Seaside Revisited

From 2d Site at Seaside

This is what we saw from our windshield at Seaside, on the second visit.  This site is on the North side of the resort which is split into the two sections.  This side has the facility that houses the cafe and the indoor swimming pool/spa, tennis courts.  You can't see them from here, this is at the extreme rear of the sector.  

One reason there has been such a lag since our last input is that here at Whaler's Rest near Newport, there is a really weak Verizon connection.  Several days ago we put up an external antenna on a length of plastic pipe vised to the slide out, coupled with a booster that has helped us get a good enough signal to upload our photos.  We had the original antenna ripped off the rig by trees when we were down in the Gold Country in California.  It was on a permanent mount on the passenger side.  Thinking of keeping this one stored away until we need it, like we do here, to keep it from getting torn off.  The disadvantage is that it won't be available to Eloise if we are driving through a weak area for an extended time.  I'm thinking of far West Texas for example, where Verizon hasn't made many inroads.  Still, for us anyway, Verizon is hands down the best all around coverage for phone and internet (MiFi) in the places we travel.   

On our way here from Circle 8 we stayed a couple nights at a Coast To Coast park where we were privileged to meet Frannie and Lionel Brown.

Huge cat of Frannie's

Lionel and Frannie by their Allegro Bus

This was a cute couple that we had lots of fun with in a short time.  They enjoy playing board games, and we introduced them to one called "Aggravation".  I think they had a love/hate relationship with the game, but we provided a contact for them to order their own game.  Did you get it yet, Lionel?

Crab Shell

Did you know that crabs shed their entire shells, including eye sockets making a perfect empty crab shell? 





 Somewhere in my computer are lots of pictures that I have no earthly idea how to connect with!  Some of them dealt with the Japanese submarine attack on Oregon near Ft Stevens June 21, 1942.  Some Americans don't know that the Continental US was actually fired upon during WWII. 
Shells were lobbed onto the mainland, but inflicted little damage.  Ft Stevens had their 6" guns at the ready, but the Fort did not return fire, in fact were actually ordered by the brass not to return fire.  I can't imagine why, and nothing we could find explained why that was.  This is a replica of the guns that were on duty here during the war:  

6" Rifle at Ft Stevens, OR

Here, Gary looks the canon over.  It appears that if it was fired it would take out half the wall, but that's because it is mounted on a "disappearing" mount.  When it is fired, the gun is raised into the air.  Just left of Gary is the sighting and adjustment mechanism.

On the beach in the Ft Stevens State Park is this old shipwreck.  It's name is lost with my pictures !!

Gary goes after another couple of caches.  We made a dent, but there's still plenty more caches we didn't have time to get to.  Right now we have found a total of just less than 2400.  That isn't many compared to others, some of whom have many, many thousands.  When we started in 2009 there were 3/4 million world wide.  Now there are more than 2 million!!

Since a lot of photos in this area are among the missing, this will be a short update.  I'll leave you with a couple shots taken down the coast from the Seaside vicinity.

Circle 8 A-1 Square Dance Week Jul 21-25

The view from our site at the Circle 8 Campground near Roslyn, WA

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What a terrific time!  Mike Sikorsky's 1-week crash course of Advanced-1 Square Dance level at Cle Elum, WA.  There were 5 couples attending...and we all graduated!  Even though we had been taught all of the moves in the winter in Mesa, it was still a tough learning experience.  My opinion is that Mike exposed us to more positions than we had had previously.  All the couples in the class had had at one time full or partial instruction in A-1 which made the class go rapidly.  All the moves were finished by Wednesday noon, and we could perform as if at an A-1 dance that evening and Thursday.   

July 2013 Class of Sikorsky's A-1 Week

 This is the crew.  Everyone got along splendidly, and we were all in the same boat, trying to learn something when we're old!  I'll introduce them in a little bit.

Mike Sikorsky - Caller/Teacher

This full-hookup park was really nice.  There was a small lake here.  Eloise and I climbed into a canoe at lakes edge and paddled around it a couple times.  In addition to the canoe there was a row-boat (currently upside down a little way out--still don't know if that was vandals or a prank by some kids), and some floats that were all free for the use of the campers.  Eloise picked a pan of wild black raspberries (the blackberries aren't ripe yet), and we've been spooning them into our oatmeal at breakfast. Yummy! She got pretty beat up from the vines, but seemed pleased with her haul.  We pulled into the park on Sunday afternoon and our first class was that evening. 

This is Byron and Lorraine from Billings, MT.  They are also round dancers.

     This is Mark and Irene Morgan from Chico, CA
They had some trouble with their refrigerator and had to extend their stay here.  We have had a report that it is fixed, and their LP leak also repaired. 

  This is Monique and Harmon van Bergen.  They are from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Monique is or was a caller.  She hasn't been doing much calling lately. 

This is Ron and Nancy.  We are not clear now (over 24 hours!) exactly their location.  We danced with them in Mesa, AZ but she had been talking about living in Eugene, OR. 








     It was a terrific experience.  We have discussed coming back next year for the A-2 class, but as yet undecided for several reasons.

While there we had time to visit the surrounding area.  A trip to Roslyn was mandatory!  We loved the short-lived show called Northern Exposure that was filmed partly here in Roslyn.  Remember the opening set-up where a moose walks down the street.  Well, that was right here.  Anyone else remember the show?

 

 This is the famous Roslyn Cafe

And...This is the 'not so famous Roslyn Brewing Company.  This picture included for our good friends Jim and Peg who love micro-brews!  Us, not so much, but enjoy going with them for their company.

Roslyn has a coal mining history.  The above photo is an actual electric horse that pulled trams up out of the mine.  There is a geocache hidden around this area.  We also trudged up a huge pile of slag that was outside town to another cache.  We had a really great time while working hard at the Circle 8. 

Chehalis Thousand Trails

Before we arrived at the square dance hall, we spent a few days at Chehalis, WA., at a Thousand Trails park.

This sturdy little church was built in 1856 with hand-forged nails and lumber sawed in a water wheel powered mill doubled as the Claquato Academy.  The bronze bell in the belfry came around Cape Horn from Boston, MA in 1857.  When the railroad bypassed Claquato, most of the town moved 3 miles east to Chehalis.

Claquato City Marker

Chehalis is an interesting town, built along the Old Oregon Trail.

 Here's a rare picture of Mt. Ranier without the clouds surrounding the top!

   And...another.  We had a difference of opinion about which one to upload, and I decided to post them both.  So which do you prefer?  (This one's better, yes?)



 We enjoyed biking on the "rails to trails" system, there were lots of caches along the way, and the weather was kind.  One of the caches was on a very, very long bridge that is actually closed.  It had no  deck, just the ties.  It was called "Psycho Vertigo training center", it lived up to its name.  The ties were rotting so care was needed.  And the cache was over the water.  Gary found it and was afraid he was going to drop the container into the river so he was very careful.   Lots of places to explore and bunches of geocaches to find.  Until next time, keep dancin'