We spent the 4th of July at Fort Yamhill in the Grand Ronde Valley of Oregon. Jim and Janice Scott and Marta Gustafson joined us at the flag pole in the middle of the Fort Yamhill parade grounds. From this flagpole we fly our “Period American Flag” with 33 stars.
This of all days is quite special because Oregon.became the 33rd state in 1859. They ratified becoming a state on February 14th 1859, but tradition is to introduce the new flag on Independence day. We celebrated the 159th anniversary of that first raising of a 33 star flag on a flagpole very close to the location of the original Fort Yamhill flagpole.
Two of the Fort Yamhill Reinactment group, David and Kile, formed a flag detail with me. In the following photos see them clowning around with the manual of arms. Just a hint, the guy in the middle is the clown.
With some reluctance we packed up and made our departure this morning, July 5th. We decided to avoid all the traffic on I-5 and drive up on Highway 101, The Coast Highway. We came to the conclusion that I-5 was deserted today. Everyone was on the coast between Cannon Beach and Astoria. It took 5 or 6 cycles to get through the lights in each town, there was a solid backup between towns and all. We are staying in a “new to us” park called Bruceport County Park in South Port Washington. It is a quiet little park on Willapa Bay. Willapa Bay is world renowned for its pristine oyster beds. South Port claims the title of “Oyster Capital of the World” and the area claims to supply 9 percent of all oysters grown in the United States. Makes my mouth water just writing this.
Tomorrow: Sequim Washington, the “Lavender Capital of North America.” However I prefer to remember that this is where Dungeness Bay and Dungeness Spit are the natural hangout for Dungeness Crabs. Oh the crab feed we once had on Dungeness Spit. Washtub full of sea water propped up over a driftwood fire until it developed a rolling boil. Meanwhile we all were out in the little aluminum boat mooching for crab. “How do you “mooch” for crabs? You ask.
First you dig yourself a mess of Horseneck Clams.
Now you take your standard salmon rod and reel with a double hook mooching rig for trolling with a herring hooked up special so it will spin and attract salmon. You forget the herring and all that complicated hooking and just cram a chunk of Horseneck clam neck on the hooks and bury the hooks good. Now measure your leader against your pole so you know how much dangles below the sinker.
Now you put this bait in the water and let the sinker take the bait all the way to the bottom in an area with lots of eel grass. Now reel up exactly the length of the leader so you know the horse neck is on the bottom. Hold it this way for a minute or two then slowly start to lift the bait. If you don’t feel any weight, drop it back and wait another minute. When you do feel the weight of the crab on the line slowly reel up. Your buddy gets a salmon net into the water a deep as he or she can reach. When the crab appears out of the gloom and long before you get to the surface you slip the net under him. He will drop off, but you have him in the net. Quickly bring the crab into the boat and size and sex it. If it is a legal male it goes in your cooler and back you go until you make your limits.
Finally you row over to the spit and ground the boat. You grab the crab by the back of the shell and introduce him to the washtub. When the crab is a rosey red color, collect him and drop in a pail of cold sea water. The only way you can get fresher crab is to run up the beach. No fancy Instant Pot pressure cooker, just fresh cooked crab. Yum!
https://www.dinsmore-enterprises.com/2018/07/20180704-independence-day/