The Dynamic Duo

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