Fourth of July Weekend!

(to see more photos of our steam engine train ride: http://picasaweb.google.com/gfhenrichs )

Rusty and I had a great 4th of July weekend. It actually encompassed three days of fun activities and “playing tourist”. Krista had wanted to bring her family over from Salem for fireworks on the beach but it turned out she was out voted. It is a two hour drive with a car full of kids and this time it was easier just to stay close to home. I understand.
On July 3rd , Thursday, Rusty and I took s’more makings and firewood (just in case) and headed down to the beach about 7:00 to get settled in for the fireworks which start about 10:00. That’s a good head start but we had heard that all the good spots get taken up early and we didn’t want to miss out on setting up a campfire. Rusty did a great job but I think was surprised at how fast the drift wood burned. We didn’t need any of our own wood because there was plenty of driftwood available. We cozyed up and made s’mores. Well Rusty helped roast a few marshmallows but I did all the eating. Campfire smoke began to get thick by the time the fireworks started and it had turned quite foggy about the time we had headed down to the beach. The fireworks were still magnificent! How could they not be with all that ambiance….ocean waves, flickering campfires, foggy skies, s’mores, your sweetie…well, that’s the picture.
That was Thursday the 3rd
On the Official Fourth of July we went into Newport to a free concert by the Newport Symphony Orchestra. They are really quite good! I was surprised. All the musicians are professionals and paid for their symphony “job”. I had kind of figured that it would be a symphony full of volunteer retired musicians not meaning that they wouldn’t be good! The conductor is young in his first year with this symphony and has a very dynamic personality that comes across with a lot of showmanship. It was fun watching him conduct. His style added a lot to the enjoyment of the concert. Then after the concert we went to dinner at Georgie’s, a restaurant we’d been wanting to try. We had a great ocean view and the people were very nice however it’s not on our list of places to go again. I felt it was too expensive and the food was just “so so”. Too many other places to try to return to one that is mediocre.
Saturday, July 5th we drove up to Garibaldi, two hours away, to ride the scenic steam engine train to Rockaway beach and back. It turned out to be a drippy, rainy, cold day but we went anyway. The drive up north was beautiful and it was fun seeing the farmland and scenery. The train ride was beautiful as well as it went along the coast line. We arrived in Rockaway pretty cold. Rusty grabbed a hotdog at a Lion’s Club hotdog stand and we rode the train back to Garibaldi. I have memories of digging clams with my Grandpa Smith at his home in Garibaldi and watching him fry them in crushed up soda crackers. I remember eating them because, well, Grandpa and my dad did, but I don’t think I liked them much. Anyway, I can’t bring myself to eat them now except in clam chowder which probably doesn’t count.
After our train ride we went to a Myrtle Wood Factory outlet there and bought a couple of myrtle wood souvenirs. Spent too much on them, but they will bring back memories of our fun train ride. We stopped in Tillamook on the way back and went to the cheese factory….we have done that every time we’ve been in Tillamook, so far.  Bought a few goodies but resisted the ice cream line. Ate dinner at a little steak house there in Tillamook and enjoyed the ride back home.
Rusty has an eye infection and his depth perception is not very good so I drove on the way up but he drove coming back. It was a wonderful day. So much to see here and it is good for us to just be tourists once in a while. After all, we need to know what to take our visitors to see when they come.