I Want To Live On The OR Coast Part II

Friday, the 29th, I awoke with my eyes sealed shut with eye gunk....and still barely a voice.  Sammy made me a tea with lemon juice and honey....something I would live off of until we left Sunday. I scraped myself together well enough to go crabbing on the Tillamook bay with Sam, Tim, and Tim's dad Mike. SO MUCH FUN!! We spent hours out on the boat crabbing, snacking, and enjoying a few drinks. Total bliss.  At one point we anchored down so we could kill time and let the crab pots soak and we get out on the beach to search for agates, driftwood, shells, and sea glass. If I could live this life every day, I would. How relaxing it was to comb the beach for treasures on a beautiful day with the sun beating down on you. It was gorgeous out and I enjoyed listening to the birds, boats, and water as I strolled on the beach in my bathing suit.

By the end of our crabbing adventure, I think we had caught 5 keepers. We headed back to the beach house where Tim's other family members were starting filter in. We said our hellos, I got cleaned up, then went and took photos of Tim cleaning the crab. Pretty dang cool. Everyone settled in and chummed it up, relaxing around the fire. Our friends (My gal pal Mariah, her husband Ben, and Mariah's sister Beth) showed up later that night and the evening was spent eating, drinking, and listening to music around the fire. At one point Sam, me, Tim, Ben, Mariah, and Beth went for a long, leisurely stroll down the road just talking and looking up at the sky, enjoying the night. Once we got back to the house I had to be a party pooper and crash early in the hopes that Saturday would find me with a returned voice and eyes that didn't look like I had a disease. I felt embarrassed with my sickly looking eyes and non existent voice trying to talk and be part of the group, lol, Tim's family must have thought I was dying of something. 

Saturday, the 30th, THE BIG DAY!!! My eyes weren't nearly as bad as they were Friday gunk wise, but still pretty red and ugly looking. *sigh* But, I did have my voice back and over all I was feeling ok. We had had plans to wake up super early and go clamming, but that never happened. I was up early and ready, but no one else was, lol. So instead once everyone was awake, we decided we'd go up to Seaside, another coastal town, and walk the shops and such. Ben had an appointment to get a tattoo (at the same place I got my tattoo....the "Do not fear tomorrow, God is already there") so Sam and I thought it would be fun to tag along with Ben, Mariah, and Beth to Seaside for awhile. Click here to check it out!  We got there and hit up a few shops before stopping in at Doogers Seafood and Grill Click here to check it out! for lunch.  I got the fried clam strips, oh sooooo good! After wards Sammy and I split from the gang as they were soon off to have Ben get his tattoo anyways. Sam and I went in a few more shops, picked up a few items, then headed for the beach which was at the end of the long boardwalk filled with shops. The beach was really crowded, so we didn't go down, we just people watched for a while. 

We then hit the road back to the beach house. We took a short rest before heading into town where the Garibaldi Days (a town celebration) was going on and we went to all the craft booths. I got myself a gorgeous mother of pearl and sterling silver leaf charm. I'll have to take a photo of it sometime to show ya'll. I got an elephant's ear and we walked around a bit more before heading back. Soon enough everyone was starting to filter back in from their day's adventure and everyone was ready to get this crab boil going! Drinks were gotten out.....I may or may not have taken a few shots of fireball and was feeling great, lol.....everyone was chumming it up, laughing,and having a grand 'ol time. It was awesome. I'm only sorry I wasn't on my game and didn't get very many photos of the whole reason we were at the beach house....the crab boil! Ahhh well. The crab were cook and I swear devoured in 5 minutes. SO DELICIOUS. The night ended with a pretty sweet fireworks display. Sammy and I were party poopers again and went to bed when the fireworks were done. The evenings always found me feeling the worst and at this point my lungs were starting to hurt. Booo.

Sunday, the 31st, was head home day. :( Sammy and I got up early to clean the room we were staying in and pack our belongings up. Tim's mom made a killer breakfast and we sat around outside enjoying our last morning there. My lungs were killing me. It felt as if I was slowly suffocating and it hurt to breath deeply, cough, burp, swallow, etc. UGH. Once everyone else woke up we said our goodbyes and got on the road, I didn't want to sit there and complain of being in pain and suffer in front of everyone, lol. We hit up the grocery store for some road snacks then decided to make one last trip to the beach. I am SO GLAD we did this. Not only did I get some awesome shots, but it was so incredibly relaxing to just lay there. We grabbed our big blanket from the car and laid out on the sand for a good hour. It was heaven, I'm telling you. Only a few people were out on the beach, so it felt so peaceful and serene. I took lots of photos while Sam collected more wood and sea shells. We're planning on making a sea shell mobile for Molly's room as well as other little projects. I'll show ya'll once they are done. Get excited!!! :) We're waiting on a special small drill bit to show up in the mail so we can delicately drill holes in the shells and wood. After our time on the beach, we booked it home.

The coast has my heart.  

With love,

Mama Hauck

I Want To Live On The OR Coast Part I

Every year in July, our friend Tim's family has a crab boil at their beach home in Garibaldi, OR, right on the beautiful OR coast, during the Garibaldi days (like a town celebration). We were graciously invited to join them this year! Sammy and I got to the beach house Tuesday evening. Sam, Tim, and I had the whole beach house to ourselves until Thursday evening when Tim's mom and dad were to show up followed by more of his family and a few of our friends Friday evening for the big crab boil on Saturday!

After spending some time by the fire Tuesday evening, we hit the hay. I wanted to rest up to hopefully feel better for the days to come. Wednesday morning, the 27th, I woke up feeling substantially better, though a little tired and my throat was hurting. Sucked, but nothing I couldn't deal with. We started the day out with a trip to a gorgeous beach in Tillamook (Tillamook is where they have the Tillamook cheese factory!!). I love it there......I could probably spend hours on the beach just laying in the sand watching the waves roll in. Absolutely beautiful. We frolicked around and collected sand, seashells, and sand dollars. I got a lot of great shots at this beach that I think are just breathtaking. 

After the beach we headed out to the Cape Meares Lighthouse. Click here to check it out! It's beautiful looking out across the water. This was followed by a short hike on a trail path close to the lighthouse to see a HUGE tree called Big Spruce which is the largest Sitka spruce in OR. It is 144 feet tall with a circumference of  48 feet. Click here to check it out!

We then drove around a bit, hitting up a fruit stand where we got a flat of mixed berries and some artichokes. Our destination was The Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City (right on the coast) for lunch. Click here to check it out! Gorgeous views AND delicious grub! We sat outside on the patio right on the beach front and looked out across the sand and water. It was beautiful, I'm telling you. I ordered the white cheddar mac and cheese and it was, no lie, the BEST mac and cheese I have EVER (seriously!!!) had in my entire life!! I also got a hot coffee and booze drink that was so strong I was feeling great by the time we left, haha. I was in heaven. It was great to sit out there soaking up the sun and the views. After eating, we headed on back down to Garibaldi to go to another beach to look for agates, arrowheads, and sea glass. I never tire of looking for goodies. :) We then went back to the beach house for some downtime and dinner and decided it would be a grand idea to head off to one of the local bars in town, The Ghost Hole (Love this place! Food, drinks, pool, gambling, karaoke), for a few drinks and some pool.  The night ended with conversation around the fire back at the beach house. What a freaken AWESOME day!!

Thursday, the 28th, I woke up with the hopes of feeling 100% back to my old self. I was wrong. My throat was so dry and hurting and I had no voice. Ugh! I was pretty much laughed at by Sammy and Tim the whole day, lol, as I tried to squeak out my words. I was EXHAUSTED.....I didn't want to move. After a delicious breakfast of donuts, coffee, bacon, and toast, we decided we would hit up a few antique shops in a near by town called Wheeler. Click here to check it out! I might be sick, but I can still shop. :) The couple antique shops we went in were huge! I could have spent all my money in there, lol, but only got a couple old blue glass mason jars, some pretty shells, and a cool big, brown, long neck bottle. Tim treated us out to lunch in another coastal town called Manzanita. We went to The San Dune Pub Click here to check it out! and I got the most delicious (Seriously soooooo good) chicken caesar wrap and washed it all down with a Wyder's Pear cider. My new favorite drink. YUM! We sat outside on their patio and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere, the soft breeze, and the sunshine. After eating, the plan was for Tim to take us on a hike, but I was SO TIRED I didn't know how I was even going to walk back to the truck, lol. I feel bad cause Tim had really wanted to take us on that hike and I really would have liked to have gone and taken some awesome photos, but there was no way I could muster up the energy to go. So instead we headed back to the beach house where I was able to take a nap for an hour or so. Thanks guys. :)

After napping I awoke feeling better and it was off to crabbing!! We went to a small dock close to the beach house right there in Garibaldi and tossed off our crab pots and sat around chumming it up. Ahhhh.....crabbing in the evening in a beautiful coastal town on vacation.....I could do this every day and NEVER tire of it. We got one keeper. Tim's parents got in that night and we met them back at the beach house after we were finished crabbing. We then went to a different bar for some dinner and a little slot machine fun before I had to call it a night and bail on everyone to go to bed, lol.

To be continued.....

With love,
Mama Hauck