In the cold rainy days at the end of the year, it warms the heart to look back at family who showed up and gave us excuse to visit familiar haunts. Early in June, Laurel and David arrived without the grandkids; we spent a few days at a friend's condo at Nye Beach in Newport, from the second floor of which we could catch a glimpse of the ocean a few blocks away.
We found a bar we had not visited before, a local hangout with local barflies.
We visited the Coast Aquarium, at the time featuring finds from shipwrecks, which, as it turned out, were not as interesting as the usual exhibits.
I'm particularly fond of the jellyfish.
But other denizens posed nicely too.
The Yaquina Head lighthouse still uses its 1868 Fresnel lens;
we missed the tour, but found critters who were happy to see us.
As I wrote on Facebook, you know you're in Oregon
when you find people on the beach sunning in full wetsuits.
The Newport bay front was as busy as ever.
Even sea lions found it crowded.
One of my favorite sights in Newport is the Art Deco-Art Moderne Yaquina Bay Bridge, one of eleven on Highway 101 designed by Conde McCulluough, finished in 1936 at a cost of $1,301,016 (in today's dollars, more than $22 million), in my mind, a bargain.
At Depot Bay, even the crows obey the signs.
Another favorite haunt is Silver Falls, where flowers seem always in bloom.
We hiked under South Falls on Canyon Trail
and back on Maple Ridge Trail, about 2 miles in all.
It seemed much longer than it did years ago.
We met with friends and ate a scrumptious birthday dinner.
Too soon, the kids headed back to Alabama.
In July, Judi showed up with Ea and Poul in a four door pickup stuffed with tent, sleeping bags, coolers, bicycles, a chest of drawers, and I don't know what else for their odyssey to the Northwest.
We headed to the coast, crowded now with tourists,
but the weather could not have been better.
We also went to Silver Falls but this time only Ea and Poul hiked down into the canyon. Flowers were still blooming.
We drove to the North Falls viewpoint and hiked a little way to get a better view.
Poul and Annie hit it off. Annie ate up the attention.
For the Fourth, we pulled out the canon, loaded it, and Poul fired it.
We drove down to the riverfront to watch the Jaycee's fireworks, then finished off the night with a bit of canon fire of our own.
Deb took a nice family shot in my office;
Ea took a selfie with Deb at the fireworks
and a nice shot of the front gate to the ranch.
Too soon they packed up and headed north for more adventures, including a stop at a famous Portland landmark.
And left us to our usual summer pursuits.
It was a good summer, and a good year. Thanks for stopping by.
