Beverly Beach (06/05/2005)

This week began with us staying in the Bullards Beach State Park (near Bandon) and ended with us in the Sleepy Hollow RV Park in Lafayette (near Portland). We spent most of the week, however, at the Beverly Beach State Park (near Newport)(hence the title). The day we spent in Bandon we took a bike ride out to the Bandon Lighthouse and took Max out for a walk on the jetty. While we were in the Lighthouse I spoke to the hostess who was a volunteer Program Host for the Oregon State Parks. It’s a neat program in some states (Oregon and Arizona among others). The hosts work about 20 hours a week for 1 to 3 months at the state parks doing various tasks (each park has job descriptions for their positions). For this work, the volunteers receive free campground usage. I looked up the Oregon parks and there were 21 open positions among 120 total positions.
Then we moved to the Beverly Beach State Park. While we were there we visited Hecata Head Lighthouse where I took pictures and spoke with more volunteers. One of the Lighthouse keepers homes is still there. It has been turned into a really neat B&B. The day with the best weather we drove to Depoe Bay and Lincoln City. Depoe Bay is a nice beach town with a very small harbor. It was really pretty. Unfortunately, that day the camera had dead batteries. It had been trying to tell me that the batteries were going but I did not understand or take action. A lesson learned. One day we walked out on Beverly Beach. It is a beautiful long beach. While we were there we watched a pair of kite surfers. They were so cool, almost like they were doing a dance on the water. They did not have as much wind as they wanted so had to move down the beach in the water and walk back. It was still very cool to watch. Another day we drove to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. This lighthouse is run by the feds, but otherwise is like the state lighthouses. Lots and lots of birds off the head.
Sunday we drove to the Sleepy Hollow RV Park. We called one of my sisters (Sandy, Chris was out) and after we settled into the park we had dinner with Sandy and her husband Dale.
This week I started making an effort to do most of the driving when we are not towing the 5th wheel. I am doing this for 3 reasons: 1) since I do not plan on driving the rig, it seem only fair for me to do the other driving, 2) I am more likely to stop where I want if I am driving (control I guess), 3) I have the Sorensen sense of direction (i.e. none) and when I am driving, Rich is the navigator so we get more easily where we are aiming.
Another thing that happened this week was a bulb blew out in one of the chair-side lights. We replaced it and all the lights in that area of the rig stopped working. We checked and we had blown a fuse, so we replaced the fuse and blew a second fuse. Then we took a look at the bulb and low and behold the original had 2 dots on the bottom and the new one only had one. So, after we went to a RV center and found the correct bulb, we have lights again. Another lesson learned.
As we get nearer to Seattle I find myself worrying more and having more difficulty falling asleep. In Dec, 2000 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I had a lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. That took almost all of 2001. From that point, although I did all the follow up exams, etc. I thought I was cured and so I did not really worry. All the numbers seemed to be in my favor. In fall, 2003 I started experiencing pain in my chest, which I thought was muscle pain. It turned out to be a recurrence of breast cancer. I had a double mastectomy, stronger chemotherapy, and more radiation. This time my recovery took longer and was more difficult. My numbers were not as positive (20-30% of being cancer free for 5 years). When I heard these numbers I heard 70-80% dead in five years which is not what they mean, but which scared me a lot. At any rate, I find myself worrying much more about how my tests will come out this time (8 months after the end of treatment). At the 4 month tests, we had several scares (a spot on my lung which we believe was an after effect of the radiation and a spot on my hip which turned out to be nothing). I hope this time the tests will be better and real (since in 2003 my tests were clear but the cancer was back).
Additionally, I find myself more and more looking for ’girly’ clothes since my post-surgery physique is somewhat confusing and I would rather not wear all the other garments that I might otherwise need. At first (when I was bald) I got sir’d a lot. Now it is not so often but once is too many. My hair is growing and looks feminine (I think) so it depends on what you look at first: face, head, body, boobs.