Sunday morning, the girls and I headed for the coast, first stop--Newport. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time or the ability (didn't want to leave the girls in the car on a hot day) to go to the aquarium there, but maybe another time. Instead, we walked down to the beach and watched the tide come in. I tried to walk out on the jetty a bit to check out the barnacles and sea stars, but the tide came in fast and almost swept Shabbi away! So much for getting closer to the coastline...
Afterward we tried to head down to the lighthouse at Yaquina Head, but electricity was down in Newport, which meant no traffic signals, which meant drivers were going a bit haywire. Traffic was backed up to high hell in the direction of the lighthouse, so sadly, we girls continued south down the coastline. We passed through lots of small seaport towns and wished we could have stopped at every single one of them, but alas! we must save that for another trip. I really wanted to explore some of the state parks and smaller fishing towns, so I think another trip down the coast is definitely in order! I was also hankering for fish and chips but the vegetarian restrained herself...
Made it down to Winchester Bay where we met up with Janice and Art. We toured around the Umpqua Lighthouse and looked for whales (no luck) since they had seen dolphins earlier in the day. Eventually we made our way over to a local community center to meet some friends and see a great up-and-coming artist perform. Out of Nashville, Mare Wakefield's voice sounded a great deal like Natalie Merchant to me (who, as many of you know, is one of my fave artists). Her music is folksy, bluesy, a little bit country all rolled into one. I was really impressed and ended up buying all three of her albums on the spot (which I _never_ do without hearing them first). I spoke to her and it sounds like she's hoping to start touring in the Midwest soon. For all you Michiganders, I gave her the business card I had for Magdalena's Teahouse in case she makes it into Spartan country sometime soon. As you well know, it's a great venue for new performers. If you want to check out Mare's sound, go to http://www.marewakefield.com/; I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
Now I'm preparing for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) at sundown on Wednesday; it's a holiday Ads and I typically celebrate with friends, so I thought this non-Jew would carry on the tradition with my new friends even though Adam's away. I'm cooking a big dinner for upwards of 10 people--challah bread, 2 types of kugels, a couple veggie dishes, a roast chicken and the ever-necessary matzoh ball soup. I'm trying to find some literature about the holiday so I can inform my guests about the history and customs. I'll let you know how it goes!
Below are some pics from our weekend....
This was taken right after we got settled at the beach in Newport. The girls look so at home here; I'm wondering if they've been closet beach bums all these years...?
Tide comes in, dog gets feet wet...
Dog sits down, gets bum good and saturated...
Dog lies down, is one with the ocean...
Ocean has fun with dog, sends in the big guns...dog almost gets swept away and wants nothing more to do with former friend, ocean. 
Shabbs was pretty wiped after her near-miss with the tide...Kiks and I couldn't wait to see more!
A stop along highway 101--Devils' Churn
The Umpqua Lighthouse is situated at Winchester Bay, south of Reedsport, OR. This is the second construction (completed in 1894), since the first one was destroyed by floods in 1864.The original cost of construction was only $50.
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