Our winter sabbatical has been busy in the week since we've visited. The logistics of being in the northern hemisphere with plenty of wind and rain have challenged us, but we've stuck to our creed of "getting out everyday" and as a result, we've met some really nice people and learned a few new things along the way.
We had such a wonderful Christmas week. The sun came out in full force the Thursday before Christmas and continued to shine through until the 30th! Christmas eve found us in Seaside,OR at the movie theater to see Avatar. Not my usual genre of movie, but it really was interesting and the special effects were superb. We dashed off to the fish shop after the movie to pick up some "just caught" FRESH Dungeness crab for our Christmas dinner.
We had hoped to find a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen to volunteer in, but had to settle for an assorted box of food "goodies" that we donated to the local food bank. The ladies there were happy to see us and were so gracious, wonderful, caring people. Christmas day found us to be very lazy as we enjoyed our coffee and tea in our jammies and exchanged gifts. We had a "sock theme" gift exchange this year. Jon gave me new exercise socks and a gift certificate and I gave him socks and chocolates! Funny, how you don't need much, but enjoy the "little" things in life! We had temps in the 50's and sun all day, so I managed to get a 2 hr. walk on the beach, then returned to enjoy our crab dinner with ice cold beers! Remember, it's the little things in life.
Over the next couple of days we enjoyed more sunshine and some of the lowest tides of the year and a beautiful full moon this month! We found a great little coffee roaster called the Sleepy Monk just a couple of blocks from us and walked down to have one of the best lattes' we've had since leaving New Zealand. We drove north of town to the local state park, Ecola Park and discovered that it is gray whale migration time and there was a husband and wife team of "whale-watcher volunteers" from Hood Canal, WA. We had a great chat with them, and fortunately, the whales are migrating but, unfortuanately they are about 10 miles out. The vantage point at Ecola is not as high as some places along the coast and so is insufficient for sightings. They had over 100 sightings near the mouth of the Columbia river, north of here but as I mentioned, the whales are out too far to see. We learned something new that day about whales, and met some new people and the scenery was beautiful. I posted a picture of the Tillamook lighthouse from Ecola Park.
Jon and I are celebrating our birthdays this week and as an early present to ourselves, we enjoyed an evening at EVOO with 16 other new friends! EVOO is a cooking school and they have an evening called "skillet suppers" in which they demonstration cook several courses while you watch and ask questions and enjoy a glass of wine or two. We met a couple from Kelowna BC, a lady from Toronto,some visitors from New York city and of course, some people from Portland. It was a diverse and fun group. The food was terrific and the owners of the school are charming and lots of fun. It was such a warm and nice night that we walked home after dinner (good thing with all that red wine) and we couldn't help but reminisce about our "walk about" evenings in NZ. It was a lovely evening and a wonderful celebration.
Our days of sunshine have come to an end as we have been experiencing rain and gusts of wind up to 60 mph, but they tell us the sun will come out again! Hope so, as tomorrow starts the New Year's resolutions that so many of us make to shed a few pounds, so tomorrow, come rain or shine I am getting back outside.
I'm posting links to a couple of our favorite sites in the margin to the left. Be sure to look at Donni and Adam's Christmas ski trip to Roger's Pass BC. They had a very cold, and frozen trip, but it was fun for them. I've also included a link to Adam's new business venture, The Inner Circle Gym. He is a full-time owner and trainer at a new and unique gym and we are very proud of him.
Enjoy the start of a new year. We certainly are.
We are happy and healthy here,
Jon and Joyce
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