Never Waste A Day.....

 

      From the Washington beaches we headed south 230 miles to Salem, OR to visit mom.  She has lived with my sister and her family for 3 1/2 years now and at 93 is doing well.  We look forward to these visits.   Mom's taste for seafood rivals mine and unless I bring it and prepare it for her, she doesn't get much of it.  This is by no means a bad reflection on my sister as she is a great cook and I look forward to the meals she'll prepare (most notably Thanksgiving) during our visit.  Last year I made mom and I fried oysters and this year of course it'll be razor clams. 

Much cooler down here

      230 miles, $3.79 diesel, and 13.5 mpg.  I'm not crying yet.  On the horizon looms California.  After we crossed the Columbia River from Washington there was 5-10 mph bumper to bumper parking lot traffic on the highway for nearly 29 miles.  On arrival we set up camp at the Polk County Fairgrounds, about 10 miles west of Salem across the hills.  There are no reasonably close campgrounds to my sister's place and we have stayed here 3 times now.  Basic fairgrounds park with hookups, but no frills for $25/night.  This year we shared the area with a very large arts and crafts fair.  We commuted the short distance each day between camp and Deb's place in West Salem.  This the central valley of Oregon where agriculture is King.  Lots of vineyards, orchards, berry farms, etc. here.  

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      Unfortunately, days before our arrival Barb began to suffer what she thought was sinuses, but only got worse.  The night before our arrival she slept very little, fraught with deep coughing spasms.  The next day on the drive into Salem she seemed to be fine, but when setting up camp she again lapsed into the deep cough.  I think all the night time clam digging in cold air got to her.  We couldn't get into an Urgent Care Facility until Friday so we had to cancel our appearance for Thanksgiving dinner.  Barb was very disturbed by this, but everyone understood.  I delivered our food to my sisters and received a box full of goodies for our own Thanksgiving mini-feast.  Mom was not told we were in town.  Thanks sis.  

      The day after Thanksgiving I took Barb to Urgent Care in town.  It took nearly 1:45 to get in, but once in we were rewarded with a NEGATIVE for COVID test.  Diagnosis revealed a whopper chest cold.  Another day or two rest would do it.  Let it run its course.         We were able to get together over a meal or two with several of the family nonetheless.  I got to meet my first Great Nephew, Liam Dikih as well as meet my nephew Jamie's fiancé.  Unfortunately, I missed out seeing my niece Christina with her husband.   I did make mom's annual 'son inspired classic':  Fried Razor Clams and she loved it.  She cleans her plate better than I ever did as a child.  

My sister, Deb, doing the cooking thing.  Thanksgiving leftovers are KING

Brother-in-law, Jim and his first grandchild, Liam

My nephew Andrew, wife Adriana, and first born, Liam

My nephew Jamie and fiancé Chandler

Razor Clams, Taters, and Green Beans

      Mom is 93 and for several years we have known we can no longer afford to take a year off that we don't visit.  Mom and Barb live for their nightly "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy" adventures on TV.  This year the Food Channel's Holiday Baking Championships were the center of attention.  It was fun watching them comparing and criticizing their own baking skills against those on the TV.  I was allowed the additional duty of remote-control duty and providing refreshments to them both when requested.  

The Three Amigos

      

      I thank God that she is well with my sister and her husband.  Deb and Jim have been a blessing.  Well, this visit was not what we intended, but it was a surprise nonetheless.  God is a funny guy.  It was good to see mom again.  She is, however, advancing due to age.  I think about this every day now, but without Deb, Jim, and our family she wouldn't have made it this far.  Never waste a day.......count your blessings.  They are there.  Barb is feeling better and now we head south and east to Rotodome Ranch in Texas. 

    

NOTE:  I WILL BE RETURNING HERE IN MARCH TO LOOK AFTER MOM FOR 10 DAYS AS MY SISTER AND FAMILY TRAVEL TO MEXICO FOR HER YOUNGEST SON'S WEDDING.  

"Mothers are like glue.  Even when you can't see them they are still holding the family together"

Susan Gale

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Assault on the Copalis 2021: Return (and demise) of the Clam King!

 

     I return home, the reigning champion, the Clam King, Lord of the Bivalves.  We had a great time visiting family and friends in Olympia, but it was time to get serious, time for Barb to fulfill her destiny, time to just shut up and dig.  The drive out was wet and very windy, the result of a large Pacific Storm.  We arrived at our base camp at Ocean Shores RV Park for the next 9 days.  www.oceancityrvresort.com  It is not cheap at $600 for our 9 day stay, but at peak clam season it is what it is.  The park we normally stay at is now closed for the winter due to owner retirement.  We set up our camp for relaxation around daily clam digging, cleaning, processing/packing, and....yes even more relaxation.  Cooking, eating, and cuddling them furbabies, yeeehaaw.    

 

Clam Camp for the week

       Because of the closed beaches due to COVID all of last year the clam population is very healthy and as such the limit has been increased to 20 clams per digger per day.  WOW!  I don't remember it ever being this good.  All these digs are late afternoon and  evening times and alternating between two local beaches;  Copalis and 7 miles north at Mocrocks.    

Inaugural trip of Barbicus to the Pacific

Pacific Razor Clam

      This could be a challenge as we don't like digging in the dark, so we may be out digging a bit earlier or later than we like.  I did buy a new Coleman NorthStar (1500 lumens) propane lantern that is supposed to light up the butt crack in a crab at 200 yards so that might help.  The bad thing about 'night digs' is the light is nowhere near the same as daylight.  Propane lanterns, head lamps, and even flashlights provide a different perspective and often times we are not able to see the 'shows' nearly as well.  We alternated one digging, one holding the light for a bit, but in the end Barb wanted to do all the digging. I willingly became the lantern bitch with extra clam pickup duty.  Very nearly born to this, she had fun.  

       Unlike our past visits here there was no competition between my wife and I.  She is now a seasoned professional and we both concentrated on sacking up, processing, and vacuum sealing/freezing as many clams as possible for the winter and beyond.  Besides, she'll always be my Clam Queen.  We did make a $5 wager for the first clam dug, gotta have some fun.  Barb collected on Day #1.  In fact she was up 17-0 before I dug my first.  I have to hand it to my bride, she kicked my ass all week on the sand.  This continued to be my week.  Rise of the Clam Queen.  

2 limits Razor Clams (40) with a few 'Mossybacks'

Cleaning

Chopping

Vacuum Sealing for freezer

Mocrocks (Roosevelt) Beach on one of the last daylight digs

      Here for 9 days I prepared meals such as Shepard's Pie, Pastys, Fried Walleye, Fire Pit TBones, Tillamook Moondog Grilled Cheese Sandwiches n Soup and Hot Dogs among others. Much of this designed to create as much freezer room as possible for clams.  The same strategy will apply later this winter as we make room for Texas venison and beef.  

Italian Baked Perch w/taters and green beans

Tillamook Moondog Grilled Cheese Sandwich w/Chicken Noodle Soup

Venison Zuppa Toscana

T-Bones with Gorgonzola Tarragon Butter and Baked Taters n Sour Cream n Chives

      Another adventure at the beach.  Some days rain, some days sun, some days stormy, always breezy.  Welcome to Western Washington in winter.  Mocrocks did not reward our digging nearly as much as Copalis Beach.  Day 3 & 7 were windy and rainy so much that we didn't dig.  Some still do, but we're not young diehards anymore.  We're more like comfort meat hunters.  We always have a good time here.  Barb loves clamming and I love having someone to share it with.  We dug two days with high school friend Ruby Garlinghouse.  Not able to dig for herself, she has a 'Harvest Tag' so we dug for her as well as ourselves.  She's such a good person, just paying it forward.  We also met up with another high school friend, Tom Ainslie who came down for a dig.  Always good to see him as well.     Although our numbers weren't what we hoped our final tally was 140 clams; divided into packs of steaks, diggers, chowder meat, and clam strips.  Its beginning to look like we'll make it through the winter.  We'll also finish off the freezer with some Sablefish fillets.  We have come to the realization that we aren't kids anymore; digging a couple hundred clams to stock up isn't as easy as it used to be....lol.  We set our sails to the south now to visit mom and my sister and her family in Salem, OR.  

"As soon as I get home all I want to eat is seafood" 

Quevenzhane Wallis

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The Compass Points West...

 

      Departure time Kalkaska, MI to points west.  It's been nearly 20 months since we've been able to dig razor clams due to the COVID Pandemic.   We made a pretty good haul that year (nearly 275 clams), we hope our luck holds this year.  The Washington Department of Fish/Wildlife recently posted their tentative digs for this fall as well as RAISING THE LIMIT TO 20 CLAMS PER DAY.  I can't remember when diggers were allowed this many clams, but it also raises concerns about the crowds.  With these seasons for the fall the beaches could be crowded beyond belief.  We'll see, but we're patient because we don't get to dig every year and do love the bivalves.  

      We did get out of town after getting a few estimates for a new roof next spring and before snow which is forecast next week.  It was getting much cooler though.  At departure I gassed up my truck to the tune of $90.90 @ $3.58/gal.  I pray for some price stability this trip.  

We make our pilgrimage west stopping along the way in.....

St Ignace, MI Kewadin Casino Boondock electric $0

Ironwood, MI, Walmart Boondock $0 

Fargo, ND,  Red River Fairgrounds electric  $35

Beach, ND, Pilot Flying J Truckstop Boondock  $0

Great Falls, MT, Dick's RV Park full hookups $130 for 3 days 

Haugan, MT, Lincoln's 50,000 Casino Boondock $0 w/electric & water

      Unfortunately, our first 4 days on the road were greeted with either unopen camping areas or power only: no water.  Also, our first day was seriously shortened as Barb became ill.  Online sites for these places and sometimes even signs indicated otherwise.  Combined with our last shower on Monday, shutting off the pump and draining the water and winterization....we were forced to wash ourselves daily with just bottled water.  No real shower for 5 days.  Not perfect, but to the minimums.  Neither of us complained because I think we could only smell ourselves.  Only the furbabies looked at us skeptically.  Thankfully Dick's RV Park in Great Falls solved this problem.  Sweet, sweet hot water and soap!   Such are the travails of late fall traveling.    

      We'll stay in Olympia for 11 days to visit our children, grandchildren, and friends.  This year will be a bit different as my wife brought along her own vehicle, the 2021 Jeep Gladiator, aka 'Barbicus'.  Better mileage, but still more gas $$$.  She says she'll handle the budget so at this point I exercise the "Yes Ma'am" clause.  We'll still get to Rotodome Ranch in Texas about mid-December. 

 

Fargo, ND Fairgrounds

Great Falls, MT Dick's RV Park

Haugan, MT Lincoln's 50,000 Casino Free Campground

       Along the way I took advantage of 5 On the Road (OTR) meals such as Venison Barley Stew, Venison Sheppard's Pie, and Smoked Pork Shoulder.  Simple reheats are always so easy when traveling.  We also ate at Howard's Pizza in Great Falls, MT.  Diesel prices are a virtual crap shoot this year.  We paid as little as $3.58 in Kalkaska, MI and as high as $4.30 in Lewistown, MT.  We averaged 12 mpg towing for the trip.  Barb averaged much better at 27.7 mpg in Jeep Barbicus.  Total camping costs to this point:  $165 for 8 days. Boondocking pays with the battery bank getting a workout.  We did burn 3 gallons of gas (15 hours) on the generator for topping off the bank as well as primary power.  The trip was tough on Barb though as she has never driven this distance before as the sole pilot.   We refilled propane in Great Falls at $2.90 per gallon. 

Venison Barley Stew

Howards Pizza Lean Beef Thin Crust Great Falls, MT

Venison Sheppard's Pie

      Upon arriving in Olympia we set up our base camp at Lucky Eagle Casino south of town.  This would be our base camp for the next 11 days while visiting.  RV Parking | Lucky Eagle Casino $36 per night.  Satellite setup was easy here as well.  Welcome home to Rainier Beer! 

      While in Olympia we visited mom's neighbor and our friend, Rosalie as well as our very good friend Wilma.  After reconnecting in 2015 after 44 years we boondocked with her and husband, John several times before his passing in 2020.  We miss him so very much.  A lifelong logger, hunter, and conservationist, his loss is felt throughout Western Washington.  We also got together with our son, Joe and our Grandson, Brock.  I brought along several items and boxes of reloading supplies and hunting gear to give to Joe.  I'd rather do this while I'm still.......well you get the idea.  I also stopped by the Tumwater Historical Society to visit with old friend and director Don Trosper and pick up his latest book, autographed of course.

Old neighbor and friend, Rosalie Terrel

Wilma Lohrengal Meek THS Alum 1971

Carol and Dan Taylor, USAF friends Germany and Montana

Grandson #1 Brock

Son Joe and Gail

Don Trosper, Tumwater Historic Society,  Earl of Quatsch

      While here we dined on UP Shepherd's Pies, UP Pasties, Beer Batter Fried Perch/Walleye, and Boudin/Eggs w/Cheesy Grits among others.  We did, of course eat at Eagan's Big Tom in Tumwater just to enjoy a Big Tom Burger, Tater Tots, and GOOP.  

Avocado Chicken Salad

Cajun Boudin with Buttery Grits and Poached Egg 

BBQ Pork Butt Sandwich

Fried Walleye w/garden salad

       From here it's on to the beaches 60 miles to the west at Ocean Shores for a week of (hopefully) good razor clam digging. 

"You only live once, but if you do it right once is enough" 

Mae West

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