 |
| Gold Beach fishing clan (Andy, Jana, Lauren, Ini, Scott, Josh, Gloria) |
This year was
our third shared vacation in Gold Beach, Oregon with Scott and his family. This
time we were joined by Jandy (Jana and Andy) and Lauren for the July 4th week.
Scott chartered a fishing boat for two of the days, although Verne and I opted
to skip fishing and entertain ourselves as a 5 a.m. departure time was not
appealing and spending six hours on the ocean held even less attraction. Especially
after our ocean experience in Hawaii last year when Verne swore off boating and
I’ve got to stand by my man. Actually, I’m no keener on boating and motion
sickness than Verne so it’s easy to stand by him and skip that part of the
family vacation.
Scott
started the girls fishing at an early age. When he lived in Ione he had a small
aluminum boat and would take the girls fishing for trout and bass at Lake
Amador. Other times they kept it even more local and would walk to our
neighbors pond and fish, often fighting off a pair of snapping turtles who
thought it was funny to snap fishing line. When the girls were older the
threesome made several trips to La Paz, Mexico to ocean fish for dorado and the
occasional marlin. According to Scott some of the best fishing on the West
coast is in Gold Beach where the Rogue River joins the ocean. It certainly
proved true on this trip.
 |
| Scott and the girls in La Paz, Mexico |
According
to Lauren:
Scott’s First Rule of Fishing: No
talking – silence is golden.
I’m fairly certain I broke this rule
every five minutes when I was a kid. Whenever Scott was home from his day job
(fishing, incidentally) he would take his baby sisters fishing anywhere that
was handy – Lake Amador, our local pond, a lake up in the Sierras, etc. Being a
bit of a chatterbox, I naturally found Rule 1 impossibly challenging. This
perhaps explains why some of my earliest fishing memories are of Jana and
myself being told to walk the proverbially plank, to stay there and swim for a
while, and then watching the back end of the boat disappear as Scott drove some
distance away from our noise. Oh well! Swimming is, after all, half the point
of fishing.
Since that time Jana and I have been
avid fisherwomen, always willing to go on a fishing adventure and feel the
exhilaration that only comes from battling nature for dinner. When Scott
suggested two days of fishing in Gold Beach, Jana and I eagerly accepted. We’ve
gotten a bit better at adhering to Rule 1 (particularly with a 5 am call time
to the dock, which often sees us half asleep when the day begins), a lucky fact
for everyone as no one with sense wants an impromptu swim in the cold waters of
the Pacific Northwest.
Gold Beach fishing is absolutely
amazing. We had great weather, which left us with mostly calm seas on Day 1 and
only minor swells on Day 2. For the most part our group avoided sea sickness,
though there were a couple upset stomachs on the second morning. The true
beauty of fishing though lies in the titles you can receive. And there are a
lot of them: Biggest Fish, Smallest Fish, Most Fish Caught, Weirdest Species
Caught, Most Species Caught, Strangest Way to Hook a Fish, Laziest Way to Fish,
Most Times Hooking the Bottom, etc. And each achievement deserves celebration
(whoops, there goes Rule 1). A day of fishing is never complete without a bit
of sleepiness, snacks, some cursing, a bit of grumbling, and plenty of
laughter.
We caught our quotas both days and came home with many types of rockfish, lingcod, and crabs from several crab pots we put out first thing in the morning and collected on our way back to the dock at the end of the day. We actually caught more than we brought home, largely due to catching quite a few Yellow-eye Rockfish, which are protected and must be thrown back. The end of each day is spent watching the boat crew clean and filet our catch (the best way to clean a fish is to have someone else do it for you), which we will eat over the next year. With only a 1-year supply caught, I suppose that means we’ll be heading out again next summer. I can’t wait!
 |
| Jana, "Laziest Way to Fish" |
 |
| Lauren, "Biggest Fish" |
Verne and
I were prompted by our tree-hugging youngest daughter to take a hike through
the redwoods. The closest redwoods were about 45 minutes from Gold Beach near
Brookings in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. The 1.2 mile nature
trail hike satisfied Lauren and was just enough without overdoing it for two
old farts like us. The trees there are considered small to medium, although as
we walked up the hill there were a few very large trees. One that was hollowed
at the base was perfect for a family picture, but sadly nobody to take it. Lauren
parked us inside the tree, took far too long to set up her camera on a timer,
ran down a short hill laughing and jumped into the photo just in the nick of time.
 |
| Tree Hugger |
 |
| Family Selfie |
Our last
evening was appropriately spent watching fireworks in the little town of Gold
Beach. Scott asked around and was told the best spot to watch was by the dock
where he had chartered the fishing boat each day. I think the entire town of
about 2,000 residents turned out for the event. There were a number of small
but impressive private displays along the river bank leading up to the
hour-long main event, which was sponsored by the town of Gold Beach. All of the
fireworks were exploded over the river providing a magical setting of colorful
bursts of light overhead glowing and reflecting in the water with a background
of oohs and ahhs from the spectators. It was magical!
We enjoyed
a second family reunion last month in Carson City, Nevada. Why Nevada when the
Moser kids were born and raised in the Washington/Idaho area? Andre Moser (son
of the oldest Moser brother, Bob) confirmed my suspicions with a smile and a
wink that as one of the three organizers of the event he chose the location for
its convenience to his home in Dayton. Actually, with family traveling from all
of the Western states, Northern Nevada was an excellent choice. The reunion was
predominantly attended by three generations of Mosers, with the top tier being
the children of Ray and Clara Moser (Bob, Bill, Verne, Keith and sister Susie)
and son of Ray and Clara, Terry. I have always found it interesting that
Verne’s dad divorced his mother, Clara, to marry another woman named Clara.
Verne has often referred to Clara-1 and Clara-2 and Terry Moser refers to
himself as “brother with a different mother”. Cute! Over the years I’ve met
most of the second generation kids with my closest relationship being with
Susan Moser, Bill’s first daughter and the oldest of the second generation. We
were especially close during the ten years I hosted quilting retreats as she’s
a quilter. It was during that time that she met her significant other, Victor,
and she adopted her daughter, Sophie, who is now 12 years old. Special
memories!
 |
| Bob, Bill, Verne, Keith, Terry (brother with a different mother), and Susie |
 |
| Moser daughters |
 |
| Jandy |
After that
weekend I realized a reunion is not as much for the top tier (fast approaching
80 years old with the same old stories), but for the next generation and for
making and keeping connections with family. Jana made a surprising connection
with Bob Moser, spending over an hour being fascinated by his stories of
growing up during the depression and the hardships Clara endured raising four
little boys (each 15 months apart in age) with a mostly absentee husband. They parted with promises to stay in
touch and Jana agreeing to help with a genealogy project. Lauren connected with
cousins and is now part of the planning committee for the next Moser Family
Reunion in 2022. I connected with Terry’s youngest daughter, who I hadn’t seen
in over 20 years. She has a son starting college this month and an 18-month old
daughter. We shared our thoughts on motherhood in your teens versus your 40s.
Something we’ve both experienced and have similar thoughts. We’re now Facebook
friends and I’m enjoying her frequent posts of her college son and toddler
daughter. I’ll be thinking about her son, Hunter, when we pass through Ashland
on our way to see Lauren in Portland this month. Whether it’s family through
blood or family through friendship, staying connected is a good thing!
A few more pics...
 |
| Verne in 1st grade, 1948 |
 |
| Keith, Bill, Susie, Bob, and Verne, 1948 |
 |
| Clara, Verne, Bob, Bill, Ray holding Keith, around 1943 |
