Camping and crabbing

We spent the weekend camping and crabbing (or at least trying) with Jake and Tiff and Dan and Karin at the Oregon Coast.

We had outstanding weather for any month at the coast, much less almost into November. Highs in the 60s and 70s, not a drop of rain and hardly any wind. Felt almost like summer again - perfect for first-time coast campers. Jake said one of us must be good luck for such fine weather.

Spent Saturday afternoon hanging out around camp, taking a long walk with the group down Nehalem Bay to watch the sun extinguish itself in the Pacific, and then cooking - mushrooms, corn, veggies, steak and potatoes - on the campfire and visiting over drinks.

Up early Sunday morning thanks to Tiff's wake-up call: the dialog track of Robin Williams' "Good morning, Vietnam!" from a CD player pressed against the tent at 7 a.m. (Thankfully, she decided the 5:30 a.m. start would have been too traumatic.) In the boat around 8 and dropping our first rings minutes later.

A few hours later, Jake joked that one of us must be bad luck for crabbing. Turns out it's a bad season for crabbing in that area. We caught nothing big enough to keep. But we watched the sun come up over the Coast Range, dinked around in a boat for a few hours and learned how to crab for next year.

We'll be back, and we'll catch our breakfast rather than relying on some clams and half a "sympathy crab" from the shop owner back on shore. But even if we didn't catch it ourselves this year, it's tough to beat eating a fresh crab sandwich while sitting 15 feet from the water on a sunny morning on the Oregon Coast with friends.

Housekeeping

As you can see, we've redesigned the site. Here's hoping it's better organized and easier to follow. I was sick of the old, original look. Plus, I just like how the photos pop off the new black backdrop.

Beyond the changes in color and typography (both straight from a Blogger template), new features include:

• Neighbors - links to some family and friends
  
• Escapes (and escapades) - links to this year's Mexico and Morocco trips
  
• Tags - a key-word organizing system to search posts by content

Also, Amy has started her long overdue foodie blog over at The Dinner Hour. Check it out. She'll be writing about food, its role in culture, kitchen tips and tricks and, of course, translating her knack for making up a dish on the fly into easy-to-follow, step-by-step recipes.

Leave a comment here or there to let us know what you think.

In other news:

• Finally got to see James McMurtry in concert. Fitting that we went with friends Mike and Susan, who introduced us to his music in the first place. Line of the night, upon introducing "Choctaw Bingo," "This is for all the crystal methodists in the house..." The man may live in Texas, but he's got Oklahoma down pat.
• We're off next weekend for a crabbing trip at the coast with friends.
  
• More to come on Morocco. The day-by-day retelling was boring even me. So instead, I'll be writing about highlights from various cities as the mood strikes, as with the recent piece on Marrakesh. Look forward to the stories of my new scars - plural. See, this guy wanted to barter for Amy...