We are in Charleston, Oregon now, at the Oceanside RV Resort that we’ve visited many times in the past. We have Space 63 this year, which is the best that they have (and we’ve already reserved it again for next July).
Five days into our stay here and the weather has been spectacular. High temps thus far have been 65-70 with lows in high 50’s. However, the next seven-day forecast has us experiencing highs in the mid-70’s with one freak day (tomorrow) when the high temp will hit 85. The sun has been shining almost continuously which is a welcome relief, as we experienced foggy, cool weather last year.
Vinnie is in love with the beach. He likes to gallop all over the place, smell the marine odors, chase his siblings, meet people and dogs, and even wade in the surf. Thus far, we haven’t experienced any tussles with other dogs. Knock on wood!
The other two dogs (Baby and BonBon) are pros when it comes to beach fun. They know this place and are eager to show Vinnie the ropes. I usually take the dogs to the beach in the morning, before Charlie gets up, and then later in the day at low tide, so we can explore the adjacent cove that not many people go into. The dogs love examining the dead crab carcasses, the driftwood, the kelp, and whatever else has washed ashore. They also like climbing on the exposed rock cliff that is submerged for part of the day.
Vinnie has, however, been initiated into the Oregon Tide Pool Swimming Society. On one of our walks into the adjacent cove, Vinnie took off galloping to join about a dozen people who were investigating tide pools on the rock jetty. Vinnie decided that those crabs or sea anenomes in one of the pools looked interesting, so he hopped in to get a better look. It was deeper than he thought! Anyway, like the other dogs before him, he is now a bit wiser and I’m sure he will give the tide pools their due respect in the future.
By the way, there are two other camper families here at Oceanside who have Boston Terriers. They are rare in Mesquite, Nevada but not at RV campgrounds.
The five of us have re-discovered cozy living. The dogs get walked several times per day, but the rest of the time finds them lounging wherever they feel comfortable. Sometimes, they help Charlie read a book.
Charlie and I discovered a new (for us) Chinese restaurant the other day in Coos Bay that was REALLY good. It’s called Lucky Star and is located right across the street from the harbor. We will add that to our inventory of good eating places in this area. There are a lot of good seafood joints, two good Mexican restaurants, a handy food truck in the Charleston Boat Basin, and a Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays where one can nosh a bit.
Speaking of food, our refrig has been on the blink since we left Mesquite on June 29th. So, we’ve been cooling a few items in an Igloo ice chest while we await the mobile RV repair guy. He’s coming tomorrow and, hopefully, we will then resume normalcy.
We visited the local dispensary and bought some gummies to help Charlie sleep. They aren’t the kind she uses in Nevada; I think they’re produced by an Oregon cannabis grower.
I met a nice guy (Carlos) yesterday in the RV park who clued me into one of his favorite RV parks along the Oregon coast. It’s in Florence and could be the initial leg of next year’s four-month jaunt. If it works out, we’d be there for most of June and leave on July 5th to drive down here to Oceanside RV Resort. Carlos says that the Florence owners put on a half-hour fireworks show on July 4th and that he and his family come there every year. Sounds good to me.
We had a “date” on Sunday. I took Charlie to see “Top Gun: Maverick” at the local cinema. It was a very good sequel, in my opinion. I understand that Tom Cruise was paid something like $21 million to star in it plus he gets 10 percent of the net profits to boot. The movie has made over $1 billion at the box office, so I think that Mr. Cruise will have plenty of “quan” after this gig. The guy is an okay actor who is sometimes not believable in his roles. I think his best role was the assassin in “Collateral Damage” (with Jamie Foxx); should have had an Oscar for that one. He was fine in this Top Gun revival, probably because he’d played the character before.
Update: The RV repair guy didn’t show on Monday. Supposedly he was “sick”, probably of having to go to work on Monday after a rowdy weekend. I don’t blame him: it was 80 degrees and sunny on Monday. That doesn’t happen too often on the Oregon coast.
Update 2: Tuesday was a bummer. The weather turned foggy and cold and stayed that way all day. It reminded me of last year, where we had several weeks of such dreary weather. To make matters worse, the repairman arrived, examined the “guts” of the refrig, and informed us that the cooling unit (which was supposed to be recalled years ago) is shot and needs to be replaced. This will cost some bucks, they will have to order the parts, and we will be stuck with the Igloo cooler for the foreseeable future. That sucks, but it’s all part of “the adventure”, as we tell ourselves.
Update 3: The weather returned to bright sunny and warm today. Yay! However, Vinnie went rogue on the beach this morning and I had to spend ten minutes gathering him up. No bueno. Besides, he and BonBon went for a dip and got sand all over themselves. Some remedial training (or worse) may be in store for those insubordinates.
