Tag: vacation

The Best 3 Things of the Gold Beach Vacay

We went west to the Pacific Ocean, enjoying its presence from the shores of a little town called Gold Beach in southern Oregon (population: 2241). Highway 101 runs through it from California, serving as the main way in and out. We stayed there three nights and four days, making and taking terrific memories. Here are my top three worthies from bottom to top.

3. Jet Mail Boat to Agness. First, the boat doesn’t have propellers, which allows it to travel in water as shallow as twelve inches. Using three 6.2 liter Chevy marine engines to steer and propel it along, the boat delivers the mail to Agness six days a week during the summer. Besides the boat ride and the history of the USPS run from Gold Beach to Agness up the Lower Rogue River, we saw a bear eating blackberries, a few river otters swimming around, deer, Roosevelt elk, beavers, osprey and their nests and young, and a couple bald eagle nests. We were also told about the stunning 1964 flood. We were about fifty feet below a bridge. That flood crested three feet above that bridge deck. Like, mind blowing. Besides it, we learned about the now departed Lowry fishing camp. Clark Gable used to fish there, among many celebrities and politicians, but Cable always asked for our boat pilot’s grandfather as his fishing guide. So we had water, boating, nature, and history, along with a dinner at a lodge.

2. Chapter One – yes, it’s a coffee shop. I enjoy coffee shops, even have a passion for them. First, I like a good brew. Second, I look for the ambiance. Third, I consider the food offerings. Like my other favorites — the lamented Li Di Da in Half Moon Bay and the long departed original Beanery of Ashland — Chapter One offers these things. They almost displaced The Green Salmon as the best coffee house. The Green Salmon’s fabulous gluten free baked goods keeps the competition level, but Chapter One’s maple scone was OMG excellent. What keeps the Green Salmon (Yachats, OR) at number one is their gluten free vegan breakfast sandwiches. Oh, yeah.

  1. The Pacific Ocean. We had a beautiful stretch of little used public which was a few miles long. It was so little used, it felt private. Wonderful to breathe fresh ocean air, gaze out over the sun splashed waves, and hear the crash and roar. Walking the beach was done several times a day. Great place for contemplating existence and discarding worries. I left a lot there in the beach’s sand.

Just want to note that the numbering is another WP thing. It insisted on indenting #1, at the bottom of the list, identifying it as ‘list’ and indenting it. Why? Only WordPress knows for sure.

Naturally, to make this a complete WP experience, it dropped again while I wrote this. Couldn’t save the draft, couldn’t publish. Had to work around by copying it and pasting it to a doc and then creating a new post.

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: 7 out of 10

Greetings from Ashlandia, where the parks are green and the mountains are brown.

It’s Thursday, August 3, 2023. We’re back in the personal dwelling called home. The floof boys are fine, although Papi is expressing his dismay that we dared to leave him for a few days. I miss my morning gaze off the back porch, looking west across the Pacific, and the rolling thunder and fresh smells associated with the water/land affair. Got a fix, at least, and the fix will last me a while.

67 F now in Ashlandia. The weather watchers have posted a high of 89-91 F for us. Blue skies and clear air rules the moment, so it’s not bad at all.

Catching up on the news. Following up on Oregon wildfires – yep, still burning, but no new ones down here. There is the Canadian-Washington fire to worry us. Hundreds of miles away, it doesn’t affect me personally (though it might say something about the air sometime); I just worry about what’s happening to the people, animals, lives, and existences up there.

Also following up on who died when we were limiting our news intake, just finding out about the worsening Niger situation, more deaths along the US border, and reading more deeply on the Obstruction Six indictments. The world goes on, you know?

The Neurons put the Stereophonics and their mellow song, “Maybe Tomorrow” from 2003, into the morning mental music stream (trademark miracle). Came about from remembering the line, “I want to swim in the ocean, I wanna take my time,” heard in my head yesterday as I took a last long gaze at the Pacific before turning the car inland.

Stay positive, and keep on keeping on, as they say. Coffee is up and so am I. Here’s the beats. Cheers

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Tuesday’s Wandering Thoughts

I’m away from home, so I worry about my floofies. Per the instructions I left with the cats, I logged onto Zoom today at the appointed time. They immediately joined to purr and complain to me. A little of both. They said the weather isn’t bad the human caretaker I hire was doing ‘okay’.

Yeah, that’s fantasy. There wasn’t a Zoom con with the cats. I did call the caretaker and she said they’re doing great. Next best thing to being there with them.

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: purply, sparkly

Woo-hoo, it’s August of 2023. Let’s give it up for August, everyone. August is ready to come in here and be special for you.

Yep, it’s Tuesday, August 1, 2023. I’m still Gold Beach, where the streets are quiet and the sea is blue. It’s 56 now. Seabreeze doesn’t clock in until later in the AM so it’s tranquil down by the waves. Perfect time for a long walk by the ocean. Flat, the beach is a few miles long.

We’ll be going up the river today. Taking a Mail Boat tour. Mail used to be delivered inland via the river since there were no roads. There will be a two hour stop for dinner at the lodge in Agness. Agness as a stop give us a little trepidation, as that’s the sight of the Flat fire which has been going on over a month. Firefighters are staging here in Gold Beach, among other places, so we see them all over. Most are very friendly and will give detailed accounts of their impressions of the fire. It’s still less than 20 percent contained.

I’m a little surprised by The Neurons’ music choice for my morning mental music stream (trademark foolish). They have Whitesnake with “Here I Go Again” playing. Those neurons might be a little crazy.

Stay positive, be strong, and carry on. Coffee service has begun. Pleasant to chug it on the back porch while watching the waves and feeling the ocean air. Here’s the music.

Cheers

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Wednesday’s Wandering Thoughts

He always found himself waiting or planning for the next thing, as if he was trapped in some personal version of “The Jolly Corner”. The next season, the next birthday, the next death.

The next marriage, the next divorce, the next trip, the next vacation..

The next election, the political scandal, the next mass murder.

Next step in finishing a novel, the next novel to write, the next meal, the next task, job, bill, the next expense.

He kept reminding himself, stop. Stay in the moment and enjoy. But the next always kept coming.

Always.

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Funday’s Theme Music

Sunday used to be the day for going out and doing things fun. Might not be so for your culture or region. I know Sunday was held back by many families for worship and visiting with other families, or for quiet days at home. But for mine, a day of rest meant going on picnics, hitting the beach, grilling out, or going to movies or amusement parks. If not that, it was back to playing ball, some kind, somewhere.

I was a shift worker for the first ten years of my military career, which diluted Sunday’s importance. As hourly and shift workers know, your schedule dictates the day of the weeks for your personal agenda. Monday is the first day of work and Friday is your last, regardless of the true date. Naturally, there were clashes between my work week and the real world work week. If real Sunday is my Friday, work would be generally quiet in the military but the urge to cut loose and relax was there. Really didn’t happen on Sunday. Also, I worked rotating shifts so my Friday ended at 6 or 7 AM, after an 8- or 12-hours shift.

Today is Sunday, April 23, 2023. 56 F, we expect 68 F. Rained during the night, and the ground is drying as clouds cut out the sunshine and its effects. But after entering Ashlandia’s air at 6:17 this morning, the sun has tangoed around the clouds, limning gray edges with silver. It is spring out there, to which I say, huzzah. Sunset will take Ashlandia’s sun away at 8:02 PM. The cats are certainly enjoying it, luxuriating in sunshine whenever they stop to wash, watch, play, or sleep.

Having just returned from a short vacay, I’m already contemplating another. Getting into the spirit, The Neurons (TN, as they like to be called) brought up Weezer’s 2001 medley, “Island in the Sun”. I like the mellow tune about being relaxed. It’s a keeper.

Hit the refresh button. Begin again, another day, another effort, another chance, another outcome. Stay pos. Here we go with Weezer. Hip, hip. I’m off for coffee. Hip, hip. Cheers

Note or two: Saving or publishing this post today was a pain. WP wouldn’t load. Wouldn’t save a draft of this. Hung while trying to publish, once, twice, thrice. MW, other posts were created. Just this one wouldn’t go up. Drove me nuts. Of course, most things drive me nuts when they won’t work as expected. Was finally able to publish by not putting in any tags, etc. So it was published in stages – post, a few categories, added words and changes, next a few tags, finally the last of the tags.

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Friday’s Theme Music

It’s morning in Yachats. The mythical blue sky has still not been seen. The sun is playing hide and seek. We’ve been looking but it’s well hidden. Stormed all day on the coast. Rain from dawn to midnight. Gusts and gales. Rocking storm surge. Temperatures gamboled from 41 F to 42 F.

Birds returned today. They headed for shelter just like the rest of us yesterday. The rain paid a brief AM visit today, drops scampering across the roof and ground, tapering off to a mere shower. Supposed to be cresting 50 today but we’ll be gone, climbing back over the mountains and south to Ashlandia where the weather ghosts advise it’s more of the same. It’s Friday, April 21, 2023. My resting pulse is at its usual, 58. SP02 is down, 97%.

We turned off the news so we don’t know what’s going on. There’s not been a stream of cars heralding vast evacuations, no warning sirens, etc., so we think the world has trudged on without us. We ate at a favorite place, The Green Salmon. Vegan food, amazingly delicious, wonderful coffee, and that ideal coffee shop café air, where it’s less like a business and more like a passion.

Today’s music offered by The Neurons in the morning mental music stream is “Just Like Paradise.” David Lee Roth. 1987. Get it? Sure, it was just like livin’ in paradise there, even with the rain, as we were as relaxed as a cat sleeping in sunshine. Sure, the hotel wasn’t perfect. Couldn’t connect to the net, and half of the 54 listed channels on TV were advertisements or tutorials for Dish TV. But we were there to hear the waves, smell the sea, and gaze out as far as our eyes could roam the ocean’s horizon. The coast by Yachats remains raw, which is preferable to being filled with tourist bait.

Aside, Roth isn’t a favorite for me. One of my little sisters really liked him when she was a teenager but he never was my style of rock and roll when he separated from van Halen.

I’ve had coffee. Stay pos and ride Friday like it’s a magical unicorn carrying you to wherever you wish. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Monday has landed. You need to be careful when Monday lands that it doesn’t do serious damage to you. Some people really enjoy Mondays landing. They’re depressingly cheerful, shouting things like, “Woo hoo, it’s Monday,” causing the rest of us to raise our eyebrows so high that they get lost in our hair.

It’s August 27, 2022, which, for some, is the deadline. It’s also birthdays and anniversaries, so salutations to you if it is. Hope it’s memorable and the start of a long line of fantastic years.

I’m in Eugene, Oregon, now, a stop off on our way home. It’s 61 F here, 16 C on the coast, and 64 F in Ashland. Respective highs are 85, 68, and 88 F. Sunrise for this local was a classic, with sunshine piercing the eastern sky with a sharp golden lance at 6:323 this morning. Sunset will be at 8:07. I plan to be home then, where the sunset will be 8:01.

I have a 1957 song by Buddy Holley and the Crickets stuck in the morning mental music stream. My fault, totally my fault. After we checked into the room and settled for the evening, we cruised TV offerings where we found BBC America showing Stand By Me. The 1986 movie is about boys in a 1959 small town, their conflicts with themselves and others, and the quest to find a dead body. It features a terrific cast and music of the era. Well, The Neurons heard, ” Everyday, it’s a-gettin’ closer, goin’ faster than a roller coaster,” and they latched onto that like a cat taking over a chair.

Stay pos, test, neg, and so on. Yes, I’ve had coffee and breakfast. Coffee was very good. The breakfast went down well, breaking back tears of joy from being out in the field and enjoying some fine reconstituted eggs. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Well, we come down the hill and turned into a glade, and there it was, majestic as ever: Sunday, August 21, 2022. So I, for one, can say, it does exist. I’ve seen it once and I’ll probably never see it again.

It’s a beautiful day on the beach. Though clouds blanket the sun, its presence is here. The ocean is a sleepy murmur. No fog or marine layer. 64 F. Today will be a little warmer, 70 F.

Sunrise trickle across the eastern skies at 6:26 AM and the sun’s luminescence will leave us with sunset at 8:12 PM.

A dream last night featured Tom Petty saying, “Let’s do the crocodile song, the rock song.” He said this three times, not in a row, but at three different times. I knew he referred to Elton John’s hit. Whenever he said that and his band played, I would go off and tell myself, “I need to be more like Tom Petty, and take more risks, put myself out there.” The dream also featured two-day POTUS Ronald Reagan and four-time NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon. It was an interesting dream.

But when thinking about the dream, “Crocodile Rock” and Tom Petty, The Neurons responded with Tom Petty and “Running Down A Dream”, a hit song from the 1989 album, Full Moon Fever. I was in Germany at Rhein Main Air Base when it was released, returning to America in 1991. The Neurons know I like this song. Who am I to argue with them? Yes, the song has been featured here before, but we’ll survive that.

Yes, I’ve had coffee, so I’m mellow, as are The Neurons. As I say, the ocean is a sweet companion today, in a mellow mood, and it’s infectious. Stay positive, test negative, and so on. Enjoy your Sunday, yeah?

Cheers

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1988 Dream

I kept encountering an error message. Sometimes it was written on a printout: [Error 1988: Michael does not exist]. I saw it in emails and text messages. Sometimes it was also spoken in the same voice my Roomba makes an announcement: “Error 1988: Michael does not exist.” As this happened, I was hurrying down hallways, looking over my shoulder, and pushing on doors, trying to find one that opens, hunting for an exit.

But, in one sense, it was understandable. On vacation, a person who needs isolation and solitude, who enjoys writing as their escape and therapy, who is forced to spend almost eighty percent of their time with other people, will end up dreaming about escape.

Right?

The question is, why those numbers?

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