Pacific City Honors the Dory Fleet

Pacific City honors it's Dory fleet with the 50th Annual Dory Days Festival July 17-19

The Dory Fleet fishermen use this small flat-bottomed boat to crash through the surf headed for the plentiful waters of the Pacific. At day’s end, they ride the waves back to shore and slide onto the beach. The original design of the dory allows it to launch from and land on the shore.

There will be Dory rides, food vendors and arts & craft vendors.

To learn more about the Dory boats and the Dory Fleet, check out this terrific article in Northwest Magazine

Haystack Rock in Pacific City is only minutes from Sandlake Country Inn on the beautiful Oregon Coast. Come and enjoy this Oregon Coast festival and have some of the best fish and chips around!

The Pacific City~Nestucca Valley Chamber and the Pacific City Dorymen's Association are co-sponsors of this event. The Dorymen's Association will have a large booth and a display of Dory Boats at the Cape Kiwanda parking lot. There will be live music throughout the weekend and many exciting activities as follows:

The dedication ceremy for the new Dorymen's Memorial Wall at the Cape be on Sunday, July 19th, time TBA. For more information about the Memorial Wall dedication, call Tom Donohue: donodoc@harborside.com

The Parade will be Saturday, July 18th, starting at 11am. The theme is "Memories of the past, dreams for the future". Parade line-up at the boat ramp on Sunset Drive begins at 8:00am, judging will begin promptly at 9:30am. Tropies and ribbons will be awarded. For questions on the Parade, call Terri Johnston at 541-921-0281 or email her at TJohnston@CapeKiwandaRVResort.com. If you are interested in participating in the parade, please download the application.

The coloring contest is underway and the forms are available at the Chamber offices in Cloverdale and Pacific City, as well as Maintenance & More construction. For more info on the coloring contest, contact Killy Poore at 971-998-6385 or KittyP3519@embarqmail.com

The Fish Fry (fish & chips basket) will be happening at Cape Kiwanda on Saturday from noon to 5pm and Sunday from 11am to 4pm. For questions about the Fish Fry call Mary Jones at 503-965-7779 or email at MaryJJones@NestuccaRidge.com

There will be a Climbing Wall and a "Surf Machine" at the Cape for kids of all ages to test their skills. For more information on these activities, contact Jeff Schons at 503-965-7779 or Jeff@NestuccaRidge.com

Other Vendor booths at the Cape will be related to Dories, Fishing, Ocean Safety, or other nautical theme items and there will be presentations from the Coast Guard and other agencies. For more infomation on vendor booths at the Cape, contact Mary Jones at 503-965-7779 or MaryJJones@NestuccaRidge.com

There will be an Artisan Fair located at the four-way stop in downtown Pacific City. Contact Maryanne Hoffman at 503-801-1516 or mhoffman@oregoncoast.com for a vendor application for the Artisan Fair.

Other activiities will include a fishing contest in the morning and a filleting demonstration - both on Sunday, 7/19.

The World Famous Pig-n-Ford Races

The World Famous Pig-n-Ford Races

Pig n what???? Yup you read it right. It's the World Famous Pig-n-Ford races right here at the Tillamook County Fair. Ron and I really enjoy going to the Tillamook County Fair each year. It's a slice of Americana which is so rare these days.

The highlight of the fair are the preliminary heats as well as the finals of the Pig-n-Ford race. These Model T Fords aren’t buffed and shined, they’re built for speed. And carrying small pigs. Their souped-up jalopies are the stallions in the World Famous Pig-N-Ford Races, the highlight of the annual Tillamook County Fair. Aug. 5 through Aug. 8th, people from all over the state will converge on this pastureland to enjoy horse racing, talent shows, country music stars, 4-H exhibits and carnival rides. For many, it’s all just a warm-up to the Pig-N-Ford, in which competitors grab 20-pound pigs from a pen, crank up their Model T’s, jump in and race around the track, with dust, gears and laughter flying.
This crowd-favorite event has been featured on Good Morning America and KATU’s Spirit of the Northwest, and in publications like National Geographic. But the standing-room-only crowds are just part of the allure.

If the Pig-n-Ford races aren't exciting enough, hang on to your hats, because the final Saturday night has the demolition derby. Ok, so I was only able to sit through half of it! Not my cup of tea, but hey, I just couldn't sit on that hard bench for another minute. Here's a hint.....bring a stadium cushion!!!Come and celebrate the 85th year of this Oregon Coast tradition

It's Our Anniversary!

It's hard for us to believe, but 8 years ago today, we signed the escrow papers and Sandlake Country Inn was officially ours. What a journey it's been. As we enter into our 9th summer we are thankful of all the wonderful people who have entered through our doors.

When we look back at those early days we can now laugh at how "green" we were, and no, I'm not talking about eco-friendly! It's a good thing that there were no cameras in the kitchen. I can't tell you how many "plan B's" there were in those early days. If you were one of our guests from back then and your entree turned out to be an omelet, well, you got a "plan B". I learned early on that the toughest part of getting out breakfast for 8 was timing. Oh, and having really good pot holders. Yikes! A couple times "plan B" happened because "plan A" had landed on the floor!

Since the burn out rate for innkeepers is 7 1/2 years, I guess we've outlasted the norm and are still going strong. We love living in this beautiful area on the Oregon coast and realized quickly that Oregon was going to be our home for a very long time. It still amazes us how kind and friendly the people in the Northwest are. If you don't live in the NW and are considering a trip here, don't be surprised if when you leave to go back home, you may just tuck away in that far recess of your mind, the thought that you might like to live here yourself some day.

Tillamook Farmer's Market is Back!

Tillamook Farmer's Market opened its season on June 13th and will be each Saturday from 9:00am - 2:00pm until September 26th.

Tillamook Farmer's Market is 60% traditional farmer's market products (fruits, vegetables, meats, etc) and 40% arts, crafts, jewelry, etc. Come and explore the farmer's market to get the real "flavor" of Tillamook.

Tillamook is an easy 20 minute drive from Sandlake Country Inn and you might as well stop when you're on your way to visit the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory. The location is on the corner of 2nd & Laurel, in Tillamook

23rd Annual Tillamook County Rodeo

Will you be in the area June 27th & 28th? Here's what the Tillamook County Rodeo has in store for you!

The 23rd Annual 2009 Tillamook County Rodeo rides into Tillamook the weekend of June 27th & June 28th at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds in Tillamook, Oregon!

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
JUNE 27 & 28, 2009

Exciting rodeo action starts at 6 pm on Saturday, June 27th and at 1 pm Sunday, June 28th!

"THE BIGGEST LITTLE SHOW
ON THE COAST!"

And don't forget to come early to see the fun June Dairy Parade just before the kick-off of the Tillamook County Rodeo on Saturday June 27th at 10:30 am!

• Bareback Riding
• Steer Wrestling
• Bull Riding
• Team Roping
• Wild Cow Milking

• Saddle Bronc Riding
• Barrel Racing
• Calf Roping
• Breakaway Roping
• $500 added purse

2009 RODEO SCHEDULE

Saturday June 27, 2009 June Dairy Parade 11:00 am Downtown Tillamook Western Barbeque 3:00 pm Tillamook Co. Fairgrounds Tillamook County Rodeo 6:00 pm Tillamook Co. Fairgrounds Western Dance Pete Ford & Texas Hold'em 9:00 pm Tillamook Co. Fairgrounds Beer Garden

Sunday June 28, 2009 Rotary Ranch Breakfast 8:00 am - 11:00 am Tillamook Co. Fairgrounds Tillamook County Rodeo 1:00 pm Tillamook Co. Fairgrounds

Pacific City Fireworks on 4th of July!!

Join us for the Pacific City/Nestucca Valley Chamber's 4th of July fireworks celebration. The fireworks starts at dusk at Bob Straub beach, but you can get a good view anywhere on the beach from Cape Kiwanda on south. Join us on the Oregon coast to celebrate our country's independence.

In addition to the professional fireworks show, there are many folks who bring elaborate fireworks to set off on the beach and over the ocean and can be as fun and entertaining as the professional show. You can make a fire on the beach, roast some marshmallows and enjoy the show.

Sandlake Country Inn is located just a short drive (8 minutes) from Cape Kiwanda. We're in a perfect location to enjoy the local festivities, yet come back, take a warm bubble bath in a double jacuzzi tub and get out of the busy & noisy town of Pacific City after the fireworks. People tend to shoot off their personal stash of fireworks on the beach all night.

Been A Long Time

It's been a long time since I was able to sit down and let you know what's been happening around here.

If any of you have done any research on what the life of an innkeeper is really like, you know that it's very demanding of your time and energy. Add on to that, the responsibility of an aging parent and you can understand why I haven't posted here for a while. Many of our guests here at Sandlake Country Inn have shared with me their own personal stories when they were faced with the same stresses and I take comfort knowing that I'm not alone.

Now, it's not all been stressful lately! Ron and I took our much needed relaxing vacation the beginning of May. After a long couple of flights to get to Miami, Fl, we stayed overnight then flew the next day to the Dominican Republic. We stayed at a wonderful all inclusive resort called Majestic Elegance. This time it was our turn to be pampered! In my next post, I'll post some photos so you can see how beautiful it was. Hmmm....now I have to find my camera and download all those pictures! We were there for 10 nights and did nothing but relax. I finally caught up on reading some books, taking a nap and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing. Now we're ready to give our full efforts to all of our wonderful guests and it's looking to be another very busy summer.

I want to thank K.C. and her husband Kirk who were the innsitters that took care of the inn in our absence. They did a wonderful job and we have received nice comments from our guests on their behalf. Believe me, it's not easy to just walk into someone else's B&B and run it seamlessly.