Highway beautification......

 7:52 am - Wednesday - March 31st - Seal Rock, OR - 43° F, 71% humidity, wind 17 mph out of the east.....crystal, clear, blue skies today with a forecast high all the way up to 62° F!  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were zip lining near Cottonwood, AZ at the 'Out of Africa Wildlife Park'........↴

Three months have passed since TLE and I last did 'highway pickup' in front of Seal Rock RV Cove, and it must be done before the end of March to keep ODOT* happy.  TLE and I like doing this job.....I was going to say 'love', but who really loves picking up trash?  Not me, but it is a nice diversion from our normal routine, and a chance to work together, and we do work together well doing this job......

Time to begin the festivities.....

....a beautiful day to pickup trash!

.....TLE and I prefer to walk north on US-101 first, and make the turn around at the Seal Rock State Beach parking lot, and that is the way we headed after picking up our yellow trash bags, and 'pickers'.  The trash was not too bad on the first leg as we only filled two bags, but on the leg south to Seal Rock Street and back we filled two bags each....a lot more trash!  In all it took us about 3 hours to complete the job, and what a beautiful day we had to do the task.

We were back home a little after 1 pm, and while TLE drove into Waldport to buy some veggies I took a nap.  TLE returned just as I was waking up from my nap....perfect timing!

Tuesday was the second night of the 'Elite Eight' games featuring USC vs. Gonzaga, and UCLA vs. Michigan.....both Gonzaga and Michigan are #1 seeds in the tournament.....the other remaining #1 seed, Baylor, has already qualified for the 'Final Four' this Saturday, along with Houston (#2), so these two games would decide the final two participants in the 'Final Four'.  The first game saw USC falter badly against the high octane offense of Gonzaga, and they lost by 19 points.  In the second game UCLA is much smaller than the giants of Michigan, but they held their own in the game, and actually led by 4 points at half time, and by 9 in the second half before the game tightened up.  UCLA led by 2 points as Michigan took their last shot with .5 seconds on the clock.....the shot was short, and UCLA had defeated a #1 seed, and advanced to the 'Final Four'.  Who does UCLA face on Saturday?  You guessed it.....the dreaded Gonzaga, the overall #1 seed, and favorite to win the National Championship.  They have won 31 games in a row this season, and are going for a perfect season.

By the time the UCLA game finished it was after 9 pm, and TLE and I were limp noodles from the stress of the game, so we watched a couple episodes of 'Frasier' before heading off to dreamland once again. 

Thanks for stopping by!

*ODOT = Oregon Department of Transportation

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The Adirondacks......

 7:44 am - Tuesday - March 30th - Seal Rock, OR - 32° F, 100% humidity, wind - zerio mph out of the north.....clear, very cold, blue skies today with a forecast high of 51° F.  On this date in 2020 we had just begun to 'social distance'.....we were taking a hike on local dirt roads near Wittmann, AZ about a mile from pavement......↴

My assignment Monday was to bring the Massey-Ferguson loader down to sites 14,15 & 16 and spread some gravel over the low areas where water was collecting, resulting in large muddy spots.......

Site #14

......all three sites are spitting distance from our gravel piles.  After dropping several loads of gravel I then used a rock rake to spread and smooth the gravel over those areas.  In all it took me about 2 hours, and then it was time to head up to site A-3 (our former site) to relevel it front to back.  As you will recall the site was low in back, and high in front.  Over the course of 45 minutes I managed to move enough gravel from the front to the back of the site getting it pretty close to level.

I was off work by 12:45 pm....just in time to catch TLE on the way out the door to do her 1-4 pm shift in the office.  I had barely changed clothes and sat down to take a short break when I got a text from FedEx advising our new Adirondack chairs had been delivered to the office.  A little background is necessary here.  Last week when we were in Waldport we stopped in at a furniture store to look at their Adirondack chairs.  They wanted $199/chair....far too much for something we will probably end up giving away when we leave Seal Rock in the Fall, but we really wanted a pair for the 'lido deck'....something we could leave outside rain, or shine.  I found some foldable ones on Amazon for $79/chair, so I ordered two of them.  Considering all the problems we have had with FedEx in the last year, these chairs actually arrived a day ahead of the promised date!  these chairs come completely disassembled, and require a lot of assembly, but they are worth it......

.....fortunately it was a very pleasant, sunny afternoon, and the instructions were actually quite easy to follow.  It did take me all of TLE's three hour shift to get them assembled, but pretty soon one was done....

.....and the second one went together faster than the first.  Just a few minutes after TLE arrived home I was done.  The great thing about these chairs is that they fold up, and can be stored easily in the trailer if need be. Now all we need is some warm, sunny weather to enjoy the 'lido deck' to its fullest.....

....there were two 'Elite Eight' games Monday night, and both games were won, as expected, by the higher seeded teams.....Houston (#2) won their game versus Oregon State (#12) handily, and #1 Baylor won easily over #3 Arkansas.  I'm hoping the games Tuesday will be more competitive, especially since UCLA and USC are playing.  UCLA (#11) will face Michigan (#1), and USC (#6) will face Gonzaga (#1).

Thanks for stopping by!

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What's 'Bruin'?

 7:50 am - Monday - March 29th - Seal Rock, OR - 43° F, 66% humidity, wind 17 mph out of the northwest.....partly cloudy today with wind, and a high of 48° F.  On this date in 2013 we were at Wilson's Riverfront RV Park near Ashville, NC on the French Broad River (in the background)......↴

It was not raining when we first arose Sunday morning, and for all practical purposes it appeared I would be working, but just before 9:30 am the skies opened, and it began to rain.  Within minutes I had been called off work by Terry.  It continued raining all day long, and into the night...sometimes torrentially......you know, the kind of torrential when it is raining so hard you lose your satellite signal.  There were times when the view out the front windows was just a blur of wind driven rain going sideways up the hill.

In some respects this was good news because the tip off time for the first 'Sweet Sixteen' game Sunday was at 11:10 am.  I thought I would miss the first half of the game, but ended up being there from beginning to end for Gonzaga's (#1) blowout win over #5 Creighton (83-65).  The next game up between Michigan (#1) and Florida State (#4) ended in a similar fashion.....76-58.  

It appeared it was going to be one of those lopsided days in favor of the higher seeded teams, but then the UCLA (#11) vs. Alabama (#2) game happened.  The game went back and forth with each team going on long scoring runs.  UCLA led by 11 at half time after going on a 10-0 run to end the half, but did not score for the first 6 minutes of the second half enabling Alabama to tie the score at 40 with 14 minutes to go after an 11 point run over that span of time.  From there it was back and forth until UCLA led by three with 15.1 seconds to go.  Alabama sank a 3 point shot as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime where UCLA dominated leading by as many as 14 points, and winning by 10 points......88-78....a highly unlikely outcome.  

Next up was the USC Trojans (#6) versus the Oregon Ducks (#7).  While it was a close game for the first ten minutes, USC gradually pulled away, and led by 13 at halftime, and by as many as 21 points in the second half, but never less than 9.  They ultimately won 82-68 making them the 3rd PAC-12 team to make it to the 'Elite Eight' round, including both Los Angeles teams.  I know, I know....a lot of detail about college basketball, but that is what makes me happy on March 28, 2021.  College sports is one of the few places still mostly free from politics.

TLE did work her two hour shift (2-4 pm), and arrived home shortly after 4 pm being driven home from the office by the wind and rain.  I really did not go outside the entire day....I just know there are days, even weeks coming when there will be no rain, and I am beginning to long for those days.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Alfresco......

 7:45 am - Sunday - March 28th - Seal Rock, OR - 45° F, 93% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.......partly cloudy now with a chance of rain later this afternoon with a forecast high of 48° F.  On this date in 2014 we were dining alfresco in Jerome, AZ......↴

As forecast Saturday was a beautiful day, and in keeping with what we were doing 7 years ago on the same date we headed into Newport to have an alfresco breakfast at 'The Coffee House' ( 4 stars on 285 reviews) on historic Bay Street......

.....we've eaten breakfast here twice before and love their breakfast menu....it is a simple one page affair, and all the choices sound wonderful.......

....the two previous times I had their Bacon, Tomato, Cheese & Onion Omelette (first time), and their 'Eggs with bacon and home fries' (second time).....both were excellent, but on this day I returned to the first one, and was not disappointed.  TLE partook of their 'Wild Mushroom & Spinach Omelette', which is her favorite. There were a few wispy clouds overhead, but generally we were being bathed in good old sunshine....something we are not too familiar with here in Coastal Oregon....lol.  We both had their GIANT Americano coffees....the coffee comes in a 22 ounce glass mug.....

.....it is one of the best Americanos I have ever had, and lasts the entire breakfast....no need for refills here!  The Bay Street district was jammed with people.  Getting in and out of the Bay Street District on a Saturday, or Sunday when the weather is good is a slow grind, and Saturday was no different.

Of course, with Saturday comes the resumption of March Madness with the round of sixteen, or 'Sweet Sixteen' as it is called.  The first game of the day featured the (#8) Oregon Beavers (Corvallis) versus (#5) Loyola of Chicago....both teams have upset higher seeded teams in the first two rounds, but on this day it was the Beavers upsetting Loyola 65-58.   The only other game featuring a potential upset was (#15) Oral Roberts vs. (#3) Arkansas.  The game was tied with seconds to go, and won by Arkansas by two points at the buzzer.  The other two games went as predicted with Baylor (#1) advancing, and (#2) Houston both advancing to the 'Elite Eight' round.  There are four more games Sunday featuring the Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans, and UCLA Bruins, so it should be an interesting day.

That was the extent of our Sunday activities.....as the afternoon waned, the marine layer lying just off shore moved in obliterating any possible sunset photo opportunities.

Thanks for stopping by!

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The unexpected.......

 8:56 am - Saturday - March 27th - Seal Rock, OR - 37° F, 93% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....sunny today with a forecast high of 55° F.  On this date in 2014 we were boondocking about 15 miles south of Sedona, AZ on National Forest land......↴

.....the view this morning.......↴

Friday began with heavy overcast, but quickly 'degenerated' into a beautiful, sun shinny day.  It was so nice I spent two hours outside washing the exterior of the Newell, and trailer.  We've been home for a couple of weeks now, and it was time to apply some soap and water in the never ending battle with our salty environment.

As the day progressed it became even nicer, and by 6 pm I was determined to have our first fire since we returned from our one month hiatus.......

.....of course there was some Scotch Whiskey, a good cigar, and The Lovely Elaine (not necessarily in that order) to make the evening perfect.  We sat listening to music, talking and watching the sun slowly slide toward the western horizon for almost two hours........

.....we were not expecting a spectacular day, but that is what we received.  To be able to cap it off with a sunset fire was just icing on the proverbial cake.  As darkness descended upon the landscape we put away our chairs and headed inside for the night.

Thanks for stopping by!

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No proportion.......

 9:04 am - Friday - March 26th - Seal Rock, OR - 39° F, 93% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....cloudy today, but no rain in the forecast with a forecast high of 50° F.  On this date in 2013 we were in Augusta, GA, and I was standing in front of the sign for Augusta National.....the golf course where the Masters is played each year.......↴

....the view this morning.......↴

Yes, for the first time in 6 months we have someone in the site next to us!

I want to say right off the bat that TLE and I continue to be asymptomatic to the Wuhan Flu aka: COVID-19, aka: Corona Virus.  It has been over 1 year since this virus was designated a 'world-wide pandemic'.  Original predictions were for tens of millions of deaths world-wide, with a few million of those in the U.S.  After one year what are the actual numbers?  Instead of millions of deaths in the U.S. there have been 555,000 deaths out of 30 million diagnosed cases, so you have over a 97% chance of NOT catching it....if you live in the U.S. and catch it you have a 1.82% chance of dying....world-wide there have been 2.7 million deaths out of 124 million diagnosed cases*.  I feel silly pointing out the obvious, but every death of a loved one is tragic, no matter what the cause, and I am not minimizing that at all, but the numbers are the numbers.  The Spanish flu was a real world-wide pandemic and killed over 50 million people world-wide.  In our own little, tiny corner of the world (Lincoln County) there have been 21 deaths during that one year span.  I do not know anyone personally who has died from this flu, but I do know many who have had it.  Many had very mild cases, and a few quite severe, but they all survived.  I do know, however, people who have had relatives die from this flu.

Neither TLE, nor myself have had the vaccination, and unless we are required to take it we will probably not get it.  If, at some point, our current employer insists we get vaccinated, we will probably move on down the road.  Neither of us has ever had a flu shot.....ever.  The last time I had a flu of any sort was 8 years ago, and for TLE probably closer to 15 years.  I do, however, belong to several demographics for whom this flu can be deadly.....I am over 70, I have high blood pressure, have had a stroke, and a heart attack.  TLE, on the other hand, is quite healthy, and really only belongs to one demographic of concern.....she, like I, is over 70.  I have never had any respiratory issues, which is a demographic which is quite at risk for any sort of flu, including the Wuhan flu.   We only wear masks when required by our employer, or local businesses we frequent, otherwise we are mask free 90+% of the time....we do not wear them while walking down the street, in our car, in our Newell, or while hiking, or biking.  During the past year we have purposely avoided densely populated areas of the country, and spent the broad majority of our time in very rural locales.  Our forays into urban areas have been as brief as possible.  I say all of the preceding to say this.....while we do take this flu seriously, we are attempting to live our lives as normally as possible.  What we are doing works for us, but may not work for others.  We firmly believe the dangers of this "pandemic" have been blown out of all proportion to what is really happening, and are living our lives accordingly, but not doing anything risky, or stupid, and are complying, where required, with mask requirements.

On the "what did you do Thursday" front I worked a two hour shift for the 5th successive day, but did get rained upon for about 1/2 of my shift.  While Blake mowed sites C, D, 43 & 44 I repeated my Wednesday routine of checking all incoming and outgoing sites to be sure the electrical was up to snuff, and I actually took the Stihl string trimmer up to site A-3 to trim the grass as we actually had a customer coming into that site for 3 days....the first time we have had anyone next to us (except the one night our friends Claude and Gale visited us) in six months.  

It rained on and off all afternoon, but I did manage to get out to the trailer for about an hour to work on my Haibike SDURO telescoping seat post, which had quit telescoping on our trip home from Arizona.  As it turned out it just needed a little lube, and it began working once again....I'm sure all the weather we drove through had something to do with that.

Thanks for stopping by!

*Source = https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

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Our Cocoon.......

 7:48 am - Thursday - March 25th - Seal Rock, OR - 45° F, 76% humidity, wind 15 mph out of the northwest.....heavy cloud cover today with a forecast high of 47° F.  On this date in 2012 we were overnighting in Daphne, AL....we took a 10 mile bike ride along Mobile Bay, stopping in at East Shore Cafe for some sandwiches.......↴

Rain was forecast to begin around 9 am, and shortly after 9 it came.  Nevertheless, since Wednesday is one of Terry's days off from work I reported for work which consisted mainly of checking sites after customers left....nothing else to really do when it is raining.  Technically 11 am is checkout time here at SRRVC, but there are always one, or two scofflaws who don't leave until almost noon.  Since I was the only outside person on duty I hung around for two hours busying myself cleaning rust off some of our hand tools.  We have a bench grinder in the landscape shed with a wire wheel attachment, so I used that to clean a few years of rust  off couple of Channelock wrenches, a couple of hammers, and a few other tools to pass the time until the customer in site #23 finally vacated their site just before 12 pm.  Once they were gone, and I was able to check their site I was done for the day, and headed for home.

The rain came and went all afternoon making it impossible to do anything worthwhile outside, so I remained inside enjoying the rain on the roof, and thankful our Newell seems impervious to the elements.  Being so close to the outside environment, and its elements is one of the things we love about this nomadic lifestyle.  No matter where we are in our Newell we are never more than a couple of feet from whatever the local environment has to offer, whether it be rain, wind, snow, or cloudless, sunny skies inviting us to exit our cocoon.  Looking forward to those days again when it is sunny, and warm outside....warm enough to sit on our 'lido deck' to read a book, or take a nap, or a mixture thereof.  We've had the sunny part numerous times, but need that warm element to enjoy the outdoors.

The rain, sometimes quite hard, abated around 4 pm for a few hours before returning with even more force in the early morning hours....so much so we had to get up around 4 am and quickly stow the patio awning, which was being buffeted by gusting winds.....doh!  Should have stowed it when the rain stopped around 4 pm....lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Spring is in the air......

 7:38 am - Wednesday - March 24th - Seal Rock, OR - 41° F, 93% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....heavy cloud cover with rain on the way.....forecast high for today is 48° F.  On this date in 2017 we hiked to the top of Mt. Rubidoux with my son, Chris, and his beautiful wife, Rochelle........↴

.....and on this date in 2012 we were in Baton Rouge, LA......↴

Mighty Mississippi....

LSU's Tiger Stadium

Cool, vintage Coke sign downtown

What a spectacular Spring weather day Tuesday was!  Not a cloud in the sky, and certainly no rain.  For my two hour work shift I hauled some gravel using the front loader (which started first try for a change!) for Terry to sites 4 & 8 so he could spread it over some low spots, used the front loader to spread out what remains of the unburned burn pile to help the vegetable matter dry out, and then stacked firewood as Terry cut it up with the chain saw.  I was home just before 12 pm to find TLE already gone to work for her 11 am to 1 pm shift.

It was such a nice day I deployed all of the window awnings, along with the patio awning to give the fabric a chance to dry out from all the rain we have had the last 2 weeks.  While the patio awning was deployed I finished wrapping the final two support arms with the shrink wrap, and deployed our sideview mirror covers, and the windshield wiper covers. Now all that remains to weather proof are the two air horns on top of the coach.  The shrink wrap I put on the headlights, and taillights seems to be doing its job, and is staying in place.

To top it all off we had a beautiful sunset....for the first time I did not have to walk down the hill to get a picture....the sun has moved high enough into the sky now that I can just walk outside and take a picture of the sunset from our site.....

Taken about 7:27 pm

.....my, how time is moving quickly.....thanks for stopping by!

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Five day marathon.......

7:56 am - Tuesday - March 23rd - Seal Rock, OR - 34° F, 93% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north.....crystal, clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 51° F.  On this date in 2012 we were dry camping at a Walmart in Prarieville, LA......↴

Monday was a cold, dreary day when I went to work at 10:30 am.  In fact it tried to rain a couple of times, but all we go was a few sprinkles.  The first hour Terry and I replaced a few of the automatic, hands free soap dispensers at the restrooms in preparation for opening them in April.  We then joined Greg to help repair two electrical pedestals which had issues with their 20 amp outlets.  By the time we finished the second pedestal it was after 12:30 pm, so I headed home.  Just as I arrived TLE was on her way out the door to begin her 1 pm to 4 pm shift.

Within about an hour the sun came out, and even though I was in the middle of a March Madness game I decided to go outside to dig a few post holes.  You will remember I took the rope fence down about 10 days ago between sites A-2 (our new site) and A-3 (our old site) to finish building the new 'lido deck', and it was time to put it back in its new location.....

.....I did not reinstall the third post.  Additionally, I began to transplant the escallonia bushes to line up with the new fence line.....two down, six to go!

The rest of Monday was consumed with watching the eight scheduled March Madness games.  The Oregon Ducks easily advanced over Iowa to the 'Sweet Sixteen', along with the UCLA Bruins.  The final game of the day pitted the USC Trojans (#6) against the Kansas Jayhawks (#3).  It was expected to be a close game, and it was for a short while, but by half time USC had built a 19 point lead, and by the end of the game they led by 34....a wipeout of epic proportions.  Florida, Michigan, Creighton, Alabama, and Gonzaga (overall #1 seed) advanced as was expected.  So, after five days of watching one game after another the first weekend of March Madness has come to a close.  Festivities will resume this Saturday and Sunday with four games being played each day.

And that my friend was our Monday.....thanks for stopping by!

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No end to the madness.......

7:40 am - Monday - March 22nd - Seal Rock, OR - 45° F, 93% humidity, wind 9 mph out of the north by northwest.....cloudy, and drizzly today with a forecast high of 47° F.  On this date in 2018 we had just arrived at the Indio Elks Lodge to see our friends Steven and Linda......↴

Initially Sunday looked like a 'no work due to rain' kind of day, but the rain stopped around 9:30 am, and by 10:30 am (when I went to work) the sun had even shown its face.  Back in February when I was mowing all of the RV sites the handle on the lawnmower broke due to extreme metal fatigue.  During our one month absence Terry had ordered and new handle, and on Sunday I removed the old handle, transferred the hand controls to the new one, and then installed it.  That took care of one of my work hours.  In April we will be opening the tenting area for the first time in over a year, so we need to get the restrooms cleaned, and ready for use.  It took me about 30 minutes per restroom, and I was done for the day.

Of course, you know what comes next......I spent the rest of the day watching March Madness games....there were eight in all, and of those eight games four ended in upsets.....1) #1, Illinois, lost to #8, Loyola of Chicago; 2) #11, Syracuse, beat #3, West Virginia, #15; 3) Oral Roberts, edged out #7, Florida, and #12; 4) Oregon (Beavers) won easily over #4, Oklahoma.  There were nearly two other upsets, but the favored teams hung on to barely win.  It was a great day for upsets, and I was right there to witness it all.

The rain returned shortly after TLE returned home from her two hour shift (2-4), and continued on into the night ending sometime early this morning (Monday).  It appears there will be work today, but no sun.

The park has been quite full the last 5 days, and it appears we are getting into a busier season.  The camphosts have outnumbered the customers for quite some time now, so it's nice to see a lot of sites occupied once again, in spite of the rain.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Lingering.......

 7:47 am - Sunday - March 21st - Seal Rock, OR - 39° F, 93% humidity, wind - zero mph out of the north......cloudy today, but no rain until later....forecast high for today is 48° F.  On this date in 2012 we were visiting Cedar Key, FL for the first time.....here TLE and I are kayaking out to Grass Key with new nomadic friends we had just met.....↴

The rain has been omnipresent these past few days, and Saturday morning was no different.  For the second day in a row TLE and I slept in until after 8 am.....very, very nice.  We lingered there in bed listening to the rhythmic sound of rain on our aluminum roof.  I cannot think of anything much nicer than laying there knowing we did not have to get up.

When we did our small shopping at Ray's Food Place Friday we bought some more of their Peppered Bacon, and Saturday morning TLE baked up a batch of that in her Breville using the convection mode....so nice to cook bacon, and not get grease spattered everywhere.  While we were eating breakfast the first of 16 March Madness games began.  It was another day of typical  March Madness with most favored teams winning, but there were a few upsets such as my UCLA (seeded #11) upsetting BYU (#6) by 11 points.  Then there was #14, Abilene Christian upsetting the #3 seed, Texas by 1 point on two made free throws with 1.4 seconds remaining, or Miami of Ohio (#13) upsetting Virginia (#4) by 4 points.  My father's alma mater, USC (#6) won, as expected, over Drake (#11) by 14 points.

I did manage to complete one long delayed project.  Back in 2015 I converted the old microwave cubby hole to hold our toaster oven, with a shelf above it.  To put light into that area I installed 2 rows of LED lights.  The lights worked well for several years, but age, and the heat generated by the toaster oven dimmed the lights to the point they were barely noticeable.  When we installed the new Breville I had to remove the shelf as the Breville was too tall.  When I saw the sad state of the existing LED's I determined to replace them with one new, brighter strip.  Well, Saturday was the day that finally happened.....

....it only took a few minutes to install the new strip, and I wondered why I had waited so long to complete this simple task.

As I write this morning we find ourselves half way through the first March Madness weekend. Today, Sunday, begins the round of 32.....there will be 8 games today, and 8 games Monday to determine the 'Sweet Sixteen' matchups for next weekend.  Time to have some breakfast, and get ready for work....yup, work....it's not raining!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Who knew?

 8:53 am - Real Saturday - March 20th - Seal Rock, OR - 45° F, 87% humidity, wind 11 mph out of the west by southwest.....cloudy, rainy today with a forecast high of 48° F.  On this date in 2017 we were in Death Valley having lunch at the Furnace Creek Inn.....↴

I've been putting off getting my ears lowered since we got back, because I wanted to go into town for more than just a haircut.  When I last saw Jeff at Waldport Family Cuts just before we left for a month I told him I would be out of town, but would be back just in time for another haircut.  Well, Friday came around, and TLE needed to buy a few things at Ray's Food Place, I needed a haircut, and the Mexican cuisine at Fresh Mexican Food was calling me.  

I called Jeff to get an appointment (he is appointment only), and the first time available was 1 pm, so I took it.  Getting my hair cut at 1 pm set us up perfectly for a late lunch at Fresh Mexican Food, after which we would visit Ray's for the food items TLE needed.  The rain, which had been steadily falling all morning, stopped just before we left for town.  TLE dropped me at the barber shop, and headed off to the local liquor store.  She returned shortly before Jeff finished my new 'doo', and we headed off to the restaurant.

You may recall we ate there back on September 30th, just a couple of weeks after arriving at Seal Rock.  At the time we gave them just 3.5 stars out of a possible 5.  The food was adequate, but not memorable, but it is the only local Mexican restaurant, so we gave them another chance.  This time I ordered their Camarones de Monterey (shrimp wrapped in bacon), and TLE their Burrito.......

.....first of all, let me talk about their chips and salsa....WOW.....1000% better than the first time....I tend to judge Mexican restaurants by the quality of their salsa, and this salsa was definitely a 5 star salsa.  Now, on to the entrées......again....WOW!  I've had bacon wrapped shrimp before when we were living in Ramona, CA at a local Mexican restaurant (Mariscos Mar de Cortez).  Their version of this dish was called 'Camarones Costa Azul', and it was very good (I wrote about that here), but this version is the best I have ever had, bar none.....

Camarones de Monterey....6 large prawns 

wrapped in bacon, and deep fried....OMG!

.....TLE had their large Burrito, and was it ever large......she took half of it home in a 'doggy box'......

....TLE had a soft drink to accompany her entrée, and I some iced tea.  I'm not sure what happened since the end of September, but this place is now at a solid 4+ out of 5 stars for us. To be fair, when we ate here last time restaurants were just beginning to open up again, and maybe that had a little to do with it, but who knew, right? We lingered over our food for the better part of an hour before paying our bill, and heading to Ray's, then home for the afternoon.  Talk about timing....we arrived home just a few minutes before the rain returned, and began to fall torrentially.

I spent the afternoon, as one might suspect, watching many more NCAA basketball games with the last game ending just before 9 pm.  There were at least 3 upsets during the day, which is what I love about March Madness.....any team can beat any team on a given day, such as Oral Roberts (#15) beating Ohio State (#2) at the buzzer, or Oregon State (#12) beating Tennessee (#5) to win their first NCAA March Madness game since 1989, or North Texas (#13) beating Purdue (#4).  At any rate, there were a lot of great games played Friday, and I'm looking forward to 16 more games on Saturday.

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March Madness........

 8:44 am - Fifth Saturday - March 19th - Seal Rock, OR - 43° F, 93% humidity, wind 13 mph out of the south....heavy cloud cover, windy, rainy today....a perfect day to spend inside watching March Madness.....we were robbed last year, but she's back!  The high today is forecast to be 48° F.  The view this morning.......↴

......on this date in 2017 we were at 'Badwater' in Death Valley.....282' below sea level....where it was 111° F.......↴

When I woke up Thursday morning I was about 98% sure I would not be working, but you never know.  It had been raining all night, but had stopped around 7 am, and although the skies indicated more was to come, it wasn't raining, and there was that possibility it might not rain for a couple of hours.  Then about 8:30 am I received the expected text from Terry calling me off work, at which time it began to rain again.  

I was really hoping I would be called off work as Thursday was the first day of March Madness, 2021.  Each March the top 64 collegiate teams in the U.S. play in a single elimination tournament, and on this day 8 teams would play to see if they could 'play in' to the tournament to fill the last four brackets.  March Madness was cancelled last year due to the Wuhan Flu like a lot of other events.  It was the first time in about 20 years I had not spent endless hours in front of a TV watching college basketball.

While I was thus engaged TLE worked a couple more two hour shifts (10-12, and 2-4).  I managed to get outside one time to stow away our flag, and flag pole which were being buffeted unmercifully by the wind, and one other time around 2 pm to drive TLE down to the office where I used the VW to haul some packages back up the hill (too many for me to carry).  The packages contained my new 'Christmas' lights, which I will be deploying in the near future....the near future being when it is not raining, whenever that might be....the next 7 days are not too promising.

All four of the NCAA March Madness 'play in' games were close at the end with my favorite team, UCLA, winning the final game of the day 86-80 in overtime.  UCLA trailed much of the game, but made baskets down the stretch to tie the game in regulation, and then outscore Michigan State by 6 in overtime.  They will play BYU on Saturday hoping to advance to the round of 32.

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