WONDERFUL VISIT

For the past 5 days my 20 year old (I CANNOT BELEIVE SHE IS 20 YEARS OLD!!) granddaughter, Melissa has been visiting me from Vegas.
She recently graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Collage and moved in to her own apartment and is growing up so fast.

We had such a good visit.First day we took her to breakfast and toured Coos Bay and walked on the boardwalk where she took pictures of the bay.

Doesn't she have the most beautiful smile ever!

Next morning she made us her own creation...stuffed french toast.. It was fabulous! Texas Toast with cream cheese, strawberry's and bananas and put together like a sandwich then cooked in a frying pan and topped with powdered sugar. It was soooooo good and I ate one even though I am on a diet! If you are interested in the recipe I will be glad to post it for you.

Melissa's Stuffed French Toast

Bless her heart. Even though she just graduated with honors from the culinary collage and has so many neat techniques she still wanted grama to make Lasagna. Made me feel so special.

We took her to Bandon so she could see the ocean. She has always loved the ocean, dolphins, whales and all sea creatures. It was cold and windy but she said if it wasn't she would have stayed there on the beach all day.

We had hot cocoa at Kafe 101 here in Coos Bay the next day and then we went to get her hair trimmed. We went to the mall and got a soft pretzel and a Orange Julius. It was fun just being together, just the two of us.

New hair cut? Well when she was a little girl I used to put glue on nails on her just like grama so of course she wanted glue on nails to go with her new hair.

She wanted jewels on her nails so we did that too.


My dogs Petey and Sampson LOVED her and Petey must have loved her new look because he just had to give her a kiss during the nail process.

I took her to Shore Acres which are acres of beautiful flowers and scrubs and also has a trail that leads down to a private beach so we took the trail. She can be so cute and so silly.

We stopped in front of this amazing tree and she posed for a picture

She was amazed at the rocks on the Oregon Coast. So different that the coast in CA

She wanted to capture this wave crashing on the rock. It was a pretty day even though it was cloudy. The rain stayed away for this day.

If you close you can see a small waterfall off the rocks


This was a stream from that waterfall running into the ocean

We heard sea lion in the distance so we drove about a mile up the road from Shore Acres and we found them. A small island full of sea lion. Melissa was so excited. We used our zoom but could not get very close as they were way out there in the ocean off the shore.

We stopped at the functioning light house on the coast of Winchester Bay.

The coast guard live right there on the primises. This is Melissa standing in front of the light house. Behind the fence is where the coast guard famlies live.

Melissa enjoying the view of the coast and also the dunes. She wanted to take pictures for her Daddy since they do have 4 wheelers in Vegas but enjoy the desert scenery there. What a difference for her to see.

Beautiful coast plant, dunes and the oregon shore in the background
Oregon Dunes off Wichester Bay

Oregon Dunes and the Oregon Coast line.

We took her to the Oregon Dunes off the coast of Coos Bay where all the"Dune Buggies" ride all year round. We have so many visitors to the beaches of Winchester Bay and the RV parks there most of which are ATV riders. There are also many accidents on the Dunes during the summer from the ATV riders.

Melissa and Grapa looking at a brochure together where we stopped once again at Kafe 101 for Hot Chocolate. She seemed to like that place.

Relaxing with Grampa and Hot Chocolate.

Me and my beautiful granddaughter Melissa Renee!

Grapa wanted us to pose for a picture so we surprised him with a goofy pose!

I couldn't pass up taking her to the Mossy Rose. She loved the shop and had so much fun trying on all the masks. This picture is so precious of her

Mask # 1


Mask #2

Mask #3

Mask #4

Mask #5

Last but certainly NOT least since there were dozens of masks, Mask #6
The Mossy Rose (Remember the post on the Mossy Rose?) is having a Masquerade Ball on Saturday the day after Melissa went home.
She was so disappointed that she missed it. Next year she wants to go ! It would be so fun.

Melissa insisted on taking her grandparents out for dinner so we went to Bennetti's, an Italian Resturant right across from the Bay. She had a good time and the food was wonderful. This is the hallway to the stairs that go to the second floor of the resturant. She had a goofy bug for this picture..so cute!


We looked at old photograph albums, we talked about boys, her new job and life. We watched Pirates of the Caribian Worlds, End with Johnny Depp and also Maid of Honor with Patrick Dempsey. We ate popcorn and chips and we stayed up late just talking.

She caught a plane home on Friday night and is safely back in Vegas now. Granpa and I and our dogs are kind of lonely without her. My dog Sampson is still looking for her and seems to be a bit depressed today.

She is coming back next year and I am sure I will go to Vegas before then. We had a wonderful time and I am so blessed to have had her here. Thanks for coming Melissa!!! We Love You Honey!!!