A Day at the Beach - Brookings Harbor/Chetco Point

What to do with a beautiful SATURDAY? I needed to buy groceries - still can't fit a week of produce and meat in the trailer for our family. Michael suggested we drive to Brookings, investigate the beach and buy our groceries and gas in Oregon.

After confirming we could not get the Ducks game at the Caboose, we headed up the road. We tried out a few campgrounds along the way. A state park which SAID there were "limited RV spots" and an "RV turnaround". Whooee - we were thankful we did not have the Caboose with us - we didn't even see a spot where a very small trailer or Class C could have parked. It was good to know now. The other park was the Beachfront RV Park in Brookings-Harbor.  There are actually about five clustered around the public access beach. The Beachfront RV Park  is a giant parking lot, with laundry, showers and a store, right on the beach. We need to start doing some research for parks or campgrounds up 101.

What's not to love about an 82* day at the beach?????

 

We contemplated, corporately and individually, that we were 3000 miles due west of Misawa and Japan.

 

 

We watched fishing boats trawl the harbor and bigger ships return from a day at sea.

Go Coast Guard!

As we walked along the beach - in front of a  parked row of RVs - we visited  with the folks out watching the beach and enjoying cool drinks.  We struck up a conversation with Harvey and Judy, which ended up with three of us being invited to tour their Newmar Class A Diesel Pusher. Nice wheels. It was obviously built better than the Palazzo and Damons we've looked at - much heftier price to go with the Amish workmanship too.  Nolan and Alex had gone ahead to check prices at the park office for us. When we didn't show up they turned back looking for us....walked all the way to the end to the pier and wondered what could have happened. Imagine their surprise when they called and we told them we were inside the beautiful Newmar across from the stairs to the beach. LOL

 

We avoided the taffy, fudge and hot dogs, although when at the beach one MUST find a fish and chip joint - which we did.

Following the highway signs brought us next to Chetco Point. I'll admit, it didn't look promising  - a path beside and behind a sewer treatment plant. Looks were deceiving in this instance.  My ankle wasn't up to much more hiking or climbing rocks - so I found a nice bench with an ocean view and watched people, birds, dogs, and the ocean. Here are some photos from the rest of the family's adventure.

Note - once outside of the Redwood basin, I had cell reception which explains the replies to texts during the afternoon and the cessation of texts once again. Email or FB is going to the best way to reach us while we're here - or call Nolan's Trac Phone - it seems to get good reception wherever we are.

#WYFF - Where's Your Feet Friday

#WYFF is a hash tag from "Full-Time Families" - a Facebook group for families which are living full time in an RV. The idea is to share a glimpse through one snap shot in time.  Without further ado our #WYFF for the week or the BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front).

We finished a full week of school! It was surprisingly easy to do so in the Caboose. I feared the close quarters would cause distraction, but this first week it seemed to serve to keep us on our course. I found myself much more engaged with the schedule - a less distracted teacher resulted in less distracted students, greater productivity in a shorter amount of time.  It is motivating to know exploring awaits the conclusion of school.

One thing we LOVE about schooling in the Caboose is MICHAEL is home!  It has been a lot of fun to have his input - our science experiments have a much better chance of succeeding this year - and we all KNOW what the cool activity is teaching us when Michael is done teaching.  Nolan and I were discussing the fact I didn't have the foresight to bring a 9v battery and copper wire along. Michael was on it - they created a 9V battery (complete with testing to be sure they had the voltage right)....and it was easy enough to find copper wire in his tool box.  Anything Dad is involved in will draw the whole tribe - wala science.  We split hydrogen and oxygen (molecules not atoms ::wink::) and watched the hydrogen burn off (the photo is puny).  This science input from Michael is especially helpful as it appears I inadvertently packed  the younger two's science books in Mom and Dad's garage. Until we make it back up there, they'll piggy back on Nolan's chemistry.

 

 

Michael was ready to settle in for an afternoon of trailer repair.  He wasn't aware we push hard through the week, so we can PLAY  Friday afternoons. He was quite willing to switch gears and we headed over to Mom G's. The sun was out, the water a bit nippy after the two days of rain, but the river was ours alone to enjoy on a Friday afternoon. Michael surprised us with this inflatable boat he found on clearance - perfect for our new lifestyle. I'm wondering if we can fit another one or two in somewhere.

Nina and Arrow are always ready to play at the river

Yuuki enjoys checking out neighbor's kayaks more than swimming

No - peer pressure won't work on me

 

Nolan found a branch and had a brilliant idea.....the dogs pulled him through the river....

Yeah - I'm not sure I see a lot of this from various kids

Michael wondered what they'd do if he threw it.....

 

Michael asked, "Now is this an every Friday expectation?"  Evidently, we've hid our affection for playing on Fridays from him all these years. After some thinking we all agreed - yep. In the "sticks and bricks" home, we tended to head for various electronics - but the possibilities are varied and endless in our new lifestyle.  We'll have to figure out when TRAVEL days fit best. LOL

Back at the trailer Michael tried out our new zero-gravity recliners. I'd coveted them since seeing similar at John and Nadine's motor home.  Yep - all the comforts of "home." This was our "test" for Amazon prime. They can find you anywhere.

 

I popped in the meatloaf I'd prepared earlier in the day.  I am still learning the quirks of this oven. Some things cook as expected - some take longer. My PLAN was to pop a veggie patty into the  microwave for myself. I'm not used to microwaves. It's been a source of humor to the family that we HAVE a microwave in the Caboose. What could go wrong? I came back in from delivering the meatloaf and veggies to the outside table and discovered smoke billowing from the microwave. It hadn't even been two minutes. The smoke alarm went off and everything. We're the talk of the park- though the 13 yo running around in night vision goggles may have something to do with that.  I haven't a clue why the veggie patty incinerated - but it did.  More cleaning is on the agenda - if the microwave keeps smelling like smoke, I may gain another cupboard... I found it hilarious, when I sat down to blog, to find a post in progress on Cooking in the RV - "smells are magnified" - yep - you betcha!

Mom G joined us for dinner and an evening around the campfire. We read Patrick McManus, enjoyed S'mores, looked at photos of Pluto, and I may have drifted off in my comfy recliner by the fire for a few moments.

It was a "practically perfect" Friday.  

Watch Out for HUMANS!

I had great fun posting funny signs we saw in Japan. It is only fair I continue the practice as we travel around America.

This sign on Hwy 199, "the Redwood Hwy,"  cracks me up each time we drive by it. "HUMANS!"

I suppose it can be interpreted, "Watch for tourists," or "Tourist crossing."

 

Driving a highway with views like this, maybe tourists can be excused?