Vacating

So, here we are in a nice cabin south of Newport, Oregon. It’s Monday. We were lucky enough to get a free week that we had to use by the end of the year and this was the only dog-friendly one open til into late January. So we came down here.

We’re lucky enough to have a peek-a-boo view of the ocean from our back deck! The ocean is always moving, waves always coming ashore. At this spot we are not in a bay so the waves hit full force. Today, the ocean is disturbed by something we cannot see or sense and the breakers start tumbling over way out, build another rank closer in and break, build another rank and break still closer, build again and break, and then build yet again only to spend themselves on the shore. The water is noisy. We can always hear the roar of the waves. Even the noise of the day traffic on highway 101 cannot cover up the ocean. At night, it’s lovely to listen to and lulls us to sleep quite nicely.

There isn’t much traffic even on 101 at night. That road is exceedingly dark and people love to speed on it at all times, but especially after dark. I don’t know, maybe the Sasquatch will get you if you don’t hustle on your way. Around here, if they don’t think you’ve been going fast enough, they will honk at you as they pass. And some will salute you in the time honored fashion using only 1 finger. As I don’t see well at night with oncoming lights, Ray does our night driving. HE doesn’t see too well even during the day at this point in time (eye troubles) and so we get passed and honked at a lot.

We have not done much. We’ve had the blessing of lovely clear weather with daytime temps in the mid-50s and low cool breezes, so we have sat out on the deck and read and listened to the satellite radio. I made a barricade of unused deck chairs so that Norman cannot get down the stairs to chase other dogs and he likes to go out there and “patrol” for the squirrels and chipmunks he can smell are there. We go for walks which Norman always finds exciting.

Unexpectedly, many restaurants have shuttered their doors for the winter. In Seaside, they close the month of January, but here they close early. Luckily, we had stopped in Seaside at McKeown’s for lunch and had tasty leftovers for our first night here. It’s a long trip down here by way of Seaside and neither one of us wanted to get back in that car.

Saturday, we decided to find a Chinese restaurant as we know there are 2 or 3 of them, but the ones we found were all closed tight. So we ended up at the Arctic Circle, which once upon a time was a car-hop place, but there’s a newspaper clipping on the wall inside the place that says, “Last Car Hop Now History”, so I think mayhap the poor girl up and croaked. They had decent burger on fresh buns and really good fries. It reminded me a bit of Herfy’s in the menu, they had a little bit of everything.

Sunday after a bit of cabin cleaning and sitting around, we decided to find the Mo’s, an Oregon seafood destination. Alas, we could not and were pretty hungry, so we decided to try to find a Thai place. Lo and behold! There’s Thai Elephant, painted a bright yellow-orange, right on the main highway, and you can’t miss it. They are open! Hurrah! Ray had Ginger Beef and I had Shrimp Pad Thai. Yummy in the extreme.

Today, we got up late and read a bit and then decided to have lunch of Elephant leftovers. Ray’s reading again, Normie is napping, having completed his patrol (several times) and I’m writing blog entry. The satellite radio is tuned to the “Escape” channel, appropriately enough. Today the rest of our schedule is filled with resting up and some evening tv. We may go out for supper or we may stay in. We may play a game. Life is good when your biggest questions of the day are “who is going to cook my dinner today?” and “where are they?”

Tomorrow is a busy day, being Laundry Day. Several decisions will have to be made that day, hot, warm or cold? Permanent Press or Normal? Fold, or hang up? Whites, darks, lights?

I was hoping that we’d both get rested and rejuvenated this week and that I’d finish getting better. Well, Ray is slowly getting rested and rejuvenated and I’m not. I’m struggling with the cough and congestion. Several times a night I wake up in the midst of a hack attack, even though I take a Ny-Quil. Even had to use my inhalers several times. Ah well. I don’t suppose I’ll get a lung transplant any time soon, since I’m not even on the list, so I had better learn to live with it or figure out how to beat it down.

I have done a bit of work on the genealogy. I brought an inch or so of papers with me and I’m processing them when I feel that ambitious.

We have watched 2 Netfli, (Netfli, plural of Netflix) “Love On A Diet”, which is a very quirky Japanese movie with bad fat suits on thin people that I’m not sure were “real” actors, and “Alien Invasion” which is a very quirky 1990s American movie that hearkens back to the B movies of the 50s in every way it can and employs every Sci-Fi monster movie cliché that you ever heard of. And it’s so earnest and sincere, we weren’t sure we were supposed to laugh when we found it funny. Unless you are really wanting something weird, I would not recommend either of them. I think Ray slept thru most of “Love”…..

The one thing we miss from home, other than our people, is the channel guide on the tv. We didn’t know how spoiled we were by that on-screen tv guide! We don’t know what channel is what, we don’t know what’s on where or what it’s about. Talk about primitive! At least there are plenty of mysterious channels to choose from.

And that’s today’s dispatch from the Oregon Coast, where the sea mist is rolling in and making the hills and forest look slightly otherworldly. One almost expects to see elves slipping quietly between the trees. The air is redolent of sea and sea creatures. Ahhh. I’m glad I’m here.