Happy Holidays from the Oregon Coast

Newport Oregon.  High 48, low 35 Sunny, A beautiful day!

The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport gets all decked out in Holiday Cheer!  

The drizzle lifted for a bit and the weather was a balmy 50 degrees so we decided to try the Rogue Nation Brewery tour, have a bite to eat then head over to the Aquarium.  As we were waiting for the 3 pm tour, a large family with 4 little girls and 2 boys arrived.  Thinking maybe they were just waiting for a table, no big deal.  The children began complaining about the smell, the cold, etc.  Oh boy, this is going to get ugly.  Sure enough, they were going on a tour of the brewery too.  The kids were not going to enjoy this, as they were complaining before it even started.  Since we could come back any time, we jetted.

We ended up back at Nana's Irish Pub in Historic Nye Beach for Black and Tans, Corned Beef and Cabbage for Eric and a Reuben for me.  Tummy's full and satisfied, we headed back to the Aquarium.  Lots of families with Grandmas and Grandpas, little tykes in strollers and young couples with itty bitty babies enjoying everything Christmas can bring.  Made me miss my kid and the fun things we used to do at Christmas.  Since Eric worked swing shift a lot, we would load up the minivan with our cocker spaniel, our old cats and Ashley and I would go look at Christmas lights.  A stop at the drive thru Baskin and Robbins and our evening was complete.  Oh well, those days are long gone, but I have great fun memories.  Lacking a drive thru B&R here in Newport Eric & I settled for a glass of wine at home.

Our holiday is going to be spent here at Pacific Shores.  I will do a little turkey tenderloin in the slow cooker, fix some potatoes and vegetables and we'll settle in for some movies and enjoy the view.

On Friday we will celebrate the first anniversary of Eric's retirement and Saturday will mark our 28th wedding anniversary.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Newport Oregon….Misty, Foggy, high of 52, low 45

Our temporary view

Every once in a awhile you come across a BLM recreation area that is well maintained with knowledgeable volunteers and beautiful scenery all in one.  The Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area truly is "outstanding".  On the North end of Newport, Oregon the headland is a great spot for hiking with 5 trails, tide pooling, exploring the old lighthouse and whale watching.  The area is an one mile long lava flow.  Native Americans used this gateway to the sea to hunt marine mammals, collect mussels and seek spiritual enlightenment.  Captain Cook named this place Cape Foulweather due to the inclement weather he encountered there while moored at the Yaquina River.  He also named a spot just North of us Cape Foulweather.  My guess is he came here in the winter.  Pirates and sailors used the point as a navigation point as they travelled up and down the coastline.

The US Lighthouse Service built the lighthouse in 1872 and the lamp was lit on August 20, 1873.  There was a two story keepers dwelling, a barn, gardens, and outbuildings.  The light was kept lit by the lighthouse keepers.  Their days were filled with polishing, cleaning and repairing.  The lighthouse was automated in 1966, ending the era of station attendants.  Today the Coast Guard maintains the lights and the lens.  Friends of Yaquina Lighthouse provide tours in period costumes.  The volunteer who did our tour was very entertaining and knowledgeable.  It was interesting to try to imagine the hard work the keepers had to do just to keep the lamps lit and the lighthouse maintained.  

The lights 

A look down the staircase from the top

This is a great spot for whale watching during their migrations.  We will be stationed here during our turn at the Winter Whale Count.  Our site here at the resort is also a great spot to see the whales go by.  I saw whales everyday last week.  Some are in a big hurry to get south and others are just kinda coasting by.   I miss our spot, but more about that later.  

We joined the Oregon Coast Aquarium as we are always looking for places to go to.  For a small annual fee of $65.00 you have unlimited entry to the Aquarium and events for 2.  Right now they have Sea of Lights, a Christmas light display throughout the facility on Saturday and Sunday nights.  Next week they have a crab themed event.  

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

A vulture enjoying the sun

An otter enjoys his breakfast

The seals are swimming about

I can not imagine diving with this on my head!
The wetsuit is restrictive enough for me!

The resident Pacific Octopus

Sea Horses

Jellies!  Pat & Sam, I thought of you and Jellyfish Lake in Palau!

Newport is home to Oregon's largest fishing fleet and the crab season started on Monday morning.  All weekend long we saw lots of boats out on the water as they set  their pots.  After a few days 'soak', they go back and haul up the pots.  Word is the crab are big and plentiful this year.  One unlucky vessel ran aground in the Yaquina jetty, going south of the buoy markers instead of North.  The 40 year old vessel  was picked up by crane and sent to the boat works in Toledo, OR.  We went by to take a look as did lots of other folks.  It was an attraction Monday morning.  Later on we ventured down to the BayFront but not much happening there.  We were hoping to pick up some fresh tuna for Poke, but the only thing being sold was crab.   

The Fishing Vessel ran aground

I wrote earlier that I missed my lot on the ocean.  We are having some landscaping done that includes new planter areas, new patio areas, and new plants.  The contractor thought it would be easier to complete all the work if the Beast wasn't in the way so we moved to another site in the resort.  It's not on the water, but it is still very nice.  This is a very nice resort and if all you other nomads ever get to the west coast, you gotta try this place out.  I'll post the before and after photos once it is completed.  It  should be done next week and I can't wait to get back!

Have a very Happy Holiday Season!

BRRR! Now that's COLD!

I never get tired of the views

We spent the majority of last week enjoying the warm sunshine and exploring the coastline.  We went out to lunch with a couple from the resort and we explored the little shops on the highway in Depoe Bay.  It's kinda fun to just poke around with no real goals in mind!  We didn't find anything we couldn't live without.  

Cape Foulweather

Cape Foulweather

Cape Foulweather Gift Shop.  I loved the little guy with the Bino's!

We made a stop at Cape Foulweather.  The views are amazing and the little gift shop is full of fun things, just the right size for the Beast.  I got a small carved rock in the shape of a whale tale, a little plaque that said Gone Whale Watching and Eric got me a piece of beautiful amber that I can have mounted for a pendant.  I have a beautiful Amber bracelet so I am hoping to have it crafted to match.  I splurged a little at this shop as they have sold the shop to the State of Oregon and everything was discounted.  I hope the state keeps it open as they have amazing views out of the elements.  

Our next area of exploration was the Flying Dutchman Winery, the only working winery on the coast.  We enjoyed their wine tasting and of course purchased a few bottles.  It was really quite good and it is quite close to us here.  

The winery is next to the Devils Punchbowl which is a cool bowl shaped rock with clear water within.  As you can see the seas were very calm so there was little wave action.  We'll go back during a storm to see if it is any wilder then.

After several days of wonderful sunny warm weather, we experienced a cold snap that lasted the longest we have experienced yet!  Lows in the mid teens every night caused the underground pipes to freeze and when they began to thaw out on Sunday, several pipes in the resort burst and we had several unexpected water features throughout the resort.  Water has been intermittent and when its on, we fill the tank back up so we can shower, do dishes and everything else we need water for.  We managed to stay warm despite the 14 degree temps by adding another quilt on the bed and having two little bed hogs certainly doesn't hurt.  The most unusual thing is we got a few inches of snow on Friday and it didn't melt until Monday/Tuesday.  The landscape crew was busy on Saturday shoveling snow off the roads.  The highway was slippery with lots of ice as this section of the coast rarely gets snow, so no snow plows.  

Yes that says 12 degrees in Portland!

The view out my window.  See the flags whipping around?

What a great guy!  He weathered the freezing wind and snow for the pups!

Gidget warms herself by the "fire"

When the snow let up, we had hundreds of birds in the area.  Not sure if they were getting worms that peeked out to see why it was so cold!

You can only stay hibernating for so long so Monday we took a little road trip down the coast to Florence.  We made a few stops along the way as we are looking for a unique small tree and a whale wood carving.  We had a little luck with the small tree at a nice nursery we may go back to get once the yard is finished with it's update/remodel.  The roads were icy in spots and we were happy to get back home by dark.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Nana's Irish Pub (I think I should get a job there!  Just kidding!)  They have great food and the Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner is the best!

The little waterfalls along the road were all ice

The Sea Lions at Sea Lion Cave

Gotta love the different beaches here

We decorated the club house for Christmas on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed wine and snacks and watched the sunset.  This is the Good life!

Back to the Oregon Coast

After a wonderful week spent with our daughter we made the trek back to Oregon Coast.  We wanted to do the I-84 route up around the Cascades and along the Columbia River Gorge.  It took us a couple of days with a stop over in Pendleton.   I had always heard of the Oregon Wine Country but had never been.  We cut over to McMinnville and soon we were passing by lots of wineries.  I do think we will have to take a little while and go spend some there exploring.  The casinos nearby all have concerts occasionally and I think when the oldies come we should make a trip of it.  We are certainly looking for fun things to do since we'll be kind of settling in and not on the road as much for the next little while.  We both really enjoyed the traveling, but are looking forward to the chill factor of just hanging around. Newport is a fun town with lots to do and is within driving distance of other places to see.  We love the Oregon Coast and have enjoyed ourselves so far.

I love walks along the beach

This bird caught a little fish while I was watching

Bridge over Yaquina Bay

Sunset through the trees

For the past two weeks we have enjoyed wonderful sunshine and really nice temperatures.  Yesterday was foggy and we had a little ride up the coast.  We needed to get warm rainproof jackets so we went to the outlet shops in Lincoln City.  The shops were not crowded at all and all the stores had more than enough help.  We found nice warm rain gear at a great sale.  Afterwards we had a quick lunch at Mo's on the water and watched the rain.  

A rather informal Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a little different from our past life.  In years past, we spent the entire day cooking a large meal for the entire family, digging out the good china, crystal and silver.  Since it was just the two of us in restricted space, we did a turkey tenderloin in the slow cooker, stove top stuffing, canned cranberries and steamed broccoli.  Nothing fancy, and it passed for a Thanksgiving meal.  I remember my folks going to the beach for Thanksgiving many years ago and having turkey TV dinners.  That Thanksgiving is one of the ones they remember the most.  I think this one will be one of our most memorable.  Usually Eric had to work so the schedule changed each year.  This year it was just nice to have him home and no stress!

I signed us up for Whale Watching and Counting for the annual migration.  You count the whales going by and talk to visitors.  Sounded simple enough and definitely a way to get outside (hence the rain gear) and enjoy what there is.  We had to attend a day long training session starting at 8am.  The instructor was Dr. Mate from Oregon State University.  He has been studying whales and pinnipeds since the 1970's.  I would go hear him lecture again as I enjoyed it very much.  Our travels have taken us to lots of wonderful places and most center around animals.  It was funny to hear him mention places we have been, some 20 years ago, and remember our experiences there. 

The weather goes from sunshine to sideways rain.  Dark clouds are all around and the sky is blue over the water, at least for now.  Today is a lazy day, watching the waves crash and getting little things done.  We did some cyber Monday shopping, I reorganized a cupboard, and I think we will catch up on our DVR'd shows.  Boring, but beats going to work every day.  

Dreary Monday Morning

Gidget waiting for the rain to stop.  She hates going outside in the rain!

The sun pops out for a second or two