This year started out as the wettest one we have experienced while living in Coos Bay. It actually started in December and the end of the year brought flooding to some areas of the city and the highest tides we have ever seen here. We take Buddy to an area called the Empire Docks almost every day for a run. We have to check the tide tables every time we go to see if there will be any beach to let him run on. At low tide, the water is out almost to the large channel marker. At high tide, there is normally no beach to walk him on as the water touches the rocks near the shore. But, at the end of December, the water touched not only the rocks, but the deck of the pier that is normally several feet above the high tide level. It also raised the docks at the boat launch area so they were almost above the parking lot. The parking lot was flooded and the storm drain in one area was under about 4 inches of water. It was a strange feeling to watch the water make its way across the parking lot as the tide continued to rise while we were watching.
If you look at the white tips on the columns holding the docks in place you can see how high the water was back in late December. The picture on the left was taken near low tide on 2-25-06.
Water is lapping at the bottom of the pier here and had actually receded a little when we took this photo. The pier is normally five feet or more above the water level at high tide.
Last year we had a little over 7 inches of rain in Januray. The average rainfall for January is supposed to be 10.5 inches. This year we had just over 18 inches of rain in January! It has slowed down in February which isn't hurting our feelings one little bit.
At the beginning of February we hosted our 2nd Annual Super Bowl White Elephant party. It was pretty much the same folks who came last year and we had just as much fun. People were way too polite with the white elephants - only one was stolen. Some of them were pretty funny too. Janet got a golf club which she tried out for the first time on Feb 12th. After not playing any golf since mid December she hit it a "country mile" and was thrilled. A styrofoam mallard that was first seen at last year's party made a reappearance. We think he will probably be at every party we host though he may be joined by some other "interesting" items we saw this year.
And once again, a good time was had by all and we plan on doing it again next year!
And then there was the annual crab feed at Charleston. This year we met up with a couple of friends - Louise and Bernie and we all stuffed our faces with lucious Dungeness crab. It's not helping us keep on our diets, but oh is it good!
This is about how it looks a couple of hours after high tide. This is what we try for when we take the dog to the bay.
March rolled in more like a lion than February was. We a fair amount of rain but more interestingly, just before June's birthday we had a couple of days with quite a bit of hail, a little snow and some rain all mixed together. It was enough to set on the road, but it didn't last too long because it didn't stay cold.
The day before June's birthday, we got a call from the car dealer that we have purchased several vehicles from. Janet had asked him to be on the lookout for another car for her. He thought he had one she would like, but it was pre air bag vintage and she didn't want one without air bags. We both spotted another car on the lot - a nice Buick Century. We took it for a drive and it was love at first site. It is now residing on the left side of our garage, right next to what appears to be its little sister. I suppose since this car is a '99, it is indeed the big sister. It has a great ride and we will probably use it for a lot of our short range trips. The mileage of the Civic hybrid will probably still win out on the long hauls.
June's birthday was sunny, but crisp - no golf this year! But she was playing with her haul of new "toys" anyway. Some new clothes, a tide clock, a weather center and most fun of all, a new iPod. She spent the day figuring out how that worked. It was tough as you can tell from the picture of how she usually plays with her computer - yup - in bed. She saved a couple of CDs on her computer and then she discovered iTunes. Janet may have created a monster. June has downloaded three albums on the first day alone. Oh my. Now when she takes the dog for a walk, she can listen to tunes while Buddy listens to whatever it is he likes. Oh yes, we also went out for an absolutely wonderful dinner at a nearby restaurant called "Hilltop". They have a wonderful view of the bay as you can see in the background of the shot.
And here we are - Buddy and I - starting our morning walk and I'm all wired up with my new iPod. Neil Diamond - let er rip!
April brought more showers and also Janet's birthday. Coming up with some gifts for her that were as neat as what I received was a challenge, but I did my best. She is always talking about how she is never cold and that she doesn't care for it when people ask her where her coat is, so I got her a customized tee shirt - hoping people won't ask her about being cold any more!
We spent her birthday playing golf and also visiting the new wing of the Discovery Center in Reedsport where a favorite artist of ours has new murals on display. We also went in search of Pizza Hut Pan Pizza - a favorite of ours and something no longer easy to come by in Coos Bay - our Pizza Hut closed last year. The nearest one is 50 miles north but for a birthday dinner it wasn't far at all.
The rest of spring passed quietly - we have been preparing for our trip to England. An unexpected turn of events occurred though - Janet auditioned for Jeopardy! She took an online test in May and found out she passed. They wanted her to come to Portland in late June, but we will be on our trip to England at that time. So she emailed them and asked if there were any alternatives. They said she could come to San Francisco on June 12th, so that's what we did.
We took the opportunity to visit Janet's brother Jim and see his new place. An unexpected treat was a cookout with his two sons and their mom (Jim's ex) at Jim's. Janet was instrumental in helping Jodi with Gavin's arrival some 20 years ago, so it was great for them to be able to visit again. With Gavin just home from college for the summer and Trevor graduating from high school in a week, there was lots to celebrate and a good time was had by all.
We left for the tryout Monday morning and spent the day hanging out in the vicinity of the hotel where the audition was to be held. Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch. Janet found out less than 10% of the people who took the online test passed it and not all of them were invited for the interview. At the end of the process all they were told is if they don't get a call in the next 12 months, take the audition again. No guarantees. She's glad she did it and wants me to try it next, but I have to say, I'm not sure I'll pass it - I'm really not as good on Jeopardy as Janet is. I'm just thrilled to say I know someone who got to audition for Jeopardy and maybe, before the year is out, I can say I know someone who appeared on Jeopardy!!!!
About a week after we returned home from the Jeopardy audition we left on our long awaited trip to England. There are two separate pages devoted to that and you can go there by clicking the link (words in blue in this paragraph).
In early August, after our return from across the pond, we decided to go camping. Janet has always loved to camp. I've been less enthusiastic mostly due to a bad experience when I was a Girl Scout. But I didn't want to be left behind so we made plans for two days at a campground about 20 miles north of here. We found out they have electric available at all the sites now and we therefore made preparations including our coffee pot and an electric lamp along with our lap top computers. When you add in the nice air mattresses they have now - not the things we used to float around on in the lake or pool - camping is looking alot more luxurious than when I went as a scout.
We put up the tent in the driveway to see if we still had all the pieces and discovered that it was getting pretty old so we figured this would be the last trip for this tent but it would serve us once more. Originally we planned for a Monday and Tuesday figuring the campgrounds would be less crowded than the weekend. The weather prediction for Monday included the possibility of thunderstorms so we delayed one day. Tuesday was a bit foggy, but by the time we got there the sun was coming out and it was promising to be lovely. We brought along our eight foot rowboat/sailboat. We've had that since 1999 and only used it two other times. With a lake adjacent to the campground we figured this would be an ideal time to take it out for voyage number three.
Of course we brought Buddy along. He is a pretty good camper, having gone last year with Janet when she decided to go off for a few days in the woods. He proved himself worthy to the task once again and within a day had established his new territory which means he barked at any dogs that went by. He was good when we took him for a walk though - minding his own business which, considering the size of some of the dogs, was a wise choice. He did manage to get pretty dirty over the two days - digging around and laying in the dirt even though we provided him with lots of grass mats. A dog is a dog - that's all you can say about that. Amazingly, each morning he seemed cleaner - like it just fell off of him, but he got a bath when we got home anyway.
The adventure really began on day two. We went over to the lake to go sailing. It took us a few minutes to get the boat rigged, but it really is pretty easy. I took it out first. There was a pretty good wind, and after getting myself situated I was going back and forth in this one area pretty well. It appeared as though there was more lake hidden from view if I could just go a little farther in one direction, but every time I tried, I had trouble with the wind so I finally gave up so Janet could have a turn. The boat is only 8 feet and not big enough for the two of us at once. I told Janet I couldn't get past this one point and I guess she took that as a challenge. She headed off in that direction and did get past the area I was having trouble in. She got over to the far shore and disappeared around the bend. I figured in half an hour or so, she would be back so I could have another turn. I'd see her appear and head back only to turn and disappear again. This went on for quite a while and I finally went back to the car to get some binoculars and see what was going on. The next time I saw her, I could see her paddling. She couldn't get back through that dead spot. There were no other boats around, power or otherwise, that I could ask for help. Finally a couple of people appeared who were going out in kayaks so I asked if they would paddle over because I thought she was in trouble. They did and everyone disappeared around the bend. Now what? I also looked on a map to see what shape the lake is and discovered it is sort of a U shape with a bit of a dip on the right side of the U that made it longer - like the tail in printing. Janet was in the tail. Then I saw a row boat with an outboard motor head down that way - they had evidently seen the boats and wondered if there was a problem.
At some point in all of this, one of the kayaks got too close and Janet capsized. She had a life jacket on so that wasn't a problem, but now they needed to get the sail and mast undone and try to haul everything in. Eventually they had to cut one rope, but got everything salvaged. Prior to the arrival of all the rescuers, Janet had thought she'd tie the boat up and try to walk back to the boat launch area through the woods. About now a man appeared out of the woods, some sort of ranger and he informs her, "Oh, you can't sail through that area." She replied, "Well, a sign would have been nice." Janet was having trouble getting in the row boat but everyone was insistent that she should so this guy waded out in the water and helped hoist her in. Of course all of this is how she reported it to me. I was back at the boat launch area wondering what the heck was happening. Eventually, the kayaks reappeared and then the row boat with the sail boat in tow. This was probably about two hours after Janet initially took off and needless to say, it was the end of our sailing adventure. Thank goodness for the rowboat couple who went to see if they needed help. We said thank you once again to everyone involved, loaded up the boat and headed back to camp so Janet could get out of those wet clothes. Anyone else would have been shivering, but she wasn't cold - just wet.
Janet is now ready to sell the sailboat but she wants to get a rubber raft that is big enough to put an electric trolling motor on. That way we can both have the adventure at the same time but we'll also have a way to get back when we can't row anymore. We'll see... We have a raft already that we took up there last summer.
So Thursday morning we got up, sang "Taps" to the tent and then we took it down and pitched it in the dumpster. When we got home, Janet wanted to wash the camp stove and when she got done it fell off the counter and the plastic knobs shattered. It was old and getting rusty so we pitched that too. Saturday (after some Internet research and a "looking expedition" the day before) we bought a new tent and camp stove. We put the tent up in the garage to see how that worked and it's really nice - bigger than the old one. We have two blow up mattresses and those really made the trip luxurious - didn't feel like I was sleeping on the ground at all. But in the old tent there was no room to move around. Now there will be plenty. So we're going to go camping for another two days at the end of the month (without the boat though). Janet is thrilled - only taken 44 years for me to get the camping bug. We think we'll go to a campground near Bandon and I believe you can rent kayaks there, so maybe we can give those a try if the weather is decent. Now that we know there is electric in the campgrounds, etc. and how nice that is, we'll also take our small microwave - all the comforts of home - especially popcorn.
And Rescued...
Janet heading off to explore
June gets under way
Hand me that thig a ma jig...
We're going sailing, we're going sailing!
Our 2nd camping trip was to Bullard's State Park which is just north of Bandon. We had a great time with our new tent and campstove now both broken in. We went golfing at Face Rock which is a public course we had played once before. We didn't think we cared for it too much the first time, but couldn't remember why until we got out there with our power cart. What sort of image do you get from driving over moguls in a power cart? Yup - pretty darn bumpy. Hopefully we'll remember why we didn't care for it a couple of years from now when we have the bright idea of playing there again!
We spent a little time at the beach admiring the huge piles of driftwood. Janet says you'd never see that in California because people scavenge the beach for driftwood after every storm. It makes great kindling so we took a few small pieces back for our campfire - got to cook the hotdogs on the open flame ya know.
We also made our annual pilgrimage to the Wildlife Park south of Bandon and got to pet the new crop of youngsters. That is always a good time. Coupled with a several wonderful meals in local restaurants and some window shopping we ended this camping trip and look forward to the next one. Imagine that!
We thought we would get camping again before the rainy season set in, but this was not the case. School started and the next thing we knew, the holidays were rolling on by. Halloween was a bust because we both had to work. More candy for us!
A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving we got a call from Janet's brother, Tom. We had invited them to our house for Thanksgiving this year after a wonderful time at theirs last year. They were calling to tell us they were coming. So we made preparations for a full blown Thanksgiving dinner. I also figured I'd give them pasta on Wednesday since they were getting to town then. Janet's brother, Jim, also made it up from California. Unfortunately, the pictures from T-day didn't turn out as well as the ones from the day before so you'll note the pasta rather than the turkey on the plates. Better luck next year with the camera. I discovered a setting that was wrong and it messed things up, but I have it fixed now!
Making the Under the Sea Salad required a little dance.
I actually cooked the turkey on Wednesday to try and make things easier on myself. That worked well except for the camera on Thursday!
Tom, Lee (Leeann's brother) and Jim
June and Charlie
Lee's wife didn't speak English so I didn't get her name, but she is here with Tam and Leeann. She and Lee only stayed the one night and left Thursday morning to see their family in Oregon City.
We're in Jim's football pool so we watched the games in our shirts. The season started out well, but lately we've been doing poorly with our picks.
Jim kept people up on events with his laptop. Max, our cat, thinks laptops sound like his mother so he snuggled right up to Jim. He likes men in general, but one with a laptop is a special treat!
Janet's brother, Tim, arrived about 1:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving day. We were expecting him aroung 7:00 a.m., but he decided to wait until it got light to make the drive from Hillsboro. We all had too much to eat and ended up vegging out in front of the TV.
Of course once Thanksgiving arrives, Christmas can't be too far behind. I asked Janet what she wanted, she didn't know. She asked me and I didn't know. So I asked her if she would like to go to Kansas to visit her family in lieu of buying gifts that we didn't need or want. She was thrilled so we planned a trip immediately after the term ended. We asked our friend, Judy, who looked after Buddy when we went to England, if she would dog sit. We said we'd bring him there and fly out of Sacramento. That meant we could visit her for a few days so she was excited at the prospect. Looking back on it, I'm not so sure she'd say yes today since Buddy chased her cat, Shasta, without mercy. But he got along well with Tahoe and everyone did survive.
We helped Judy decorate her Christmas tree though stupid me - I didn't take a photo of the finished product! Judy's son, Dan, and his family came over to visit and Janet had a great time catching up with them.
We left Judy's house for Sacramento on Wednesday the 13th and got into Baxter Springs around 9:00 that evening. After checking into our motel, we went over to see the family and meet Laura's new husband, Doug, We had two shots - one that I took and one that Jerry took so I doctored this one (below) to get us all in it. Can you tell where?
We spent a little time catching up on things, including our email, on our first night's visit and then made plans for Thursday. Dean and Maxine Horton said they would drive down from Topeka for the afternoon for a family reunion. They are cousins that Janet has gotten to know more since beginning her genealogy. We've met with them a couple of times and they have been most gracious so it was fun to be able to entertain them for a change. Doug and Jerry both had to work, but we gals went out to lunch with Dean and Maxine and had a nice visit.
Baxter Springs is on the original Route 66 and we went to a restaurant in an old bank. There is also a bed and breaskfast above the bank. Jeanne asked if we wanted to stay there, but we said we'd prefer a motel. Once we saw it, we were very glad because it would have required a lot of up and down stairs - no fun with my knees!
Friday Laura, Jancy and I went shopping in Joplin. We had a few more presents to buy and Laura took us out to lunch in this great steak house (that I don't know the name of ). We didn't realize Joplin is as big as it is. Baxter Springs is kind of neat because it is in the corner of Kansas and you're just a few miles from three other states. There really aren't too many places like that.
Friday night we had Pizza Hut Pizza. We love Pan Pizza and the closest Pizza Hut to us is 50 miles north so this was a real treat. Then we went to see a light show in Carthage, MO. It was at a Vietnamese Catholic Church. It is an elaborate display of biblical stories, not just the Christmas story, and very nice.
For example, this is Moses parting the Red Sea.
Saturday we had our Christmas with lots of gift opening, food and just a good time in general. Everyone got lots of neat gifts and thanks to Laura lending us an extra bag, we got everything home with us in one piece, in spite of two bags being examined by the Feds.
We couldn't believe how mild it was in Kansas - the temperature broke 70 one day. We were glad we didn't have to drive in snow and we saw piles of melting snow in parking lots from a storm only the week before. We really lucked out with the weather all around - it was warm in Nevada City where Judy lives too. Only a week later travelers would be getting stuck in Denver so we're grateful we went when we did.
Sunday we flew back to Sacramento. We missed our connection in Salt Lake City but got put on a flight that left there at 9:05 so we had a few drinks and dinner in a Dick Clark's American Bandstand restaurant. When we ordered the drinks, the waiter asked to see our IDs. We thought he was joking, but he said no, we were in Utah now and that is the law. So we pulled out our IDs and showed them. I'm not sure if he was really checking birthdates or just that we had IDs. But we had a nice dinner and got to watch the football though once again we weren't doing well in our pool.
Buddy was ecstatic to see us. We never thought we would see him react and be so happy to see us. He had done fine at Judy's and when we came back from England, we didn't remember him being nearly this crazy but he was overjoyed to see us. I imagine Shasta was overjoyed too - that we would get this dog out of his house - but we never did see Shasta again.
Monday we left for Jim's in San Ramon. We went out to dinner with him; his son. Trevor; Trevor's pal, Dex; and Jody, Trevor's mom. We went to a sushi place and those that like that sort of thing had that. I had a noodle dish. Thank goodness they brought me a fork for the noodles or I'd still be sitting there trying to eat them with chopsticks!
Trevor regaled us with some of his comedy routines. He is definitely going to end up in some career connected to show business. We finally got to see some of his proofs for his modeling career. Holy smokes - is this the same little boy who couldn't sit still when I first met him 10 years ago? Wow!!! He is naturally funny too and has done a little stand up locally. He's born to the business - no question.
Tuesday we went to the Monterey Aquarium. We've been there before, but not for several years and they have made some nice improvements not to mention having the only Great White Shark that has ever survived in captivity on display. This is the 2nd one they have had and it's not very old or very big - maybe 7 feet, but it is rare. Some of the tuna in the tank appeared to be bigger than this fish, but still, what a treat to see him or her. And then of course there are the remarkable jellies and our favorites- the sea otters. We had a good day before heading back to Jim's.
The white fish near the surface is the great white. The four under it are tuna. Other sharks in the tank stayed near the bottom. The great white stays near the surface. I suppose is it the difference in the species.
Update: The great white was released back to the ocean on 1/16/07 so we were lucky to see him when we did!
The jellies are always so graceful and the background music they play is mesmerizing.
Janet got captured by a giant clam. I played with a penguin. They had South African penguins on display and having just been to see "Happy Feet" we were both enchanted by them. They have improved the children's exhibits and we really enjoyed them.
The next day we started on our way home. We drove past an area noted for its elk. On this day, they were right up by the road and there were actually a couple in the road! They are magnificent animals and it is such a treat to see them in the wild.
When we got home on Thursday afternoon we had been gone 12 days and put over 1500 miles on the car, not to mention whatever the miles were flying and then driving in Kansas. We had a good trip and stopped off on the final leg of our adventure to walk Buddy in Mingus Park and see the new bridge that has been built for the Japanese Garden there. It is very nice. Recently there has been an egret and a heron that have taken up residence in the park but they were being shy on this particular visit.
Buddy enjoyed his walk around the park, but it was a quick one because all we wanted to do was to get home and stretch out in our own nice beds with our computers and catch up on our email. We had a great trip though and it was an excellent way to spend an early Christmas.
For the real day, we spent a quiet day at home with a leisurely breakfast of sausage and biscuits and then we opened our stockings. We decided to keep our own celebration small, but we had a good time with those and each got some nice things.
Merry Christmas!
The last chapter for 2006 is New Year's Eve. For the first time since we have lived here, we had a party to bring in the New Year. We have gone out a few times - two years ago we went to play Bingo, last year we went to another couple's house for party bridge. This year we decided we would host a dinner and evening of party bridge so we invited the same folks we played with last year. We all got together for a relaxing dinner where the highlight, at least for us, was a trifle dessert that Shirlee made - beautiful to look at and definitely "yummy on the tummy." Then we settled down to an evening of party bridge where you change partners every so many hands.
I tried to make Max and Buddy the "prizes" for the evening, but they weren't too thrilled over that idea and neither were our guests. As it turned out, Janet won for the evening so our critters were safe. We turned on a cable station that was showing the festivities in Times Square during "real time" which meant we got to celebrate the ball descending at 9:00 p.m. our time. We toasted appropriately, with sparkling cider and champagne, and then went back to our card game. At 10:00 p.m. we toasted on behalf of the folks in Chicago and the rest of the central time zone. At 11:00 p.m., you guessed it - Mountain time had a toast. By then we were out of the bubbly and too tired to try to last for the remaining time zone so everyone went home and we went to bed! But we had a good year and look forward to many more fun times in 2007.
I repotted this Easter lily last summer and look at what happened for the New Year!
What do you mean we're the prizes?
Oops - forgot to sweep the floor!
Yummy for the tummy!
and stay tuned for our further adventures on a new page for 2007...
