Quilt Retreat: Friends, Family, Sewing (Near Newport, OR)

We picked Port of Newport RV Park & Marina Campground, in Newport, Oregon, for the week. We didn’t want to go back to Whaler’s Rest Thousand Trails (where we stayed back in 2023) because that campground is so tight with trees we didn’t feel like we got a bit of sun. And, Starlink (footnote 1) didn’t like it much at all. This campground is open, no trees, right along the harbor and the view of the beautiful bridge. We were very pleased with it.

We got to the campground 2 hours before check-in time and since no one stayed there last night at our site, we were able to get it. That was a relief. We were meeting up with my cousin and his wife who is a dear and close friend to me. They came to our campground and inside HOWE (footnote 2) for a visit. Then we followed them to their house along the old logging road. It was fun to see their new house they had built in place of the old cabin on the property. I took my sewing stuff up and dropped it off in the guest room. Why? She and I planned for another quilt retreat with our friends for Tuesday-Saturday. Dinner and visiting. Kevin and I headed down the mountain just before dark. As we got to the campground the sun was just setting. I jumped out of the truck and started snapping gorgeous views of the water, reflection, bridge, and sun. I was very happy.

My friend said I was hers today. LOL Love it. She picked me up at 8:00 a.m. and took me to her house. I brought my suitcase all packed, since I know I will have a ton of groceries to bring tomorrow. Today we are sewing together, just the 2 of us. She knew I would be busy in the kitchen a lot and she would be busy hosting at the retreat. We set up things, sewed, and visited. Kevin came up after work and she fixed dinner. I went back home (footnote 3) with Kevin that evening.

A fun story to add here for readers. My friend from the Lincoln City, OR, area and my cousin and his wife, from the Newport, OR, area, knew each other through me in Utah years ago. They had sort of lost touch with each other over the years. A few years ago I texted both of them together and told them to tell each other what they did that exact day. What happened? The both signed on house/property in Oregon that same day and moved from Utah. Since then they have reconnected and have a very sweet friendship. Makes my heart so happy!

At our quilt retreat back in 2023, I helped by planning, shopping, and cooking all the meals. I love doing it! I did it this year, as well. Friend from Lincoln City was invited to our quilt retreat. She picked me up and we went to Walmart for the groceries for the retreat. I brought quite a few things from HOWE plus some spices that I would need. No need to buy a whole bottle when just a small amount was needed. We got through Walmart very well and didn’t have to backtrack down an aisle even once. Cousin has a fridge in the garage and had a shelf cleaned out for me in the fridge and one on the freezer side. That helped so much so I could see what was “mine”, easily get what I needed, and no one was having a snack out of something I would use later.

Sourdough Starter: I had been telling Newport friend about things I have been making over the past few months with the Sourdough Starter. She said she wanted a starter from me and I was thrilled. Today she told me she used to have a starter but she killed it. Then she got another one and killed it to. I was puzzled. I told her she killed it because she didn’t name it. And then I said she also killed it because she made a huge mess of flour on the scale. We were laughing hard. So what did she name her starter? Messy Jessy. LOL I had her put a rubber band at the top of the starter jar so she could see it rise. The next day she thought she had killed it but I explained the Sourdough Starter will rise after being fed and then falls down. “OH….maybe I didn’t kill the others.” 🤣 She didn’t know it is natural for the Sourdough Starter to rise and then fall down. Oh my gosh we laughed so hard. Now she knows.

At our quilt retreats, we always take part of a day and go to a fabric store and out to lunch. We sewed until noon and then headed down the mountain. As we rounded a bend on the logging road, there was a tree across the road. A guy was there. He said he was just sitting in his truck and the tree fell. He had a chain saw but couldn’t get it started. He grabbed the tree and moved it like a gate to let us through.

First stop was at Mo’s Seafood & Chowder at the harbor. Same place we all ate last time and friend and I ate here yesterday. HAHA This is a place she and I could eat at every day. Kevin joined us for lunch. We went to the same small quilt store we went to last time; new owners. I got a few winter fabrics.

Sewing. Cooking. Fun. Kevin texted that he had eaten all the food I had made for him for the week…and, could he come eat dinner with us? This was Thursday! HAHA Everyone thought that was just about the funniest and greatest thing! Yes, duh, of course he could come. Anytime.

This morning I plugged in my cute iron that I got while at a quilt retreat with my aunt a few years ago in Texas. It has fun shapes and colors along the bottom. Last night cousin’s Roomba grabbed the cords of my iron and hers. I was in the kitchen and saw a huge flash of light. Friend said it was the light on my iron as it came crashing to the floor. Thankfully no damage to their floor. This morning I went to plug it in and it didn’t turn on. I thought we must have blown the outlet last night. I moved to another outlet and still didn’t turn on. The Roomba totally killed my iron! We got a lot of funny stories and words about that. I need one to sew so I asked friend if she would place an order for a new one on amazon, when would it get here. Tomorrow, she saw and ordered it.

Sourdough Starter: One lady said she wanted a Sourdough Starter and I was so happy to give her some. Then another lady said she wanted some, too. Isn’t this fun?!

After dinner, everyone packed up. I went home with Kevin and the others have to leave tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. to get to Portland to fly home. It was another wonderful week – friends, family, sewing, cooking, eating, visiting…perfect.

*The blog posts are taken from my daily travel journal. Would you believe – it takes me a 1/2 day every week to whittle down a week’s worth of journal so it won’t be too long for the post each week. HAHA Thank you for reading!

1. Starlink is satellite internet. It works even when you are out of cell coverage area. You can make phone call through it, too. The company named the user terminal “Dishy McFlatface” and every calls it “Dishy” for short. 🙂

2. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country. HOWE has stayed at least one night in all 48 continuous U.S. states.

3. “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.