Jim Goings

For the first time, the Goings clan went camping on our own.  We went to Fort Stevens and had a great time. It was cold, but clear as a bell the entire time we were there.  Aside from managing to put a few holes in the tent we borrowed from Nate and Michelle, we had a great time.

I was particularly fond of the large fire ring.  We had zero problems keeping warm at night.  The towels are drying after use at the showers.  Yes, luxury camping.

The kids and I went on a 7 mile bike ride throughout the park with amazing views.  We even ran into three deer in the bike path.  We were able to approach within about 20 feet of them before they wandered off into the forest.  Stupid me, I left the camera back at camp.

Abe got a workout and went on a couple of bike rides with us.  I ran him about 1 mile on the first day, broken into two half-mile trips when we went to see the Russell Battery.  The next day, I rode alone with him the same distance, but all at once.  He was pretty tired at the end of the mile long run, but did great.  I was really worried that he would pull me off my bike or get in front of the tires, but he heeled like a champ the whole time.  He even handled turning and weaving without any problems.  I’m really proud of my pooch.  I will definitely take him on bike rides from here on out.

This is the West Battery at Fort Stevens.  There are several batteries, each consisting of 2-4 guns.   The kids really enjoyed playing around the batteries as there are lots of interconnected rooms and stairs… a virtual playground on a massive scale.

The museum was pretty cool and told about the lengthy history of the Fort.  Built in 1863, it served during every major U.S. way through WWII.  The picture above is of a WWII era jeep outside the museum.

A U.S. Coast Guard Jayhawk rescue helicopter flew over several times throughout the day.  I’m not sure what they were doing, but I was able to get several good pictures of them.

After a visit to the Fort Stevens museum, we drove a couple miles south to the beach where the wreck of the Peter Iredale is.  There’s not much left of it, but it’s amazing that this much as lasted for over 105 years on the beach.

On the way home through Seaside we ran into this strange site.  A fully engulfed building right there on the main drag.  The firemen were lazily keeping the blaze under control and didn’t even see the need to stop traffic.  People were walking right up to the blaze, less than 35 feet from that blaze and chatting up the firement.  It was bizarre.  The heat could be felt from across the street where I took these pictures from.

You can see more pictures from this trip on Flickr.

We took the kids and two of their friends on a bike ride along the Spring Water Corridor.  Lovely.

I drove van 1 of the Jive 2008 Hood to Coast team this year.  It was 30+ hours of driving in two days, but totally fun.

I posted a bunch of Hood to Coast pics on Flickr too.

We set out to go camping this weekend at Jones Creek and even left work a little early to beat the rush.  Jen came with us and brought her two dogs.  The dogs did great together in the van.  Nate and Michelle set out first and by the time we got to Jones Creek, it was full and Nate and Michelle were nowhere to be found.  Luckily, we spotted them on the highway and flagged them down.

We headed to Tillamook in hopes that the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center would help us find another place to camp.  We got there at 5:01, just after they closed.  Jen called Joleine who was helping us look for alternative sites online.  Everything seemed full already.  Luck was on our side though and Nate spotted a flyer with a list of campgrounds.  He started dialing for dollars.  He finally reached a place that had two spots open right next to each other.  We didn’t ask any other questions and headed straight there.

What we got was the two worst spots in the place, right next to the entrace of the park and near the highway.  The good news was that it was remote and traffic was very light.  However, it was an OHV park and there were lots of dirt bikes and quads making a lot of noise.

On the upside, we had lots of room (literally about a hundred yards) to ourselves, shady trees that kept the tents cool all day, and not much to complain about.  The noise stopped at about 10pm when the red necks turned off their country music.

We explored the river a bit and let the dogs run around in the water.  It was a great trip despite the rocky beginning.  Thanks to Nate for finding a place at the last minute - he saved the weekend!

You can view the entire set of pictures on Flickr.

Chibby and I went to see Hancock earlier today.  It was pretty good, but the first half was way better than the last half.  I wasn’t a fan of the plot twist and thought the movie lost focus.  Charlize Theron is easy on the eyes though.

On the way back, we stopped at Home Depot to get a much needed sprinkler for the front lawn.  After I mowed the lawn, the kids played for a bit.