Every around this time I have just spent a month running back and forward from the trailer and the house getting the trailer ready for our 5 month journey down south. This year everything was different. I no longer have a ‘house’ or should I just say the trailer is now my house. So instead of loading it up, I spent much less time taking some things out and leaving them in our garage. It was much easier and I could get used to this kind of ‘leaving’.
We had a wonderful, busy, exciting summer but we were looking forward to a holiday for the first time since we retired. We left Lake Roosevelt on Friday morning and traveled to Omak. We had to get some stuff at Walmart so by the time we got there it was late in the day. We just parked the trailer in the lot and stayed the night. It was much warmer there so in spite of some rain it was very pleasant. In fact I made the best of things by picking a bouquet of very red leaves in the parking lot.
Our goal was to arrive in Winthrop the next day and wait for our families to arrive for our pre-Christmas get together. We were the first to arrive and got settled in a Campsite in the small town. We had rented a condo for the weekend but we thought it might as well be the start of our trip since we were going to the Oregon coast.
Everyone else was there by 5 o;clock and the party began. We were in charge of supper that night and I made spaghetti and meatballs. With salad and garlic bread. Of course we had wine. We packed it in early and Dale and I went back to our trailer. The campsite lady warned us that if we didn’t have our dogs leashed that the deer in the town were very aggressive toward dogs, large or small and they could injure a pet. Not the usual warning but we heeded it and made sure we weren’t bothered by the attack deer. Though I have to admit I would love to have seen Gracie’s expression when instead of running from her she would get chased. It might have cured her for life from chasing deer.
The next day we all met for breakfast, my daughter and son in law’s turn. They served Eggs Benedict and fruit salad and bacon. Not bad! We all went down town to browse through the stores. Winthrop is a year round destination point for tourist. They have skiing, cross country and downhill, snowmobiling and such in the winter and camping, fishing, hiking and horseback riding in the summer. It has all the favorite tourist amenities, lots of overnight lodging, restaurants, hotels, shops and much more. It’s kind of a tourist trap, but why not?
Later, we started our Slow Eating Program. For starters I made Dates, stuffed with goat cheese and feta with a selection of condiments for a topping. (Ginger spread, whiskey marmalade and Mango preserve. Then served a romaine heart Caesar salad. For our entree we my son made Prudhomme’s cheese and hot pepper chicken. A favorite of ours. For dessert my daughter served chocolate cheesecake and/or raisin carrot cake. All courses were served with the appropriate wine or juice. It was a great evening with lots of laughs. The condo had the odd name of “the Gaelic Goat” While shopping at Walmart I spied a clearance rack with tee shirts with a very large goat on the front. So I bought one for each of us. What a hoot.
We said our goodbyes the next morning and we all headed out , them to go home and us to go to the Oregon coast. As we got neared the weather warmed considerably. It went from about 33 degrees to 55 degrees. We Stayed at Nehalem Bay and bought some very expensive Crab for supper. $12.95 a pound and that was cheaper than the grocery stores who were charging $19.95 a pound. We made two meals out of it so it wasn’t all that bad. The next day we drove down to Tillimook and the Cape Lookout Campground. I was in the trailer and the road, though paved, was very rough. By the time we got to the ocean I had been barraged with falling plates, hats and books, not to mention drawers emptying left and right. What a ride. But the sight of the ocean made it all OK.
After a couple of days going to the cheese factory and other spots we are ready to head down to Bandon. It rained very hard yesterday afternoon and all night. The sun broke through for an hour or two but the sea was angry and boiling. The waves came up the beach walk about half way. In spite of that Gracie went for a long walk down the beach. We spotted a couple of seal frolicking in the high surf as happy as can be.
The weather doesn’t bother them.
Until next time,
Travlin’ Gal