October 1, 1997

Memorable Meal on Willapa Bay

Like others, my most memorable meals are associated with an "event" more than with especally exotic/tasty food ... but there waaass this ONE time. It's kind of a long story:

Marcia must have bought her Orca (one of the original Eddyline designs: microcephalic bow; huge, flat stern -- the automatic broach machine in a following sea) in '84 or '83. I didn't even know what a sea kayak was, then. But, in '86 she took me and my then-wife out to the local boat ramp to paddle the behemoth. It was cool, and inspired enough confidence for us to commit to a memorable week-long guided Baja expedition with Tim and Larry "The Kayak," over the Xmas break. Marcia moved to Corvallis, OR, and I sort of lost touch with her.

Fast forward to the summer of '93, two years after Marcia had sold her ENTIRE sea kayaking kit (yak, two paddles, all the specialized outfitting gear, multiple dry bags, etc., etc.) to my long-time buddy Gary, for $400! By this time, Marcia had taken her boat, with her spaniel Lacey on the back deck (or, in heavy weather, in the cockpit!), ALL OVER the Pacific Northwest, by herself: San Juans, Barkley Sound, Desolation Sound, all over the Columbia River, and, very often, on Willapa Bay, WA, to her most favorite campsite on Long Island.

Lacey was getting long in tooth, and Marcia's "gift" had gotten Gary and me started paddling yaks down here, so Gary, my SO Becky, and I scheduled a special "nostalgia" trip for Marcia and Lacey: we borrowed another yak and freed up the Orca and all of Marcia's gear so she could trek out to her favorite spot, one last time. This was to honor and recognize the lady we called "the matron saint of Lower Columbia River sea kayaking."

We really did this up brown: a trio of roses and a glass of Chardonnay were handed to her, as she stepped ashore at her old spot; we had planned a mega veggie stir fry tailored to her food preferences (you don't want to know); set up her tent; catered to her every whim; took her and the aging dog on a hike to the cedar grove; yada yada yada.

We were having a terrific time, telling lies, getting a little sloshed.

As we were finishing the mid-afternoon snack (freshly-made guacamole and chips) and the first bottle of wine, we heard an annoying little whine on the water -- a small skiff was approaching, vectoring across up the Bay. Ah, well, some yahoo out for a spin ... the falling tide will take care of HIM pretty soon! No ... they're coming ashore here. My god, it's Mary and Link! What's this stuff? A huge cooler? Crepes? Freshly sauteed apples in sauce? What's Mary doing with that stuff? Oh, yeah, she's warming the crepes, heating the sauce, ladling the stuff out onto crepes in front of our faces, and flambeeing the whole thing with brandy! Huh? Ice cream, still hard from the dry ice, on top? I think I've died and gone to food heaven! Groan ... I'm so stuffed I don't think I can even roll over!

Thank you, Marcia.
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Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR

Copyright 1997 by Dave Kruger.
May not be reproduced or redistributed without author's permission.
Originally posted on WaveLength mailing list in Oct. 1997.
Republished here with permission.