Fly Me To The Moon (Post #6)

It was raining hard when we arrived late afternoon at our hotel in Newport Oregon. We stayed at the Hallmark Resort there and I loved the property. Our room overlooked the beach and even though it was raining we could enjoy the view thanks to the comfy chairs placed in front of our sliders.

There's a nice restaurant called Georgies Beachside Grill right next door and that's where we had dinner. Call ahead is suggested and while it was crowded we didn't have to wait long. Also, order the seafood saute-yum!

We were seated in a booth and shortly after we sat down two couples were seated in the booth opposite ours, an older gentleman and his wife and a younger gentleman and his wife. We noticed the younger man was wearing an obviously well-loved flight jacket covered in patches and we wondered about his story. We weren't eavesdropping (not exactly anyway), but the booths were close together so we couldn't help but overhear snippets of their conversation. We heard NASA mentioned several times and also the words Mercury 7, Gemini,  Mars and a few other space related terms which peaked our interest. We convinced ourselves the older gentleman had been an astronaut and were determined to figure out who he was.

So we did what everyone does in 2017 and started googling images of astronauts from the 1960's. I discovered pretty quickly the original Mercury 7 are all deceased and he didn't appear to be one of the Gemini crew either. We were stumped.

At this point I might have carried on wondering and might have left never knowing, but Hubs LOVES all things space related so was not going to let it go.

As we were eating and googling they handed something small to our waitress and we heard them say it had been to the moon. English was not our servers first language and it seemed she didn't really understand what was happening but we did. Ha! When she came over we asked her if she knew the customer's name and she didn't but she did very helpfully walk back to their table and say 'Those people want to meet you.'

So we got up and introductions were made and we shook hands and y'all it just turned into the most fun thing. Hubs point blank asked the older gentleman whose name turned out to be Norman Chaffee (no relation to Roger Chaffee) if he was an astronaut and he said no, but that he did work in the space program. If you read his online bio you'll know that's a bit of an understatement. He was a very important part of the space program and was the engineer who designed the thrusters on Apollo 11. He worked on additional missions to both the moon and Mars and what he had shown the waitress was a piece of the heat shield that, as he put it, was 'just behind Neil Armstrong's backside' protecting him as he rocketed to the moon.

Really what happened was, we made introductions and someone mentioned the space station and hubs whipped out his phone and showed them the app he follows that tells you when the space station is passing over your head, and that's when they said, 'Ah, you're a science geek...pull up some chairs and join us.'

So we did because, of course.

The second man at the table was Jim Loftus, son of the former Assistant Director of the Johnson Space Center. He runs a museum now near Salem Oregon and was accompanying Mr. Chaffee the next day to speak to high school students from around the state. Jim Loftus' dad was at one time Norman Chaffee's boss, and was instrumental in selecting the original Mercury 7 and also later program astronauts. When Mr. Loftus saw hubs had that app on his phone he said, 'Wait right here, I'll go get his baby'. I wasn't sure what he meant, but he was back in a flash carrying a rocket thruster. Absolutely made hubs day!

In a funny coincidence Mr. Chaffee (who lives in Texas) has a daughter living not far from us here in the Palmetto State. Hubs did what he always does and invited him to visit us at the lake next time he's in town. They've exchanged emails since and we certainly hope he takes us up on it.

As we were leaving Mr. Loftus said to my husband how impressed he was that we spoke up. That people miss out on so many wonderful things in life because they don't seize the day.

Hubs is a master at seizing the day.

In Sync With The Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then go say howdy to your neighbor there. Thanks for playing along each week!

1.  In a rut, in a jam, in the groove, out of sync, off balance, out of touch...which saying best fits some area of your life currently (or recently)? Explain.

Well I think we all know I was physically off balance back in August of this year, so that fits. My ribs took a good three months to heal completely and I hope I never experience that sort of injury again. 

More than off balance though I feel out of sync. We were away for a large chunk of October and then hit the ground running upon our return. Still trying to catch my breath, and seem to be always a step or two behind where I need to be. 

2. What is it about somebody else's style of work (coworker/employee/shared volunteer project/household chore) that makes you crazy? Why?

habitual lateness, laziness, being unprepared on a regular basis

3. What's a tradition that always makes you feel at home?

I think partly why I love Thanksgiving is because at the core it's celebrated in a very similar way all across America. Family and/or friends gathering, shared cooking, turkey and dressing, pie, parades and naps...this is Thanksgiving. Yes I know that's not 100% across the board true, but in general we celebrate this day counting our blessings and eating a little more than we should. 

I've eaten Thanksgiving in a country not my own and the smell of turkey roasting and the sound of my girls chatter in the kitchen as friends from various parts of the globe gathered round all said home to me.

'Forever on Thanksgiving Day

The heart will find the pathway home.'

~Wilbur D. Nesbit

4. A favorite song with a girl's name in the title or lyrics? Any reason why this is a particular favorite?

Just one??? There are so many I love... Georgia (Boz Scaggs), Aimee (Pure Prairie League), Amanda (Boston) Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac), Aubrey (Bread), Annie's Song (John Denver), Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)...

I'm going with this one though because I've always loved the name. ahem. This song was written about a big Irish Setter (cue the waterworks).  

Shannon by Henry Gross-



5. Share a favorite quote, verse, or saying relating to gratitude or thanksgiving.

'Come thou fount of ev'ry blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace

Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise...'

~Come Thou Fount by Robert Robertson

6. Insert your own random thought here.

So much to love about this time of year-

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The Oregon Trail (Post #5)

Yes I'm still recapping our trek up the northern California and Oregon Coasts. Catch up by following the links here-Post 1 (San Francisco To Mendocino), Post 2 (Mendocino continued), Post 3 (Mendocino to Eureka), and Post 4 (Eureka CA to Brookings OR)

Day 4-Brookings Oregon to Newport Oregon (233 miles)

Hubs suggested today I not take ten times longer to write about the trip than we actually spent on the trip, but finding time to blog these days is a real challenge. Life is so busy, but I'm determined to take you all the way to Washington with me. Figuratively speaking I mean.

When last we spoke we were crossing the California State Line into Oregon, aka The Beaver Sate. For the record we did not see any beavers, but we did see plenty of seals and sea lions which more than made up for it.

Also, this day may end up being two posts. We shall see.

Before we leave Brookings let me back up and mention our hotel there. We stayed in the Best Western Beachfront Inn and enjoyed the view from our room and the fact that we could walk across the street for a seafood dinner while watching the sunset.

We're all about seafood, sunsets, and great views no matter where we roam.

We had breakfast at the hotel, but took our coffee out to the beach so we could watch the waves crash and rage. The Pacific Ocean packs a punch and the rocky shoreline helps.

While hubs was checking out I managed to set off the car alarm in the rental vehicle which I'm sure was a treat for all those non-early risers. Sorry! Good morning sleepyheads!

Let me preface these next few miles by saying this stretch of highway has to be one of the prettiest stretches in all of America. It's called the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor and is twelve miles of lush green forests and rugged coastline. There are many well marked view points here and it was hard not to stop at them all.

The skies were foggy early on and we worried we might miss some of the natural beauty we'd read about, but eventually the fog lifted and we didn't miss a thing. I thought the early fog made everything feel ethereal.

Natural Bridges-

Reminded us so much of one of our favorite spots on the English coastline, Durdle Door. Sigh.

Arch Rock-

Pretty much just walk out to the overlook and let your jaw drop. Stunning!

When you reach the end of the scenic twelve mile stretch there is still plenty of scenic highway in front of you, it's just not part of the official Samuel Boardman State Scenic Corridor.

Sometimes you feel like you're going to drive right into the Pacific.

We spent quite a bit of time at a place called Pistol Rock feeling like the only people on earth.

The size is positively staggering...makes you want to stay all day.

We didn't.
But we definitely could have.

It was real rain (our first in five days) by the time we arrived in the town of Port Orford, so we opted to have lunch at Redfish. Now let us pause for a moment and give this clam chowder it's due-

Hubs and I agree this was the best clam chowder we have ever eaten ever ever ever. They drizzle it with a little chili oil (I think), and it's garnished with whole fresh clams in the shell that were so good. Definitely one of my favorite bites of the 1057 miles we traversed.

We took a short six mile route off the main coastal road in order to visit the Cape Blanco Lighthouse.

A guide takes you inside and up, and shares a lot of information about both the lighthouse and the life of a keeper.

Can you tell it was windy?

Did you know there are sand dunes in Oregon? Miles and miles of dunes that go on for what feels like forever, but in reality is only about 40 miles. Of course 40 miles of sand dunes is nothing to sneeze at, but since the weather was rainy and really windy we opted not to get out and explore. Hubs especially would have loved more time here, but we tended to linger a little long in some of the earlier places, and we didn't want to miss the Sea Lion Caves.

Our road trip philosophy is this-don't be in such a hurry to tick things off a list that you miss taking in all that is right where you are. We said from the start that if we were somewhere and loving it we would stay as long as we wanted to stay and that's what we did. Mostly what we were seeing was nature showing off which has no operating hours to work around, but there were a few things that required arriving before closing time, and the caves were one such spot.

The Sea Lion Caves sit at a literal bend in the road, with a parking area across the street. Not much traffic so you just run across to the entrance.

Now y'all know that no trip of mine is complete until I've been forced to endure some sort of small confined space that makes me breathe a little too fast, be it a gondola hanging over the tea plantations of Taiwan or an elevator inside a mountain taking you down into the dark where sea lions nest.

So that's what we did. We rode the elevator down down down through the mountain and stepped out into this amazing sea lion cave, a privately owned wildlife preserve and bird sanctuary. This is the largest (known) sea cave in America, and home to the stellar sea lion, although they aren't always present. This isn't a zoo and the animals are free to come and go at will. If the sea lions aren't in residence you're given a discounted entry price and a rain ticket for a return trip within the year at no charge.

It was hard to get good photos from under the mountain! plus they have a guard fence around the rocky ledge so nobody accidentally goes for a swim! but we enjoyed our visit.

 sea lion fossil 

You really need to see this spot in the spring or summer when there might be hundreds here, but the cave itself is cool. Definitely worth the slow ride down on an elevator that gives you zero frame of reference as to how many 'floors' you've traveled and how many you have left before the doors open and you can breathe again.

Also, you get a fantastic view of the Heceta Head Lighthouse from the depths of this cave.

And bonus, the fog was back so we caught the light as it made it's way around and around, warning boaters of the dangerously rocky coast.

We're almost to Newport so I'm going to stop here for now. We had a really interesting dinner in Newport and I want to say more than a line or two about that. This was our longest day of driving, but we agreed we wouldn't change the itinerary. The stopping points worked well for us given what we wanted to see along the way. Some of the little towns you pass through lack accommodations so we were happy with our mileage plan.

Tomorrow-Newport Oregon and close encounters of the Apollo kind.

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 328

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!

1.  In a rut, in a jam, in the groove, out of synch, off balance, out of touch...which saying best fits some area of your life currently (or recently)? Explain.

2. What is it about somebody else's style of work (coworker/employee/shared volunteer project/household chore) that makes you crazy? Why?

3. What's a tradition that always makes you feel at home?

4. A favorite song with a girl's name in the title or lyrics? Any reason why this is a particular favorite?

5. Share a favorite quote, verse, or saying relating to gratitude or thanksgiving.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

American Beauty (Post #4)

Recapping our trip up the Northern California and Oregon Coasts. You can read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, and Day 3 here. 

Day 4-Eureka California to Brookings Oregon (141 miles)

Except I'm not going all the way to Brookings in this post because it got a little long (ha!). We'll pick up on the road where we end today in my next post. You're welcome.  

I'd always imagined the Redwoods were all located within the national park, a single area with trails to follow and a visitors center where you could buy postcards and ask questions and see taxidermied critters on display. While all that's true there are Redwoods growing in several places along the Northern California coast, and you need a bit of a game plan so you can narrow down where and when you want to stop. 

I definitely recommend the Avenue of the Giants which I wrote about in my last post (here), and I also recommend visiting Redwoods National Park. Of course the park is enormous and you can't see it all in a day, but thanks to my online source Josh at California Through My Lens, we did not miss what hubs and I both agree was our favorite stop out of all the many stops we made on this trip- Fern Canyon. Or Fern Gully as I like to call it (shout out to all you moms who watched movies with young children back in the early 90's!) More about that later. 

It was foggy when we left Eureka and we made a brief exit off the coast road into the town of McKinneyville to take a peek at the 'World's Tallest Totem Pole' which technically is no longer the worlds tallest, but is still really tall (160 feet). Also oddly located in a small parking lot behind a shopping center, but I like finding quirky things in our travels and this qualifies. 

We stopped next about 20 miles north of Eureka in the pretty coastal village of Trinidad for a peek at the lighthouse there. You can tell from my photos the weather was ever changing but thankfully the fog lifted as the morning progressed.

The cove below the lighthouse was calling our name so we walked on the beach for a bit, watched more brave surfers (Brrrr)-

...then ran to beat the incoming tide. The coastline is sprinkled with so very many pretty little spots all along the way, nothing fancy- 

...just nature being magnificent. 

Next up was Redwoods National Park. We made a stop in one of the Visitors Centers to get directions to Fern Canyon and were on our way. Josh had written an entire post on his blog about this special place and I was glad I'd read it because the way in is a little wonky. 

Also, he mentioned you would have to cross streams in several places, both by car and on foot, so bring appropriate footwear. As soon as hubs heard he got to drive the car through a stream he was all in. I had my wellies and hubs was in his duck boots and more than one person eyed us with great envy as they attempted to navigate the canyon in tennis shoes. 

To get to the canyon you travel eight miles on a dirt and gravel road that's rutted and winding and does indeed involve driving through three small streams. They weren't deep when we were there, but that isn't always the case so check before you go. We actually followed a couple in who were driving a convertible. A convertible! With the top down! We had the windows rolled up in our vehicle and there was still a lot of dust in the car, so I cannot imagine what theirs looked like. 

Once you reach the parking area (there's a restroom here) it's a short easy walk to the canyon. 

Which is spectacular. Like something out of another time and place. They filmed part of The Lost World here and it's easy to see why. The walls of the canyon are nearly fifty feet high and completely covered in lush green ferns. 

A stream runs through it and there are trees down in several places that you have to crawl over and around. Hubs loves walking the plank of a fallen tree trunk, especially if it's over water. 

He also loves taking pics like these-

The canyon was quiet and still and we had the place to ourselves for the most part. 

 I love wearing my rain boots and running through water like a five year old.

 Yes I splash. Isn't that the point of wearing rain boots? It was hard to leave the canyon but the great thing about driving the coast is you know there is more beauty just around the next bend in the road.

The parking area for the canyon is close to the beach and we did see a whole herd looking very chill and not at all aggressive.

Who knew elk liked to sunbathe?

As we made our way back to the main road we passed another smaller herd. They were close enough to touch if I rolled down my car window but I decided not to test the truth of that sign.

We spent a good part of the afternoon in another section of the National Park called Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

There's a lovely trail through this particular grove and it's a great place to really experience the grandeur and majesty of the trees. If you can't do a lot do this.

Hug a tree-

Stand inside a Redwood and think deep thoughts-

Look up and be amazed-

 Speaking of giants, we made one more stop before crossing the border and that was here-

The Trees of Mystery in Klamath California. It was late in the day so we weren't able to do the tree tour, but they also have a fantastic museum attached to their gift shop and we really enjoyed browsing there. It's called End of the Trail Museum and contains an absolutely wonderful collection of Native American artifacts donated primarily by a woman named Marylee Thompson. It's really impressive how much they have in this out of the way location, and we were so glad to have seen it.

As the day wound down we said farewell for now to California and hello to Oregon-

Stay tuned...she's a beauty!
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