Long Beach, Oysterville, and Astoria

09-09-2010 – Thursday –
Cheryl: We’ve left the Seattle area after a well-attended memorial service for our son-in-law, Nathan. The piper my son hired was phenomenal, calling us to the service, playing Amazing Grace half-way through the service, and piping us home at the conclusion. Our son-in-law, John Gallagher, was also amazing with his rendition of Neil Young’s “Long May You Run” on guitar and harmonica with vocals. My son, Michael, led us through a thoughtful service filled with poetry, quotes, and introducing remembrances from so many of Nathan’s friends and family. When my grandson, Rowan, 11, stood up to give an impromptu talk about his Uncle Nathan, many were touched by his unexpected testimonial, including the piper. I’m very sure Nathan’s spirit watched with pleasure at seeing so many come together to honor his life and support his family. We came away from the day feeling at peace even through our tears.

Now, we have returned to “vacationland” and spent yesterday packing up the trailer to be road worthy again, and driving three hours from Kent, WA, to Long Beach, WA, where we parked the RV at our favorite spot at Anderson’s on the Beach. We got here around 3:00 p.m., and I was on the beach by 3:10 p.m. with the puppies in tow. Cleo had never seen the ocean, but seemed nonplussed by it. We played in the sand, watched the waves crash the shore, and thanked God for the reassurance that this timeless pounding of surf will continue long after we have left the planet.

Today we’re going over the four-mile bridge to the Maritime Museum in Astoria and then visiting some of the historic sites there. This morning we took another walk on the beach and watched eleven pelicans soar over the waves looking for breakfast. Last evening we drove north on the peninsula all the way to Oysterville, amazed at how large this spit of land really is. There are wonderful old Victorian houses up there and other ancient sea-worthy cottages along the bay and on the ocean front. At the very "top 'o the pennisula" we ran into the entrace to an estate and will include a picture here. Looked to us like "old money," so we decided it must have some connection to the oyster industy hereabouts.

Then, we found our way back to Long Beach and enjoyed dinner at the 42nd Street Café in a former house decorated with twinkle lights outside. We both decided, however, that after eating out quite a lot recently, we’d prefer “a potato in our own pot” instead. We both are at the stage in life where rich food may look delicious, but doesn’t satisfy or digest the way home-cooked seems to.