October 2015 - Nehalem Bay
It’s October, so we are back at Nehalem Bay
State Park
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| Site A2 - Home, sweet home |
When we pulled into the Park on October 1, it seemed like
our concerns were justified. We were told that we couldn’t use site A2 that we
had last year, a site specifically designed for camp host use. Instead, we were
told to use a regular camp site, A60, that isn’t really intended for a coach like
ours. It lacked many of the features that made A2 so usable, especially the yards
of gravel that I had put in last year to weather-proof it.
We quietly told the staff that A60 wasn’t suitable for us.
An afternoon of subdued negotiation ensued. Finally, late in the afternoon
common sense prevailed and we moved into A2 with the understanding that we
might have to move out if necessary. It didn’t take us long to get settled for
the month. A nice bonus was that our predecessors had accumulated a large pile
of firewood, ensuring lots of campfires.
The next morning we took up where we left off 11 months ago:
yurts to clean, firepits to clean and campers to help. The weather was simply
gorgeous, the salmon run was finally beginning, so Oregonians began to show up
in droves. Management had made two changes since last year. First, they had
decided to close B and C campsite loops, about a third of the park, on October
1 for planned electrical and water systems upgrades. At the same time, they
left all of the remaining sites on the reservation system. That meant that as
of October 1, there were no walk-in or first come, first served sites. Well,
pandemonium ensued. Droves of campers started to arrive, many without
reservations. They had been coming to the park for years and had never needed a
reservation, so why now, they asked loudly??
The ranger station closes at noon in the off season, so these folks ended
up at our kiosk looking for a site for the weekend. But, we had no way of
knowing whether a site was reserved beyond that night. We have no computer
access to the reservation system. It was nuts.
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| Construction belatedly begins on B and C loops |
Luckily, October 1 was a Thursday, and park staff put their
heads together Friday morning and smartly reopened B and C loops for campers
arriving without reservations. Just in time, too, because by 10 pm that
evening, we had maybe six unoccupied campsites in the entire park. We would
have had to turn away over 80 campers had the rangers not realized the problem
they had created. It turned out that B and C loop construction didn’t actually
start until October 19, and we have been able to stay in A2 for the whole
month.
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| Real life recreation of Coast Guard lifeboat in the Columbia River bar |
Ed and Christine Woznicki were supposedto join us here last
year but had mechanical issues with their coach that killed that plan. No
problems this year, so we had the pleasure of their company for 10 days early
in month. Ed and I did some sorely needed work on our coach while Christine and
Kayeanne checked out several shops
in Manzanita, Wheeler and Nehalem. We also went to Astoria ,
and revisited the Columbia River
Maritime Museum
One day we discovered El Trio Loco, a great Mexican
restaurant in Manzanita that serves really good traditional food, not Tex-Mex. I
liked it much better than the other Mexican restaurant, the Left Coast Siesta. We
also got reacquainted with the Manzanita Market and Deli, too, one of our
favorite places in town. Their deli section prepares several hot dishes every
day that are always good. The small size feeds two hungry people, I think the
large would serve a family. There is also a video store behind the market that
is owned by a real film buff. He sees every movie and write his own reviews.
Ed and Christine closed the sale of their house in Boulder
Creek while they were here and offered to treat us to dinner to celebrate. I
was thinking along the lines of fish and chips in Garibaldi, but they had other
ideas. We headed to Cannon
Beach Cannon
Beach
No sooner had Ed and Christine left than Karen Moore and Patty Nash arrived. Kayeanne
moved out for a couple of days to visit with them in Manzanita. From all
indications, a good time was had by all. The four of us went to the Fish
Peddler in the Pacific Oyster plant on the wharf in Bay City for their
signature clam chowder, oysters on the half shell and halibut fish and chips.
It was Seniors Tuesday, to boot, and we got 20% off everything, too! Every once
in a while, old age pays off.
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| The world's largest dog park |
As much as we look forward to coming back to Nehalem, I
think the dogs get even more excited. As soon as we turned into the park they
perked up and started looking around. To them this place means long walks in
the woods, squirrels to chase, deer they wish they could chase and, most
especially, the beach. Nehalem
Beach
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| Schroeder stalks the elusive seagull |
This year the weather hasn’t been quite as warm and dry as
last year, and the salmon run appears to be shorter, too. This month started
with a bang, but got pretty quiet the second half. Milton and Lynette Hansen
who were here with us last year gave us a scare when he had to rush her to the
hospital one night. A couple of stents later (!) all is well and Lynette is
cleaning yurts again. Milt is an avid fisherman and caught several large
salmon. Lynette’s sudden trip to Portland
disrupted the plan for him to teach me to fish; maybe next year as we are both
planning to return. The fillets he shared with us were outstanding. Fish
doesn’t get any fresher than that.
We pull out on Sunday, headed south to Eugene to complete the last of the
maintenance items before our trip to the east coast next spring. We plan to
meander across southern Oregon , eastern California and Nevada
for a couple of weeks on the way to Liesa’s place in St. George for
Thanksgiving. We will return to the county park in Simi the first week of
December to visit our friends in the Thousand
Oaks area.
More soon,
Bob
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