The Port of Orford- Or so logic would create...

        Arcata greeted us on the morning of the 14th. We had had our share of free-loving folk, so we decided to hit the road. Holly was wonderful enough to cook us breakfast and send us on our way with hugs. She's gonna make a remarkable and groovy Mom. ;)
      We headed North on the 101 toward Oregon. With no intended direction, we drove along the sunny coast amazed at the beauty of land. Oregon brought rocky coasts, towering pines covering rolling hills, sandy beaches, lush fern ''second-degree rain forests...'' (Not serious enough to go to the hospital...-HR) B-E-A-U-tiful coast. We stopped at a beach, ate some Top Ramen for lunch and took in Oregon. We passed the Gold Coast (almost as awesome as it sounds), and headed toward the town of Port Orford. Our friend and neighbor Mike Ricks mentioned this place to us. Said we should stop and do some crabbin' at the dock in Port Orford.
        We came into town, Population 1,181, and searched for the dock. In the middle of town we hooked a left over a hillside and down into the bay. I had never really had a fishing port experience, only passed by them on travels or what not. Boy was I in for a treat! :) We parked on the docks and put on our Vicki-seeking glasses. Not literally a pair of glasses, just a search method we were using to find Mike's past friend. That's all we had to go on. Quote; Look for Vicki on the docks. She's short and has red hair. She'll show you around. Unquote. Hence the Vicki-seeking glasses. We passed some boats, wandered for maybe a minute and then like a heat-seeking missile my 'glasses' got hot on a short, red-haired woman on the dock. I knew right away it was Vicki. We approached her and talked of fishing and the busy days of Port Orford. According to Vicki, sea urchin was a booming business about fifteen years ago and Mike was the top dawg of the operation. I never knew that about him. Being neighbors and all. :)
She spoke of the kids telling us Shayla was a baby when they left the town. It's crazy meeting someone who knows a family that you know. Good times. Vicki had a deckhand give us a tour of the dock along with showing us the catch of the day. Various strange-looking ocean fish filled bins of saltwater. Spiny-fins, speckled bodies and tails, fangs of predatory fish... Really interesting place. However, we could not find a crab cage to do any crabbing with. Maybe on the way back to Utah...
        We decided to stick around Port Orford for the night and made camp on the beach. We found a magnificent cove nestled away from the hustle and bustle of the town and had the whole beach to ourselves. A bright moon filled the night sky as we huddled around our fire and listened to the crash of the waves against the sand. Peaceful, beautiful moments in time. Oh man, Life is great. We watched the flames of the fire dance with the ocean breeze. We thought and spoke about the times we've had. The places we've slept. The places we've showered. (Some are extremely humorous and will have an entry dedicated entirely to itself sometime coming up...) The people we've met. The things we've seen. The experiences we've had. We are living a dream. And we are grateful for every moment that we have to be living it. The opportunity to breathe, see, feel life around us. How amazing Life is.
         We watched the flames dance to an ember then retired to our sandy sleeping space to rest.