vacay, part V and a missed selfie

Well, it finally happened. 9 PM Saturday evening I realized I missed my Friday selfie.

In my defense, I would like to say I was immersed in an activity with my grandgirl and we had to git 'er done, as it were. Also, there was no other adult on site to remind me. And...I wasn't feeling well. I've been suffering from a weird intestinal ailment all week. Better now, thank you. So now, the dilemma is do I do one now or just accept the missed week.

I think probably I will just accept the missed week. It wouldn't be accurate anyway if I took it now.

So on our last day of this wonder adventure, we returned to Wheeler to explore the antique mart there. This place was huge, a regular warren especially towards the back. When I found out they had 110 vendors who paid not only rent but a percentage of their sales, I questioned the ability of such a large place with so many vendors for everyone to be profitable. Do they really get that much traffic to support so many vendors, I asked. You'd be surprised, the attendant said.

After we left the antique maze we went into a small shop that had handmade items by various artists. Terri and I walked in together and while I was looking at some things on a display case with my back to her, I heard her say something to the effect of...Ellen, this is so you. I turned around to see her holding a necklace with five silver leaves hanging from a cord. She was right. I took it from her hand and didn't put it down until I was ready to pay.

I bought some other things there too.

This bookmark out of a very thin piece of wood,

and these two birds cut out of sheet metal and left to rust.

Before I joined everyone in the coffee shop next door, I popped into another little shop and found these earrings.

Then it was back to the house for a scavenged lunch of leftovers and packing and loading up the cars and heading back to Portland where us four out of towners were staying overnight with Catharine and one last meal together before heading out the next day to our various destinations.

vacay, part IV

The next morning, that would be Tuesday, our little group split up with Leigh, Terri, and Denise going back to Nehalem State Park while the rest of us lounged around a bit longer.

Abi suggested we go to Oceanside where there were rocks with opal deposits in them that would get washed out and you could find them on the beach so we got ourselves together and joined the others at Nehalem where they were sketching with charcoal that Leigh had inserted into long pieces of cane.

Abi joined in with a long piece of driftwood in the sand.

Another structure.

I entertained myself by balancing rocks.

Heading back to the cars.

We arrived at Oceanside as the tide was starting to come in and we needed to get on the other side of a formation so a few of us waded around the point while the others traversed the tunnel through the rock. While we were waiting for the rest of our group to emerge from the tunnel, I noticed something on the rock face of the cliff.

Do you see it?

How about now?

When we returned, it was gone.

The water at Oceanside...blue until the wave breaks green.

Looking for opals. Terri found one and Abi found enough to give each of us one.

Rock with opal deposits.

One more of many feather pics.

We returned through the tunnel which had these portholes in it.

On our way back from opal hunting we stopped briefly at another state park which had a great overlook. We were hoping to spot whales, as Abi claimed to be a whale magnet, but we saw nary a one all week.

Back at the beach house we had another fun evening with lots of laughter.

Our appetizer...prosciutto and figs with olives.

vacay, part III.2

Some of you may remember my opinion of oysters which is not much. Raw or cooked. Well, I've only ever had them cooked via fried oysters and though I can choke a couple down, I still don't care for them all that much.

So when the plan for a dinner of oysters was floated, I was less than enthusiastic but y'all go ahead on, I'll find something to eat.

And so, after lunch on Monday, we headed to Wheeler to buy the oysters.

Leigh and Denise, Natalie and Terri waiting to place their orders.

Waiting for oysters, it took nearly an hour as they were very busy. You could eat them there but we got ours to go. The little store, in front of which Abi is sitting below, reminded me of the little Seven Seas grocery/bait shop on the far west end of Galveston Island when I was a kid, back before they expanded and remodeled after that part of the island became more populated.

Late in the day, though sunny, the wind was very cold. Eventually, most of us migrated to the bench, laughing and being loud, and one of the employees remarked that we were having far too much fun as he walked past.

Back at the house our resident bartender fixed us up while dinner was being prepared.

Abi scrubbed the shells while Natalie roasted them on the grill. They would steam in their own juice til the shells popped open.

Catharine and Leigh and Denise and Terri testing the fare.

Our hostesses Terri and Catharine.

Dinner.

With a lot of coaxing, they even got me to try them and I'll be darned if they weren't pretty good...a little melted butter, a squeeze of lemon, a few drops of hot sauce...

vacay, part III.1

I picked up my youngest grandgirl Robin on Sunday for her week so my personal time is limited.

Monday we stopped at Cannon Beach briefly so we could see Haystack Rock. It was a little hazy but cleared up later to a gorgeous day. 

Next we all piled into the cars and headed for Ecola State Park where we stopped at an overlook for another view of Haystack Rock from the other side.

That's it, the most distant rock with it's point and that furthermost beach that you can barely see is where we were previously.

Then we took a little walk through the forest to the edge of the bluff for a panoramic view of the beach we were headed to. That gray band in the lower right of the last picture is a wide swath of smooth stones, what I always called 'river rocks' only there was no river.

On the way there we passed a small herd of young elk grazing. This one was right by the roadside.

Crossing the swath of rocks.

We arrived at low tide and headed for the tide pools where we saw anemones, mussels, barnacles, and starfish. There's some kind of virus killing off the starfish and we saw several that were obviously ill.

Later, we headed back to Cannon Beach for a late lunch and after that to Wheeler to get oysters and crab for dinner.

Another panoramic view on the way back.

to be continued...