A victorious birthday

Yes, I was thankful to be a year older when I awoke this morning.  Sure beats looking at the wrong side of the grass!  I even have a couple of firsts to report on the celebration of my birth day.  We all headed out this morning for a drive up the Oregon coast to view the spectacular scenery, and to end up in Port Orford to meet fellow fulltimers Gordon and Juanita for lunch at The Crazy Norwegian’s.  It’s been five years since our paths have crossed, and it was a good time catching up on our experiences.

Robyn treated me to lunch, so I ordered fish and chips with a bowl of clam chowder.  The clam chowder was a first for me, and I have to say that I enjoyed it.  I wasn’t sure I would.  I just couldn’t figure out one flavor that was in the chowder.  I know each place has their own special way of making chowder, so I may just have to try it again to figure out that distinctive taste.

It was late afternoon before we got back to the rig, and time for me to get the NY BBQ chicken ready for the grill.  It’s a favorite of mine, and I served it with Waldorf salad.  (I’m really not a foodie, but today was a delicious day.)  Then came the biggest and most appreciated birthday gift of the day; Robyn did the dishes.  What a treat for me.

However, the victorious part of the day came very early this morning before anyone else was awake.  I took Emma for her early outs, and after ‘piddling’ along the road as usual, we returned to the rig.  As is customary, she then really got down to business.  Yesterday, Robyn and I went through two piles looking for that elusive Apache Tear stone with no success.  Our investigative procedure was one of her thinking (she did attend nursing school, you know).  We used small sticks to mush through the evidence while holding our breath. 

This morning, I was more inclined to try the method suggested by a commenter on my last post.  “The Squish the Bag” approach.  Put the dump into a doggy poop bag, hold the top closed, and squish the contents to see if there is anything resembling a stone in it.  You don’t have to hold your breath with this method.    And as you may have guessed, out popped the Apache Tear at the top of the bag!

After washing and disinfecting the stone, it was no worse for wear going through Emma’s insides.  I also checked out what another commenter taught me about how to test if it is an authentic Apache Tear.  I held it up to the sunlight, and sure enough, you could almost see through the stone, and the ‘tear’ appeared.

The stone has been returned into its tiny little basket along with a small agate that Avery got from one of the rangers at an evening presentation.  I hope this necklace with its tiny precious gifts inside will give joy to Avery for a long time. 

I’m not sure I know of anyone else that thought the best part of their birthday celebration was a result of their sifting through scat…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy