Sunday, September 11, 2011

Adventure #7: Fishing trip

We went on a real adventure today:  fishing!  The Tillamook Anglers, along with other sponsors, hosted their 20th annual fishing day for disabled kids.  This event is entirely free for particpating families.   The Tillamook Anglers are a non-profit, volunteer group who maintain the Whiskey Creek Fish Hatchery in Tillamook.  They raise 100,000 Chinook Salmon to release in the ocean every year.  They also support their regional food bank with salmon donations. 

Our first adventure was just getting there.  For some reason, Geoff and I both were thinking that Tillamook was about 40 minutes from our house.  Yes, we should have determined this before we left, rather than assuming it was going to be around each bend.  So, after an hour and a half, and turning around twice, we finally made it to the Whiskey Creek Hatchery.                            http://bit.ly/n1UKBs

Owen was just itching to fish as soon as we got there.  Noah wouldn't understand fishing, so he opted just to come along for the ride.   The fishing was set up inside the fish hatchery.  It was like fishing in a barrel!  Plenty of volunteers were lined up along the hatchery to help the kids bait their hooks and get their poles into the water.   Noah and I walked around the hatchery where I made the unfortunate discovery that in his chair Noah is butt high to everyone.  As we were walking through he decided pinching butts in the crowd was such fun!  I walked through issuing apologies along the way.   Noah and I decided to explore the grounds where it was much less crowded while Owen and Geoff fished. 

The hatchery sits right on Tillamook Bay.  Noah and I followed the path around the rainbow trout pond to look out on the bay.  It is beautiful with the spooky ghost trees, calm water, and seagulls.  After catching 4(!) fish, Owen and Geoff came to join us.  We did some more exploring and played a game of bean bag tic tac toe.  The game was set up with large tarp mats on the ground to make a board where the kids could throw the bean bags.  Noah decided that he wanted to lay down on the tic tac toe mat in the grass and then run around to lay on everyone's tic tac toe mat.  After we gathered him back up we went to get lunch.
Lunch was a provided part of the event and it was awesome.  A choice of hamburgers, hot dogs, or fried chicken with sides, ice cream (Tillamook of course), soda, coffee and hot cocoa were offered.  We took our picnic lunch to enjoy in the grass by the bay.  We ate our lunch while various prizes were raffled off.  Alas, I did not win the smoker I was coveting.

After lunch we packed up our fish and headed home.  We had a great time.  I never thought we'd be able to try out fishing as a family.  I am always so touched when organizations reach out to the special needs community to help us and our kids do family fun events.  Many activities are just so much more difficult to pull off if you are trying to do it with someone who is disabled.  This well organized event allowed us to try out fishing in a fun and no stress way.  The best part is on the way home Geoff and I realized we had this amazing outing and hadn't gotten out our wallets once.    Thank you Tillamook Anglers!

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