Surprise, surprise......

 8:46 am - Saturday - November 7th - 46° F, 82% humidity, wind - CALM....heavy cloud cover, but no rain so far today, but later on this afternoon with a forecast high of 50° F.  On this date in 2017 we had finished our orientation for our job as cashiers at the Grand Canyon (Desert View), and were getting a view of the Grand Canyon.......↴

After being cooped up for 3 days due to almost continuous rain for that duration it was time for us to get out and see something we haven't seen before.  Over the many times we have driven US-101 in Oregon from the Washington/Oregon border to the Oregon/California border we have never even stopped in Depoe Bay, which is only 9 miles north of Newport.  Each time we have passed through we always commented about how cute the town was, and we should stop next time we were through, but next time never came until Friday.

We were in the Beetle heading northbound on US-101 a little after 11 am.  We could see that the ocean was still angry after 3 stays of storms, and the waves crashing into Seal Rock were enormous.  As we edged northward the highway began to dry out, and we even saw the sun a couple of times for very brief interludes.  We decided to start our tour of the Depoe Bay area at the north end of town at a large parking lot at a vista point for Boiler Bay......

There always seems to be one angry looking 

seagull wherever we go on the Oregon Coast

Boiler Bay

......on our way through town to the Boiler Bay Vista Point we passed an interesting restaurant located on the ocean side of US-101.  I'm not sure about you, but when we are looking for a place to dine on any coast, near a lake, or river we are always looking for a place which offers a direct view of the water.....Tidal Raves Seafood Grill fit that bill precisely, and they had garnered a 4 star rating on 808 reviews from Yelp, so the choice was obvious to us.....

....after our brief interlude at Boiler Bay we headed back to Tidal Raves arriving there just before 1 pm.....we snagged the second to last parking place in their lot, and managed to get the last table with within minutes.......we both ordered a glass of their Savignon Blanc..... 

.....checked out the view from our table......yup.....exactly that for which we were looking......

....we both opted to order salads......a salmon and roasted romaine salad for moi.......the salmon was melt in your mouth delicious.....the roasted romaine was dressed with a touch of Caesar dressing.....kind of like a deconstructed Caesar Salad.....

....and a Greek salad for TLE.......this is really a 'fine dining' restaurant, and me thinks we will return in the future to explore their dinner fare.....

I did not know this....

....and there it is

....the downtown area is about two blocks long and consists of a couple of eateries, but mostly touristy gift stores......

Internet photos

....and on stormy days such as was the case Friday you can get large waves hitting the seawall.....

......as we were walking around downtown, and along the seawall the temperature began to drop quickly, so we retreated to the warm confines of the VW and began our drive back south to Seal Rock.  Just south of Depoe Bay is a loop road called 'Otter Crest Loop', so we decided to take that route back to Newport, and we are so happy we did.....the views were quintessential Coastal Oregon........

Devil's Punch Bowl

Reminds me of some homes near Southwest Harbor, ME

.....we stopped one more time just north of Newport to capture a picture of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse from the north......

If you click on this picture to enlarge it you will see I  managed to catch the flash of the Fresnel lens

......we were home again a little after 3 pm.  I always have some expectation of how a day of exploring will turn out, and Friday was no exception.....I have to say the reality far exceeded the expectation.

It began raining just before we arrived back home, and we had no expectations of any sunset, but as it turned out those low expectations were quite dramatically exceeded.....

......what a magnificently wonderful, and surprising day Thursday turned out to be!

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And the rain goes on.......

8:39 am - Friday - November 6th - Seal Rock, OR - 46° F, 93% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the east by northeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 51° F, and possibly some more rain this afternoon, but right now we can see some blue sky.....the view this morning......↴

.....on this day in 2015 we were boondocking on the shores of Mono Lake in the Eastern Sierras just south of  Lee Vining, CA......↴

It got down to 17° that night

For the third day in succession I was called off work, and there was really no choice....it was raining 'cats and dogs' from the time we arose from our nighttime slumber until well after 12 pm, and then it continued drizzling the rest of the afternoon, followed again by heavy rainfall d as evening descended.  TLE worked from 10 am to 12 pm in the warm, dry, well lit confines of the park office, and once again we spent the afternoon reading, and for moi a few delicious naps interspersed at appropriate intervals.

I really don't have much more for you today except that our Newell is keeping us warm, and dry with no leaks whatsoever, as has been the case since we purchased her back in March of 2008.  In another 15 months she will hit her 40th birthday....how many RV's still look as good as her after 40 years, and very heavy, continuous use in the past 9 of those years?  We are still happy 12 years after we made the decision to purchase her, and have never looked back.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

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The new Class system......

8:22 am - Thursday - November 5th - Seal Rock, OR - 55° F, 100% humidity, wind 14 mph out of the south by southwest.......been raining all night, and will continue raining throughout this day with a forecast high of 57° F.....no work again today.  On this date in 2017 we were attending the wedding of our honorary daughter, Amanda Scarlett, in Riverside, CA.......↴

Amanda Scarlett's wedding day

Wednesday marked the second consecutive day I was called off work due to rain.  We knew this was coming based on conversations with long time residents of SRRVC Terry and Greg.  According to them, beginning in late October you can go 3-5 days without working due to rain.  We had a lovely October as you know if you are a regular reader, and I only missed one work day due to rain, but now it is time to 'pay the piper'.  Thankfully, we do not need to earn any money this Fall/Winter, and are just happy to work enough hours to cover our site cost.  Of course, the rain offers more opportunities for reading, and that is what I occupied myself with most of the day.  TLE, on the other hand, did work her two hour shift having the distinct advantage of being able to work indoors in the office.

I love a rainy night....Eddie Rabbitt

Rainy Coastal Oregon

Of course, we still do not know who won the election on Tuesday.  Based on most of the mainstream news organizations and pollsters Biden had a 10+% lead over Trump on election day, he (Trump) was going to lose in a landslide, the Dems were going to take back the Senate, and gain up to 15 seats on the house......all of it 100% wrong.  We still have numerous states classified as "TOO CLOSE TO CALL", the Republicans actually will be the ones gaining seats in the House, and we know they will retain control of the Senate.  Are the news organizations, and their pollsters (including FOX News) just incompetent, or is this deliberate?  Even FOX News got it completely wrong.  I've said for years now that both parties are corrupt. Both parties only care about their power......they do not care about anyone outside the BELTWAY....if you think they do I've got a bridge I would like to sell you. Ironically, the voting base of each party has completely flipped the last 4 years.....the Democrats are now the party of the upper class (or 'protected class' as I call them, consisting of the media elites, Hollywood elites, the rich, the politicians), and the Republicans are now the party of the middle class, and working class.  That's my 2¢, and I'm sticking to it.

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What a mess.......

 7:34 am - Wednesday - November 4th - Seal Rock, OR - 59° F, 94% humidity, wind 15 mph out of the south......heavy overcast, raining today with a forecast high of 58° F.  On this date in 2015 we were near Carson City, NV wishing we were further south.......↴

I was called off work Tuesday morning 90 minutes before I was set to report due to rain, however,  TLE went to work at 11 am....her new start time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  With the rain coming down, pretty hard at times, I remained inside the warm, dry confines of the Newell, and spent a good part of the day reading.  TLE was home just after 1 pm and it was still raining.

Tuesday, of course, was election day, but as of this writing (7:56 am, Wednesday, November 4th) we do not know who the winner is, and may not know for days, if not weeks.  It appears we will be in for a repeat of the 2000 election which involved numerous legal challenges in Florida by both sides, and was ultimately decided by SCOTUS.  Based on current indications this year (2020) will be 2000 on steroids with legal challenges coming in multiple states.....what a mess!

We began the evening watching the election results on FOX News, but within a hour had switched over to Newsmax, which we can stream on our 'smart' TV utilizing the SRRVC WiFi.  Something has happened at FOX, and it is not good....hard to tell them apart from the rest of the lamestream media nowadays.  By 10 pm it was obvious that things had come to a standstill as far as new results, so I followed TLE to bed (she had thrown in the towel about 90 minutes earlier).

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It's a grind......

7:39 am - Tuesday - November 3rd - Seal Rock, OR - 45° F, 100% humidity, wind - CALM.....it began raining at 7 am, and is forecast to rain the rest of the day with a forecast high of 56° F....just got a text from Terry advising I will not be toiling in the fields of SRRVC today.  On this date in 2011 TLE and I were sitting in our anti gravity chairs next to the Pacific Ocean at Rincon Parkway (just north of Ventura, CA) enjoying the wonderful Fall weather of the SoCal Coast, whilst sipping some vino.......↴

Rincon Parkway.....still one of my top 5 places

We awoke to fog Monday morning, and it remained foggy all the day long.  I worked with Terry for just shy of two hours before retiring to the confines of site A-3 to watch the fog roll in and out for the balance of the day.  We did receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 minutes of direct sunlight between 12 pm and 1 pm, during which time I dumped a week's worth of effluent from our black tank.

Some of you may recall that I carry a bench grinder with us as we traverse to and fro across our great country.  I only set it up when we are going to be somewhere for more than a month.  I haven't had it out since our days at RORVR.  I bought this bench grinder in USED condition at the South Lake Tahoe Flea Market for $20 back in 2015, or 16, and it has worked well for those intervening years.  For some reason it would not turn on when I flipped the switch this time.  I opened up the switch, wiggled some wires, put it back together and it began working again.  Okay, fine.....well, the next  day I flipped the switch to the 'ON' position again, and nothing happened.  This time wiggling wires around did not solve the problem.  At any rate, I decided to buy a brand new one off Amazon, and it arrived Monday afternoon......

.....the old bench grinder did not have a safety shield covering the wire brush wheel, and no eye protection on either one, but I made it work.  The new one has safety guards on both the grinding, and wire brush wheels, as well a clear eye protection shields.  On top of that it also has an adjustable light source......all for $56 shipped......

......it is certainly not commercial grade, but for my needs and purposes it will last me years.  As you can see I mounted it on the Black and Decker Workmate bench just as I did with the old one.  I spent some time out in the 'garage' setting it up, and installing all of the accessories.  Receiving and installing the new bench grinder was the highlight of my Monday.  I spent the balance of the afternoon doing a little exercise, and then reading.  

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Goodbye, and good riddance to DST.......

 7:43 am - Monday - November 2nd - Seal Rock, OR - 37° F, 100% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the east by southeast....foggy this morning, with partly cloudy later, and a forecast high of 57° F.  On this date in 2013 we were in Park City, UT with my brother Dwyer, and his wife Lori for dinner.......↴

Sunday, November 1st saw us with continued, unseasonably delightful weather.  We know the bad weather is coming, but each clear, sunny day will be cherished, delighted in, enjoyed, and remembered when we find ourselves in the middle of a 5 day storm.  

We were up before 7 am, and since my work shift did not begin until 10 am we watched a recorded English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Wolverhampton.  Everton had a pretty fast start this season winning their first 7 matches, and tying their eighth again Liverpool, the reigning 2020 champions.  On this day Everton was not up to the challenge losing 2-1 to Wolverhampton.

As has been the case for the past several workdays Terry and I spent most of my 2 hour shift trimming more hedges, and a little site cleaning thrown in for good measure.  I was off a little after 12 pm, and home shortly thereafter.  TLE's 2 hour shift did not commence until 2 pm, so after I changed she had a snack prepared for me.

After the snack I went outside to do a little pruning and trimming of my own around our site.  There is a lot of ivy growing in the park, and a few strands have been making inroads into our site by the Sea-B-Que.

I also needed to relevel the Newell as it has been a few weeks, so I connected an air hose from our pancake compressor into the quick connect in the passenger side engine bay to add air back into the system.  When we sit for long periods of time I prefer to air up the coach this way as running the engine for 10-15 minutes does not really do much for the engine.  Unless I can get her out on the road, under load, and up to operating temperature for about an hour the result is not a net positive for the big Detroit Diesel 6v92.  Overall the coach has lost air very slowly, which is a good thing, and it has stayed pretty level until the last few days when the rear began to sag a little.  Frankly it takes more time to connect everything than it does to air up the coach, but it is a better alternative to running the engine for such a short time.

With November 1st comes the end of 'DST' (daylight savings time), and we are able to retrieve the hour taken from us last Spring.  Another bonus is sunrise moves back from 7:20 am to 6:20 am making it much lighter when we get up at 7 am.  As you may recall, I prefer waking up to daylight, rather than waking up to total darkness.  Of course that change, which I like, means the sun goes down a little after 5 pm now, instead of a littler after 6 pm.  Since we had sunny skies all day Sunday we got another beautiful sunset......

....and thus ends the first day of November....thanks for stopping by!

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Alfresco dining, exploring, and shopping......

 7:40 am - Sunday - November 1st - Seal Rock, OR - 45° F, 71% humidity, wind 9 mph out of the east......clear, sunny today with a forecast high of 60° F.  On this date in 2016 we were hiking in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, CA and saw Mobius Arch for the first time.......↴

We awoke to sunny, but ever so cold skies Saturday.  Saturday's are usually exploring and shopping days, and we decided to get our day going properly with a visit to The Coffee House in the Historic Bay District on Yaquina Bay in Newport.  You might recall we visited this local eatery a couple of weeks ago and loved our experience, and especially their large, individually poured, 16 oz. American coffees......

....we also shared an order of biscuits and gravy, with a side order of crisp bacon......yum.....

.....the view is not too bad either......

.....initially we anticipated having to sit inside on this cold, sunny day, but there was no breeze when we arrived so we took the plunge and ate alfresco.......

.....TLE wanted to see the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, so she Googled a place in Newport where we could get a view north towards the lighthouse, but first a little local artwork......

.....ahhhhh, there she is in the distance.......Yaquina Head Lighthouse!

After the exploring part was done we headed over to the local Safeway to do our weekly big shopping.....I have never seen a more beautiful Bell Pepper display, so I had to take a picture.....

.....after a brief stop at the local Fred Meyers Fuel station to fill the tank of the VW with 9 gallons of Supreme at just $2.17/gallon (the lowest price per gallon we have paid in years!) we headed for home.

We arrived home a little after 1 pm, and while TLE put away the groceries I busied myself in the garage repairing a few strands of patio lights by replacing the tiny 5 watt fuses.  I had ordered a bag of these glass tube fuses a while back for just this purpose as the very salty air here causes them to fail all too quickly.  Once I was sure they were working again I added them to our already extensive patio light display.  

By the time I was finished with that it was after 3 pm, and getting cold once again, so I headed inside for the balance of the day to read, and watch some college football.  There was one good game between Texas (3-2) and Oklahoma State (4-0), which was tied at the end of regulation 34-34, so they proceeded to overtime where Texas was the ultimate victor.....41-34.  The rest of the games were blowouts and not very interesting as a result.....well, I guess they were interesting if your team was the one winning by 5 touchdowns....lol.

Well, that sums up our day, and with that the month of October comes to an end......up next is November, and we wonder what kind of weather we will have now that we are officially into the two month Christmas season.

Thanks for stopping by!

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