Christmas week and a row boat

Well, we have started the much awaited Christmas week on the southern Oregon coast and just barely got past the weekend without the need of a row boat.

A late week and early weekend storm dumped 7.5" of rain on this little town and put most coastal rivers over their banks.  Several highway slumps and land slides along the coast highway, in addition to areas of high water, made travel difficult.  We didn't go far from home however, with only a short trip to Bandon and back on Friday.

Today was dry but overcast and still unseasonably warm.  More damp weather is forecast for the week ahead, but nothing looks travel restrictive in the area.

Juanita has been busy making fabric Christmas tree ornaments and has given a few to friends.  I would have helped out with keeping our two Beagles busy and exercised, but managed to injure some muscles in a sensitive part of my body requiring limited mobility for the best part of last week.

My dear wife ordered me to get the bodily damage checked out with a doctor on Friday.  I was assured by the medic that my injury wouldn't require serious intervention for healing, but he wasn't at all happy about some other issues and has requested tests to get me all sorted out.  I'll return to the good doc next month for a follow up.

Last week I joined several other members of the Port Orford Amateur Radio Club in the task of repairing the 2 meter repeater antenna mast that was damaged by the big November wind storm in town.  The antenna is located on top of the town's water tank and located in a place that my old body can't access.  I volunteered to document the repair activity and used my DJI Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter to provide a unique perspective.

I processed the video clips from the copter using Adobe Lightroom and Premiere Pro CC software and posted the results on YouTube.  At the end of the repair process, I made a couple of panorama rotations with the airborne camera showing most of Port Orford and ocean front.

We joined a group of local friends for a Christmas holiday meal on Saturday night.  Our husband and wife hosts both celebrated their birthdays that evening...we had a great time kidding Harry about his child bride with the same day and month of birth.

A busy holiday week lies ahead for our little family.  We'll tell you more about our activities in the next blog entry.

We want to wish all of our readers, family members and friends a very Merry Christmas.  Please stay safe everyone!

Christmas lights at Shore Acres State Park

As promised several days ago, I have completed and posted the video about last night's visit to Shore Acres State Park for the annual Christmas light show.  We really lucked out!  Clear skies, no wind, a mild temperature and a bonus full moon made for a perfect evening at the ocean shore state park.

I can't even imagine the work that goes into setting up the 300,000 LED lights every year.  The show draws nearly 50,000 visitors during the month of December.  That's an amazing number considering the fact that weather on this part of the coast is often not fit for man or beast at this time of year.

Shore Acres is located on at an especially scenic section of the Oregon coastline near the small town of Charleston and west of Coos Bay.  It is about 65 miles from our home park location.  Spectacular flowers are featured in the park for most of the year.  Spring tulips,  rhododendrons and later roses provide a year long colorful display for shoreline visitors.

Nearby Cape Arago and the Simpson Reef with thousands of sea lions shouting from rocks provide for additional tourist enjoyment.  Shore Acres is also my favorite place to view and photograph huge Pacific waves hitting high rocky cliffs.  I hope to show this in future blogs this winter.

Friday was shopping day in Coos Bay and North Bend.  We took care of monthly purchases at Walmart and made special stops to pick up my favorite blend of Starbucks coffee (Komodo Dragon), get some RV cleaning products from Porter's RV and to score a couple of Dungeness crabs for Friday dinner.  Crab season just began on the Pacific Northwest coast on Monday.  Crab boat operators are already noticing a rapid decline during the first days of the season, which might not bode well for later availability or reasonable prices.  We might just have to buy crab tags and get our own from the Port Orford dock.

After a fine day, clouds are beginning to roll in ahead of the next series of storms due to hit the coast this week.  A new warning for 80 MPH winds has just been posted for Wednesday.  The storm is also expected to be very wet. 

We'll check back in with you soon and let you know if we have kept our heads above high water..........

Just relaxin' in the rain

Except for one dry day this past Sunday, we have had pretty much daily rain since my last post.  Not that we're complaining.  We love the rain!

Having said that, the 7.32" of "moisture" that fell on Thanksgiving Day and Friday was a bit over the top, even for this part of the country.  Coastal vegetation and local wild critters are thriving in all the wet stuff however, and annual rainfall totals are approaching normal.

Temperatures have been fairly warm by late Fall standards.  We saw only one morning last week with frost on the pumpkin and other low temperatures have been in the upper 40's to low 50's.

The Thanksgiving meal at the RedFish Restaurant in Port Orford was outstanding...and my dear wife didn't have to cook or wash dishes.  All four courses were over the top, the service was exceptional and we loved watching the raging weather from our window side table.

Beautiful clear blue skies on Sunday just called out for a flight or two with my DJI Phantom 2 Vision aerial photography platform, so I took her outside to play.  I had a great time processing about 20 minutes of video into a short YouTube tour of our home RV park in Port Orford.

I still have some work to do on controlling the yaw motion of the flying machine but have made improvements with the video processing features using Adobe Premiere Pro CC.  This geezer is learning more all the time...almost enough to be dangerous.

We have spent the days around the holiday just relaxing, reading, quilting, walking the two active hounds and dealing with a few rolling home maintenance items.  The RV toilet I ordered online before the holiday arrived on Friday.  I just replaced the old unit with the same model and the installation was simple, quick and fairly inexpensive.

Just in time for the next full moon, Saturday is forecast to be clear and dry and a good opportunity to visit the annual Christmas light display at Shore Acres State Park near Charleston, Oregon.  I am planning to take my GoPro Hero 4 Silver camera along and might be able to share with you an interesting video of our excursion.

Check back with us on Sunday or Monday for the Christmas lights................

Thanksgiving Day 2014

We just wanted to take a moment to wish all of our family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving.

Despite cool, windy and very rainy weather today, we are comfortable in our warm and dry rolling home.  The two Beagles are hibernating in their living room beds, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is providing background music and entertainment and we are looking forward to joining friends for an evening meal at the RedFish Restaurant in Port Orford.

We are certainly thankful for all of the good friends we have made during our travels and all the fine people we have met through our travel journal and new blog.  My dear wife and I are always grateful for the opportunities offered by the RV travel lifestyle that we have chosen.

Have a great day everyone...and please stay safe!!


Added at 6 PM;

Our menu at the RedFish Restaurant this evening:

Thanksgiving Menu

SOUP
Butternut Squash and Green Apple Soup with Allspice Crème Fraiche

SALAD
Mixed Greens, Candied Walnuts, Craisins, Veggie Chips, Cranberry Vinaigrette

ENTRÉE
Oven-roasted Turkey with Natural Gravy

Chorizo Dressing

Whipped Potatoes

Corn with Truffle Butter

Housemade Cranberry Sauce and Turkey Gravy

DESSERT
(your choice of one)

Pecan Tart
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Apple Crisp Tart

$30

Yep...still here

Some of our friends have been wondering if we are still here.  In a word...YEP!
We have been doing very little worth writing about but have most certainly kept ourselves busy.  Quilting has consumed most of Juanita's time away from the usual household duties and photography, reading and walking the hounds has taken most of my time aside from dumping holding tanks and other rolling home maintenance.

Several storms have passed by during the weeks between blog entries.  The most notable of those hit the area yesterday.  Since this one was not nearly as strong as the damaging storm a couple of weeks ago, I was able to make some video from the end of the dock.  This area was under water during the last big wind and rain storm.

Peak wind in Port Orford yesterday was only about 50 MPH with nearly 4" of rain on the gauge as of this morning.  We are staying high and dry and the dogs are just fine after a quick fight with towels.

Juanita has wanted to visit Port Orford's RedFish restaurant for several years now, but her efforts in that regard have been thwarted by yours truly.  Well, I couldn't get away with that forever and she got her chance last Sunday morning.

The view from here is hard to beat!

Obviously, my dear wife was happy at the RedFish

The RedFish is the premiere eating establishment in Port Orford and, in my opinion, the accolades are well earned.  The food is excellent, the service is hard to beat and the view is extraordinary.  We will join several folks from the park at the RedFish for a Thanksgiving evening meal.

During the big damaging storm a couple of weeks ago, it became evident that the amateur radio repeater in town needed power back up.  The power to the communications system was out for just over six hours at the peak of the storm.  Although emergency service from local hams wasn't needed during this event, we decided to add battery backup to the equipment shed.  We should have enough power from the added battery bank to last at least a week if necessary.  We will add solar just as soon as we get enough cash in the local radio club coffers.

                                                                                   Battery back up for repeater.

I have flown my DJI Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter only briefly between recent storms but hope for more during the next couple of days.  It seems that main street media outlets have gone to war with devices like mine in recent weeks and it is difficult to get through a day without reports of idiots flying "drones" near airports, crowded stadiums or apartment house windows.

The FAA has already established regulations for operating radio control aircraft in public spaces.  The vast majority of pilots of these aircraft operate responsibly.  You never read about them.  I'm not sure what has caused the recent media interest in such craft but find that interest disturbing at best.

These wonderful flying devices have already provided assistance in emergency situations, assisted real estate brokers by showcasing their properties, have been used for land surveys and have provided thousands of spectacular aerial videos and still photographs shown on YouTube and Vimeo.  It would be a real shame if a few morons ruin this resource for all the folks that operate these flying machines properly.

I haven't felt compelled to join the hundreds of salmon fishermen "combat" fishing on the nearby Sixes and Elk Rivers.  Hopefully, fishing pressure will abate somewhat in upcoming weeks and allow me a space along the bank of one or both of these rivers.  I really want to put one or two nice salmon away in the freezer for future meals.

I will check back in with you all again soon.................................

                                                                               

Testing the new camera stabilizing system

After a series of rain and wind storms, weekend weather improved considerably and allowed me a little flight time with my DJI Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter.  It gave me a good opportunity to put the new Rotorpixel gimbal to the test at nearby Agate Beach.

Initial videos with the stock camera system included a good deal of roll and pitch movements that required considerable post processing.  Stabilizing the video with various programs created other issues that made them difficult to enjoy in my opinion.

Because of these problems I ordered a 2-axis gimbal from Rotorpixel in Canada.  I installed the new unit a couple of weeks ago, but only got in a very short test flight before the weather fell apart.  I was eager to give it a good test this past weekend.

The flights at Agate Beach gave me plenty of space to put the Phantom through various maneuvers to determine if the roll and pitch movements had been removed.  Success!

I had to make several adjustments between flights that removed a slight vibration from the camera.  These adjustments were easily made and cleared up the problem as far as I can tell.  I noticed some yaw movement in the video clips that can probably be avoided with more practice on the controls. Rotorpixel has a add-on kit for the third (yaw) axis available in the near future.  I will review my need for that addition when it's available.

Rain has returned to the south Oregon coast putting my flying machine back in the hanger.  I am hoping for more good weather between storms and want to take the Phantom to interesting places for flight videos and still photography.

In the meantime, recent rains have caused some flow in local small rivers and Chinook have begun their long awaited Fall run.  I will check out a few nearby hotspots on the Elk and Sixes Rivers soon. My dear wife would appreciate a couple more salmon in the freezer for winter meals.  So would I.

I'll check back in with a fishing and flying report soon.........................

Big Port Orford storm

A big storm in Port Orford on Saturday made national news and, as usual, was somewhat overblown in the reports.  It was a very destructive event locally, but the wind and high waves did not cause an evacuation of the entire town.

The dolly dock and port area were evacuated for a time during the peak of the morning and early afternoon storm, but boat owners and port personnel were allowed back later to assess the damage and make repairs where possible.

The wind far exceeded forecast and, unfortunately, came during a very high tide.  I recorded a nearly 76 MPH gust on my hand held wind meter at a dock overlook downtown and peak winds of 93 MPH were seen at nearby Cape Blanco.

Hey, that's over hurricane strength!



















The dock itself was overrun by nearly 30' waves on top of a 7.3' high tide.  Hallmark Fisheries at the end of the dock was washed into port waters and onto the nearby beach.  A 60' long section of the rock jetty was pretty much destroyed, the sewage pump and boat fuel systems were damaged, a good amount of dock equipment was washed away and Griff's On the Dock restaurant was badly damaged by the waves.  As a result, Curry County has made an emergency declaration request to the state.

Waves washing equipment from the dolly dock.  All sorts of debris ended up on Dock Beach.  The waterfalls on the right of the dock are from the waves washing up on the dock.  No boats were damaged.

Waves completely covered the rock jetty on the left of the dock.

Beach cleanup was well underway Sunday morning.












Fortunately, nobody was injured in the storm, but the town itself was not entirely free from damage.  One wall was blown out of an old empty law office and a patio removed from an old closed cafe.  An RV park located about a quarter mile away from our park was heavily damaged by falling trees, which destroyed two older model RV's.  One of the rigs hit by falling trees burst into flames and ultimately destroyed by the explosion of an oxygen bottle kept inside for medical purposes.  We felt and heard the explosion in our rolling home...the dogs were fairly upset by that as you can imagine.

Trees blown over the roadway at Madrone 101 RV Park.

This old residential type trailer was completely destroyed by falling trees.

A wall was blown out of this old empty law office in downtown Port Orford.












Damage at our park was limited to a limb that fell on the car of one of the residents.  The limb was partially supported by a power line preventing serious damage to the car.

An alder tree branch fell over a car in our park but caused little damage.  Tim and Cindy made short work of the branch with a chainsaw.

















Dangerous conditions prevented me from taking more photographs during the peak of the storm.  I made one early attempt at driving to the dock, but the high velocity rocks from a nearby cliff, high storm waves, intense wind and blowing debris deterred the effort.  A fair degree of caution trumps newsworthy photos any day in my book!

In contrast to Saturday, the next day dawned bright and clear along the coast.  During the morning hours we made a short tour of the town and port to watch the clean up already underway.  Except for the damaged RV park and port area, very little evidence of the powerful storm remained.

Sylvie, one of Juanita's Facebook friends, visited us Sunday afternoon with one of Luna's daughters from her second (and last) litter.  She arrived with her family and another pooch that they recently rescued.  Luna and her "puppy" Molly Brown played around for a bit in the park dog enclosure.   The rescue dog, Mike, played along as well, but Abbey had very little tolerance for the canine festivities and soon demanded to be removed from the enclosure.  What a stick in the mud!

A cluster of Beagles!  Molly Brown is in the foreground with Abbey to the right background and Luna on the left.

Mother and daughter Beagles having a nice family roll-in on the wet grass.












We have received just over 8" of badly needed rain during the past week and more is on the way this week.  Local rivers are beginning to run and hillside grass is turning green.  Hopefully, the long dry conditions have been replaced by a wet cycle.  Only time will tell.