A Long Walk or a Cold Swim

I decided to go to the 10:00 yoga class, so I did, but I need to remember that you have to leave earlier for the 10:00 class because town is actually open and you have to leave time to park. Josh had gone for a run earlier and thought he might join me if the timing worked out, but it didn't – he didn't get to Mo’s until after I was in class. It was an interesting class with Claire – lots of hitting yourself (gently) with a loose fist, not as much movement as I would have liked. I did learn a new way of thinking about boat pose – that you’re making a triangle with your tailbone and sitting bones – that seemed to make mine much more stable. So a good thing.

Meanwhile Dave had picked up Josh at Mo’s shortly after I got to Yoga, but when it was time to head in for lunch they discovered they had lost Tabetha. It turned out she’d walked all the way to Tolavana! So Josh & Jen picked her up, Dave and Tim drove in, and we all met at Bill’s for lunch. I’m a little Billed out, but it was a fun lunch anyway. After lunch the Wilburys stayed in town to check out the galleries (“many, many” says Josh; “1 or 2,” says Jen). The rest of us stopped briefly at home, and then headed out in two cars to the Cape Falcon parking area. We left Dave’s car at the turnout at the end of the two bridges trail, and then Tim dropped us off at the short sands beach parking area (we overshot the Cape Falcon trailhead, but it’s maybe 50 feet away). Then Tim drove off, leaving Dave and me and a large (and heavier than we thought) daypack to make our way back to where we’d left the car.

Is there a trail here, honey?

This is a hike we've wanted to do for a while now, and now we've hiked the whole trail between Neahkanie mountain and Arch Cape. We were worried we weren't going to get to do it because it’s not the kind of thing you want to do in the rain, but the weather today went from partly cloudy in the morning to absolutely clear in the afternoon. We’re not sure exactly how far we went, but we think it’s about 6.5 miles, going up and down the hills between the ocean and the road. A super nice extra is that Dave had thought to bring our walking sticks (the pretty ones we bought at Mesa Verde; they’re signed by the guy who carved them and dated – 1988, the year we were married. Those are some old sticks. But I digress), which turned out to be invaluable because much of the trail was like a giant mud puddle. We were able to use the sticks to probe how deep the mud was (Dave had boots, but I had my walking shoes that I bought when we were here over Thanksgiving, which are excellent for hiking but not in deep mud) and also for balance when walking on the narrow dry edges of the mud pits, and also good for using kind of like a gondola pole to push yourself up the steep parts of the trail.

Wilderness Reservation Confirmation

The trail is wonderful. It climbs up on the north side of Short Sands beach and the goes along the ocean, with many views of isolated coves that you could only get to by boat. We’d been on the first part of the trail that goes out to Cape Falcon a couple of years ago, but this time we branched off from there and kept going. There were many people on the trail before the turnoff and the trail was comfortably wide (albeit muddy in many places), but once we got to the turnoff the trail was still well maintained but the plants had closed in over it completely. So there were quite a few places where it looked like there was no trail at all unless you looked at the ground. And there were also places where you would be pushing the vegetation aside, only to discover that you were in a deeply muddy place. The trail also went through densely wooded recent plantings (10-15 years old?) and old growth areas, where there was little or no undergrowth. It was a perfect temperature for hiking. There was cell signal for most of the way, which was good because the restaurant called to confirm our reservation while we were out there. The only flaw in the whole thing was that my knee still isn't crazy about going downhill. But I used some of the tricks I’ve learned, and between that and having the walking stick I actually made it through in good shape with only a couple of painful moments. The last part of the trail parallels the road pretty closely and has lots of bridges, many of which have a path of shingles laid across them. Someone had some fun with those, because they don’t go straight across – some are crescents, and one was an ‘S’ shape.  It was a great hike, but both of us were really excited when suddenly we could see Dave’s car.

I'n the tallest!

We got back to the house and went out back to hose off our shoes, and found the deck festooned with shirts and shorts – Tim and the Wilburys had gone into the ocean, which is some kind of crazy because it’s COLD. I guess it’s not so bad once you go numb. Dave and I got cleaned up and we headed to Newman’s, where Josh still doesn't like that they salt outside of the bread. We had a very nice dinner, and because we have 5 wine drinkers we were able to start with a bottle of Prosecco, which everyone liked. Jen and I decided we need to make Bellinis now that peaches are in season. The Gigondas was not as successful. The other great thing about having 5 people is that we got to try lots and lots and lots of different things - everybody in the group is good about tasting and sharing.

By the time we got done it was almost 9, so we zipped home because it was clear and we were hoping for a green flash. But there was the usual low cloud bank over the horizon, so no green flash. There was a super thin crescent moon though, and many bats flying around. The Wilburys headed out because they all have to work tomorrow, and we settled in for our last night here. I made a giant pot of tea, because the mugs are annoyingly small and they have a nice teapot.  After we’d all recovered from dinner it was time for the last two games of trouble. Both were hard fought; in the last game we all had just one peg left and it was a matter of sheer luck. And although I had some fabulously lucky pops, I did not win either game and was dead last in the second. But I did win pepper two times on our second night here, and that will last me until we are here again. Because this is the end, boys. Thanks for riding along.

Fruit, Wilburys, Steps, Pirates

It says, "Own Your Own Telescope Business"

We slept in until 8, which is late for us, even though we'e been staying up until midnight most nights. The thing is between the windows and the skylights it is very bright in there in the mornings. When I got up I was planning to go to yoga, but the tide was still very out and although it was cloudy it wasn't raining. Dave was thinking he’d go for a walk, and I was feeling like I should do at least one beach walk this trip (there’s that word should – I know, I know, it doesn't belong in a vacation blog). So I decided to join him in a walk. We figured we’d leave his car at the Hug Point State Park parking lot in case we couldn't get around the carriage road, and then drive to Tolovana and walk home from there. Of course by the time we got ready to go (5 minutes?) it was drizzling when we walked out of the house, but it was a very light drizzle and hey, we’re Oregonians, no drizzle is going to stop us. It would probably be done by the time we got to Tolovana anyway.

Well, it wasn't done, but we parked and headed south towards the Rock Wahii. One other thing – the prevailing wind direction here is from the southwest. That’s why the beach bikes are so treacherous – when you’re tired and you turn around to ride back you’re almost always riding into the wind. Not so today – today it’s blowing from the north, so we were walking into the wind, and it wasn't a light breeze, either. And the drizzle had turned into honest rain. But we had set out for a walk, by golly, and a walk it what we were going to do, come wind or high water. Dave made the suggestion that we turn around at the Rock, but I scoffed at him. So we kept walking. In last year’s blog I made a comment about taking the same pictures I always take because the same places are always so beautiful. That is true, but I didn’t take any of those pictures today. It stopped raining very briefly when we were halfway between Acadia and Hug Point, so we took a drippy selfie, but it started back up again shortly after that so the cameras stayed stowed. And also I didn't see many of the beautiful places because I had my head down to keep the rain out of my eyes. But the temperature was actually perfect for walking, and we passed several people also pretending not to notice the weather was bad. It sounds kind of grim, but actually we were smiling and having a very good time.

By the time we got most of the way to the carriage road we had realized what you might have already figured out – the Hug Point parking lot is south of the carriage road, so we would be just as cut off from our car if the carriage road was inaccessible. As it turned out this was a very low tide so we were able to just walk on the beach in front of the carriage road, which is one of the places I would have taken a picture if it weren't raining. (Extra points for nice use of the subjunctive there). Dave headed up the beach to get the car (he said he’s never been happier that he always keeps a clean towel in his car – he was able to dry off like one hoopy frood.) while I continued down on the beach because I needed to complete the walk. When I got to the top he was just finishing hosing off, and my pants were so wet and sandy from the knees down that I just hosed them off too. Dave took a picture on the deck that was supposed to show how the back of my pants were dry while the front was wet, since we were walking into the wind, but by the time I got all the way home they were pretty much wet all around.

Dave took a shower and we headed to town for Pig’n. Tim was still sleeping & didn’t want to get up, which is fine because at Thanksgiving when we were in town we figured out how to Pig’n without him. The problem is that Dave wants toast AND hashbrowns AND pancakes with his bacon and eggs, and that is too much food if you order a side of any of those things. And I want 2 pigs in a blanket, but they come with 3. Usually Tim would eat my extra pig in blanket and Dave’s extra pancake, but we figured out that I can just give Dave my extra pig and its blanket, and he gives me 2 pieces of his bacon, and it’s fine. Which it was, except that the pancakes were undercooked in the middle. We should have sent them back, but I was starving.

After brunch we walked across the street to EVOO to pick up a loaf of bread, and then to Mariner Market to get some cheese to go with fruit salad. It was not raining, so Dave put the bread and cheese in the car and we walked up to the Cannon Beach distillery to do a tasting – they were tasting 2 rums and a gin, which all had interesting flavors. We always buy the Peters Family gin, but they were tasting the other one (Lost Buoy?) which is also very good. Dave bought a bottle of the dark rum for making hurricanes at home. I’d done my walk through town and Dave didn't feel the need to stop anywhere else, so we drove back to the house. Then we remembered that my car was still at Tolovana, so we drove back there. Then it was time for napping. I did mine in the brown chair. Dave sat outside and read. Tim ate leftovers.

Eventually it was time to be done napping and do some Nia. I worked on the last two songs of both Canta and Dreamwalker. I’m still having trouble even figuring the counting out for the last song of Canta – and that’s with Carlos counting alongside. Time for a quick shower and then I started to make the fruit salad for dinner, coinciding with the arrival of the Wilburys, who brought cherries, blueberries, and mangoes. I was quite pleased because the other fruit I bought way back on Monday morning got ripe at just the right time. Dave, Tim and Josh went down to the beach. When it was time to get dinner ready Jen & Tabetha helped to move the table into the living room, set it, and got the cheese and bread ready. It was fun to have a full table for fruit salad, and it’s the best view of any restaurant in the area.

After dinner Tim and Josh went to Osborne’s while the rest of us headed out to the Coaster Theater to see The 39 Steps. Tim hasn't been back to the Coaster since we saw the very strange version of Scrooge several years ago that had moaning ghosts in the aisles, and it’s a good thing he didn't choose tonight to try again because it was a very strange play. The blurb said it was a blend of Alfred Hitchcock and Monty Python, but it didn’t seem very funny or scary to me. Jen and Tabetha did some polite laughing, and Dave enjoyed it.

When we got home Josh and Tim had cleaned up from dinner so it was time for some game playing. First Jen and Tim sat out while the rest of us played Trouble. I won. Then Dave and I sat out while the kids played Pirates. It was fun to sit and listen to them. The game went on for a very long time and was hard fought, but as usual Josh was the dread pirate at the end of the game - and the winner. Well done!

Rain at inopportune moments

One of the great things about being here is that we sleep with the windows open so we can hear the ocean (and also so it’s cold, which I like). Last night we also heard lots of rain and wind – there was quite a storm. So when I woke up at 6:30 and thought about doing the walk from Indian beach, it didn’t seem very appealing. So I got up and went to yoga instead, which was warm and dry and very enjoyable. We did a lot of plank, which was maybe less enjoyable than it could have been. Also I forgot to mention that yesterday with Claire she pointed out that my hips aren’t level in downward dog, which I could feel as soon as she said it and am trying to be more aware of.

When I got back to the house Dave was down on the beach on a conference call (organizational changes at work), so I moved laundry from place to place and then put together 4 exercises for a BodyFit class focused on strength rather than cardio, which I then did with Dreamwalker in the background. (Cross body single arm snatch, lunges with torso rotation, clean and press squats, and get-ups), Instead of the abs section I did the last two songs of Dreamwalker, which made for a nice workout. While I did that, Dave continued to work on travel plans.

Once I was done and showered we woke Tim up and headed down to Manzanita for lunch at Bread and Ocean, a sandwich shop that’s been a favorite place for several years, and has also been for sale for much of that time. Dave had checked on the web to see if they were still open, and they were. But when we got there we found that they’d gutted their menu and all of the interesting sandwiches (like the very yummy Banh Mi) were gone, and all they had was cold sandwiches and really mediocre soup. So that was disappointing. Then we’d planned to walk around town a bit but while we were eating lunch it started to pour down rain. We were undaunted – after all, we’re Oregonians and we had rain jackets. So we put them on and headed up the street towards the Neah Kah Nie Bistro which we’d seen on the way in to town. It’s at the very top end of the street and by the time we got there we were completely soaked, and the menu and place didn’t look that interesting. We headed back down but it was pretty miserable, so Dave and I stopped in at a store I like while Tim went down to get the car. I found two blue dresses, blue earrings, and pirate earrings, so the whole trip was worth it. Also we passed a new dinner restaurant called Blackbird that looks very interesting and has very good yelp reviews (unlike the bistro, which apparently smells funny). We’re booked for our remaining nights here, but we will try it next time.

So we came back to the house for a resting afternoon with a fire in the fireplace, which is a very nice way to spend a cool rainy afternoon. Also more laundry, which is not so nice but has to be done. Dave and Tim had some quality time on the couch working on the growler of coffee stout that Dave got at Bill’s a couple days ago. Then suddenly it was time to get ready to go to the dinner show at EVOO, which is celebrating its 10^th year this year. We’ve been going there since 2007, when Dave & I went for dinner and loved it so much that we took the boys to their omelet class later that week. Neither boy has ever wanted to go before, but this year Tim said he’d like to try it, so the three of us went. Tonight’s highlight was a deconstructed pasta carbonara with purple kale, preserved lemon, and a lot of caramelized garlic and shallots. It had wonderful flavors and textures, and all of us chose it as our favorite course. A new thing is that you can now choose a beer pairing instead of the standard wine pairing, which I didn’t know when I made the reservation or Dave probably would have done it. For Tim they poured Vignette soda, which is grape soda made out of real wine grapes that is very flavorful and not too sweet. So while we were drinking Boedecker pinot noir, he was drinking pinot noir soda. The other thing I love about EVOO is that they always make a nut or seed brittle to go with dessert. Tonight it was almond; my favorite was when they made it with popcorn. I’m not a big fan of brittle generally, but I’m completely addicted to the fresh stuff.

The thing about the dinner show is that it says it is 3 hours, but it’s always closer to 4, so it was 10:00 by the time we got home. And it was pouring down rain when we left the restaurant, so we ended up getting pretty wet as we ran to the car which was parked in the lot behind the Coaster. But other than that it was a very good day, except we forgot to take pictures. So I’ve put in some pictures from earlier in the week… or before. 

Incoming!

We’d spent some time yesterday comparing tide tables and decided that the earlier low tide time was probably correct, and making a plan for Dave’s walk and my walk. But when it came time to actually get out of bed and put on the boots, only one of us made it. So Dave headed out to do the big walk into town and I slept in. Not for long – I was up in time to go in for the 9:00 yoga class, which only had two of us and was more focused on slow movements and alignment. Very good. When I got out from class Dave had made it to town and was sitting waiting at the whale. He had a very good walk but was feeling a little sore in the feet and ankle from yesterday, so he took the car and went back to the house to rest and get Tim while I stayed in town to do a little shopping. I got two very nice shrugs and two excellent pairs of capris for Nia and also some socks, because I forgot to bring socks that would work with my hiking boots and I am planning on trying for my big walk tomorrow.

It took a bit to wake Tim up – his nap from 6-9 last night kind of messed up his sleeping schedule, not to mention the effect of eating nearly entire package of Oreos. Eventually he woke up, and we met at Pizza a’fetta. It’s never been as good as the time we went there with Ben and Joan, but it’s still good. We had the #11 combo with added fresh garlic and it was very tasty but soggy on the bottom. While Dave and Tim were finishing the last two pieces I went to Bruce’s to check for salted caramels, which they had been out of when we went there last time. The first person I talked to said they were still out, but then I overheard another salesperson talking and it turned out they had them in the back, freshly made. They are so very good.

Then we went home and I had my first real nap of the vacation, on the bed with a throw blanket brought from home. Dave and Tim also napped. When we woke up, they did more work on the trebuchet and Tim went for a run to make sure he’d have room for dessert. I decided to see how much of Canta I remember, and I was excited to discover that I remember pretty much all of it. And more than that, I am hearing so much more in the music. I remember struggling to hear the changes in the first song, and even when I had the routine mostly down I was still unsure of several places in that song. Now they sound so obvious I find it hard to understand how I couldn’t have heard it. It was very fun.

Then Dave came in while I was stretching and did some work on travel plans for his sabbatical coming up in September, and I made our hotel reservations for Cousin Nate’s wedding, also coming up in September. It is good to be getting those things done. We would have gotten more things done but then it was time to head out to the Bistro. The motto for the Bistro used to be “Memorable meals of honorable mention” before it burned down. They rebuilt it, but it doesn’t have a slogan anymore. The meals are still memorable and it’s a very pretty space. Even though we didn’t get there until 7 it was still very light and bright, and I like the seascapes they have on the walls. I especially like the one in the women’s bathroom, and I wish Jen had come with us because I think she could do a nice reproduction for less than $1,400. Also their chocolate ganache pie with pecan crust is one of the best desserts in Cannon Beach, although the chocolate cake that Dave had gave it a run for its money. Tim had a roasted romaine salad that had more flavor in one bite that entire meals I’ve eaten at other places. Also Tim made up a calculus problem involving Rabbi Hillel and 7 sandwiches. And we had a very nice Arneis from Italy.

After dinner Dave and Tim finished putting together the trebuchet and tried shooting me with a sweet from Bruce’s. It missed, so I can’t say I was assaulted by caramel, although it was a salted caramel. Later on he had more success with a peanut butter and jelly flavored salt water taffy, although both times he hit me with it I was able to throw it back at him, bouncing it off the trebuchet box and hitting him. The trebuchet also has a tendency to fire backwards or up into the ceiling, but at least the taffies don’t disintegrate. Next stop: air cannon.

It was finally time tonight also for our first game of trouble, which Dave won easily – Tim and I weren’t even in the game. We finished it off and I won second. Then we played another game and I won and Dave came in second. So you can imagine that when we switched to farkle Tim was the most motivated, and in fact he did win, despite Dave calling him a chicken washer. After that we were exhausted and needed to retreat to our separate activities.

Don't Fight The Bike

The Wilburys stayed the night, and even though we didn’t get to bed until after midnight the girls and I got up early and were out the door at 7:40 to start our day with some yoga. Christen always seems to remember me and it was nice to bring friends to class. There were five students total, and the class was very enjoyable. We spent a lot of time on our bellies doing variations on cobra, which felt really good and was a good balance to all the spinal flexion I usually do. As always, I was surprised when it was time for class to be over. Jen and Tabetha seemed to enjoy it too. After class we went across the street to the Cannon Beach bakery to get muffins for them and chai all around. I don’t know about the muffins but the chai was way too sweet.

It's the Rock With A Hole In It, And Dave.

Meanwhile Dave had gotten up and walked to the Rock Wahii. He had a very nice walk except that he did it in his bare feet, which turned out not to be a great idea. Also meanwhile Josh and Tim had gotten up and headed in to town to meet us at the funcycles at 9:30. We didn’t get there until more like 9:40 because the bakery was very slow, but we there was no line and we were on the beach a little before 10 – the reciting of the rules and instructions on using the bike always take a long time. I had figured that Josh and Tim would take off and zoom down the beach while Jen & Tab & I came at a more leisurely pace, but as it turned out it was Tim and I who zipped out in front. I had brought my little purse with my camera in it and also my Bluetooth headset, so while we rode I placed a call to Bubby, AKA my original beach bike partner. Tim wasn’t sure it was ok to talk and drive, given that the beach is part of the Oregon highway system, but I figured I was hands free and good to go. Bubby and I were both impressed that I could talk and ride, given that the first time we rented the bikes all we could do was go in little circles. Now we all know not to fight the bike.

When Selfies Go Bad

Tim and I made it all the way down to the north end of the carriage road, but the tide was already too high to even try to get the bikes over. It had been too high a half an hour earlier when Dave had come through on his way back from the Rock Wahii so he’d had to wade a bit to get home. I tried to take a selfie of us on the bikes with the carriage road in the background but mostly it looks like I am photobombing myself. Oh well. We turned to head back and the rest of the gang caught up with us about 1/2 way down Arcadia Beach, and we had a nice ride back together. Josh and Tim alternated between calmly riding with us and riding very fast in circles around us.  I was very pleased to notice that I wasn’t at all tired at the end of the ride, and nothing hurt – in fact I could have gone on for another hour, except that the bowl of cacklin’ I ate before yoga was long gone and I was starving.

Fortunately we’d made a plan to meet Dave at Warren House for lunch, so I knew I wouldn’t be starving for long. Unfortunately in all of the taking out of the headset and camera from my purse my car key had made a leap for freedom and was gone. So I called Dave to bring the other key (which was the one with all my house, work, and exercise keys on it – I’d thought I might lose the one I brought) with him, and we all piled in to Jen’s car for the short ride to Warren House.

Warren House is my second favorite lunch spot – the mystique of the Bill’s burger eludes me, so it’s great that there’s another place in town to get Bill’s beer with a much larger and tastier menu. I tried the clams steamed in ale and they were very good, and almost everybody else got the beer cheese soup which was also very good – Jen had the Manhattan clam chowder which was good but not excellent. Then we ate in pairs – Rubens for Tim & Tabetha, smoked salmon salads for Jen and I, and tacos and nachos for Dave and Josh respectively.

We’d all made plans to go back in to town and do some window shopping, but after lunch the desire to nap was just too strong, so everybody ended up back at the house. The Wilburys left not long after, and the rest of us got into some reading and napping. While I was reading I saw something out of the corner of my eye and when I looked out the window it was a huge bubble. Dave and I spent some time looking for the source, because our whole beach seemed to be sending up bubbles. Eventually we figured out that they were coming from the next cove to the north, and the wind was carrying them around the corner and across the beach and up over the house. They were very big – some were a foot in diameter – and there were very many of them. It would have been really cool if it had been sunny, but it was pretty cool anyway. It went on for a very long time, because we all took naps and it was still happening when we woke up.

Tonight was the night when Dave and I went to the Stephanie Inn and Tim was supposed to have his home alone night. Which happened, except that he slept through it – he was asleep when we left, and asleep when we got back. He doesn’t seem to mind. The Stephanie Inn was very interesting. For starters, when we walked in at 7 it looked like a retirement home, both in décor and in the number of white-haired people there. Not necessarily a bad thing, but surprising. We got seated with menus, and then got left completely alone for about 15 minutes – no one came to take our order or offer us bread or anything. They used to use a team approach, where everybody waited on all the tables, and they seemed to sort of be doing that and sort of not. Eventually I caught someone’s eye and she apologized and sent our server over, who took our orders but didn’t apologize for the delay. Then the person whose eye I’d caught came by and whispered, “sorry for the delay”. The service was fairly attentive from that point on, and the food was very good. My asparagus en croute was especially memorable, although I would have called is asparagus eggs benedict on toast. I always come away a little confused from the Stephanie Inn – like I should have enjoyed it more than I did, or something.

It’s very odd to get home at 9 and have it still be light, but that’s what happened. We woke Tim up and he ate the leftover jambalaya from last night and half a package of oreos. The weather continues to be very cloudy, so no sunset tonight, but Dave used a sissy fire starter and made a nice fire. Oh, that reminds me of one big change – the axe is gone! I guess they’re worried about people cutting off their feet, or maybe someone already did. Anyway, tonight Tim decided it was time to build the trebuchet that Dave bought when we came to Bill’s for lunch on Father’s Day, so that gives me a whole day more to bask in the glow of my two wins at pepper last night. It is very quiet without the Wilburys.

Dinner with the Wilburys

Dave and I slept exceptionally well with the windows open and the sound of the ocean. Sleeping is one of my favorite things about BLH – it’s just one of the best places to do it. When we woke up- 8:30 for me, 9:30 for Dave – it was raining, so we had a slow morning until it was time to go to Bill’s for lunch. If we’d remembered pizza a’fetta we probably would have gone there, but we didn't, so we didn't. Thanks to Tim’s scruffy facial hair we were able to eat on the adult side of Bill’s, which means you don’t have to worry about getting a table and also frees up a table on the minors side – as Archibald Asparagus would say, good has been done here. Dave and Tim had burgers; I had the hummus plate which had many veggies but needed salt. They are not pouring the 2x4 but had a coffee stout which Dave really liked. I forgot to take a picture of Tim sitting in the grown up side of Bill’s, so maybe it didn't happen.

After lunch we picked up milk and tea at Mariner Market and then headed home. Dave and Tim took naps while I did the bars for Organ Grinder, the last song of the dreamwalker routine. Then I practiced teaching through the whole routine while Dave gave Java programming class to Tim. Now I have 3 whole Nia routines that I can teach, hooray! I just need to find people to teach them to.  Once Tim and Dave were done with programming class and I was done with Nia it was sort of clearing up so we all went down to the beach. Tim relearned how to skim board (he has to relearn it every year) while Dave walked to the carriage road. I went south down the beach to see the rock down there, and it had a couple starfish on it, which was exciting, although some of them did not look well. One of them had a ray that had detached and walked off, which apparently is a symptom of the disease. After I had checked out the starfish I walked up towards Hug Point. The water felt warmer than it did yesterday, so I waded out to mid-thigh and had a fun time. The further-out mushroom rock is also buried mostly up to its cap and has no starfish.

When I got back to our beach Dave and Tim were playing catch, but it was about time for us all to head up and get ready for dinner. So we did. It’s really nice to have two showers, although we did it in series, so we still don’t know whether you can take showers at the same time. We’d made reservations at Castaways at 8, but they called about 7:15 to say our table was ready. Josh, Jen, and Tabetha (the Wilburys) arrived a few minutes after they called, and we headed out.

Castaway’s Restaurant and Tiki Bar is probably our favorite restaurant in Cannon Beach – great food and drinks in a fun atmosphere. We set out to try every drink on the menu and didn't do too bad a job. Josh had the maker’s sour and dark ‘n’ stormy, which are ok. Tabetha had the strawberry mint mojito and heaven in a glass, both very good. Jen had the strawberry lemonade and Oregon berry cooler, also both good. Dave had a hurricane and a midtown muddle – I liked the muddle better. I had the zombie which I totally did not like (Dave finished it) and the attitude adjustment which was my favorite. The tuna appetizer had been taken off the menu, which was sad, but they had a hamachi sashimi appetizer on special which was really, really good. Tim had the special, Mediterranean mac & cheese, which is worth a mention here. The rest of us ordered off the menu and ate with great enjoyment – the food is really good there. We split two brownie sundaes – one with vanilla ice cream and one with coconut – and even though everyone said they were too full to eat more than a bite both disappeared very quickly. Our server remembered us from one of our previous visits and was very good, and we were the last ones out. The chef/owner took a photo of us.

When we got back to the house Dave and Tim made a fire while I worked on the blog and the Wilburys went down to the beach. Then it was time to play some pepper. Faithful readers will recall that pepper is the game that I do not win, and with 6 people I figured there would be plenty of winning not to do. But then I won not just once but twice, and the second time I won it was the very long game that went on forever and then, did I mention, I won it! The first time I had to do the dance of joy for an extended period, but the second time we were all just grateful that the game was finally over.

Here’s what the take away is from today: it is worth having children, because then they grow up and bring friends and spouses to go to dinner and play pepper.

It Begins

We've been coming the week before Labor Day for the past several years, so it’s odd to be here this early in the summer, and even odder to have it stay light until almost 10 . Another strange thing about this year’s trip is that it is a Monday-Monday adventure.  So after a wonderful day yesterday that started with downtown Nia with Kelle Rae Oien leading the routine “Feeling”, of which she is a co-creator, and ended with the wedding of Breanna and Mitch Davis, I hit the ground running this morning with a well-attended BodyFit class and an hour of working on Dreamwalker. When I got home it was work, work, work until we left for the house at 2:45 – somehow it took more time than it has in other years. Also we forgot many things. Fortunately Josh, Jen, and Tabetha are came out for dinner and are brought many of them. Jen even guessed correctly about which two belts to bring, which sounds much less impressive than it is.

We ran into nasty traffic on the way here; there are two bridges under construction (MP 16 and MP 4) so it took an extra half so. But we remained calm – Tim and Dave in Dave’s car, and I in mine. The big excitement is always to see what has changed, and this year it’s pretty much… nothing. Given that last year we had the gigantic change of going from one bathroom to two, this is kind of nice. When we got here the tide was out, so after unloading and unpacking Dave and I headed down to the beach. This may be the quickest I’ve ever gotten to what I know is my faithful readers’ most awaited blog section: the path and sand report. The path is pretty much unchanged from last year, which means that the bouncy bridge is still bouncy and a little scary. It’s not too overgrown, but then we’re here much earlier in the summer than usual. The sand level is generally high, especially at Hug Point where the dog photographing rocks are completely buried, as is the base of the close in mushroom rock near the waterfall (which is low). The big things is that there are no – 0 – starfish. Maybe one, Dave couldn't tell for sure. This is due to sea star wasting syndrome and it’s not good.

We walked out to the tip of the carriage road, noting the high sands and lack of starfish (note to self – it’s worth carrying shoes to Hug Point). We hung out there for a few minutes while my feet recovered, and then the random sprinkles we had been pretending not to notice got tired of being ignored and got more serious, so we headed back. Tim meanwhile had been enjoying his first nap of the vacation. The house has a unique and pleasant smell, unchanged over the years, and I think that after coming here for so long our whole selves are tuned in to that smell and it causes instant relaxation.

Josh, Jen, and Tabetha got here around 7:30 and Jen and Tabetha immediately headed down to the beach and came right back up. After a short pause for picture taking in which we separated people by what letter their name starts with, we headed over to the Irish Table, where we ate way too much food for two hours. We got to sit at the big round table in the front room under the chandelier which has many small metal elk heads. It was after 10 by the time we got home, so no games tonight, although Dave did try to cut off my head with his quad copter. While I worked on the blog and Dave watched a video about William Shatner and Alton Brown, Tim worked on writing a program that creates randomly sized arrays and then finds their min and max. Whatever it takes to relax.

The things we forgot were all things we would normally have remembered, so I’m not going to list them here.