HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, PAMI! HOPE YOU ARE FEELING BETTER SOON; SO SORRY YOU WERE SICK ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!
Day 190 – It started raining again around bedtime last night and continued with increasing wind gusts until a little after lunch today. 40 degrees last night, the high today was 50 degrees.
Once it had stopped raining (temporarily), we went out to run some errands, stopping at a hardware store, two pet food places (there is a current shortage of cat food so we’ve been stocking up when we can), and a stop to restock Rob’s beer and I got a 32-oz. growler of Bandon Rain Squall Cider (it will be hard to find from now on). Carol, I also got a Josh Cabernet Sauvignon, thought of you. We are still looking for kitty litter – stores lately haven’t carried our favorite brand, but supposedly some will be arriving Friday at one store – we’ll stop there on the way out of town.
Missions accomplished, we stopped at several sight-seeing places on the way back to the campground. First, Boiler Bay Lookout: just above Depoe Bay, Oregon’s whale-oriented city where people come to go whale watching and where there are the most chances to view whales from on land, Boiler Bay has a whale lookout area at the top of a cliff that juts out into the ocean. There are lots of parking places, indicating that in-season there is quite a crowd. When we got there, it wasn’t too busy but as we were leaving lots more cars were driving in. It was cold, wet, and windy. Rob walked out to the point while I waited in the car (I hadn’t brought a jacket, duh). I told him to holler if he saw a whale. He soon waved at me and I braved the Arctic chill (LOL) to join him. He saw a whale twice but didn’t have his camera with him (duh). I did not see a whale, but I did have my camera with me, and I was surprised to find a Great Blue Heron at the edge of the cliff right by where I was standing. Got pictures of that!
Then we went to check out Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge on the Siletz River and the Millport Slough south of Lincoln City. Looked like a wonderful place to kayak; there was a three-mile kayak loop trail on the Siletz River. Much too cold and windy for kayaking today though.
Last, we stopped at the “Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area” near Newport. Operated by the Bureau of Land Management, this was a great place to see stunning views of the ocean and the land north and south of Yaquina Head. It is also the home of the tallest lighthouse in Oregon. On a nice, clear day we would’ve seen whales and seals in addition to possibly doing a hike to a tide pool, but it was clouding up and blowing too much. There’s also a very nice, large interpretive center. If there is a nicer day while we are here at Seal Rock, we’ll drive back to this Area and see more.
Back at the RV we enjoyed some Cranberry Apple Cider and Rob had one of the local Oregon beers he just bought. It rained again most of the night and it was windy.