Beth always wanted to be married outdoors, in the mountains and on August 22nd she got her wish when her and Wade were married in the mountains outside Jackson, Wyoming. We were unable to attend but Wade's parents, as well as sister and brother-in-law, were able to attend and share their moment. Of course, little Sunny Day was there to make the moment that much more special for everyone. The earth girl that Beth is decided she wanted to be barefoot and insisted everyone else follow suit. It is wonderful to see her look so happy and we all hope this is only the beginning of a wonderful life for the Boudreaus.

End of August and time for our Second Annual Loon Lake Outing. We met with Bonnie, Mariah, their families and our dear friends Kim and Don. We thought we had a great time last year but this year was even better. As you can see from the photos we all had lots fun. West was nice enough to spend most of his week-end hauling people around in his boat either fishing or playing on the tube We celebrated Wayde and Kim's birthdays and there was lots of swimming, some volleyball and, of course, good food. We were already planning next year's trip before we broke camp on Sunday. If summer had to end, we finished it in style!

Newport had some excitement in August when a commercial fishing vessel became stranded on the beach. The Newport Police Volunteers were asked to help with traffic control in the Nye Beach area (which is one of our busiest spots during the tourist season). It was the first time we had been called on to help with something other than parades and festivals and it was pretty exciting for all of us. We were there from August 11th until it was successfully pulled off the beach on August 13th. Luckily, the story had a happy ending and everyone was safe, including boat.

We had Cassidy for a week the end of June. Her family came from Portland to pick her up and Bonnie's family came from Eugene so we were all able to spend July 4th together. Unfortunately, the fog rolled in the night of the 4th (as it is known to do at the Oregon Coast) so we couldn't see the big fireworks show the City of Newport puts on every year but we had a great time anyway.

Scott and Wayde stayed with us after everyone went home so we had the next week with the boys. Since Scott will be a senior this year and we knew it might be the last time he visits, it was especially nice. We went fishing, crabbing, geocaching, exploring our two local lighthouses, and found time for the boys' favorite thing -- shooting with Grandpa. What a great week!!!

Cassidy signed up to attend a day camp at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport for one week in June so we were lucky to have her with us for that week. She wanted to go fishing and we ended up going every night! Grandpa was tired but pleased to see her so interested. I, of course, was happy because it meant a stop at the ice cream store afterwards. We had a wonderful time and look forward to doing it next year.

In June we had a visit from Beth and Sunny. It had been a year since we had seen them last and, of course, could not believe how much Sunny had grown. We had a great time and loved watching her play in the ocean. As many of you who live far away from your children and grandchildren know, it is wonderful to see them but oh so hard to say good-bye.

Wayde had a chance to go with two of our friends, Brian and Frank, on a sturgeon fishing trip on the Columbia River in June. They had a great time and caught a lot of fish but only one keeper caught by Frank. The size restriction on the sturgeon you can keep make it hard to catch one that fits. They had a great time, as always, and Frank was kind enough to give us a big fillet. Never having eaten sturgeon we weren't sure what it was going to be like but all I can say is . . . YUMMMMM! I am really hoping Wayde can catch one for us next year.

If you are not interested in fishing or children, you might want to pass this one up. Every year our Longview Hills Fishing Club helps a local church in Waldport (about 10 miles south of Newport) with a Kid's Free Fishing Day Fish-a-Long. It is one of the most exhausting and rewarding days our Club puts in each year and we all love it! Look at the smiles on the kids' faces and you will understand why. I am always amazed when we talk to other people who are retired and they talk about being bored. With opportunities like these, you should never have a chance to say that.

After visiting with the Millers in Reno, we finished our May trip with a quick stop in Elko to visit with Wayde's mom, Nina and then had a wonderful drive through Northern Elko County. To those of you who have not been there it may not look like much, but to us it will always be home and very special to us. Lots and lots of memories.

In May, Wayde had a Glock match in Reno, Nevada so we combined it and made it an anniversary trip (our 45th was on May 9th) and, most importantly, we saw our very dear friend, Jeannette Miller. To add the cherry on top on the sundae, our friend Gary Smith drove down from Oregon to shoot with Wayde. We all joined the Brian Miller clan at a campout in Washoe Valley and got to see Caroline and her family the next day. It was a wonderful trip.

In case you wonder what there is to do in Newport, our fishing club had a tour of the local oyster farm in April. This is our third year and we learn something new every year. Best part is the end of the tour and the free samples! They really know how to cook 'em. If you are ever in the area you need to make sure this stop is on your list of things to do.

Some members of our Longview Hills Fishing Club help the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) with their rock fish tagging project. They go out of Newport on a charter boat, catch rock fish and other species of fish, then they get the information on the fish (size, species, etc.) and release them back into the ocean. Here are some comments from Wayde and our friend Nicole Mangum from three of those trips.

Wayde’s comments:

Friday, April 24th, I went on a rock fish tagging trip with ODF&W. We were on the charter vessel Misty with Captain Robert (Robbie) Waddel. Left the dock at 0700 and proceeded under the bridge, down the bay to the jetty tips then south to an area 2 miles west of Waldport. The ocean was calm with mild swells. Fishing was good. I caught 35 bottom fish with 25 of them being black rock fish which were tagged and released like the rest. The anglers do not keep any fish on these tagging trips. I also caught lingcod, Cabazon, quill back, yellow eye, brownie, china and a sea trout. The wind came up in the afternoon and some wind chop made the boat rock more but not too bad. The trip produced 287 tagged black rockfish which is the best day so far this year. We were back to the dock at 3 PM.

Nicole’s comments:

(April 29th) So I'm just sitting down finally to write this email. If it's leaning a little or misspelled it's because I'm still swaying from being on the boat...
I had a great time! It turned out to be a beautiful day, no rain after 7:15 this morning. Fishing was very slow at the begining and the last two hours but very busy in between. We all caught 241 fish plus 2 pretagged fish. There were plenty of yellowfin (?), Blue fin ?, a couple of cabazon--no clue how to spell that, and ling cod. Walter even caught a small sculpin--ugly thing. We were pleasantly surprised with a whale cruising by about 100 yards from us. We also saw 3 others, tails and all. Mike ? caught the longest fish at 51cm. I had one on that was at least 60cm, but it got away...
Here's the report and I hope you have a successful day tomorrow Lee (if you read this after you get home, send me a report on how your day went).
i hope I can sleep tonight and not dream about being on a boat--I think this couch is rocking back and forth...
--- i o e
N c l


Wayde’s comments:

(April 30th)

Nicole
My report for today. Good day and fun. The group said they enjoyed fishing with you yesterday and hope you go again.


Lee Fries and I went on another rockfish tagging trip with ODF&W. Very nice day on the water. Little wind and low swells. We fished down by Waldport till 1 PM. Came in 2 hours early because we filled the quota for the area we were fishing. The group caught and tagged about 260 black rockfish. 40 to 50 other species of fish were caught but not retained. We each caught 20 or more rockfish today.
An exceptional event happened around noon. Counting the boat crew we had 14 people fishing and caught 100 fish in 10 minutes. I want to tell you, that was wild. Most were catching 2 or 3 at a time. The tagging program has an annual target of 3000 tagged fish. After today 2225 have been tagged so far this season. The goal may be raised but that is not certain yet.

We have several elderly members of our Longview Hills Fishing Club who enjoy hearing about all our volunteer duties but are unable to participate so they don't always fully understand what it is we do. A year ago, April 2008, Wayde turned to me and said, "We should do a video showing a day at the trap so everyone can see what we do." Well, that started the ball rolling turning a simple idea into a year of hard work, putting several hours into the project and several hundred miles on our truck.

In the past few weeks we have had the video packing party at the Toledo High School, the test run at the LVH Clubhouse and, FINALLY, the "premiere" party and the showing of the video. Lots of hard work and fun but it's finally finished.

Wish you all could see the video. Stop by for a visit and we would love to show it to you!

RAINBOW OVER NEWPORT

On the way to breakfast this morning about 7:30 am, Wayde and I were treated to this beautiful view of a rainbow over the ocean. What a great way to start the day!

Our Longveiw Hills Fishing Club took a road trip today up to Tillamook. We took a 20 mile "detour" and went east to the Tillamook Forestry Center. It was truly a great museum and well worth the trip if any of you are in the area. We then (there were 14 of us in 6 vehicles) went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory for lunch. After lunch, some went on the tour of the Cheese Factory, some went home, and several of us went to the Tillamook Sporting Goods Store. There was talk that some of them were also going to go to the Tillamook Air Museum. The trip was about 180 miles round trip so it definitely qualified as one of our road trips. With the perfect weather and beautiful scenery, it was a resounding success!

See, a few hours later and all is forgiven. This really is his "happy face".

Our Kruzer is an indoor cat but we still have to worry about fleas and other nasty things so we have to put a few drops of medicine on his neck once a month. The whole process takes about, oh, three seconds. We have no idea how he knows but he seems to sense when it is time and he runs an hides. Wayde and I even make sure we "approach" him separately so he doesn't get suspicious but it doesn't work, he knows. Anyway, this is obviously a harmless process but you would think we were torturing him. This is what he does after the "event" (in case you can't tell, he is on top of the cupboards in the kitchen) and he won't have anything to do with us for several hours, sometimes not until the next day. Then everything is fine . . . until next month.