Back From the Oregon Coast!

Hello Friends and Gatherers....

I'm back from my mini-vacation to Oregon to see my sister Morgan, as well as my sister Heidi that flew up from Las Vegas at the same time. Boy did I have a good time!

My sister Morgan has access to a house right next to the beach not too far from her house, and it is a very short walk down to the coastline from there. The weather there was great compared to living in Arizona in August, running in the mid-seventies during the day, and the cool fifties at night. Though the fog came in pretty heavy every day, but there were times of great sunshine too. I even got a bit of a sunburn forgetting to use any sunblock the first day on the beach.

The beach there is full of "Agates" to collect in the sand, and my sisters collect them. We had a great time searching for them along the shore, and my back and legs have let me know all about it since, LOL. I guess Agates form over millions of years or something in gas bubbles in lava from ancient volcanic eruptions. The waves now erode them from the cliff faces along the shore, and the wave action carries them down the coast to settle in the sand. They are semi-precious(?) stones or crystals that they make jewelry and other "stuff" from them, and some are quite pretty all polished up by sand and water action with numerous colors. We tried to time our searches during low tide times, and I'm told that during the winter months when there are storms, it is best to search for the large ones then around exposed rocks that are now buried by sand. I'll have to go back again then to find my "bucket of gold'.... er, Agates I mean, LOL.

August 18th was also the anniversary of my younger brother's passing not all that long ago, and this is the second time we have gotten together to remember his life, give prayers and wishes... while ankle deep in cold water, ha! We looked for stones shaped flat and round like coins, and pretended they were pennies to make wishes on while throwing them in the waves. We had previously spread his ashes in the Pacific, as we had done with our Mother per her request, so being at the coast seems to give us a feeling of being close to them. It was nice, and seems to be turning into a tradition; we were already talking about next year, ha ha. I only wish my other brother and sister could make it some year. Last time we met in San Diego where Rick, my youngest brother once lived.

We spent so much time catching up and talking, that besides the beach, we didn't go much anywhere else in the short time we had; Sunday thru Thursday, but it didn't matter. We went out to eat a couple of times, once at a famous (for the area I guess) seafood place that is fairly small, but packed with people. The place was called "Mo's" I think, and I had a pretty good bowl of clam chowder there... yum! I did hit a souvenir/antique shop and buy a couple things though as well...;-)

The best though was just sitting out back at her house in beautiful forested scenery and mild weather, just "yakking" away like three birds in a tree, LOL. Canadian Geese where frequent visitors to her backyard, which is huge and has a river that runs along the back edge of the property (I've forgotten the name). I love the Geese honking and then crash landing in the water with a loud splashing, and then they work their way to the yard; good fun to watch them. We all live in different states, so there is a lot to talk about when we get together... ha!

Anyway, I'm back... I had the urge to miss my flight though and stay a few days more, LOL. I did take some pictures with my new camera, but I had never used it before, and most of them didn't turn out well... bummer. Not sure I like the camera now, but it was an inexpensive one. I should have brought my 35mm... *sigh*

I did get a couple though, so I'll post them below...

The entry way to walk down to the beach from the beach-house.

... still walking down.

... still walking... there were wild roses and all kinds of flowers blooming along the way down, but none of my pictures came out good- all blurry....

... almost there... ;-)

.... getting closer... I swear...

... the end in sight! Ha!

I made it! *puff puff* (catching my breath) ha ha. Actually, coming down is easy, it's walk back up that got me... ;-)

Ohhh.... the water was cold though, LOL. I just had to go for a walk in it....

I'll throw a couple more water pictures in.

I like the one one

on the right because it looks

like I am flying in a helicopter

along the beach, especially

the big version if you click on it

below~

 Here is a couple more I took on the way down to the beach I left out of sequence... too much hassle to try and get anymore in order, LOL. I think they are pretty neat though, well at least in person... better than any picture by me...

Another shot of the way down. I just dug the house right there, and the view of the water and all. Again, much better to see in person...

They are kind of hard to see, but that is my sisters Morgan and Heidi down there... still looking for Agates on the way back. I swear they are addicted to searching for them, LOL. They give me a head start walking back because I take so long with my "gimpy" walk, ha ha.

 I just love these flowers

and they were all over the

 place there. I think they

are called Hydrangea(?)

These were out front.

Well, that's all the pictures that came out... it's too bad too because she has such a wonderful house and yard I would like to share with you all. There are huge pine trees and that river out back. It doesn't get any better than that in my book. Just wonderful...

OK then, with that we three say goodbye for now. It's been fun folks.... have a great day and our best to all!

Bye everybody.... ;-)