GOLD BEACH FLOOD 11/18-20/2012

While Jed, Kate and Green Hornet were here visiting, they brought with them part of the hurricane from the east coast!  It rained and blew ferociously!!!  During the last 24 hour period it rained 7.3 inches here in Gold Beach, OR!!  The wind blew in gusts up to 90 miles per hour!  No little leisurely beach strolls on this visit!!  This morning when we got up, we looked out our trailer window, where we are parked one trailer space (about 20 yards from mild, little, lazy Hunter Creek.  We were greeted with a raging river, carrying trees and plastic culverts down to the ocean.

 Little did we know, at the time, the culverts we saw floating out to the ocean were the culverts across the only road out of the park!!

 What looks like mountains or clouds off in the distance???  That's the ocean and the powerful wave action our little beach was receiving.

 The creek was surrounding Turtle Rock and eroding away the beach.

We went for a walk in the park and found that we were one of the few RV's that was not surrounded by water.  We later learned that while we slept, Hunter creek had created a new route and was flowing 2 1/2 feet deep through the park.  The brown thing?  That's a hot tub washed away from one of the cabins on the other side of the park!

This is where, an hour or two before it had all been under water and was a wide raging creek!

It washed over the road leading out of the park and in several places removed or added gravel and soil.

 This is where the culverts had been.  The water had been flowing2 1/2 feet over this road before it just all washed away along with the 4 culverts.  It took out our water line, sewer, cable TV, electricity and so forth.

 From one bank to the other, all where road had been!  We realized, we were trapped in the park and no way out!  But amazingly, our trailer was not touched, even thought the 7+" of rain and 90 mile per hour winds buffeted us all night long!

 Later in the day, we went back to find them beginning reconstruction and we now had a little foot bridge to get foot traffic out and in.

 Cones were placed for safety.

 Jed came by to check on us and survey the damage.  He had to check on his Mom!

 We found that our sewer lines had partially blown or washed away.

  Later in the day, some of the park crew and a few of us residents found a couple of the culverts stranded on the beach.  We tied on to them and floated them up stream to where we could latch on to the truck.

 We had pulled them this far and then set up some logs as rollers and then pulled them up the embankment with the truck.

 That's Wayne in the purple sweat shirt.

 Great projects, great fun, great rain!!

EARLY TURKEY FEED 11/17/2012

While Jed and Kate were here visiting our Gold Beach Branch had a Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner.  We were all very excited as we had about twice as many attend as we usually have for our Sunday Services.  There were about 55 people there celebrating time together.  We are pleased to be here.  It is such a friendly group of people.  We have been well welcomed here during these last few weeks we have been here.  We are integrating is quite well.

  There goes Ann to get more food and there goes Kate, making new friends!!

 Here's three of us.  Mom, Dad and #3 son, Jed.  A fun night!

ANOTHER GREEN HORNET ATTACK!! 11/17-20/2012

Several days prior to Thanksgiving, while Ann and Wayne were busy on the coast trying to purchase a house, Green Hornet and his parents showed up at our trailer!  They had flown out from Hurricane stricken, rain soaked and wind demolished Manhattan for a little R & R from the east coast and to spend some time with us on the holidays.  They rented a cabin overlooking the beautiful Gold Beach Coast and we all settled in for a few days of Green Hornet play.

 Grandma was in seventh heaven and it really seemed like Green Hornet remembered her from a couple months ago.  They had a lot of fun making noises, giggling and learning correct baby language....Ohhh da wanna do-do?  Izzle wazzle doo dah!  Mup mum mup dopey snew do? And so forth!

 This is the way the ladies ride.  Try tray tree tree.  This is the way the farmers ride.  Hobbilty Hoy, Hobbilty Hoy!  This is the way the gentlemen ride.  Gallopy trot, gallopy trot, gallopy trot!

 Ohhhhhhh!  Ohhhhhhh!  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 I love you.  Do you see a tree?  See Grandma smile?

 Green Hornet loves his Sophie that Grandma gave him!!

 Green Hornet was drooling, chewing, pulling all fingers to his mouth and so forth.  Guess the new teeth are coming in!  Poor Sophie!!!

 Then at the end of the few short days, it was time to say good-bye!

 And off the family went back to Medford to get ready for Thanksgiving Day!  We will join them tomorrow!

STILL ON THE OREGON COAST 11/3/2012

In Wayne's search to follow the sun and continually wear shorts, tee shirt and flip flops, he never thought he would end up wintering on the Oregon Coast.  But it is November and we are still here.  Though we have been up and down this beautiful coastline several times in the last couple months, we seem to be focusing in the Gold Beach area.  We resurrected out 1998 Camry that has been sitting at Wayne's brother's house for a few years to cheapen the fuel costs as we drive around looking for where to settle.  Our second favorite spot to sit for free is just north of the mouth of the Rogue River.  The first favorite place to sit for free is near Pistol River another 8 miles further south.

 Here. we can sit for a few days, without hook ups, have a beautiful view and it's free.

 The view out our dining room and living room windows, looking south west, are of the mouth and jetty of the magnificent Rogue River as it empties in to the Pacific Ocean.

 Looking south east out the same windows, we see the Gold Beach bridge spanning the breadth of the Rogue.

 And it's free!

But, sitting here without hook-ups and without a generator, eventually runs our batteries down.  And figuring we would be here awhile looking at houses and then figuring if we decide on a house and make an offer, we would be in the area a few months waiting for it to close, we decided we'd do something we haven't done in our travels...we paid for a site in an RV Park for three months and would stay in one place.

  We are permanently anchored until mid January of 2013 at Turtle Rock RV Park just a mile south of Gold Beach. Oregon.  This is our spot from which we go out to find what we are looking for.  We have even put out our new sign next to our trailer.  Wayne's bother's wife, Linda got this for us a few weeks back.  We are quite proud of it!

 A couple people have commented on it's unique beauty and our moniker we put on our fifth wheel, "Our Haven From Slavin' ".  This was the phrase Wayne's parents had painted on the back of their motorhome.

We have friends in the neighborhood that have entertained us while here on the coast.

 It is fascinating to watch these young bulls battle for the breeding rights of the herd.  Stan and Dave, I will not tell you where these are located!

 It is nice being just a couple yards from the beach where Hunter Creek enters into the Pacific Ocean.  This is looking back at the RV Park.  You can see part of our trailer under the bridge on the far right of the picture.

 We walk on the beach almost daily.  Here is Ann bundled up on one of those walks.  Behind her you can see Turtle Rock.  Can you see the turtle head and shell?

 This is the view from our back living room window, looking out where Ann was standing.

 We love walking.  The sound of the surf, the fresh air, the gulls flying overhead and the pelicans skimming along the tops of the waves all  make for a nice place to be.

 Ann is always looking for a curious piece of driftwood, shell or rock to bring back for her collection that is developing out on the picnic table.

 Wayne was sitting on a log while Ann wandered and when he turned around at the sound of Ann approaching, saw this shot, her being framed in the roots of the log.  Had to get a shot of it.

 Then one of us together without being framed in.

Anyway, so we are on the Oregon Coast, staying near Gold Beach, OR and we have finally made an offer on a house.  We are now waiting for things to clear with the bank and such.  We may or may not get it.