The drive down was good; we listened to a book on tape by Robert B. Parker. It was a Spencer novel that we hadn’t read, so it kept us entertained all the way. Lunch was something we don’t want to admit to; McDonalds in Hood River, I had fish burgers and Linda had a salad. It wasn’t that bad, but we try not to go to the big chains. As it worked out we hit either McDonalds or Burger King all the way down just to use their restrooms.
Portland traffic wasn’t as bad as it could be. We hit it a 12:30 PM but with Linda navigating we were able to cruise through with out problems. The stretch between Portland and Lincoln City sucked. It is mostly one lane and it goes through a ton of small towns, so you end up driving about 35 most of the way.
We arrived in Lincoln City a little early so we drove down to the beach walk area and took our first walk on the pacific shore. It was crowded in town and on the beach but we really enjoyed the smell of the ocean, wind in our faces, and the sound of the waves hitting the shore. After a short walk we climbed up a hill into the business district and went to a coffee shop. We ordered coffee, tea and Costco muffins and sat down and played a game of Cribbage. While we were playing, two locals, Rose Marry and Mickey sat with us and chatted about the game and where we were from. They were a pair, both a little short of a full deck, but very nice and interested in us and our game. I won the game; I had some of the best hands I have gotten in a long time. We finished up and said our good byes then walked to the truck. We stopped at the Safeway where we bought some provisions. It was close enough to five o’clock that we decided to find the beach house and make our appearance.
Arriving first we started the tour and then suddenly Linda’s Uncle Ed and Aunt Connie appeared. The calm of the house was over because within about ten minutes Diana and Al Dee arrived with the kids followed by Unc
le Al and Marry and finally Jeff and his family. The weekend had begun and the place was a buzz in conversation.
The first group dinner was a BBQ with burgers and dogs. As the families settled in Ray and I set up the Charbroil and went to work cooking the feast. Some of the new arrivals had eaten but we were able to go through a lot of food in a short period of time. Everyone got their jackets on and headed to the beach to watch the sun set and enjoy the ocean.
Ten o’clock came real fast and the different parties slowly started to turn in for the evening. The house that
we were staying in was real big and decorated very nicely. There were two bedrooms on the upper floor, the master bedroom had a large bath and then the guest room used the bathroom in the front hall. All rooms were equipped with a large TV and king sized bed. The hall led out to the kitchen and a great room that held a large sectional couch, very big flat screen TV, fire place and a huge dinning table. This would be the gathering place for most of the weekend and it was big enough to hold this tribe.
The lower level had three bedrooms which were equipped
the same as the upper floor, with the exception of two that held bunk beds for the kids. The final room was the game room and it was equipped with all things electronic. There was a stand up arcade game standing in one corner, which was played constantly by Jeff and his family. In the other corner was the Gameboy II area which included about fifty different games. The forth corner held a massive flat screen TV, which must have been 90”. The finals corner held a library of books, games and other entertainment stuff. So if anyone were to get bored while they were here, on the ocean, they would have to be nuts.
In the morning Linda went for a run and I slept in a bit. We had the Ray and Barb traditional breakfast of sausage and eggs with toast and then everyone started preparing for the day. Bret, Linda’s second cousin, Linda and I drove down to the Lincoln City Outlet Mall and did some shopping. We didn’t find much but had a good time looking around. On the way back we drove down the coast highway a bit and then returned.
Later Al Dee and I were assigned the job of getting Linda’s dad out of the house so that Linda’s mom could practice her song that she will sing later on in the evening. So we grabbed Uncle Ed and Dad and went Geocaching. Neither of the two had been out ona cache hunt so we did about four real easy ones to show them how it was done. This gave Mom and Diane time to practice and gave Linda time away from me to read. This operation worked out well for everyone.
The big dinner was held this evening and everyone dressed up and was ready when the catered meal arrived. The folks had made the arrangements and a small restaurant was hired to provide the feast.
I have to admit that everything went very smoothly and that everyone kept their heads as the dinner was served. The food was very good and everyone got more then their fill.
After dinner and after the caterers had cleaned up a left, Al Dee and I hosted a short program where everyone spoke about our hosts and the two who had achieved the fifty year anniversary mark. Each of the family members told a story about the hosts of honor and the program concluded with Linda’s mom singing a song to her dad while Diane accompanied her on the electric piano. It was a wonderful event and I thing everyone enjoyed themselv
es greatly.
The next morning we got up and Linda and I drove to Depot Bay and did some whale watching and shopping. Again, we didn’t purchase anything, but we did find a geocache as we walked back to the truck. Three geocachers were gathered around a cache and I stuck
my head in and asked if I could claim the find. They were more then happy to let me in on it, so I signed in and we returned to the beach house. When we go home Linda sat on the deck in the sun and I went down to the beach and flew my kite. Later Diane, Al Dee and the kids joined me and we flew kites together. The afternoon winds picked up and so did the kite action. About six surf kits arrived and hit the waves. Man these were cool, I must have watched them for an hour and would have probably watched longer if I didn’t get so clod standing in the surf taking pictures. I retreated to the deck wit Linda and continued to watch as the launched themselves off the waves and flew forty feet to land and take off for the next break.
We all gathered in the kitchen and put in our order for pizza and while it was being prepared
and delivered, Linda Diane, Al Dee, the kids and I went for a walk to find a geocache at the end of the beach. It was about a mile up the beach and back and we arrived back at the house just after the pizza. The cache took no time to find so we had wasted no time in the process of getting ready for our dinner. The pizza was great and everyone had more then their fill. We talked and enjoyed the company till about 10:30 pm when went to bed.
Linda and I got up early and hit the road for the drive back to Post Falls. We had no problems and basically stopped at the same spots that we did on the way down.
On Wednesday I was sitting with about five bald guys and we were talking about what we were doing on the weekend. I said I was going to Oregon and mentioned that I was going to get a hair cut. One of them piped up and said he would cut my hair for $1.05. The rest of them chimed in and said they would give me a total of $10.00 to cut my hair. So I said, no way! I would not cut my hair off for less then $1000. So in the all campus meeting my boss stood up and announced that Dean Bennett will shave all his hair off if we collect $1000 for an NIC scholarship. Well, a week later they had raised $1790! So at the welcome picnic, they brought out the clippers and two of the staff cut my silver hair off. The money will go in to the Wes Hatch Scholarship fund. Mr. Hatch was my boss for the first five years at NIC and I had great respect for him. He passed away several years ago and the scholarship was started in his name. Having my hair cut was no big deal. People keep telling me that it looks good. It'll grow back but boy that was an expensive hair cut.
