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From To Be Continued (Part IV)

One thing I liked about the motels along the Oregon Coast is that nearly all of them had microwaves and refrigerators in them. That kind of enabled us to keep some snacks, and to usually have breakfast in our room.
We checked out of the good old Dublin Inn in Yachats (seems like we should have been in Ireland, doesn’t it?) and decided to head south to Florence, stopping to see some sites along the way. So far, the weather had been more or less cooperative. Not really nice and warm, but at least not raining very much. This was to drastically change, but I am getting ahead of myself…....
We ate in Florence at, yet another, unmemorable, clone-of-many-others eatery. I think they DID, however, have award winning clam chowder. We opted not to tour the world famous sea lion caves, though I wished later we had at least stopped and looked around, even if we didn’t pay to go down in the elevator to see the thousands and thousands of sea lions that live there. Some of the driving is kind of running together, but I believe it was on this drive that we stopped at Strawberry Hill Lookout. The sign said that seals and sea lions could nearly always be seen there, and we pulled a couple pair of binoculars out of the car. The boys spotted some (so they said) and scrambled down the rocks to get a better look. John spotted some. The nice, helpful couple also stopped at the lookout spotted them. Everyone was handing me binoculars, pointing out at the water and doing their best to help me see them also. I almost agreed that I did just out of frustration. I finally said, “All I can see are seagulls” . “Then you are looking too far out,” said Mr. Helpful. “They are in front of the rocks”. AH HA. Then I could see them! I had been looking entirely in the wrong place. I felt so much better, and I think everyone else did too. UltraDad was quite relieved, and the helpful couple got their spyglasses back and were able to leave.
I had booked a motel in Newport that night, at LaQuinta Inn (with Travelocity), and there were no problems. It wasn’t near the ocean, but it was very reasonable and very nice. We looked around the town, and bought a kite at the kite store, and some rain gear at the rain gear store. The boys had this fishing trip booked, and rain seemed eminent. At Mr. Kite Store’s recommendation, we headed out to Nye beach for some prime kite-flying and beach walking.
Well, the kite flew, but mostly, after rising in the wind, gracefully arced back to earth, despite pleas, running and waving. After a few failures, the boys allowed UltraMom a turn. She actually did pretty well and had the kite up for awhile and, so, was given no further turns. UltraDad, as usual, walked along the beach looking for stuff. He did find some neat shells, rocks and a perfect sand dollar, though I don’t think it was on that beach. We got some glorious pictures of the sunset.
For dinner, UltraMom was adamant. We were going to eat somewhere DIFFERENT tonight. Somewhere kind of nice, kind of unusual; not the same old tired fare. The motel clerk recommended Georgie’s, and it sounded good to me. It ended up being right on Nye Beach, and our table looked over the water. It was neat, even though it was dark and you really couldn’t see anything. The boys had agreed to treat for this meal; this was part of the trip tradition; for them to pay for one meal. Well, it was a nice atmosphere. We had some wonderful sourdough bread, an excellent soup, and good service. The prices were a little more than we were used to, but I wasn’t paying for it, so that was okay. Determined to sample some of the “bounty of the sea”, I ordered the Seafood Sampler. I envisioned having lots to share. I don’t really remember what the guys ordered; some sort of chicken or steak or something. Well, my Seafood Sampler plate really was just that; a sampler with only a couple of each thing and not much to share. And the guys didn’t really like their food all that much. As it turns out, they PREFER the same old tired burger cafes. And it was pretty expensive, especially the Seafood Sampler. Let me tell you, I heard about it the rest of the trip, and wasn’t allowed to choose any more restaurants.

to be continued….....tomorrow: on to Garibaldi

First I want to say thankyou to those who comment on my blogs and keep me motivated to continue. That would mostly be Kristen. I do appreciate your encouragement. To some other people who may or may not be closely related to me, I would just like to say that I ALWAYS select the category for UltraMom Posts, and that being extremely busy is no excuse for not responding to each and every one of your mother’s posts. There, got THAT out in the open.

Okay, I guess we’d better get on with this vacation! For those of you who have just joined us, we are just leaving the Japanese Gardens, and find ourselves in the vicinity of the Portland Zoo, which was on UM’s list of must-do activities. We meander around a bit and finally find a parking lot or two. There seems to be a system here, wherein you drive continually around the lots hoping you are in the right place at the right time; namely when someone decides to leave so you can grab a parking spot. After fruitlessly playing this game for about 20 minutes, UltraMom interjects (for probably the 4th time or so) that there are signs directing one to a shuttle parking lot. This turns out to be several miles away, and it turns out we have just missed the shuttle bus back to the zoo. But we are nearly first in line for the next on. We are finally ferried back to the zoo, and we notice a line of about 100 people r so winding about the perimeter of the zoo fence. I guess a nice Sunday afternoon in May would be an attractive time for Portlandians to decide to take the kiddies to the zoo. I have a nice photo of the line. I need to learn how to put some pictures in my posts.
At last we are IN. You know, in all honesty it probably was a perfectly lovely zoo though it seemed a little lacking in some areas. For instance it was BEAR MONTH or something like that, but I only could find a total of 3 or 4 bears in the whole zoo. The polar bear was so bored that he continually threw a ball up in the air and caught it. (Nice photo of that also) The monkeys were entertaining, and I think they have a well established elephant breeding program. But is was so crowded, rather hot, and we still hadn’t had lunch. There were little kids everywhere; and Johnny rather grumpily noted that in his opinion, children should be banned from places like this. He’s probably right; the zoo is no place for kids, or at least not for these particular ones….....
Well, we shook the zoo dust off our feet, shuttled back to our car, and started towards the coast. I had made reservations for the night at Yachats, a smallish town in between Florence and Newport.The drive ended up being kind of winding, and a little confusing as we made most of it after dark, but about 11:00 P.M. we pulled into the parking lot of the Dublin House.
It was kind of an older motel, but it had a large indoor swimming pool, which the UltraBoys and I availed ourselves of the next day. We paid a bit extra for an ocean view, but it turned out that we had to look over the houses and yards of a couple of blocks to see the water. I really thought I was getting a heck of a half price special, but it seemed I had misunderstood, and the price they quoted me WAS the half price special….oh well.
Since it was only a couple of blocks to the sea, Johnny headed there first thing in the morning, and was back before the rest of us headed out. Mostly this stretch of beach was pretty rocky, but it was really interesting; lots of tidepools mostly full of green sea anemones and purple and orange starfish. As soon as we found a sandy spot, I took my shoes off and waded in. Jim was pretty busy hitting stones into the ocean with a makeshift driftwood bat, but he was finally persuaded to join me. UltraDad was recruited to take a photo. He is really a slow picture-taker, but this time he outdid himself. I found out why when a really big wave came in, soaking me up past my knees, and Jim to mid thigh or so. At this point, the photographer was laughing so hard he could hardly take the picture. I almost lost my shoes, and DID lose a sock. Luckily, it was the sock with a hole in the heel.
It was Whale Watch week, and we talked to several Whale Watch Week volunteers, but we never saw hide nor hair of a whale. We had lunch at a little fish and chips type place that had award-winning clam chowder. They must give out a lot of clam chowder awards, because every single restaurant we stopped at had award winning clam chowder. We had a relaxing, aimless kind of afternoon, looking in some shops, and decided to have pizza and snacks in the motel for dinner, and play a friendly little game of pinochle. If memory serves (and I think it does) Jim and I were victorious. But we finally had to quit because noone could keep their eyes open!
Well, I’m moving a little faster. You got a whole day and a half that time.
Stay tuned…..................

Whew. This promising to write something every day can be kind of a drag! I’m keeping my promise, but this is short. I was so tired tonight, that I had to pull over and take a little nap before I could drive all the way home! I know, I’ll give you a report on the “ultraboys”. Johnny bought a raft with some ill gotten gains (not really) and the boys floated the Boise river today. Sounds way fun, and I’m jealous since I was indoors all day on an absoulutley beautiful day. Since I don’t get a lot of info from them, that’s about all I know. Sounds like they have been doing well on tests, etc. We’re gearing up for Johnny’s big college graduation, and I think we have decided to have a Graduation Barbecue at Aunt Debi’s house the day before, so that should be fun.
OOH. Just remembered; Dentist appt tomorrow morning early…......
Thats it for today,
UltraMOM

I’m sure taking my sweet time writing about this family vacation, aren’t I? Third episode and we haven’t even got to Portland yet! I’ll try to pick it up a little. If you aren’t quite sure where we are, you may need to go back and review episodes 1 and 2.
I just reviewed episode 2 myself. I talked about the hardships on the oregon trail, and said something to the effect that I wasn’t going to complain so much; then I proceeded pretty much to whine the whole rest of the post about my messed up motel reservation. Is it just me, or does that seem a little hypocritical?
SO, getting back to the vacation, we had reservations in Yachats for the next two nights. It is a small town a bit south of Newport on the Oregon coast (in about the middle). Johnny had Powell’s bookstore on his agenda, and I wanted to see the Japanese Gardens and Portland Zoo, so we decided to do a bit of Portland that day, a beautiful, warm spring Sunday. After a bit of meandering, consulting and perhaps finally asking for directions, we found this most magnificent bookstore of your dreams. Many of you are familiar with Powell’s, but in case you aren’t, it would not be too difficult to spend an entire day there. It is very attractively laid out, with different rooms color coded by subject matter; the rose room for, say, philosophy and religion, the green room, say, for science, etc. There is also a coffee shop and reading room. So, armed with bookstore maps and with helpful attendants at our beck and call, we set out, randomly meeting each other over the course of the next several hours as we browsed to our hearts’ content.
We all bought books, as it turned out. When we reached the car, we showed off our selections. Jim had some knot tying cards, complete with rope for practice. He had selected a book by Washington Irving and one by Mark Twain. I can’t remember what all Johnny had, but I remember he had a book about Caligula he kept reading us parts of. I selected an afghan crocheting book for my sister-in law, who is a new crocheter, and is taking care of my cats. I got a book called “Tell me What to Eat if I have Diabetes”. I also got an intriguing book by Lee Strobel called “A Case for Faith”. It sems like I had one more; I can’t remember…............. Anyway, UltraDad then revealed his purchases. He had three books. Everyone of them was about…............BEAR ATTACKS! Not one, not two, but THREE books about BEAR ATTACKS! ANyway, it was kind of funny, and we gave him a bit of a bad time about it. We have learned some interesting facts about bears; if a black bear attacks you, for instance, do NOT play dead. The black probably plans to eat you, and if you are dead, so much the better. The Grizzly is probably only trying to get rid of you and may lose interest if he thinks you are dead. MAY lose interest….......I don’t think the bears read the manuals, however. And the smart eskimos like to wait to kill the polar bear AFTER he catches the seal, cause then they have the seal too. Pretty smart, huh? Well, I seem to remember more about his books than my own…..
We thought about eating next, but suddenly found ourselves in the vicinity of the Japanese Gardens, so I suggested we have a look at them next. It took a bit of time to find a place to park and actually locate the Gardens, but finally we were at the entrance looking at a sign stating the price of admission: $6.50 apiece. Well, UltraDad stated that he was not going to pay that much and would sit on the bench and wait for whoever did to return. The boys really didn’t have a strong opinion about it, but iI turned out that their student I.D. would save them a dollar or two. I told the family that I thought we should see the Japenese Gardens for Bob and Tomoko, for which they teased me endlessly the rest of the trip. Because there are some people in Japan of whom I am rather fond, I am always looking for new insights into the culture and people of Japan. Anyway, the upshot was that Johnny and I went in, and Dad and Jim waited on the bench. I was glad we got to see it; the gardens were beautiful. Sometime I will post my pictures. There was also an exhibit of Japenese dolls, which was quite interesting. I probably would have taken more time if it weren’t for the bench sitters. Johnny mentioned that the sand garden didn’t seem to be very well kept though. The patterns were kind of messed up, and there was a bit of garbage in the sand.
Be sure to come back tomorrow to read about the Portland Zoo! It just keeps getting more and more exciting, doesn’t it?
signed,
Your Vacation Chronicler Ultra Mom

   Well, I really feel like I’m in my second (or maybe still first) childhood. My sweet sister came out from Emmett (near Boise) and spent the day with me, went to my dance recital with me and videotaped the whole thing. I watched it over and over again on her video camera until I used up all of her battery! She very supportively told me that I was “the best one out there!” I said “Thanks, Mom.”
Anyway, it all went really well, and UM only made a few minor flubs which she then quickly corrected. You would all have been very proud of me. It was very humbling the day that I realized that I was the oldest one out there. In fact, all of the others have young children (except the ones too young for even that), and many had daughters who also danced in the recital. I was relating this to my friend who cuts my hair. She said “Oh, but I bet you dance circles around all those other ladies.” I ruefully replied, “Well, yes I do. But I’m not supposed to.” And we both had a jolly laugh.
Anyway, UltraSister was so terrific and so supportive. I never did anything like this when I was younger, and probably I’ll just keep getting older from now on, so I guess now is the time to try it, if ever.

Kind of a “funny” incident tonight. UltraDad was feeling kind of playful, i guess and he picked up Toby, the kind of unpredicable cat who only posseses three legs out of the normal four. He said “Time for your exercise, Toby” and he put him on my big purple exercise ball (which I dearly love!) Well, I turned around to get something, and I heard both Husband and Sister say something like “uh oh”. When I turned back around, my ball was slowly deflating! Yes, Toby had punctured my beloved ball. I told the UltraDad that I would make him buy me a new one, except that would be the same thing as buying myself a new one, but he thinks that maybe we can patch it. For his sake, I hope so! I was so upset that I ate three cookies, so it’ll also be his fault if I get fat!
Gotta get to bed,
but first I need an opinion. Johnny is graduating from college this year. I’m not sure on the protocol for sending a bunch of announcements to friends. We did that with the kids’ high school graduations, but do you do the same for college, or does that just look like moneygrubbing? Of course it IS moneygrubbing and all the relatives are getting them for sure.
UltraMom

Well, in my daily reading today, we “discussed” what it is that “drives us”. What is the motivating factor behind your daily actions? Sometimes I think I am like the Israelites wandering 40 years in the wilderness with no clear purpose, only mine is closer to 50 years.
I did, however, take a suggestions from a friend (actually, my Weightwatcher co-leader; it was part of her lesson) on making a priority list. You number the things on the list with a 1, 2 or 3, depending on their importance. The number 1’s really need to be accomplished that day. This morning I made just such a list. Now, if I could only remember where I put it….........
At least I remember a few things on it just from the fact that I wrote them down. And since I still need to accomplish a couple of them, and its almost 11 P.M., this is going to be a short one. I thought when my kids all left home that I would be scrambling for things to fill my days. That doesn’t seem to be the case….....my favorite times are still the moments I get to spend with them, either in person or on instant messenger(that one’s for you, UltraBob, Honey), I still seem to find plenty to keep me busy. For instance, the dance recital this weekend, volunteering to judge senior projects at the high school next week, and attending a scrapbook activity with a friend the Saturday after that. Whew! Where is my focus? Maybe I’ll find out tomorrow.
See ya
UM