There is one wonderful side effect of publishing this blog. The friends that we have made along the way often times want to get on our mailing list. They follow our travels and when we find ourselves in the same area together we can rendezvous. Such is the case of friends that we made in Gettysburg last fall, Fran and Marilyn Sudbeck. We kept comparing our routes and discovered that we could get together in Newport today. They are headed south and we are headed north. Judy and Marilyn were back to quilting just like they had never been apart. The six of us (including Henry and Judy Lahore) had lunch at Mo’s in old town Newberg and we watched as the Coast Guard Buoy Tender, Fir, was placing buoys in Yaquina Bay.
After lunch some of us toured the Coast Guard Station. Gary was invited aboard the 52 foot Motor Lifeboat, Victory, and spent half an hour reminiscing about his Coast Guard days back in 1963. Incidentally, the Victory was part of the Coast Guard even then. It is still in service, and talk about spit and polishÂ… I felt guilty every time I grabbed onto a hand rail to descend a ladder. I knew someone would have to come by later and polish the finger prints off. I was joined on the tour by a couple pleasure sailors off of a 33 foot sail boat. They were telling a story about having been towed in by the Coast Guard just yesterday. They were caught out when the weather started deteriorating and were unable to make headway and gain the shelter of Yaquina Bay. They were very complementary of the crews help. I am proud to have been part of such a group.
The weather has indeed deteriorated here on the Oregon Coast. We have had two days of on and off again rain. We didn’t let it keep us in, however. We next went around and visited the Yaquina Bay Light House. (Yes, Sue, I have a picture for you on the web page. We found out these are all staffed by RV volunteers, so here is another volunteer position we can think about. There is so much to do that we can’t possibly get around to doing it all. Still it is fun to think about all of the possibilities.
The weather is predicted to turn sunny again tomorrow. We will do some more exploring around Yaquina Bay; perhaps a bicycle ride up to Yaquina Head Light House. Tuesday we will head for Cape Lookout State Park. That is close to Tillamook, so we will be sure to stop for some “squeaky cheese” and perhaps shoot a few hoops in the blimp hanger.
Stay tuned for more adventures. We close now with love for all our friends and relatives.
Gary and Judy
