A Wet Week

As expected, it rained most of the time during our getaway to Cape Disappointment this past week. We arrived home yesterday. Most everything is unpacked, but there are still a few things to put away. We left in fog, although it was probably a low flying cloud hovering at the top of our hill. When we crossed over the coastal mountain range, the sun was waiting on the other side.

We still had quite a distance to go, but eventually we crossed what Mike calls the "tall, scary bridge" across the mouth of the Columbia River into Washington.

On the Oregon side, the bridge is tall and high above the water to allow ocean-going vessels to pass under.

To our right was the Columbia River and several ships awaiting river guides to take them up the Columbia and into the ports at Longview and Portland.

To our left...the Pacific Ocean.

Straight ahead, the bridge flattens out, close to the water, across this huge expanse of river.

On the far side, one enters the state of Washington.

From there, it's just about half an hour through the coastal communities of Chinook, Washington, and Ilwaco, Washington, to Cape Disappointment State Park. It's among our favorite of the state parks available to us in Oregon and Washington.

Here, I have to show you Mike's ingenious solution for the catio window. The problem is that when the weather is cold, cold air passes in where the kitties go out. Mike taped up some heavy plastic with slits cut so the kitties could pass in and out, but it prevented most of the cold wind (and rain) from blowing into the trailer. It worked perfectly.

He has a plan to use a sheet of plexiglass with a regular kitty door mounted in the middle as a permanent solution to this problem, but that will take a little longer. For this trip, the combination of plastic and duct tape worked like a charm.

By the time we were set up in our site, the fog had rolled in again. We walked out on the beach, but it wasn't terribly inviting. To the north, we could see the North Head Lighthouse.

We didn't stay long, and ended up walking around the campground a little bit. The wet weather has produced a forest of large mushrooms.

Some are more photogenic than others.

We'd seen and heard Coast Guard helicopters out practicing maneuvers, and when we heard this one come so close to where we were, we headed back out to the beach to have a look. Cool!

It took us a while to figure out what they were doing, exactly. The pilot could hold this helicopter so steady despite the driving wind, you might think he was parked on some sort of unseen surface there in the sky. In the image below, you can see someone sitting in the doorway.

Below were some people staked out on this cliff side. We're told this is a popular place for them to practice because of the rough surf and the cliffs.

And we watched them turn this way and that and hover dangerously close to the ground (not to mention the lighthouse).

And then we watched them lowering and raising someone from the helicopter.

That's not scary...right?

Down below, they appeared to be rescuing a dummy.

After a while, they came very close to where we were standing and turned the helicopter to the right and the left.

If you think I took a lot of pictures of the helicopter, you would be right.

Occasionally, I put down the camera and waved my arm wildly. Eventually, the pilot waved back, which thrilled me to no end.

We stood watching them for about an hour before we got cold and headed back to the trailer.

While we were out there, I noticed this nifty lean-to someone had built with driftwood.

Here's how it looked from the other side. There was a large area toward the back where someone more intrepid than I could camp overnight if they wanted to.

Back at the trailer, Smitty and I enjoyed a cup of espresso, and then I said, "Hey...I think I'll just load these cups into the dishwasher!"

And wow...that was a gas.

Only, we had to laugh at ourselves when we wanted to run it through its first real wash cycle because we'd completely forgotten to get any dishwasher soap. Doh!

Here's a study in contrasts: Smitty relaxed on the couch.

Sadie looking surprised, as usual.

It rained almost all day our second day, but we drove to a parking area where we could see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. You might recall I showed some pictures from the other side of the river on our trip to Fort Stevens last month.

Here, I've zoomed in on it a little. It looks as if it could use a point job.

Later in the afternoon, I baked a Dutch Apple Pie for Two. We had our "First Friday" dessert on Wednesday. You won't tell anyone, will you?

We didn't mind the rain. I spent the day finishing up the first Appalachian Memories barn.

And I sewed the binding on The More the Marinarier. That makes a finish.

And I got quite a bit done on the 10th Snow Globes block.

This was my view for most of the day.

Or else this:

The sun came out the next day and Smitty got out for his one and only walk of the trip.

We were able to get out for a walk, and the lighthouse looked much prettier in the sunshine.

There's another building to its right.

I've written about this structure when we visited previously. It can be rented out for overnight stays, parties, weddings, etc.

Here's a zoomed in view of the lighthouse.

In the other direction, the Coast Guard was at it again, hovering perilously close to the water and practicing who knows what. In the image below, you can see the spray being produced by the helicopter blades.

There was another helicopter circling around too.

On our walk, I took pictures of a few little things. This was some sort of gelatinous blob of something. It was about as big as a dime.

Sea gull feather.

Here's a big tree mostly submerged in the sand.

This was the first appearance of our shadow selves on the trip.

On the way back the trailer, this little bird was taking advantage of the puddles for a nice bath.

Soon it was time to head for home again. You can see the "tall, scary bridge" off in the distance there. It isn't as tall and scary on the Washington side.

And there we are again...back in our home state of Oregon.

And that was our trip.

It's time to set a goal for November's OMG. You might remember this quilt top called Wind in the Whiskers, finished eons ago. I sandwiched it for quilting more than a year ago, and I've been dreading it ever since. It still needs all those fiddly appliques stitched down, and then a little bit of quilting in some of the larger background areas.

It's a large quilt, and too much to finish in a single month I'm afraid. For November, I'm committing to doing the sections I've outlined in pink in the image below.

If I get farther than that, all the better, but for my November goal...just the pinked-in section. I'll save the finish for the December party.

So that brings you and me up to date. Today I'll finish unpacking, and then do something in the sewing room. There's probably something on the housework calendar too, but I haven't taken the time to look yet. I missed you guys! The trip was a wonderful diversion, but it's always good to be back home again.