November 6, 2015. On to Washington Coast

CAMPGROUND:  Cape Disappointment State Park. Woodsy sites.  Decent bathrooms with showers.  Picnic tables.  Hook-ups but we dry-camped.  $30/night.  4 stars

LOCATION:  On Long Beach peninsula in SW Washington

WEATHER:  Mostly sunny. Highs about 60

We walked on the beach at Gearheart.  We saw huge animal prints in the sand.  We wondered if they were from a bear, cougar, elk?  We then hit the road.  Our first challenge was to find gas.  The gas gauge was below empty.  George likes to do this.  It drives me crazy.  We made it, pulling in to the gas station on fumes. 

We stopped at Cape Disappointment at the southern end of the narrow Long Beach peninsula.  It is so-named, due to the many shipwrecks here when ships tried to cross the Columbia.  We had a picnic lunch on the beach.

After unhitching, we drove up to the northern tip of the peninsula, passing through tourist towns and fishing villages.  The tourists are pretty much gone for the season.  Oysterville lives up to its name, with lots of oyster farms.  Huge piles of empty oyster shells attest to a thriving business.

The peninsula's claim to fame is that it has the longest beach in the world.  The entire 28 feet of the peninsula is an unbroken beach.

Yikes!  Notice the Christmas decorations!

Of course, we bought a dozen oysters, and took them back to the camper.  George shucked them, and they were delicious.  

George made a blazing campfire.  This is the first time in several months that we've been in a real campground with a campfire.  It was so comforting!

DINNER:  I warmed up leftover lasagne in a skillet on the campfire.  I also grilled baby asparagus and toasted garlic bread over the fire.  

November 5, 2015. Beautiful Oregon Coast

CAMPGROUND:  (not).  McMenamins Gearheart Hotel.  

LOCATION:  Gearheart, Oregon.  NW Oregon, near Astoria

WEATHER:  Everything!  Patches of fog, low clouds, rain and sun. Highs about 60

We walked around the Newport Marina.  We watched men pull their big boats out for the winter. Then, on up highway 101.  The views are beautiful of the crashing waves, small bays, and little tourist towns. We stopped at The Pelican Brewpub for lunch, as it had been highly recommended.  Right on the beach!

We had a house-smoked salmon flatbread.

Then farther up the coast.  The weather seemed to change every 5 minutes.  We learned that September and October are the warmest months here.  Our destination was Gearheart, not too far south of Washington border.  We wanted  to stay at the old Gearheart Hotel, now owned by McMenamins.  It is a beautiful, historic property on their golf course.  

We went to the golf course bar to get a stamp for our McMenamins passport, and to enjoy the cozy wood fire.

We ate dinner (awarded by  another passport stamp) in their pub.  We had steamed clams cooked in a blue cheese and bacon sauce, and riblets with rice.  Very tasty!

All McMenamins properties have unique artwork all over.  To get our hotel passport stamp ,we had to find a particular picture from a vague clue.   We thought this one was it, but it wasn't.

We finally found it and redeemed our prizes, a nice rocks glass and a golf towel that I can use in the camper, as it has a clip.

We are feeling very pampered tonight!

November 4, 2015. On the road again, to the Oregon Coast

CAMPGROUND:  Rogue Brewery Campground at Newport Marina. 5 stars.  Beautiful bathrooms.  Full hook-ups. $34

LOCATION:  Newport, Oregon on the Oregon Coast

WEATHER:  partly cloudy. Highs in 50s

We got up early and took the Airstream back to the shop.  While they were fixing the leak, we explored Eugene.  It is the home of the University of Oregon, so it is kind of a nice city.  We went to Ninkasi Brewery, which is really cool, with excellent beer.

George ran across the street to a food truck to buy our $1 tostado lunch.

There are a lot of homeless here, like in Portland.  They create tent "cities" along the roads.

We picked up the Airstream.  The shop wanted to keep it for a few more days to completely dry it out, but we couldn't do that.  We are trying to do it ourselves by cranking up the heat and the A/C at the same time.  Hopefully we will have some sunny days soon.

We drove on to Newport, where we stayed before.  We are camping in the Newport Marina, home of Rogue Brewery.  It is nice to return to someplace we are familiar with, especially since we arrived right at sunset.  After setting up, we walked over to the distillery to buy a $1 taster, then to the brewery for an edamame appetizer and a beer.  

 DINNER:  We have a lot of leftovers from house-sitting.  Tonight was leftover cassoulet with some sautéed zucchini on the side.

November 3, 2015. Good-bye, Portland!

LOCATION:  Mapleton, Oregon.  At friend's house.  Near Florence

WEATHER:  Partly sunny. Highs about 60

We had a leisurely breakfast with the homeowners with a debriefing session.  We packed up and left about 10:00.  We stopped in Eugene to eat lunch at a McMenamins and redeem more prizes, this time tator tots!  

Then on to Mapleton where we have been storing the airstream while we were doing the Portland house-sit.  Right before we parked it, we took it to the shop to repair the leak on the roof.  They said it was a defective fan and replaced it.  We thought all is well, but NO!!!  We opened up the camper to find water on the floor and a leaking fan.  We are SO bummed!  George called the RV shop, and got an appointment for tomorrow.  

We unloaded stuff that we had stored in the camper and moved it to the truck, and re-packed the camper.  Then, we went into Florence for dinner.  We went to one restaurant that was quite crowded.  They said if we went to their sister restaurant across the street that they would give us a 10% discount, so there we went.  It is called Spice Bistro, "global Northwestern fusion" food.  We split a bowl of delicious halibut chowder served in bowls from Japan, exactly like the ones we had when we lived in Japan, used for chowan-mushi there.  Our entree was their signature dish, crab encrusted halibut.   Delicious!  It was quiet and relaxing.  We ate at the bar and chatted with the waiter.

November 2, 2015. Last day in Portland

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER: Scattered showers. Highs near 60

We took the truck in for a scheduled oil change, and had lunch at the nearby Canyon Grill, where we had been before.  It is a tiny place with seating for about 10 people.  The very friendly owner remembered us and asked us to critique a new soup recipe for her.

We then went to a few McMenamins pubs to redeem more prizes.  It took us all afternoon to get stamps from 4 more pubs in the Portland suburbs. (You aren't required to eat or drink to get your stamp.). This one has a cozy fire roaring.  Our prize was 2 growlers and a gift card.  We will fill it up with beer and give it to our homeowner. 

In the late evening, we went to West Cafe to use our gift certificate that we had won at the Halloween costume party.  George had a delicious Dungeness crab and shrimp dish.

And I enjoyed an unusual grilled lamb salad.

It was really gourmet.  We were the last customers of the day, so the waiter had time to chat with us.  Then, we picked  up the homeowners from the airport and headed home for our last night in Portland. 

November 1, 2015. Winding down in Portland

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER:  Partly sunny. Highs around 60

After yesterday's hard rain, we were glad to see a little sun peeking out.  We took advantage of a few hours of sunshine and worked outdoors.  I skimmed the koi pond.

The backyard garden is really pretty after the rain....

George.had blown off the leaves from the deck, but they keep on falling!

He cleaned out some of the gutters that were full of leaves...

We rewarded ourselves by going out to two pubs.  The first was a McMenamins where we redeemed our prizes of two appetizers.  One became lunch, one dinner.

Then, to another one called 13 Virtues.  George enjoyed his beer next to the actual brewing area.

He pretended that this was his own place!

L

DINNER:  Pretty skimpy.  Leftover mushroom pasta soup and the spinach dip appetizer we picked up earlier today.

October 31, 2015. Happy Halloween!

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER:  Absolute deluge!  It rained hard all day. Highs in 50s

We went to the farmers' market for the last time, before the rain started.  We had breakfast there, at a Chinese noodle soup place.  The hot (temp) and spicy soup warmed us up.  We bought some veg for the homeowners' return.

Then, we headed to northeast Portland where George wanted to try two more brewpubs,  it was pouring cats and dogs.  We got soaked running in and out of places.  Several of the streets were flooded as the Autumn leaves were clogging drainpipes.  The water came up above our floorboard.  Smaller cars turned around, but our pickup was able to get through.  (I just had to close my eyes!)

Then, we prepared for a Halloween costume party that some kind neighbors invited us to.  They own a chic restaurant in Portland.  The theme was "1960s TV sitcom show".  At first we weren't planning to go, as we don't have any costume materials with us, we didn't want to spend money on a commercial costume, and we didn't have any ideas.  One of our daughters gave us the idea of using a box to dress up like an old TV.  So, that's what we did.  We found a box, cut it to fit me, sprayed it black, and added knobs and skinny legs (chopsticks).  A coat hanger became the antenna.  Bungee cords kept the box in place.  George dressed up in police gear to look like Sheriff Taylor from the Andy Griffith Show.  I played old black-and -white Andy Griffith Show episodes from you-tube on my iPad and taped the iPad on the inside of the box to look like the TV show was playing.  It was quite real-looking.

 

The party was spooky cocktails, appetizers, and mingling.  We all voted on the best costume.  At the end of the evening, winners were chosen.  First place went to a very realistic Captain Kangaroo.

He is sitting with Mr. Howell  from Gilligan's Island.  

We won second place!  Our prize was a gift card from their restaurant.  We will need to use it on Monday since we leave on Tuesday.

Third place were Laura Petrie and Dick from the Dick Van Dyke show...

These are the owners of the restaurant, dressed as Dennis the Menace and Fester  from the Addams Family.  

We had a great time.  It was so nice of them to invite us!