Saturday Sept 14

Taft Dock

Yesterday we awoke and looked out our window toward the old Taft Dock. So much has changed. As a kid we would fish off the dock for small herring. We sold them for a few cents to the salmon fishermen who used them as bait. Crabbing was also a major part of the dock experience. The top rail has been replaced; gone are the deep groves carved by generations of crab-pot ropes. My mother would stop by the butcher shop before leaving for the coast and pick up an old hambone or two. We would secure the bones to the middle of the crab-pot and toss it off the dock. After about 30 minutes we would pull up the basket and see if we had interrupted the dinner of a legal sized crab! Dozens of harbor seals still sun themselves at the entrance to the bay, waiting for a meal of fresh salmon!

Nehalem Bay Paul and I drove up the coast stopping to enjoy delightful memories along the way. Our destination was Nehalem Bay. I caught my first fish in Nehalem Bay when I was five years old. I had a pole with a string, a hook, and a sinker. My dad or grandfather baited my hook time and time again as I pulled in innumerable 5-6-inch sea perch from the salty water. I fished from rocks under the railroad trestle. My siblings fished as well, but they all lost interest; not me! I was hooked and I am still on the line!

Canon Beach

We couldn’t travel that far north without driving the next 25 miles to Cannon Beach. The beach is home to Haystack Rock, the iconic image of the Oregon Coast. The day was perfect – sunny, cool breeze, a few fluffy clouds, and no RAIN! We drove past Cannon Beach Conference Center and remembered attending wonderful retreats during my high school and college years. Much has changed, much is still the same. We walked the beach past the bitter cold water that comes sweeping down from Alaska. Watched sandcastles being consumed by the rising tide and examined seaweed and crab shells washed up by the waves. Eventually it was picture time by Haystack Rock! We ate chowder in a small shop by the beach and then drove back to Lincoln City.