#196 A Return for the Travel Blog

 A Book Recommendation

I recently read No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox (Flatiron Books, 2020) and I highly recommend the book. It is humorous, uplifting, engaging, easy to read, and enjoyable whether you have an association with Parkinson’s Disease or not, although if you do the book becomes more of everything. The book details many of the ways that Fox has dealt with a life changed by PD.

No Time Like the Future has been a great help to me in the nine months since being diagnosed with PD and starting treatment (meds). I’ve had to learn

— to take my meds consistently and on time,

— to live with dreams that are acted out during the night and Anne has learned to duck my wild punches and flailing,

— to learn to keep my mouth closed and to force myself to swallow to keep from drooling,

— to learn, since both PD and the meds cause constipation, that prunes are my friends, 

— that I can still play and enjoy golf, albeit at a different level, 

— to learn to practice furniture surfing, just to keep a handle on things, and 

— to accept the fact that as my PD progresses I will face many new challenges and to accept them with grace.

For more information: www.michaeljfox.org.

To those who have told me you missed not seeing the travel blog I apologize for the absence. There was a period of creative doldrums that I hope I am now getting over. The rest of this post is the real return of my Travel Blog.

Notes and Photos from Three Nights on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula

Finished with the Packing

At Bay City near Tillamook

Bee on Heather

North Point Lighthouse, Point Disappointment State Park, WA

Anne guards the ice cream from Scooper's in Long Beach.

A Contrast in Golf Clubs

On our recent trip to the Long Beach Peninsula on the Washington State coast, Anne and I (along with several thousand other end-of-summer vacationers) were blessed with a stretch of very pleasant weather. As the Willamette Valley was sweltering in ninety-plus heat, we enjoyed sunny weather with seventy degree temperatures with only light winds—perfect conditions for golf. Across the parking lot from our timeshare digs at the Surfside Worldmark Resort is Surfside golf Club, a 9-hole course we’ve played a couple of times before.

First Hole at Surfside

It’s been a hot, dry summer on the coast and the course was feeling the effects. Fairways were hard, baked out, and brown. But they played fast and were well cared for— we got plenty of run on good shots and sometimes too much run on bad shots. The rough was whispy and inconsistent, as you’d expect dry rough to be. Tee boxes and greens were in much better nick—I’d even call most of the greens excellent.

9th Hole at Surfside

Playing Surfside wasn’t like playing our manicured country club course, Arrowhead GC, but more like playing a Scottish links course at the height of summer. Fun golf on a beautiful day.

Contrast that golf with the next day’s play a few miles down the coast at Peninsula Golf Club in Long Beach. The first hole there was an indicator of the other eight holes. The first tee shot is over fifty yards of thick (some dry, some extremely wet) grass backed by a mucky, weed-choked creek. Beyond the creek was a dry grass and bare ground hillock. When we reached the green, part of it was green, but most of it was dirt patches. A couple of shots was enough to convince us that there was no way to tell which way your ball would bounce on the bumpy surface.

Peninsula Golf Club

Most of the course was in the same condition as the first hole—dry, wet (lose your ball in the tall wet grass), wild—the only constant was the course's inconsistency. We played our round in lovely weather and I even played well, but it wasn’t fun. The most interesting thing about the contrast of the two courses was something we found out later. The Surfside course has a much smaller grounds crew than the Peninsula course. 

Me on the 7th at Surfside

On the third day at the beach, as the weather turned cooler and damper, we went back to Surfside to play it again.

A Fortuitous Stop

After playing golf at Surfside on our first full day at the beach, we did a little exploring of the area. A surprise for us was the Cranberry Museum—a historical museum, gift shop, and 13 bogs of berries run as a project of Washington State University. 

Cranberries Beginning to Ripen

We got good information, some photos, and a taste of cranberry ice cream. The find of the day, though, was at the north end of Hwy 103 (the peninsula’s main road). There we stopped at the Oysterville Sea Farm, a retail outlet and cafe with great views of Willapa Bay across toward South Bend. 

The Long Beach Peninsula and Willapa Bay

I took a few pictures from outside the store/cafe and then we went in and shopped. As we paid for some soap and crackers (no, not to use together), the cook asked if we’d like some clam chowder…for free. Since it was the end of the day they were going to have to throw it out. Sure, we’ll help. He handed us two cups of rich, creamy, clam-filled delicious soup. 

View from Oysterville Sea Farm Patio

Anne again guarding the food--our free chowder/

I got some of my best pictures of the trip from the cafe patio and we learned that sometimes it pays to be late.

Great dinners of halibut and oysters at the Loose Kaboose in Long Beach.

The best sunset we got was on our first night.

NEXT: We'll hope for some good travels soon.