Oregon Coast - Day Three

Wednesday April Fools day turned out to be a laid back day at our rental house.  It started out with Hailey filling her Mom's and my swimming suits with shave cream... "April Fools!!!".  After breakfast we headed down to the beach for a walk.  It was breezy, with mixed skies.  It alternated between rain showers, and the sun popping out.  We all spent a few hours down on the beach below the house.  I was out with the view camera and took a bunch of photographs.  The girls were mostly just playing in the sand dunes and collecting a few shells.  By about lunch time we headed back up to the house.  I spread out my camera gear to dry off... and the girls hit the hot tub.
We decided to head into town and have something for lunch.  We found a nice little restaurant overlooking the beach and for a change, the food was pretty good.  Quite an improvement from the fast food that we have "enjoyed" in recent days...  After lunch we headed over to Yaquina Head State Park.  This is the park I visited by myself a couple nights ago, and my three day pass was still good.  We went down the stairs to Cobble Beach.  This is a "Marine Garden" and is carefully monitored by park staff.  We saw a harbour seal pup on the beach that had been born earlier that day.  Apparently the mother leaves the pup alone on the beach at low tide, and then returns at high tide. 
This beach consists of millions of round pepples ranging from marble size to baseball size.  These were formed by eons of waves polishing and tumbling them, but the rock itself was originally created when an inland lava flow found it's way to the sea millions of years ago.  There are some really cool tide pools here that are accessible at low tide.  Aside from the harbor seals we also saw sea anemones, starfish, sea urchins, crabs, hermit crabs, mussels, barnicles and sculpins.  The girls had a blast wandering around and exploring.  We checked out the Yaquina Head Lighthouse briefly before heading back to our rented house.  The girls hit the hot tub for a while and we just stretched out to relax.  No one was hungry for supper as we were all still full from the big lunch.
The skies cleared during the afternoon and the sun came out.  Tomorrow is forecast to be the best day of the week so we plan on getting up early and getting out while we can.

These first few shots were taken down on Agate Beach, the one right below our rental house.  We found a really cool dead Sea Lion which of course I had to photgraph...

Then we headed over to Yaquina Head State Park.  Here are a bunch of shots taken at the Lighthouse, and overviews of the beach and tide pools down below...

Lots of Harbor Seals were lounging about on the offshore rocks.

These next images were all taken down below the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, down at Cobble Beach and in amongst the tide pools.

Last shot of the day was the sun setting out over the Pacific, as seen from the deck of our rental house

Oregon Coast - Day Two

March 31st was our second day in Newport and it rained over night, at times heavily.  When I got up in the morning, just before 8:00AM, it was heavily overcast, but calm.  While we were getting ready for the day and having breakfast, it showered off and on.  It looked as though it wouldn't be a great day. 

We decided to head down to the historic Bay Front in Newport.  It is a mix of Tourist traps, gift shops, restaurants and industrial sites.  There is an active fishery here, that includes some processing plants.  I am quite familiar with three of the tourist traps... The Wax Works [wax museum], Ripley's Believe it or Not, and Oregon Undersea Gardens.  My company provided skylights for these three projects back in the early 1980's and they are all still here and still functioning.  As with my last visit 25 years ago, they again only served to lighten my wallet.  The wax museum is OK... we skipped Ripleys, and the Undersea Gardens was a big disappointment, even to the girls.  But, the two older ones really liked the wax museum. 

We wandered around town for a while, bought some salt water taffy and some of the typical tacky tourist souvenirs, and then had lunch at a local cafe.  The sun came out off and on during the day, but there were also a few light showers... pretty reasonable weather all the same.

The City of Newport recently installed some new platforms for the local population of California Sea Lions.  Apparently the females stay behind back in California, but the adult and juvenile males migrate up the coast and spend some time in places like here in Newport.  This year something has brought them north in record numbers.  A shop keeper told us that there was some sort of environmental issue with their food supply down in California.  Now the city has set up a charity to collect funds for the construction of a viewing dock for all the tourists.  Right now the tourists are all over a dock that is supposed to be shared by some of the fish processing plants and the businesses are getting a little annoyed at all the activity.  In fact the locals are getting pretty frustrated and tired of all these Sea Lions.  They are very loud and agressive and have pretty much taken over the place.

After leaving the bay front we headed over to the massive Bay Bridge over the Yaquina Bay.  I took a couple of photographs here with my view camera before we all headed down onto the rocky flats beside the bridge, that had been exposed by the low tide.  The girls explored for a while and saw a hermit crab, some anemones, and a few small rock fish.  They collected the obligatory sea shells and rocks before we hiked back up to the parking area. 

Hailey, Annelise and I decided to try walking out onto the Bay Bridge.  Anna was pretty brave and made it quite a way before turning back. Hailey and I continued out a little further, to the main arch, before turning back.  After leaving the bridge we picked up some take out Mexican Food for dinner, and headed back to the house.  By the time we finished up our evening meal it was starting to rain again.  So we gave up on the idea of an evening walk on the beach and just hit the hot tub for a while before settling down for the evening. 



Oregon Coast - Day One

We got up in the morning, had some breakfast, and headed out from the house we rented in Newport.  We started out by heading back up the coast a short distance to the north.  We went back to Depoe Bay, hoping that the girls could spot some whales again.  But this time, there were none to be seen.  I guess we just got lucky the other day when we were driving by.  We turned back to the south and continued on.  There are so many State Parks and Waysides along the Oregon Coast that you can't drive more than a few minutes before getting to the next.  We turned off Highway 101 and took a side road around Cape Foulweather to Otter Crest.  Immediately after turning off we crossed over a beautiful single lane, concrete arch bridge originally constructed in 1916, at a cost of $45,000.  Now the vehicles that cross over it cost more than that...!!  We continued along this narrow winding road, parts of which were limited to one way traffic.  This must have been the old coast highway, now replaced by the newer Highway 101, just a few hundred yards further up the slope.  Eventually we wound our way down to Otter Crest. 

Here we found the Devils Punchbowl....  a collapsed sea cave that is now a large bowl-shaped structure that the surf pounds into.  Right beside it we found a location of Mo's Chowder House.  This small chain of local restaurants is famous for it's clam chowder.  We had to stop for lunch and check it out.  It was pretty good... served in a hollowed out sourdough bun.

After lunch we continued south and made a stop at the next State Park... Beverly Beach.  This one was very similar to the one below our rental house... Agate Beach.  We spent a couple hours here wandering around on the big sandy expanse of beach and exploring.  By this time the tide was out, as low tide was at around 4:30PM.  I took a couple of shots with the view camera.

The cliffs along the beach were full of fossilized clams and scallops.  There were literally hundreds of fossils embedded in a layer of rock that was being exposed by the surf.  After we finished up exploring here we headed into Newport and went to the local grocery store.  We stocked up on some groceries to make supper, and to have some food and drink in the house.

After dropping off all the groceries and the girls at the house I headed back out again by myself.  I went over to Yaquina Head State Park.  This projection of outcropping rock is also the site of a lighthouse.  It is a rather manicured and urbanized park.  Paved walking trails, fenced boundaries, an interpretive center, and a day use fee.  But the lighthouse was pretty cool, and there are tidepools, and some harbor seals.  So, despite the crowds and the manmade elements I think I will bring the girls back here. 

As I was taking some photographs of the surf and some rocks, the girls texted me to let me know that supper was ready and they were waiting for me.  I headed back to the house and we had supper together.  After supper the girls and I headed out onto the beach for a short walk.  By this time a bank of cloud had rolled in, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped.  Our walk didn't last all that long and it sure felt good to jump into the hot tub and warm up before heading in for the night.

The forecast for the rest of the week is not great, with a chance of some showers almost every day.  We'll have to wait and see what happens and make the best of it.  Hopefully we get some chances to get back out more, and at the rainy times we will check out some of the shops, museums and galleries in some of the towns.  

Coastal Forest north of Newport

The old Highway at Cape Foulweather and Otter Crest.

The view from Cape Foulweather, looking south toward Beverly Beach with Yaquina Head and the lighthouse visible in the distance.

The Devil's Punchbowl at Otter Crest

Beverly Beach, home to seaweed covered rocks, marine fossils, barnacles, bull kelp strands, and a great place for Helena to play in the sand.  Notice her beach bucket from Mo's Chowder House.

I took the above shot of these seaweed covered rocks with my digital camera and quite liked it.  I decided it was worth a shot with my 4x5.  So I wandered back over to where I had left my backpack, and brought it back to this spot.  Just as I was stretching out the tripod legs and getting ready to set up, a family of four walked out with their beach chairs, set them up at the end of the far rock, and their two little kids proceeded to start digging in the sand, totally ruining the shot.  They were totally oblivious to what I was doing...  So this is the only image I came back with.

Can't think of how many times something similar to this has happened in the past.  I thought it would be obvious enough what I was doing, but apparently not...!!  Damn Americans!

My evening drive up to Yaquina Head yielded these shots of the Harbor Seals and Cormorants on one of the offshore rocks, and some great views of the lighthouse.  Also an overview of Cobble Beach and the tide pools below the lighthouse.

Arrival at our destination....

Sunday March 29th was a fairly uneventful driving day.  The side effect of driving so late the night before, was that it makes today's drive easier and shorter.  We had breakfast at our hotel in Ritzville, Washington and then hit the road by about 9:30AM.  The Columbia plateau southwest of Ritzville it pretty flat and barren.  Much like the rolling prairie back home in southern Alberta.  Soon we dropped down into the Columbia Valley and crossed over the river into Oregon.  We followed the mighty Columbia all the way to Portland.  From there we branched off across country, towards the coast.  We stopped for a late lunch just outside of Portland, and by 3:30 we were back on the road again.  The highway out to Lincoln City was very busy.  Not in the direction we were going, but with all the traffic heading back in to Portland.  I guess it must have been the weekend crowd, heading home for the work week.  Finally by late afternoon we arrived in Lincoln City.  We made a brief stop at a grocery store, so we would have some food at the house in the morning.  I spent some time down here on the Oregon Coast when I was younger, but that was about 25 years ago.  I sure has been built up a lot and become much busier than I remember.  As we drove past a viewpoint near Depoe Bay I remarked to the girls that it looked familiar and that I think this was the spot where I had seen Pacific Grey Whales 25 years earlier.  They looked out at the ocean and much to my surprise, actually spotted several whales as well.  I think it must have been about 6:30 by the time we finally rolled up to the rental house just outside of Newport.  Much like Lewis and Clark must have felt, it was a huge relief to finally arrive at the Pacific....

The house is huge... and sitting on a property overlooking Agate Beach.  The Yaquina Head lighthouse is visible about a mile to the north.  The master bedroom must be half the size of our main floor back home.  And he ensuite bathroom is about the size of our living room.  And there are three large bedrooms downstairs on the lower floor.

We quickly threw all of our luggage out of the truck, and then headed out for a walk on the beach.  There is a private path through the woods down to the beach.  We walked around on the beach until the light began to fade, and then headed back up to the house.  The girls jumped into the hot tub on the deck, and we had something to eat before turning in for the night.  Kind of nice to fall asleep with the sound of the crashing surf in the background.....

Here is a shot of Mt. Hood that Hailey took out of the front windshield of the truck.  This was as we were bombing along the Interstate, and the south shore of the Columbia River.

This is a beach view of our rental house above Agate Beach, on the outskirts of Newport Oregon.  And a view from the base of the trail down to the ocean, looking out to the open Pacific.

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse, about a mile south of our rental house.  This landmark would be prominent in many of the photographs that I would take over the coming days...

As we wandered about on Agate Beach, this was one of the few small rock outcrops that was evident.  There was not much in the way of marine life on this rock, but at least the gulls seemed to like it.

Only Canadian Girls would venture out onto the beach, in the evening, in March, in shorts and summer wear.  The two older girls spent many hours over the upcoming few days splashing in the surf and squealing and shrieking as the waves washed in on them.  Most of the locals were fully dressed in much warmer attire...!!

March 28th - On The Road Again...

We've spent the last few days getting ready for our Spring Break trip out to the Oregon Coast.  We have a house rented at Newport, and are packed up and ready to go.  Though the preparations were somewhat last minute, we were mostly ready to go.  Last night Hailey and Annelise had dance class.  After dance we went out for something to eat.  Hailey's friend Emily, who is in the same dance class, came along with her Mom.  Margarit's sister Natalia is visiting from California, and she came along as well.  By the time we got home, there was little time left for packing.  I checked over all the stuff that the girls had packed for themselves, and made some adjustments.  It's funny how they remember things like shorts and bathing suits for a March trip to the Pacific coast, but forget things like enough socks, warm jackets, jeans...!!  I got them sorted out and then quickly went over my own stuff, mostly photographic, before turning in.

We got up in the morning, and I hoped to hit the road by about 8:00AM.... somewhat optimistic for an entourage of four girls...!!  But, we were up pretty much on time, and tried to start loading all of our gear into the truck.  Margarit had loaned her SUV to her sister, and had been driving my truck during the week.  That didn't permit me any time to get the truck organized beforehand.  This morning when I went to check everything and get organized I discovered that I had misplaced the registration and the 2015 license plate sticker.  After frantically tearing apart the truck and then my home office I eventually gave up and we had no choice but to transfer everything over to my work truck.  Despite all that we managed to hit the road by about 8:30.  A brief stop for fuel and we were on our way....

We travelled south on Highway 2, bypassed Calgary, and headed West towards Banff.  I quickly realized that I had forgotten my National Park pass in the other truck, but as it turned out we didn't need to it just pass through the park.  After entering Banff National Park we turned off at Castle junction and headed up and over the divide into Kootenay National Park.  We passed through Radium Hot Springs and continued south to Cranbrook.  From there we travelled south to Moyie, Yahk and on to the US border crossing at Kingsgate.  This port of entry is pretty quiet and it was quick and easy to enter the USA.  The border guard was quite human and we were not subjected to the usual arrogance and attitude that we have become accustomed to. 

We travelled south through the Idaho panhandle.  We made a fuel stop just outside of Bonners Ferry and found that diesel was $2.69US per gallon.  Factoring conversion to the US gallon and the currency exchange between the 80 cent Canadian dollar, this works out to slightly less that what we paid back at home.  There was a really cool antique store across the street from the service station and I just had to stop and let Margarit poke around in all the old junk.  She was in her glory, and the girls bought a few small items.

We rolled on further south to Sandpoint and Cour d'Alene before eventually turning east into Washington state and Spokane.  This was where we had planned to stop for the night.  We tried to check into several hotels and quickly discovered that ALL of them were full.  The NCAA college basketball tournament known as March Madness was going on in the area and there were a lot of people in attendance.  There was also some sort of big volleyball tournament going on.  We eventually gave up and continued on through Spokane.  It was a good thing that we had gained an hour when we crossed over into the Pacific time zone so it was really not as late as it felt to us.  We continued on past Spokane for about an hour, and then tried again to find a hotel room in Ritzville.  This place was also almost full, but we managed to get the last two rooms.  We probably could have squeezed all five of us into a room with two beds, but that was not an option, as there were no double rooms left.  So we took the last two rooms and settled down.  By this point it was about 9:30 our time, and we had been on the road for over 12 hours.  We settled down into the two rooms, had a gourmet dinner at the gas station McDonalds across the parking lot, and settled down for the night.  The upside is that we are now only about 7 hours away from our destination on the Oregon Coast so tomorrow will be a piece of cake.  We are trying to settle down and unwind so that we can continue the trek in the morning.