Weekend at Bernie's--I Mean Shirley's



A friend at work owns a house in Waldport and had mentioned that she welcomes guests any time she and her husband are down there. I thought she was joking until I asked her if we could come down on a specific weekend--but she agreed very enthusiastically. So Meg and I dropped Ed and A-Ron off at J-Mel's house in Dallas (partial payback for housing their five kids for like three weeks) and then continued on a scenic, quiet drive along the Kings Valley and Alsea highways, arriving in Waldport just before sunrise. Shirley's house sits up on a ridge that overlooks the ocean (it was about a seven minute walk to the beach). We played the longest game of Phase 10 together, learning that Kent (Shirley's husband) is quite the gamer.

After sleeping in the next morning (I was up for nearly 24 hours straight), Meg and I drove about 10 miles south to Yachats to eat at the The Drift In, which has a long and colorful history. The fish (halibut) and chips was some of the best I've ever had. We then drove another 5-10 miles south--the furthest south on the Oregon coast I've ever been--to Cape Perpetua. We had intended to hike up to the top of Cape Perpetua from ground level, but we ended up driving to the top; Meg commented that she would have been very upset if we had hiked from the bottom and discovered there was a parking lot at the top. The view from the top spanned nearly 40 miles out to sea (not quite enough to see Japan again) and 80 miles of jagged coastline. Meg fell in love with the CCC-created shelter and suggested coming back again in the off-season for some serious solitude. We drove back down to the visitor's center, where we walked along the tidal pools (nothing at all interesting to see) and other natural features of the area.

That night we had a BBQ with Shirley and Kent, played a quick round of Scrabble (with Michael winning by a nose over Meg), and then took a chilly walk on the beach during sunset. We also woke up somewhat early the next morning for another walk on the beach, this time walking much further than the previous night (but it was much warmer because there was no wind). We packed up our stuff and drove to Lincoln City so Meg could shop for clothes for the boys--well, for Aaron at least (poor, poor Eddie's wardrobe consists mainly of hand-me-downs). All that walking tired us out, so we hit Spirit Mountain in Grande Ronde to refuel our bellies on their buffet. For only $19 a person, you can eat till you feel like you have to throw up (which I accomplished). I found it sad that 90% of the people eating there were overweight--and I'm not talking just a few pounds . . . Afterwards, I gave Meg two dollars to play the slots. She quickly burned through the first dollar, but she magically turned the second dollar into six. I was somewhat surprised that I was able to convince Meg to walk away while she was so far ahead--very much out of her normal character of The Gamblor.

The End.

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