Oregon / Washington, Part 2
It is Sunday night.
One thing that was lovely about my stay in Eureka was waking up around 2:00 AM to the sound of pouring rain. I looked out the window of my room, and it was pelting down. I nearly went out and danced in it. Saturday dawned crystal clear and cool and sunny, and as I left I remember thinking that when I was in college, that was the sign that it would be raining by noon. Sure enough, I drove into a cloud bank right around Coos Bay, OR. It rained off and on all the way up the coast and there have been heavy showers here and there while I've been in Waldport. I love rain. I've missed it terribly. The PT Cruiser did remember what those rubber things on its windshield were for and I've had no trouble with it.
The drive up from Eureka yesterday was fairly uneventful. I had breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse, which was a lot better than last time. I was surprised it wasn't more crowded on a Saturday morning -- they were doing a good business but I remember the times when it was standing room only in the entrance. The food is still good, and they've changed so that breakfast is now the cheapest meal, with lunch next and dinner the most expensive. They started me off with a biscuit and gravy, and they must make their own gravy because it was wonderful. Big chunks of sausage and it didn't have that floury/mealy taste to it. I had about half of it left over after the biscuit, so when my actual breakfast came I spread the rest of the gravy on the eggs. Yum. I think they still bake their own bread so there was French toast. And the sausages were good, too. Coffee and orange juice and as much as you wanted of everything.
I took the back road north from Samoa around the west side of the bay to Arcata in the north, where it joined up with Highway 101. I drove through Arcata a bit. It didn't look too much the worse for wear after Halloween, and they had a farmer's market going gangbusters. It looked like all the lampposts were still standing in the square, so Dave and his buddies evidently did well. I didn't tour the HSU campus this time because it has changed so much from when I was there. It's not what I remember at all, and I feel no draw to it any more. Eureka feels better than it did when I was last there -- it's gentrifying in a good way -- but Arcata has a kind of arrogant studenty grunge feel to it. (I was happy to see Fabric Temptations is still there, in the same place. I bought some very nice stuff there over the years.)
I went up to McKinleyville, not having heard from the cousins, and found the mobile home park (thank you, Suzanne) but the office had a big "SORRY We are closed" sign on the window, so I didn't stick around. I don't carry an address book because Apple's Contacts won't print one out for me, and although I've imported everything into Outlook on the iMac, I can't get MS Office to load onto the MacBook. Contacts won't sync between the iMac and the MacBook, either, so I'm kinda up a creek. So without an address or phone number, I had to give up. I did hear from Pat today, so I know everyone's okay. Sorry I missed you!
The only excitement on the drive up to Waldport was near the end. Northbound traffic was all stopped by a flagman right above Reedsport. There had been a wreck and there was only one lane for traffic. I got a few photos but I have no idea how they turned out. I didn't see any bodies or any ambulance, just fire trucks and paramedics and a lot of people standing around and talking about how a white pickup truck came to rest with its back end up against the guard rail, blocking the entire southbound lane. Its front was all smashed as well, but I didn't see another car with any damage. I didn't see any police or ambulance; the fire guys were directing the traffic. But the other side of the guard rail from the truck was a pretty significant cliff, and if that guard rail hadn't held there probably would have been a coroner's van there, too. Slowed my butt down a bit. I normally do the speed limit or just under it here because of my California plates, but I was extra careful after that. And I remembered my promise to myself to never drive the coast route going south again; those cliffs are just a little too close to the edge of the road for my peace of mind. So I'll probably come home inland.
My time with Jim has been nothing but TV and eating, which is actually pretty good. He makes ice cream as a hobby, and likes to perfect his recipes, so he always has a vat of some flavor or other sitting around. This time, he had taken a bunch of flavors to a Halloween party the day before I arrived, so I've been sampling some of the leftovers: Lemon Meringue Pie ice cream, "Napolean" (chocolate and coffee) ice cream, mint chip, and he also made rum raisin and pumpkin, both of which I've had before. I say "sampling" but Jim's samples would overflow a Haagen Dazs carton. Someone else brought cookies to make ice cream sandwiches with, so she gave him a load of those to go with the leftover ice cream, and those are good too, although I prefer crunchier cookies and these are soft. But the flavors are still good. I'm particularly partial to the ice cream he calls "Lime-on Meringue Pie". He used "seedless lemons" and got a distinctly strong lime taste that he doesn't care for but I think is amazing. I thought he might have accidentally bought yellow limes but the ones he had left look like unripe lemons to me, so no idea where that lime flavor comes from. This morning we had the obligatory breakfast at Fish Tails, which was everything I thought it would be. Marionberry stuffed French toast, bacon, coffee... ah me. I have to go by it on my way out of town tomorrow, so I'll probably do it again. I may succumb and have the chicken-fried steak and eggs. I love chicken-fried steak but I know how deadly it is and haven't had it in years. But if anyone can do it right, it will be Fish Tails. Tonight's dinner was a pizza from the local place in Waldport, and it's the very first time I've tasted pepperoni and liked it. Theirs is a softer, less salty brand than what I'm used to, and actually adds some flavor to the slice, almost like soft-cooked bacon. I still hate pepperoni pizzas but I'll make an exception for any place that uses this type.
Oh -- I forgot to mention the raisins. Jim soaks the raisins in about a pint of dark rum a minimum of 48 hours before making the rum raisin ice cream. This time he somehow had a bunch left over, so as another experiment, he chocolate-coated them and took them to the party. Somehow they weren't completely demolished at the party, so he brought them out for me to munch on while we watched TV. Oh. My. God. Like tiny chocolate-covered cherries: bite into them and get an explosion of liquid. And because he uses a high-quality rum, it was delicious. I had about 20 and then stopped because the last time I indulged in hard liquor, my INR reading was off the charts. (I'm on warfarin to thin my blood, and alcohol affects the readings.) I still probably did some damage, but putting a stop on it early probably saved me from a vicious hangover as well as a lecture from the clinician.
Tomorrow I will go farther north to Marina and Tom in Astoria, with a possible stop at Tillamook on the way. But it's only 4 hours so I don't feel the need to leave very early. I've had two more "Oh sh*t" moments. I brought the wrong pair of jeans -- they don't fit very well and I need a belt to wear them, so of course I don't have a belt, and this means my ONLY pair of trousers is the one I'm wearing. And I forgot Jim's birthday/Christmas present (and I even know where it is in the apartment).
See you tomorrow.
Anne
One thing that was lovely about my stay in Eureka was waking up around 2:00 AM to the sound of pouring rain. I looked out the window of my room, and it was pelting down. I nearly went out and danced in it. Saturday dawned crystal clear and cool and sunny, and as I left I remember thinking that when I was in college, that was the sign that it would be raining by noon. Sure enough, I drove into a cloud bank right around Coos Bay, OR. It rained off and on all the way up the coast and there have been heavy showers here and there while I've been in Waldport. I love rain. I've missed it terribly. The PT Cruiser did remember what those rubber things on its windshield were for and I've had no trouble with it.
The drive up from Eureka yesterday was fairly uneventful. I had breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse, which was a lot better than last time. I was surprised it wasn't more crowded on a Saturday morning -- they were doing a good business but I remember the times when it was standing room only in the entrance. The food is still good, and they've changed so that breakfast is now the cheapest meal, with lunch next and dinner the most expensive. They started me off with a biscuit and gravy, and they must make their own gravy because it was wonderful. Big chunks of sausage and it didn't have that floury/mealy taste to it. I had about half of it left over after the biscuit, so when my actual breakfast came I spread the rest of the gravy on the eggs. Yum. I think they still bake their own bread so there was French toast. And the sausages were good, too. Coffee and orange juice and as much as you wanted of everything.
I took the back road north from Samoa around the west side of the bay to Arcata in the north, where it joined up with Highway 101. I drove through Arcata a bit. It didn't look too much the worse for wear after Halloween, and they had a farmer's market going gangbusters. It looked like all the lampposts were still standing in the square, so Dave and his buddies evidently did well. I didn't tour the HSU campus this time because it has changed so much from when I was there. It's not what I remember at all, and I feel no draw to it any more. Eureka feels better than it did when I was last there -- it's gentrifying in a good way -- but Arcata has a kind of arrogant studenty grunge feel to it. (I was happy to see Fabric Temptations is still there, in the same place. I bought some very nice stuff there over the years.)
I went up to McKinleyville, not having heard from the cousins, and found the mobile home park (thank you, Suzanne) but the office had a big "SORRY We are closed" sign on the window, so I didn't stick around. I don't carry an address book because Apple's Contacts won't print one out for me, and although I've imported everything into Outlook on the iMac, I can't get MS Office to load onto the MacBook. Contacts won't sync between the iMac and the MacBook, either, so I'm kinda up a creek. So without an address or phone number, I had to give up. I did hear from Pat today, so I know everyone's okay. Sorry I missed you!
The only excitement on the drive up to Waldport was near the end. Northbound traffic was all stopped by a flagman right above Reedsport. There had been a wreck and there was only one lane for traffic. I got a few photos but I have no idea how they turned out. I didn't see any bodies or any ambulance, just fire trucks and paramedics and a lot of people standing around and talking about how a white pickup truck came to rest with its back end up against the guard rail, blocking the entire southbound lane. Its front was all smashed as well, but I didn't see another car with any damage. I didn't see any police or ambulance; the fire guys were directing the traffic. But the other side of the guard rail from the truck was a pretty significant cliff, and if that guard rail hadn't held there probably would have been a coroner's van there, too. Slowed my butt down a bit. I normally do the speed limit or just under it here because of my California plates, but I was extra careful after that. And I remembered my promise to myself to never drive the coast route going south again; those cliffs are just a little too close to the edge of the road for my peace of mind. So I'll probably come home inland.
My time with Jim has been nothing but TV and eating, which is actually pretty good. He makes ice cream as a hobby, and likes to perfect his recipes, so he always has a vat of some flavor or other sitting around. This time, he had taken a bunch of flavors to a Halloween party the day before I arrived, so I've been sampling some of the leftovers: Lemon Meringue Pie ice cream, "Napolean" (chocolate and coffee) ice cream, mint chip, and he also made rum raisin and pumpkin, both of which I've had before. I say "sampling" but Jim's samples would overflow a Haagen Dazs carton. Someone else brought cookies to make ice cream sandwiches with, so she gave him a load of those to go with the leftover ice cream, and those are good too, although I prefer crunchier cookies and these are soft. But the flavors are still good. I'm particularly partial to the ice cream he calls "Lime-on Meringue Pie". He used "seedless lemons" and got a distinctly strong lime taste that he doesn't care for but I think is amazing. I thought he might have accidentally bought yellow limes but the ones he had left look like unripe lemons to me, so no idea where that lime flavor comes from. This morning we had the obligatory breakfast at Fish Tails, which was everything I thought it would be. Marionberry stuffed French toast, bacon, coffee... ah me. I have to go by it on my way out of town tomorrow, so I'll probably do it again. I may succumb and have the chicken-fried steak and eggs. I love chicken-fried steak but I know how deadly it is and haven't had it in years. But if anyone can do it right, it will be Fish Tails. Tonight's dinner was a pizza from the local place in Waldport, and it's the very first time I've tasted pepperoni and liked it. Theirs is a softer, less salty brand than what I'm used to, and actually adds some flavor to the slice, almost like soft-cooked bacon. I still hate pepperoni pizzas but I'll make an exception for any place that uses this type.
Oh -- I forgot to mention the raisins. Jim soaks the raisins in about a pint of dark rum a minimum of 48 hours before making the rum raisin ice cream. This time he somehow had a bunch left over, so as another experiment, he chocolate-coated them and took them to the party. Somehow they weren't completely demolished at the party, so he brought them out for me to munch on while we watched TV. Oh. My. God. Like tiny chocolate-covered cherries: bite into them and get an explosion of liquid. And because he uses a high-quality rum, it was delicious. I had about 20 and then stopped because the last time I indulged in hard liquor, my INR reading was off the charts. (I'm on warfarin to thin my blood, and alcohol affects the readings.) I still probably did some damage, but putting a stop on it early probably saved me from a vicious hangover as well as a lecture from the clinician.
Tomorrow I will go farther north to Marina and Tom in Astoria, with a possible stop at Tillamook on the way. But it's only 4 hours so I don't feel the need to leave very early. I've had two more "Oh sh*t" moments. I brought the wrong pair of jeans -- they don't fit very well and I need a belt to wear them, so of course I don't have a belt, and this means my ONLY pair of trousers is the one I'm wearing. And I forgot Jim's birthday/Christmas present (and I even know where it is in the apartment).
See you tomorrow.
Anne
posted by not Ann @ 6:39 PM
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