Winchester Bay Oregon with R(o)Ving Rods

We left our summer roost in Portland a few days ago and cruised down the Oregon Coast to Winchester Bay, with an overnight stop in Florence to enjoy the company of several of our Boomer friends from the road.

And why Winchester Bay you might wonder? Well, the Gruelle's and seafood, especially Crab, are a marriage made in heaven. So when the R(o)Ving Rods hold their annual Crabfest Rally, in this small harbor by the bay in late September, we try, if at all possible to be there. We've been members of this group since we went on the road in 04, but this is only our 3rd year to attend. This year there were over 70 of us parked at Salmon Harbor overlooking the beautiful marina, for 8 or more days--on asphalt, no hook-ups only lots of fun, setting crab traps, pulling crab pots, cooking crabs, picking crabs, bagging crabmeat, group lunches & dinners out, games, laughter, daily social hours, and did I mention the best part....eating all that crab! This is a communal event, with everyone sharing in the bounty. Some have boats to crab from, some toss their traps off the pier, others cook & clean the crabs, many of us join in the picking of the crabs and then we all share the meat of the crabs in the way of potlucks. The crabmeat is given out to be used in a potluck dish that is shared by all and feasting begins. I never knew there were so many ways to make a crab dish--and all of it was delicious.

There were a good number of Boomers (19 of us) this year which made the event all that more enjoyable. This meant walks in the day, games in the evening and even a computer class thrown in on Blogging. And a big thanks to Boomer friends Jenny & Dan Sheppard (pictured in top photo in his very Yellow outfit) for sending us back on the road with a few fresh crabs from Dan's own catch. Now that's "good friends"!