Mon. Nov. 24, 2014 - Driving day

We stopped in Medford this morning for a Starbucks work session, and drove south into California where we stayed at another rest area just north of Corning.  Tonight we remembered Mom Tomczak on her birthday by cooking a delicious dinner of kielbasa with homemade saurekraut, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables - a dinner we shared with her on Dad Tomczak's birthday every year. Delicious!

Sun. Nov. 23, 2014 - Andy the Angel saves the day

Bad news from road service  this morning - they could not find a mechanic to come out not knowing what was the problem and having no access to parts.  We called the local tow truck service on our own and they sent out a capable young man who jumped us and gave some good advice, so we decided to drive out and stop 50 miles south a Florence at Les Schwab where we could get a new battery tomorrow morning.  We drove out of the campground to flat land by the day use parking lot

nearby to hook up the Jeep and shut the engine off again - I KNOW, WHAT WERE WE THINKING!!??!! You guessed it - now the engine will not start again, and we could not jump it.  While we were deciding what to do, looking at the engine with the hood up, Andy the jack of all trades ANGEL came by and insisted on looking at the engine.  Two hours later, he had cleanup up the posts and repaid a broken battery clip and we were on the way.

Off to Sacramento area and the holidays.  We had no further engine issues and made it to I-5 just south of Roseburg where we slept overnight at a nice rest area/travel center.

Sat. Nov. 22, 2014 - get-away day with no way to go

We took our time getting road ready this morning then drove in to town for a final pass at Farmer's market and lunch,  Then, back to the park to drive away but Chatty would not fire up.

We tried to jump it with the Jeep - no luck.  We called road service and they suggested we try the coach auxillary battery - this DID work, but not for long, because when the engine got turned off, it would not start again, so we made another call to road service.  By now it was 3:00 and they could not find a mechanic willing to come out this late on a Saturday so we accepted the fact we were on to Plan B, and not leaving until tomorrow at best.  So we went for a swim/exercise session and curled up with another Mel Brooks movie, Blazing Saddles and a good night's rest.

Fri. Nov. 21, 2014 - last full day

We skipped the Newport chamber lunch today because we had a lot of chores and work to do to get ready to pull out tomorrow , and we had tickets to the theater tonight........

The venue was a new building small with good seats everywhere, and we expected a good show but it was better than that - with a good set, actors and a band of tap dancers from a local dance troupe for the "puttin on the Ritz" number backed up by a live orchestra,

 

Nov. 16-20 Tour of Whaler's Rest - the at home workspace

The cold spell lasted until Wed. - a whole week.  Twice we ran out of propane in our auxiliary 5 gal tank during the night.  

Makes for a chilly morning but it was easy to get the get the spare tank going again after daylight , and the park has a propane refill tank, so it was easy to get a refill for the empty one.

The cold ( and rainy ) spell made it easy to focus on business for a few days.  The north clubhouse was a short walk downhill from our site.

It has really good internet, and a comfortable work space so easy to spend out days here

and go home for lunch, and even do some laundry next door  - very convenient!

Sat Nov. 15 2014 - too cold for beach walk

We've been having a cold snap - it started on Wednesday.  Frozen ice in the road puddles in the morning.  We had planned to go for a beach walk after our trip to farmers market today, but instead, Mike kept warm at our local coffee shop

while I went shopping at the store I've had my eye on for a month.  Fun!

Fri. Nov. 14, 2014 - Remembering Mom Dempsey

Today we went to the Newport Chamber luncheon at the Hallmark resort,

 then spent the rest of the afternnon working 

in the lobby sitting area near the windows 

with an elevated view of the ocean on a beautiful day. Great work space!

Even though we are far from other family this year, Mike and I kept the tradition of remembering loved ones on their birthday with their favorite meal.  Mike made chicken picatta with mushrooms from farmers market.  Here is a picture of mom and me in 1958.

Thurs. Nov. 13, Knitting circle

I went in to the local yarn store last week to get some yarn for my next project,and learned there was a group of ladies who gather on Thursday afternoons to knit. They let me know I was welcome to join them, so today I did.  I got a full 90 minutes during the day to knit while Mike went in to town on errands.  Pictures to follow.........

Wed. Nov.12, 2014 - first pool swim

Every morning between 9 and 10AM is adult swim time in the whaler's rest pool.  Today I was the only one there - it was great!  Thirty minutes in the pool and 15 minutes stretching in the hot tub, then a hot shower. Heavenly!



We went in to town and had lunch with Brian, an attorney we met at the Newport Chamber luncheon. We had some things in common- he went to college at Michigan State University, and is a singer who is active in the local theatre community.  It was a get to know you lunch, and we enjoyed it - we are starting to feel like we could be members of this town:)

Mon., Nov. 10, 2014 - Beach walk for break

Yesterday it was rainy all day long, so instead of the beach wlk we had planned, we staying indoors. Today, however, it was a beautiful day, so after a morning work session in our local clubhouse, we walked 3/4 mile through the park roads to one of the State Park day use parking lots that is right across Hyw 101 from our park

and onto the beach where we had a beautiful bech walk on a beautiful day.

not too manay people out today, just us and our footprints.

Sat. Nov. 8, 2014 - learning to walk with the Hoop

Today was a beautiful sunny day, so after we picked up our last batch of goodies from Gathering Together Farm CSA, we took a nice beach walk along a stretch we have not walked yet.
We parked at the Yaquina Lighthouse State Park ( see the jetty at the far left edge of the picture)

and walked along the beach south toward the jetty

  ( see the historic lighthouse where some camp hosts have a lighthouse docent job

and the Yaquina bridge from the north side for a change )

- not a far walk, but very enjoyable.

Fri. Nov. 7, 2014 - Good cooking at home

There is a very nice clubhouse at the park with good Internet so now we have a place to work without going out to coffee shop or library.

So we worked here today except for one trip in to town to attend the Newport Chamber luncheon - this time at the Embarcadero where we watched the Giants on TV a couple times.

Mike made us his best batch yet of jambalaya for dinner - we are getting out seafood!

Here is a picture of our kitchen - very organied in this picture with our most useful cookware 

Thurs., Nov. 6, 2014 - Propane is good.

This morning we drove BACK in to Newport RV to let the Frank ( the guy who has the tools and knows what he is doing) show us what we were doing wrong with the external propane connection.

Then, since we were in town, we spent the morning working at Starbucks ( hard to believe, but it is true - there is not one free-standing local coffee shop in this whole town, so Starbucks is our only choice in this area).  Then we went to Nye Beach and shared a yellow thai curry bowl for lunch at Savory.

When we got back to Whaler's Rest, we FINALLY got settled with all our utilities operating at full speed, so it is warm and cozy inside and we can cook!

We'd. Nov 5, 2014: Trying to get settled at Whaler's Rest Resort

This morning in the daylight we picked a nice site high up where we have a nice view and can get adequate cell phone reception. We hooked up our utilities but had trouble getting the external propane tank to connect, so left it off  because we each had an appointment in Newport to enjoy a massage.  We had a bowl of clam chowder at the Chowder House between rubs and worked in the library while waiting for each other.


When we got back to Whaler's Rest, we STILL could not get the propane to flow, despite the new tool and a conversation with the mechanic at Newport Marie and RV we had earlier today.  No propane, no stove, oven or dish washing, so we drove back in to South Beach and had a big bucket of steamed clams and fries for dinner.  Yum!

Tues. Nov 4, 2014. - personal and Chatty Maintenance

This morning we took care of the main reason for our trip to Sprigfield - Mike and I both had blood drawn at a local lab to get a baseline reading.  Easy peasy - we were done by 8:20 and went off to breakfast to end out 12 hour fast.

Then we found a comfortable work spot at our old friend, Courtyard by Marriott

for the morning work session.  OurlLast bit of Chatty maintenance was a stop at Americas Tire

 to get two new tires and a rotation.  Then. back to the Newport area where we will be staying for a while at Whalers' Rest - a Thousand Trails campground about  5 miles south of Newport

Mon, Nov 3, 2014 - get away day

It was a rainy farewell to our site and the park - see the pretty mushrooms under the table?

We were out by 10:00, then dropped in at Newport Marine and RV for some propane tank maintenance bfore we hit the road south to Florence where we got the oil changed -

last time we did that we were in Colorado Springs CO in late May - long overdue.  While we waited , we went to the historic Florence riverfront area and had some clam chowder and clam strips at  Mo's. Even the restaurants are not crowded this time of year.

Finally we drove another 50 miles inland to Springfield/Eugene where we layed over for the night in a Walmart parking lot.

Sat and Sun, Nov 1 and 2, 2014 - layover weekend

We were not officially on duty, but hung in the park with the other hosts anyway. Saturday was another beginning-of-the-month Host  orientation gathering at the meeting yurt. I did net feel well today, so went home after for a nap and lazy day rather than doing park chores. Mike went in to town to pick up our CSA box of goodies,

This afternoon. we watched a movie and took a walk up to the front gate in the sunny late afternoon. This is a view of the HI tent site loop where we stayed, 

but it has been closed to campers since mid October, so we had the place to ourselves....

Sunday we did a bit more scotch broom picking - here is the last site we worked on

- not too clear - the green spiky plants are the scotch broom and they used to grow all the way to the road in this campsite, so you can see there is still more to do here and plenty of other sites that have not been started.

We cleaned and turned in the golf cart just before the early darkness due to the daylight savings tie clock roll-back last night..

Fri., Oct. 31, 2014 - Last official work day at South Beach State Park

End of the month.  Some hosts have already left, but since our loop is closed, and therefore no new hosts are wanting to take our spot, and since we are not in a big hurry to get to the next assignment, we got permission to hang out until Monday morning when we will leave the park.  Mike got some campsite cleaning assignments, and I did some more scotch broom picking - my pile is getting larger

my contribution to this large burn pile is the small green batch in front of the wood limbs that were cut down earlier in the spring and are waiting for a good rainy day to be burned by the rangers.

We went in to town for another Newport Chamber member lunch today, then to the library to watch some of the Giants parade in downtown SF today on the Giants website, then finally home to relax and stay out of the way of Halloween happenings  - not feeling too well, so good to be home.

Wed. Oct 29, 2014 - Giants with the pennant in 7 in Kansas City! Yes, Yes, Yes

I've been feeling a little under the weather since Sunday - a head cold.

We went out for the first few innings of the game, but came home to finish it up in the comfort of our own bedroom.  what an exciting game and series it was!

Sun. Oct 26, 2014 - Giants and Airstream hospitality are still alive

Today after a busy day of camp host work ( Sunday is a big move-out day) we went back to Kathy and Rod's house to watch game 5.  Tonight we had Pappa Murphy's pizza ( see Kathy's cute salt and pepper shakers)

with our wine.....

and a little more room for dinner since there were only four of us tonight.  Go Giants!

Thurs., Oct. 23, 2014 - Off Day tour of Newport Bayfront

Today we worked at home in the AM then had a walking tour of the Newport harbor.  

Seafood lunch at Mo's Annex.....

then more tsumani awareness and education at a display build on a piece of dock that washed ashore from Japan 15 months after the earthquake and tsunami they had in 2011

The officials of the Oregon coast are serious about tsunami education - 

they know one is coming, just don;t know when

We continued along the harbor inland for about a mile and discovered a new place for us - the Embarcadero Resort where we think we will come to watch the next Giants game tomorrow.

Wed. Oct. 23, 2014 - Camp Host pot-luck

This evening we went to the large activity center yurt where we had the orientation 

for a camp host pot-luck dinner.             

Tues., Oct.21, 2014 - Game 1 Giants vs KC Royals

Today we were invited to fellow camp hosts Kaathy and Rod's airstream in site CRV-1 up by the fron t gate to watch the game.  They have a very roomy place ( compared to ours) and they invited Pat who lives next door to them to watch, too.  He is a Giants fan as well.

We shared humus and veggies as appetizer.   Kathy made crock-pot soup for five for dinner. 

 Fun evening, and the Giants won big in Game 1!

Mon., Oct 20, 2014 - new iPhone !!!

Remember back in March when I watched my iPhone 4 be stolen from the Carlsbad State Beach campground kiosk?  Then I got my old and not too sturdy iPhone 3 out of the back of y junk drawer and turned it on because we did not have a Verizon upgrade available.  Well, good news for me, I was able to help my friend Mary with some year end tax planning / preparation in exchange for one of her available upgrades.  So today at the campground office mail room I picked up a package from Mary with my new iPhone 5 and got it fired up at the local Verizon store.  Here is this new phone's break-in selfie!

Thanks, Mary  I needed that.  Wish me luck at holding on to this one!

Sat. Oct. 18, 2014 - Mushroom season

This afternoon we drove south about 20 miles to Yachats to attend a mushroom festival.  There were lots of live examples of mushroom on display with the scientific name and edibility score.  We joined an hour long guided hike in the forest to view mushrooms in the wild and hear from someone who was n experienced mushroom gatherer.  What we learned was:  if you wonder if it is edible, ask someone who knows first - your understanding will grow with experience and you should rely on others experience until you are absolutely sure.

We came home and harvested a few of the mushrooms that we were positive about from the table demo this afternoon, and Mike stir-fried them up for us for dinner.

This is one growing near our campsiste, but not the one we ate.

Fri. Oct. 17, 2014 - Newport Chamber Luncheon

Today we went to the Shiloh conference center - a very nice hotel / restaurant complex on the beach just north of the bridge in Newport to attend a Newport Chamber of Commerce weekly member luncheon.  Our thought is it is a good way to get to know the area. They have a speaker every week and this week we heard from a professor and scientist at  Oregon State University about the Sea Star Wasting situation along the west coast.  Look it up on Google.