. 

 Dinner at the Pelican Brewery and Tap Room

Enjoying wine and cheese that were birthday presents. 

Tillamook Oregon Hazelnut Salted Caramel ice cream at the Sea Breeze in Rockaway.  We had to walk there to earn it. 

Friday morning coffee break at the Bay Front Bakery in Garibaldi.  The apple fritters are my favorite. 

And of course there is always the beach and Twin Rocks for walks and photo ops.  We had some rain and some sunshine. Thursday was beautiful and gave us some sunset color. 

While we were walking on the beach Thursday we saw some clusters of dark spots in four or five places out on the water just beyond the breaker line.  We couldn't figure out what they were.  So I went back to the cabin and got my little Canon camera with the powerful zoom, and tried to hold the camera still enough to macro zoom in and see what they were.

 I still wasn't sure until I put the flash card on my lap top and cropped the photos. Sea lions! For some reason they were just hanging out in little social groups, rolling around in the waves.  I guess they were enjoying the beautiful day too. 

Friday started out calm. The view from the cabin porch had a bit of color from the sun rise. 

After our trip to the bakery, we stopped at the Tillamook Bay jetty, where now the wind was howling. Tom stayed snug in the car but I had to get  a few photos, of course. 

Rain moved in, and that made it easier to pack up and clean up the cabin and move on back home to Seattle.