As most of you know, I have spent the past ten months living in our new park
model at the coast in Coos Bay and Marc has been here for three, recuperating
from knee replacement. Well, it’s back to work; Marc is already off on the
Goldwing this week to look things over in Sequim, Washington which we think
could be our next destination. Sequim sits about four miles from the ocean
across the strait from Vancouver Island, Canada on the northern most part of the
Olympic Peninsula and is a small town of less than 10,000.
Coos Bay this past year has been a much better experience than our first long term stay in 2003, despite the fact that the weather has been very poor for the most part. If such a thing can be said—I’ve gotten used to it. Used to the constant grey skies, the wind, the few totally sunny days and the only two sunsets I’ve noted. Weather like this is part and parcel of a marine environment, especially one in the Pacific Northwest and it actually becomes part of the experience and character, the very nature of the place. It wouldn’t be the same if it was sunny every day; one could actually lose their appreciation for the way the light enhances the brilliancy of all the colors and the vibrant greens; the blue of the sky melding with the blue of the sea, if we saw it every day. That, and the place would then be overrun with people!
All I know is that now that it is time to leave here, I have sadness in my soul that no amount of wanderlust can step in and cure. Could I be getting to the point of wanting to settle down? No answer to that per se; I just know the things I will miss the most and much of it revolves around my cozy little space known as the park model. I love living in the dollhouse and don’t want to leave; I don’t want to move back into the RV either. The park model is just the correct amount of space for me; everything in its place with an adequate and real kitchen; a front deck for morning coffee, a large side yard which handles the boat and all the crabbing and clamming mess. Marc made great strides on building shelving in our storage shed and it holds an amazing amount of stuff. He also finally got the skirting completed and the fish/crab cleaning station built, although it needs a final coat of white paint at some future date.
The second most dear thing I will miss will be the walks in Charleston. It is an ever-changing feast for the eyes with something new going on every different day. The sights, the smells, the ocean’s roar or purr, the air, varying day by day, even hour by hour. It holds a place in my heart as probably one of my favorite little funky towns and if anything has become “home”, it has.
To better give you a flavor of our time here, I have put together a photo story
of the beauty of the area, the seafood free for the catching, good friends’
visits, some area motorcycle rides, and the good stuff. Because, no matter how
much you search, it probably doesn’t get much better than life here on the
Oregon coast. We’re home.