Many years ago, sometime in the 70's, Adina learned a special way to take care of crystals and stones. They get dusty and dirty and washing these objects with soap and water, although an option, is not the most effective method.
The best way to clean this objects of beauty is to soak them in seawater. Mixing salt and water to make a brine is a poor substitute. I realize that this isn't easy for those of you who live far from salt water but at least, now you know.
After living in WI for 12 years, our supply of seawater was long depleted. Before we left Long Beach, we wanted some salt water to take home. At the beach, Adina donned her new water boots.
I used to have water boots when we lived here before. Our old water boots were army green with wide yellow laces. When we got to WA we started keeping an eye out for new boots for Adina. Although I walk without a cane now, my balance still is not good enough to be walking in water.
When we got to Forks, we shopped often in a store called The Outfitter. It was several stores in one -- Thriftway groceries, a clothing store, shoe outlet and hardware store. It was a fun store and we stopped there everytime we went into town.
We got head lamps there. They have five LED lights and four settings. We used them instead of flashlights and for reading in the trailer from then on. Best of all, we found boots for Adina but there was no sign of our old green boots on the shelves. Adina's new boots are all in the latest style!
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| Wild Pink Water Boots |
So the way you clean crystals and stones is, after you pull on your most stylish water boots, is that you take an empty plastic milk jug and stand at the edge of the surf, trying to time the waves. This isn't east at Ocean Park because the waves come in from all directions, causing undertow and confusion.
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| The waves just keep on coming |
The farthest waves are as much as 6' high but by the time they have crested several times and finally spread across the sands, they are less than a foot tall. Except when the ocean fools you and sends a wave that is well over the top of your boots.
SAdina waded out into the sea and caught wave after wave until the plastic gallon jug was about 2/3 full. She was careful, but even so, one wave caught her dropped into her boot, giving her a very wet foot.
Over and over, as the sea kept rolling in, the jug filled. At last, Adina returned to the beach, kind of like Aphrodite rising from the waves (but with more clothes). Success! We have our seawater. Our crystals will shine again.
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| Success, at last! |
We hooked up the trailer and pulled out on a sunny, beautiful, crisp morning. We followed Hwy 101 across the mighty Columbia River to Oregon. At it's mouth, the Columbia is wide, over half a mile. Sand bars shift day by day. A large sandbar rises at it's mouth.
It isn't the biggest river in the world but it's mouth is the fifth most dangerous crossing in the world. Shipwrecks dot the river bed and the ocean shore like a bad case of measles. (Check http://www.mapbureau.com/launch/shipwrecks/ to see what I mean. They only have located some of the wrecks. Others are still lost. Tides push the fresh water of the Columbia backwards creating a zone of constant fury at the mouth.
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| The tideal action at the mouth of the Columbia makes for dangerous crossings Note the line from WA south to Astoria OR -- that's the bridge we crossed on Hwy 101 (public domain photo from Wikipedia) |
Huge container ships ply the river, commercial fishing boats crowd the shores and logs lay like telephone poles, waiting to be shipped to Japan. House boats (regular houses that float on the river) line the quieter tributaries.
People here have named their places with great creativity. Some places retained some version of the Indian names like Cladskanie and Scappose. Others are called names like Svensen and Knappa. We saw Lost Creek, which someone obviously found, and Nice Creek, which somebody liked.
Hwy 30 runs along the river, offering one great view after another. We were in a hurry to get home by this time and didn't stop to take pictures. That will wait for another time. We enjoyed the trip and took snapshots in our minds. The deciduous trees are just beginning to turn. Underbrush shows leaves of yellow and red. Forests -- fir, hemlock, larch and cedar -- mix with deciduous trees along the Columbia.
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| A mixed forest lines the road - this picture was taken in the spring. As we drove, the leaves were beginning to turn. (public domain picture from Wikipedia) |
I had forgotten that we had one more range of mountains to cross -- the Coastal Range, also called The Pacific Coast Range. We drove around the north end of these mountains when we circled the Olympic Peninsula. Now we needed to cross them again to get home. Near the Columbia River, some peaks rise to over 3,000' but the passes are lower.
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| The Coastal Mountains of OR - view from Saddle Mountain (public domain photo from Wikipedia) |
Like many Pacific Northwest mountains, the Coast Range was formed by volcanic action. Some lava flows spilled into the Columbia River. The passes we crossed were relatively low, compared to some of the mountains we've experienced on this trip. Mountains are really very, very big hills. It only took 4-5 miles of downhill driving after the pass on this one. I love driving in the mountains!
When Lewis and Clark sought a route to the west, they ended up at the mouth of the Columbia. Since they explored both sides of the river, both WA and OR claim them. The Lewis and Clark Trail is found on both sides of the river. There's a great interpretive center on the OR side.
We crossed the Columbia River back into WA at Longview WA, driving across the Lewis and Clark Bridge. Like all bridges on this part of the Columbia River, this bridge is extrememly high. Sea-going ships must be able to pass beneath it. At the highest point, we looked down at grain elevators far below us. It was kind of exciting, like being on a ferris wheel.
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| The Lewis and Clark Bridge at Longview WA Note the very large grain elevators peeking beneath the bridge (public domain photo from Wikipedia) |
We took the freeway the last 30 miles to our new home. Although we've avoided freeways for most of our trip, enjoying scenic byways and back roads, at this point, the freeway looked good. We were ready to be home.
After we got the trailer parked and did a grocery run to Safeway (kind of like Pik'n'Save), I snapped this picture of our new home. It's a duplex but the other unit lies perpendicular to our unit so we are not much aware of it. It feels like a house, not a duplex. The exterior walls are lovely yellow and Suzy is the landowner from heaven -- she is on top of everything!
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| At home in our new home - we even have a little fall pumpkin installed by our front door |
Our granddaughter, Kelsey, met the moving van when it arrived in August. She told the movers where to put everything. She did a great job and so when we walked in it looked like our home. Well, except for mountains of boxes in every room!
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| And these are only the kitchen/dining room boxes! You should see the rest of the rooms. |
Saturday (yesterday) we dived into being home. We got most of our clothes hung up in the bedroom. We each have our own eight' closet! What luxury that is! Our bedroom is 16x16'. It's the biggest bedroom we've ever had!
Our home is a two-bedroom/two bath dwelling with 1100 sq ft. Our living room/dining room combination is 25' long and about 14' wide. We have an open concept place with dining room/living room/kitchen. Our living room area is alread set up, thanks to Kelsey's work.
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| Two big windows let in a lot of light to our living room/dining room The gas fireplace (oh, yeah!) is out of sight to the right |
Our attached double garage is a wonder after being limited to a 4x4' storage locker. We'll park the car on one side and use the other for storage. Best of all, I will have a workbench. I've missed that. After my accident, I didn't dare use tools for a long time because of the way my hands shaked and jerked. Now I'll be able to do some simple repairs, maybe a little woodwork again.
Adina's sister-of-choice, Barbara, came from Seattle for a couple of days to help with the initial unpacking. After she saw the whole place, she said that this place would rent for $2000/mo in Seattle. Wow! We aren't paying that much though. We love this place already and feel so fortunate to have found it.
Barbara and Adina began to bring order out of chaos by putting the kitchen together. As Barbara said, "When you have the kitchen and the bathroom put together, you can start to function." (Personally, I'd add the need for putting the computer and coffee pot in place.)
By the end of the day, the kitchen was finished and looking great! Our refrigerator dispenses filtered water and ice cubes. That's a luxury we've never had before. We have lots of storage space. When everything was put away, we ended up with shelves that are sparsely full and some that are empty.
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| Our beautiful kitchen Adina is excited about having a window over the sink! |
Almost everything made it here in one piece. A couple of pieces got nickes and scratches. Our pioneer woman statue lost the brim of her hat but I think I can glue it back. In other moves, we lost a box or two but this time all our boxes arrived. We feel good about the move.
On Sunday, Adina and Barbara worked on unpacking our good dishes and putting them all away in the kitchen queen. Adina got the kitchen queen from an antique store in Seattle years ago.
In the late 1800's/early 1900's, space was limited for our ancestors. These women didn't have fancy kitchens like we do with tons of counter space. The kitchen queen was a piece of furniture designed to hold dishes, pots and pans, food and baking goods. Ours has a flour sifter built in.
Our kitchen queen holds our good dishes and special vases. In the next picture, Barbara and Adina are starting to open the third or fourth box and to fold another mountain of packing paper.
Meanwhile, I worked on the garage. I don't know how it happened, but we were already short on shelf space so I got another unit from the hardware store. Our hardware store serves free popcorn to shoppers! It took me a whole bag of popcorn to decide on my purchase! Not bad!
Today, the unpacking continues. We have a few pieces of furniture we're looking for like a couple of bookcases and a dining room set. We're beginning to haunt thrift stores for that. We need to get some kind of sleeper sofa or chair for Adina's study but in the meantime, we have the rollaway.
All in all, we're home.
Our traveling days aren't over, though. Next week, I'll drive up the Columbia Gorge a ways and then cross the Cascades on a low southern pass up into eastern WA to Yakima for the Turner Lectures. The Disciples Church, where I hold standing, offers this educational opportunity for clergy and lay people. Adina will attend a nursing conference next month in Seattle, 4 hrs north of Vancouver. We'll drive up and visit Adina's parents at the same.
Soon, our feet will begin to itch and we'll hook up the trailer again for another jaunt, much shorter than this last one. The road always calls us. The ocean waits for us and keeps her waves rolling. The mountains have campgrounds where we've never stayed and trails we want to take. And we have a new city, Vancouver, to explore.
The adventure is over. The adventure has just begun.
I can't wait for the next chapter!
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