Misc Ramblings of a Crazy Man

First of all, the northwest is famous for bigfoot so I tought I had found his footprints. I followed them hoping to find bigfoot. But alas just big.......! Also when we left Nevada I told Pepper that I would take her to the ocean. I know she really doesn't understand me but sometimes I am not sure.



We took her to the beach yesterday and she had a blast. Ran more than she has for years. She fell in the ocean and didn't like that. Salt water in her mouth wasn't something she liked. There was a small stream of fresh water running to the ocean and she liked that. The picture with the arrow and beach written is for the guys sitting in the TRE store having coffee. Not sure they have seen or can remember what on ocean looks like. Had some morning rain and clouds but by 10-11am it clears up. No jacket or A/C required here. Well surf is up and I need to wax my board or just have a scotch.

Our new temporary home

We are located in the small coastal town of Walport Oregon. It is a concrete rv park but located on a beautiful bay. Just a few hundred feet from our home is the Alsea Bay. And 1 mile west is the ocean. The Alsea Bay is named for the Alsea river that ends here in the bay. The river is 48 miles long and starts in the coastal mountains. Right now most people are crabbing but some are fishing. A person in the park caught 19 crabs a couple days ago. The rv park has a crab cooking station which they will start for the rvers. It cost $7.50 for them to cook 10 crabs and $0.75 per crab after the 10. The past few days we have had rain in the mornings but only around 60 degrees. Still able to wear shorts but in the morning a lite sweatshirt helps. Hoping to take pepper to the beach today if the weather clears up.

Newport Oregon (2 posts)

Jackie and I walked around the docks in Newport looking at the fishing boats. This is the 1st time I have really looked close at these type of boats. Not much creature comfort on them all business. Crab, tuna, salmon, shrimp and halibut are the main fish they go out after. There are charter boats that will take you fishing or whale watching. Newport was where the whale from the movie Free Willie kept before he was released. Little know fact Willie was harpooned shortly after his release by the Japanese. Nah, just made that up to scare the kids. We were going to stay in Newport but the rv parks were either full or they wanted $780 per month to park plus electricity. We found a place in Waldport on a bay (inlet) for $400 per month. It is 15 miles south of Newport. We are about 1 mile from the ocean. Waldport is a small town with 1 store and some shops. But it is quiet and now crowded. We were suprised in the last 2 rv parks our electricity has been cheap. In Arizona we were paying 18 cents per kilowatt but here it is 7-8 cent. So our electricity bill has gone from $70-80 per month to $30-35. As I said we will be here for a couple more week then we are working our way down the coast of Oregon to Eureka Ca. Going to stay near the coast until it cools off some.

More pics from Newport area

At the dock area in Newport we found this fresh fish boat. Kinda hard to see the prices but tuna was $2.75 per pound for whole tuna. We are enjoying looking at the small fishing towns along the coast. We are in Waldport and only small boats fish here. Newport dredges the bay so larger boats can get in and out. So commercial fishermen work out of Newport. Weather has been nice. Low 60's lite breeze. Still in tee shirts and shorts. Taking Pepper to the beach tomorrow, not sure if I need to rent a surf board for her. I know I am crazy but I told her I would take to the beach when we left Nevada and this is the first chance we have had.

American Carousel (two posts)

We visited the Denzel American Carousel Museum in Albany yesterday. They are restoring an carousel and making new animals for the ride. It was built in 1909 by the Danzel family. The process for making these works of art take about 2000 manhours each. There is an artist who creates a drawing, then volunteers carve the wood. There are 6 wood carvers with one lead carver and 60 volunteers who also help. It takes 1000 to 1200 hrs to carve and then 400 hrs to paint. After they are painted there is a 5-6 month drying time before they put the clear coat on. They use basswood which has a very tight grain and glue pieces together. They use what they call a coffin style of piecing it together, the one pictures shows how it is hollow in the middle to make them lighter. So far they have 24 done and the carousel will have 56 when done. The building they are in will be tore down in a few years and a new building will be built to house the carousel. The next post shows how much work goes into these.

more carousel pics

The horse is one of the original animals from the carousel, it was made in the late 1800's. The picture of the carousel is the carousel that they are restoring. The other 3 pictures are some of the work the volunteers have done. The frog has been painted but no clear coat has been put on it yet.

We weren't quite done !!

Thought we were done working in the basement but found an area next to the chimney that had dry rot and mold. So we had to remove some drywall on both sides of the wall and cut out the 2x4's. We had to put a masonry sealer on the brick. Replaced the drywall and taped and textured. The pictures below is some of the work we did. Replaced the wood around his garage door due to dry rot, relocated the 3" sewer line and raised it up about 7". By the time we were finished we used about a dozen tubes of caulk, two tubs of drywall mud and a lot of moaning and groaning. We finished yesterday (Tuesday) and we are moving to the coast tomorrow (Thursday). I have been accused of whining by someone who I won't name ( John... Jackie's brother) but we got it done and it was hard work. Plus I like to bitch and moan.