The LONG Walk and Do You Know GEORGE?

I love taking long walks, but in deep sand, not so much!!  In Long Beach it was almost a half mile to the beach, but that didn't deter me from kite flying.  I found a couple of shortcuts that made the trip easier.  It's weird how far out the tide went this year.  I never realized there was such a dramatic difference in tides from year to year.  The water came in all the way up to the grassy beach and went out WAY further than ever before.

The birds loved it though!!  I've no idea how these crabs get so turned around, but they end up stranded on the beach and quickly become dinner.  Ceviche is served!!

I looked everywhere for places to fly my kites, including the State Park.  These two were as friendly as they come.  Sitting on the edge of the ranger station, they didn't move, even when I put my camera in their face.

In Newport, there's a great kite shop, so I asked for their recommendations.  My usual spot down by the Thousand Trails Park had not a breath of wind.  They said THIS would be a perfect spot.  I gathered up two kites and two brand new reels of skybond line.  I was a little leery as I walked down the 45 steps, thinking about the climb back up.

Finally at the bottom of the cliff, I crossed a long sandy stretch, arriving at another BIG sand dune to hike UP.  I think I would have quit, were it not for wanting to set up the new lines.  This is way out on the North Jetty.

At long last, the ocean came into sight, as did the huge holes from blowing sand.  Yup ... there's wind here for sure!!

I turned around to see from whenst I had come.  Heavens to Betsy that's a long way!!  After navigating around the sand dunes, I finally got close enough to the ocean itself and found a semi-level area.  Naturally, the wind was blowing so darn hard, none of the kites I brought with me were sufficient.  I take the high wind kite, there's no wind.  I take the medium wind kite and it's a hurricane!!

I started to lay out the lines when I realized I left my kite stake back home.  RATS!!!  I finally found a stick and a small log, held in place by my backpack.  Amazingly, the lines played out, I made all the adjustments, and up the kite went, along with me since there was WAY too much wind.  I adjusted and adjusted, but it was a losing battle.  It was a LONG walk back to the car.  If I keep this up, I'll have legs of steel!!

On a totally unrelated note, remember the Hawaiian BBQ in Long Beach?  Rice or noodles with teriyaki chicken?  I decided to recreate that delicious lunch.  Although I doubt they used the George Foreman Grill, I thought it might work perfectly.  As a plus, you can make grilled sandwiches.  

Here's my critique of this complicated machine.  Open the box and plug it in.  Don't bother reading the directions because it says the same thing, along with TWO WHOLE RECIPES!!  I was sure I saw something about there being a high and low setting, but I've yet to find it.

On this particular model ($34.00) the grill plates are removable for cleaning.  Many moons ago I had one of these that promptly went to Goodwill.  These plates are removable and dishwasher safe ... MUCH easier to clean.

My plan was to try chicken thighs first, but there were none to be had.  I did find some good looking pastrami, cheese and tomatoes.  I don't think the sandwich was in the machine more than 5 minutes when I decided to take a look.  DONE!!  Wow, that was fast!!  The taste test was a winner!!  

I love grilled sandwiches.  I think we're going to get along just fine.  I'm not sure how this would work with thin bread ... I used a focaccia roll cut in half.  Maybe sourdough will work.  Cleanup was a breeze .. in fact, all I did was wipe it down with a wet paper towel.  Done!!  I'll let you know how it works on chicken this week.

Oh ... the box said it stands up for easy storage.  I stood it up on it's back legs and the lid promptly hit the counter.  I stood it up again with the same results.  If you push it up against a wall ... (duh) ... it does stand up and the lid stays closed, taking up much less counter space.

Here I am in the beautiful back forty of Florence Oregon.  I think you could fit two rigs in my site, it's so wide, and except for the dog that barks incessantly from 6-7:00 am, it's very quiet.  Unfortunately, I'm down in a hole where neither my phone nor my internet work.  The park has wifi which is now password protected and seems to work well ... at least at 5:30 am.  

I'm on the hunt for a good kite flying location, but think I'm the only one around with that in mind.  Temps have been in the 80's, but should cool off this week making for kite flying breezes.  I think it's 108 at home, so I'm thanking my lucky stars I'm here!!