Bidding Good-Bye to Gold Beach

Where has the time gone?  When we started this adventure 2 months ago, it looked like a long road ahead of us.  However, the time has flown. Of course, we had no idea we would be in the midst of a pandemic but we were not going to let that stop us.  In preparing for this trip, safety was foremost in our plans.  Tom began planning this trip almost a year ago mostly to make sure we could rent all the apartments, condos and houses we wanted.  

Each one has worked out very well, especially this one in Gold Beach. 

 It’s a beautiful  house with the most spectacular view. They call it the “Hilltop House” because it sits at the very top of Tom Cat Hill Road.   I’ll really miss walking out on the balcony and looking out over the Rogue River racing into the Pacific Ocean.  

This house has worked out so well for us.  With 5 bedrooms and 4 baths we had more then enough room for all our visitors.  

We are so grateful to Pat, Kay, Don, Vivian, Charles, Pennie, Brian, Jeff and Zeke for taking the giant leap of faith and joining us.  I think they all thought it was worth it.  

Fishing with John and his deck hand Donnette was certainly a highlight of this trip.  

There were lots of nice salmon caught even though some had to be thrown back since there were laws against keeping them.  We are still taking home lots of fish, 3 coolers full!  

Did I mention one I caught weighed 30 pounds?  

That was a thrill!  

Today was spent packing, cleaning and taking in last minute Gold Beach sights.  

Tomorrow we head for California as we slowly make our way back home.  We have to stop in the San Francisco area to visit with Brian (Tom’s son) and his family and then to the Los Angeles area to visit with Joanna (Tom’s daughter) and her family.  Then back to Dallas where my sons Bradley and Jamie and their families live.

Thank you to all the kind people we met here, you all have made this a wonderful month!

Last Day of Salmon Fishing

Today was the last day of salmon fishing.  We got an early start at 8 am and met John at the dock.  

The weather was supposed to be very pleasant, but it was colder and windier than we expected.

  The first fish I caught was a whopper!  Well, ok maybe it wasn’t really.  

Maybe in a couple of years it will be a whopper.  

Next, I hooked a Coho (Silver) salmon we got to keep because it was a hatchery fish.  The adipose (small fleshy fin behind the dorsal fin) was removed at the hatchery.  That is how you tell a hatchery fish from a wild fish.

Donnette was busy early this morning but was able to join us mid morning.  We call her our “lucky charm”.  When she’s on the boat we catch fish!

The next fish I caught was another Coho and a big one, but unfortunately we couldn’t keep it because it was a wild fish  and it’s against the law to keep them.  Still a lot of fun and exciting to catch!

John estimated the fish would weigh sixteen pounds.

 

Tom’s got one!  

On no!  It’s a nice one but it’s a wild Coho— not a keeper.  Oh, these rules! 

We caught one more keeper hatchery Coho.

Not as big as the one we had to let go but still a good eating fish.

We took our two keepers to the cleaning table.

 It was a long day of fishing but too many had to go back in the water or they just got a free meal by stripping our bait.  

The salmon fishing has truly been a highlight of our trip to Gold Beach.  We are taking home a lot of fish!  Thanks, John and Donnette!  You are “Memory Makers.”

Winding Down

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day.  Perfectly clear and 78 degrees.

With only 3 days left here in Gold Beach, we are beginning to wind down.  We’re gathering things together that we have spread out all over the house in the month we’ve been here.  

I spotted a bunch of birds, maybe woodpeckers.  

One looked like he had on a little black bib.  

I’ve been wanting to go to the Myrtlewood Shop since we’ve been here and today was the day.  

The Myrtlewood is a member of the Laurel family.  It is found only in a limited area along the southern  Oregon, northern California coastlines.  The tree takes from 100 to 150 years to reach commercial use.  

Some of the items included lamps, trays cutting boards, clocks and jewelry.  Nice variety of things. 

 In the parking lot we saw a funny license plate—maybe it was a pirate! 

 We had been seeing people beach combing, but there is not much but rocks on this beach.

We asked what they were looking for and were told agates and gold.  Agates are rocks that come in a variety of colors and are formed within volcanic rocks.   I searched and searched with very little success— none really.  

I showed a hand full of carefully selected rocks to a fellow beach comber, but she said none were agates.  Oh well, I had fun looking.  

We always see some interesting things and people on the beach.  

In Scotland, we learned people stack up rocks for luck.  

Someone must have heard the same thing. 

 Tomorrow is our last fishing with the guide, but we still have some time to fish from the bank.

  Never waste an opportunity even if you don’t catch anything.  The people in the boats were catching so we know the fish are down there.

  Maybe it will be our turn tomorrow.

Good News, Bad News

It’s a beautiful day in Gold Beach, Oregon.  

Even though we’re in the midst of a pandemic,  being bombarded with political ads and our football team is losing, we have good feelings about the next generation.  The three young men visiting with us this weekend are all so accomplished, very articulate, and fun to be around.  

We were so happy to have them here with us.

Today was another day spent watching football, doing laundry and eating.  Our Dallas Cowboys came out on the losing side today after a hard fought battle.  

Well, there always next Sunday.  

Football For Us, Golf For the Guys

 Jeff had a reservation to play golf at the Pacific Dunes course at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort north of us at Bandon, Oregon.  He says it’s one of the most famous public courses in the US,  number 2, after Pebble Beach.  He had an 11:40 am tee time, so after breakfast the three of them made the one hour and fifteen minute drive.  Brian and Zeke went along to lend moral support. 

 Jeff got a caddy and hooked up with 3 brothers to complete the foursome.  Brian and Zeke walked along with Jeff as he played this magnificent course. 

 They all had a great time and saw some awesome land/sea-scapes. 

 Even a funny little animal was sighted.  

Was that a squirrel? 

 In the mean time, Tom and I occupied ourselves with college football.  His team (Oklahoma State)  and my team (Texas Tech) played today at the same time.  OSU played West Virginia and my team the Red Raiders played the University of Texas.  

Tom was in control of the remote and he was very fair about staying on top of the games.  In the end, his team was victorious and my team went into overtime with a 56-56 tie.  Unfortunately, Tech came up short in an overtime loss to the Longhorns.  

The guys came back having had a wonderful afternoon of golf. The sun was setting and we took some pictures from the deck.

 It was shish kabobs for dinner tonight.  

We shared football stories and they shared golf stories. 

 We enjoyed a magnificent sunset.  

The rest of the evening was consumed with our Dallas Stars playing in the Stanley Cup finals.  Yea!  The Stars came out winners in overtime!  Great victory!  

More football tomorrow.  We’ll see what the Dallas Cowboys can do!

Fishing with the Guys

 John wanted us at the dock at 7:30 am, so after a delicious breakfast courtesy of Tom, we made it to the dock on time.   Brian’s friends Jeff and Zeke were excited by the prospects of catching salmon, really we all were.  

The weather was cooperating early, but the fish  were not.  

Finally, I had “fish on!”  Lots of excitement in the boat.  It was a great fish but unfortunately, I couldn’t keep it.  

The law says, you can’t keep a Coho (Silver)  Salmon, which it was.  Oh well, good bye good fish.  Try again.  

 About an hour later, I caught another fish, but this time it was a hatchery fish and only about 7 inches long!  

Good bye, fish number 2.  Well, enough of that. 

  Brian’s turn, he hooked a beauty!  

Always fun to bring in a keeper fish. 

Lots of time went by with no activity and suddenly Jeff hooked a nice one!  

Sheer excitement!  We were all so happy for him, first fish!  

The fish are biting but so is the weather.  There was 90% chance of rain and we had been holding our breath that the rain would hold off,  but not to be.  The rains came.  We continued to fish of course and so did other people.  We’re not the only crazy ones! 

 It’s a good thing we stayed, Jeff hooked a fish! It was a good fish but unfortunately it was another Coho salmon, so we had to return it to the river.   

When we finally had enough and wanted to call it a day, Tom hooked one!  Yea!  A nice fish and that made 3 in the boat and 2 we had to throw back.   

Not a bad day fishing, just a bad weather day.  We gave up and called it a day.  Back at the house, time in the hot tub, snacks and watching the Dallas Stars.  

Dinner will be salmon tonight with a clam chowder appetizer.

 Reward for a tough but very enjoyable day on the water.