It's Big As Mah Head!

Yes, that is ONE, pork tenderloin. No, he did not eat it all in one go.  In fact, we got about 5 meals off of the silly-sized thing.

IT'S HOT!!!

Just turned 12pm just now and it's already 90F outside!   I'm hot and tired so I thought I would take a quick break.

It's been this kind of weekend...

I wish I could say the same for myself, but there's wwwaaaaaayyyyyyyy too much stuff to be done right now, so the temperature cannot be a factor.

Vacation 2015, #18 - Camping At Cape Lookout State Park

I had made a comment about the next post "being a little more labor intensive" in the Local Ocean Seafood post.  Never in my wildest nightmares would I have believed that Molly would pass-away prior to me getting this posted!!  But that's what happened and that's where we find ourselves as a family...

So on to the original "next" post.

  

Another post that I believe to be slightly out of order, although, that could just be my memory.

This is our campsite and local surroundings at Cape Lookout State Park near Tillamook, OR.  It was a pretty nice campground although the bathrooms could have been a bit closer, but what the heck, you're on vacation, eating out all the time, probably good to be "required" to go on walks every now and then.  The beauty of this campsite was mountains on one side, ocean on the other!

That's not to mention the threat of bears.  And tsunamis, as you'll see later.

On to the pics...

This is it, in all her glory!  Not much green space but the space to the right of this photo went unoccupied for quite a while, so Robby and I got some football catch in.  There was plenty of space to stake in the big foot-long plastic stakes that I like for the over-the-top-canvas to help with the wind.  She held up fine and allowed a spot to hang some wet laundry.

This is looking back at our campsite from the sand dune separating the campground from the beach/ocean.  You can see what looks like fog in the air.  That's a combination of mist, salt and sand that gets on everyone and everything!  Our site is just to the left of that telephone pole towards the right of the photo.  The bathrooms are waaaaaayyyyyyy over on the left by those furthermost trees.  Not an issue until it's 2:24 am and you've got to go, REAL BAD!!!

And then there was this.  This was posted in the mens restrooms so that whatever slice of nature you were nuturing, you got to read this.  Comforting?  I think not.  You think I'm going to crawl into a car and wait in a traffic jam in an attempt to escape a tsunami?  Nope, not me.   Either high tail it towards the mountains behind us or lean in to it and accept my fate.  Number 2 is probably the go-to, because have you ever tried running in sand?

I missed these photos as I was back at the campground sorting thru the van and trying to get it organized.  I was buying beer not only for myself, but for a cousin in Wisconsin who would trade with me come early August at the annual family reunion.  I missed some good stuff, so if I ever decide to do something like that again, it'll be on a much smaller scale and therefore, much less time consuming.  But look at that beach and sunset!!

And then there's these two.  My pride and absolute joy, waiting for the next wave to come in and dissolve the sand beneath their feet so they can giggle all over again!

And there's the next wave heading back out to sea, only to meet the next one rolling in.

And should you ever ever feel like you're the center of the universe,  I give you exhibit A, where the camera is still zoomed in and the boys are but a tiny zit on the butt of the world.  If I may wax poetic...

And there they are again, digging a hole only to have the seawater come and fill it from below.

And of course,  football on the beach!

Snow angels by Robby while Caleb digs in the background.

This is looking South from the beach that is pretty much straight West of our campground.  I believe that is also the hill/bluff where Momma took Robby hiking the next morning while the rest of us wondered how our backs would survive the remaining vacation!   Oh, and I double-dog-dare-you to try and walk that beach down to those trees/bluff!

Molly Lynne Bushman

Today has been one of the worst days in history for every single person whose life was touched by Molly. And she's touched thousands of them! 

Not only was she obviously a daughter, she was a loving sister to my wife and would drop anything to come help whenever needed.  Most of the time you would never have to ask because she would be volunteering her time and services.  

She was also a WONDERFUL Aunt to Robby and Caleb and would seldom miss sporting events or school concerts and functions.  Again, lending her time and being selfless.

She was a great school teacher who cared for her kiddos like few other teachers I've seen, trying to reach the unreachable, and while not always succeeding, she never stopped trying.

She was a friend to so many that I don't even know where to begin!  Didn't matter that she often worked three jobs, she would drop what she was doing to lend a hand to a friend in need.

While she was human, and therefore not always perfect, she was a shining example of what a Christian should be and she will always be remembered as such.

Molly Bushman 05/20/1974  -  05/18/2016

R.I.P.  Molly.  You will always be loved and missed by the Schmitz Family!

Vacation 2015, #17 - Local Ocean Seafood

I'm a little out of order here.  We ate at this restaurant the evening of the whale watching tour, and the evening prior to the tide pools...  at least I think.

Anyhoo...

After the disappointment that was Mo's West and not getting our clam chowder, we wound our way thru town down some oddball back streets and found ourselves near a marina. 

That is where the restaurant, Local Ocean Seafood is located.  If I were passing thru Oregon again, I would be hard pressed to NOT stop here again.  Fantastic food in a fantastic atmosphere sitting across the street from the marina with the side of the building opened up to get some of the fantastic weather of that day inside the building.  

What's not to like?

I do know that if I ever did make it back, it wouldn't be the same and probably wouldn't live up to the memories, but man, what a meal!!

That's all there is to the building itself.  You can see the open side of the building just over the luggage rack of the car nearest the camera.  We were sitting about right in the corner there, just to the side of the open wall.

And this is the view from walking straight across the street from the lovely little place.  Not a bad view and contrary to some marinas we've been near, not too bad smelling either!

Just a short post this time as the next one is a little more labor intensive...

Vacation 2015, #16 - The Tide Pools

Our 16th installment of the 2015 vacation finds our tired and dragging butts at someplace on the Oregon coast, where it is pretty dang cold on this otherwise beautiful morning! 

We were here to visit the tide pools...  which ones?  Who knows at this point.  Maybe Bandon?  Really doesn't matter too much as they were stunning in their beauty and the amount of life that they held.

The sound of the "rocks"  as the sun lit them up was just as amazing as the sites.  I think it was the sound of the millions of little creatures on the rocks that "came to life" as the sun warmed them up.  Whatever it was, I hope to experience again in a more rested manner.

On to the lovely pics of that cold morning.
 

This is the first pic, essentially taken from the parking lot.

Roughly the same spot, but turned about 90 degrees to the right from where I was standing above.

And again, roughly from the same spot, turned about 90 degrees to the right from the pic immediately above.  You know, like a panoramic pic but with three shots instead of just one!

On the march down towards the shoreline.

Looking back from where we just came.  You can see the stairway railing in the middle of the pic, and the parking lot was well over the top of the hill towards the left of the pic.

Another shot from roughly the same spot I was standing in to take the picture immediately above this one.  I pivoted just a bit to the left.  You can see a bit of the wooden railing top-middle, that we passed two pictures above.  Confused yet?  Good, that means I'm doing a good job!

Robert James Schmitz enjoying the sun light with a fantastic backdrop.

That's Momma and Caleb RongBol between the two big ol' rocks.

Nasty little critter all hyped up on sand and out for blood!!  Pretty harmless and cute really.

Caleb and Robby adorning some of God's artwork.

Green peppers buried in the silt and sand from high tide.  Just kidding.  Everything you see in that picture that's not sand is some type of creature. The ones making tiny little clicking noises in the morning sun.

Again, nearly everything you can see covering that rock is living entities!

Close-up of some Starfish and other urchins.

Momma in her element!

Loveliness.  Nothing more.

And quite frankly, I cannot recall if this was from t hat same morning, but it was sorted with those pics and the weather in the photo looks like it fits, so I included it as it's quite a nice pic as well.

And so we have it on my journey to finish up last years vacation photos before this years vacation!  

Vacation 2015, #15 - Whale Watching

On this fine day, only moments after trying, unsuccessfully, to experience some of the finest (according to the ratings) West coast clam chowder at Mo's West, we find our happy entourage back in Depot Bay Oregon getting ready to climb ourselves onto a fishing boat for some whale watching.  

This is where I would like to point out that EVERYBODY seems to be excited about this other than dear ol' Dad himself.  You see, every time I get on a boat, I have to set my resolve that I will soon be dead, and for better or worse, standing in front of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, facing judgement.  

I don't like boats.  I don't like water (other than for refreshment!).  I don't like swimming or other stuff that humans have to do in water like trying to survive!  It's just not my thing.

So we buy our tickets and all seems good.  The water looks fairly calm and people seem to be returning happily with all of their limbs intact, so, what could go wrong!?

I know that I will be queasy and hating life shortly after leaving the bay, but at this point, I am rejoicing over the poor service at Mo's West where we simply left after a while because of their utterly crappy service.  Otherwise, I, along with the rest of my party, would have eaten a large bowl of clam chowder and then found ourselves out on a boat with waves causing us to drop 10-12 feet per wave...  not a good combo.

This was crossing the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway and approaching the Depot Bay State Park OPRD Whale Watching Center.  If  you had not noticed, it's a beautiful day!!!

Skeletal remains of a harbor seal in the building that appears in the above photo.

Skeletal remains a sea lion.

Cool stuff.

Outside of the visitors center.  We will pass under this bridge in short time on our whale watching boat.

At water edge, preparing to board!

yep...

Two of my beloveds shortly after boarding our vessel.

Out at sea...

Shortly after hitting the "sea waves",  Caleb grabbed the front of my shirt with unbridled intensity and yelled, "WHY ARE WE DOING THIS!?!?".    He was not fond of the waves and was pretty determined that we were going to perish.  This photo was taken after he had settled down and decided to sit at the comfort of daddy's feet.

There's a whale out there somewhere...  Seriously.  It's hard to catch the buggers on camera because of the delay of digital camera's but we did see quite a few.

You see that light spot right near the middle of the picture?  That's a whale blowing mist up thru his/her blow hole!  Caught that one!

This was heading back to the bay when the waves were "in our favor"!   I spotted what I first thought was a snake but as we approached and eventually passed, determined was an octopus!  Very cool stuff.

Once we returned to the bay, to the happiness of all of the boats sea-sick city-slickers, we saw this happy little guy swimming around for our enjoyment.