Beach Eating - Continuing the Summer Vacation Report

Rockaway Beach is a small coastal town on the Oregon Coast located between Seaside and Tillamook. It is one of many small towns along the north coast that are still simple, quiet and relatively undeveloped in terms of tourist attractions. But there are attractions. Foremost is the beach, uninterrupted for about five miles. Then there is the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory, a must stop on every visit to the cabin. Beside watching the process of cheese making, there is a great gift shop, a food market outlet for cheese and smoked meats from the Tillamook County Smoker, and great Tillamook ice cream. This is dairy country and these people know their cheese and ice cream.

Garibaldi, noted for the big "G" on the hillside, is a fishing port on Tillamook Bay. For us the big attraction there is the bakery. Our daughter Jill, skinny as a rail, waits all year for her visit to the beach and her chance to go to the bakery - every morning. By the third or fourth day others of us fall by the wayside, but she makes it there every day for her doughnut fix. A typical order for her is four different items. Her daughter, Irene, is more selective. She goes for the sprinkles, or as she calls them, the sparkles.

Every beach town has a candy store, and Rockaway is no exception. So many choices.

Of course, there may be no better eating than the s'mores cooked over the camp fire during an evening on the beach. You can be sure that more of the cheese and local wines and local produce and seafood and Tillamook ice cream made it back to the cabin kitchen for continued good eating. Bon appetit!

Skywatch Friday - Sunrise, Sunset

I happened to wake and noticed color so I got up to capture the sunrise over Deer Lagoon, Whidbey Island. In the evening the sun set over the other side of the lagoon - bookends.

More Whidbey Fun - Deer Lagoon

From our Whidbey cabin we have to cross the street to get to Useless Bay, but Deer Lagoon is in our back yard. Like the bay, it empties on low tides, and so boating activities are limited to high tides. Then the canoe can be launched and the channel to the bay is deep enough to navigate.

Some clever family member or guest left this creative solution to the muck coating the lagoon. Jill says they worked great!All year round the lagoon is a great place for bird watching, and for me, it is a favorite subject for photography. On a calm day when the lagoon is full it is a wonderful mirror of the sky, and the light is always amazing. It is especially great during the season of long days when the sun rises and sets over the lagoon. Sunrise on Deer Lagoon.

Whidbey Fun - Useless Bay

When were we there? I seems weeks ago, and I guess our Colorado kids did arrive just two weeks ago. Our first destination was the family cabin on Whidbey Island. Besides digging those giant horse clams I showed you earlier, we had lots more fun on the beach of Useless Bay in the two and a half days we were there.

The tide's coming in, but it takes a long time. It's fun to watch the water slowly creep over the sand and swallow it up.My son once had an idea for a business - Rent A Dog - but the kids were able to get in on the fun with the neighborhood dogs.When Isaac left me this morning, at the airport, he was sad to be leaving all the fun behind. But, for most of us, life is not a beach, and reality finally has to take hold. Sure was fun while it lasted, though.

Quiet House

As I sat at the patio table just a few minutes ago, enjoying coffee and the newspaper, something I haven't done in a while, I found myself wondering what time the kids would be waking from their naps. Then it hit me- they are gone. We turned them over to the airline industry at 11:00 this morning. And there you have the good and the bad of it: I have free time, but they aren't here anymore.

Space Needle Monday

Tomorrow our guests go back to Colorado, so today we went to the city. Today was Space Needle Day! We arrived about 9:30, ahead of the crowds, and after a stop at Starbucks,we spent a long time viewing the details of the city from above. There were buildings, city districts and bodies of water to identify. There were helicopters and float planes and ferry boats and fire trucks and buses and the monorail to follow. And of course there was the souvenir shop to peruse and drop more money in.

After descending the Needle, we rode the monorail downtown to Westlake Center for lunch and a brief look around the square before returning via the monorail to Seattle Center. The International Fountain was putting on a show and attracting "bathers", as the sky began to clear of the morning fog and clouds.

We were doing so well that we stretched the day to include the Ship Canal locks in Ballard, where we watched tour boats, yachts and assorted pleasure boats come in from Puget Sound and be raised to the level of Lake Union. We finished with a visit to the fish ladder at the locks, where the Chinook salmon were running.

By then Irene was more than ready to go to "Gramma's house" to play. So we did. We then had dinner out at Red Robin with mud pie for dessert. A stroll on the fishing pier at Des Moines Marina completed a very full and very successful day.

Slower Sunday

We're back in Seattle for a day of catching up, slowing down, and doing mounds of laundry. Tomorrow we have our final fling before the visitors head home Tuesday.

I'll be catching you all up on some of our activities as time allows.

Here is the setting for our weeks adventures:

This is the little red cabin that my mother owns on the beach at Rockaway Beach, Oregon. My extended family enjoys week long summer vacations here and it is booked all summer long. The beach is right out front and beside it on the left is Salt Air Creek, the location of hours of playing by children of all ages. Behind the cabin is Highway 101 and the train tracks. Watching log trucks and trains go by is part of the activity.On the bank of the creek is this incredible display of rambling "beach roses", a kind of rugosa that obviously likes sand and fog and thrives on neglect.Out on the beach we see "The Big Rocks", as the grandkids call them, or Twin Rocks as they are officially named. I have taken many photos of these rocks over the years. On this trip we never broke out of the coastal fog, so this year's pics are a study in gray.

Time to go shift some laundry around. More later.

Pretty Old Cinderella

Princess Irene

The other morning - I don't remember which one, it's all a blur-when we were still in bed, Isaac, 5, and Irene, 3, came into our room and crawled into bed with us to "wake us up". Irene is quickly claiming her "inner Princess", with the help of Disney, and loves pretty dresses. She had to check out my night shirt, and then when I got out of bed and put on my long, old wrap robe she exclaimed "Oooo, pretty old Cinderella".

I chucked softly, since she wouldn't get the joke, but Tom and I had a good laugh after the kids had cleared out to watch cartoons. We decided it was all in where you put the emphasis.

We will be departing tomorrow morning for the Oregon coast, and my computer doesn't travel, so until we meet again, keep on feeding your inner princess, whether it's pretty, pretty old, or just plain old.

Seafair Friday

Seafair encompasses many events in Seattle, but the biggest is the hydroplane races and air shows over Lake Washington.

Friday is free day, when fans and families flock to the shores of the lake to see the big boats test and qualify and to watch the air show practices.

Saturday there is more qualifying, the first heats of racing, and all of the air shows. Sunday has all of the rest of the racing as well as a repeat of the airshows. There is a charge for admission on Saturday and Sunday. Our son, daughter and son-in-law will attend the races Sunday. Grandma and Grandpa will be happy to stay home and watch on TV with the grandkids.

We woke to rain early Friday morning, but by the time we reached to Lake at 8:30 AM, the sky was clear blue overhead. We had a great day of Seafair fun.

For the uninitiated, here is Hydroplane racing 101.

This is a hydroplane - 6000 pounds of flying boat with a helicopter turbine engine.

This is a hydroplane going fast, throwing up a "rooster tail".These are the "pits" and part of the race course.These are hydros on trailers in the pits.

This hydro in going into the water.

These are hydro fans on a pit tour. (Daughter and grandson. I was there too!)

These are airshow watchers.And these are the famous Blue Angels.

Sky Watch Friday - Horse Clam Sky

Bringing you further adventures from Useless Bay! And adventures they were, from the eyes of the five-year-old and three-year-old grandkids.

I'm short on time - we're off to the next adventure- but had to jump in for SWF.

The Catch and the catchers. What a crew!Tide pool reflections - It was a lovely calm, if cool day.

Enjoy Skywatch. I'm off to see hydroplanes and airplanes.