Good Times With Good Friends

We met up with Henry and Anne Goldman, some of our fulltime rv'ing friends, on Tuesday to do some coastal exploring.

Dean and I drove down to Newport to pick them up since their Jeep was in the shop. What a great reunion it was. It had been around 6 weeks or more since we had seen them last. We always have a good time together.

As Dean and I were headed to Newport we made a brief stop at Depoe Bay to see what everyone was watching. There was quite a crowd along the seawall. Well, it was high tide and it seems that there are several "horns" along the bank and they were blowing. It was so pretty and awesome at the same time. The bank along this area is made up of lava rock and the Pacific, over the years, has wore gorges and holes in the rock. When the tide is high with a lot of wave action, it pushes the water into the gorges and out the holes, creating the "horns". It really is an awesome sight.

We hurried on down to get Henry and Anne so we could get back to Depoe Bay before the tide went out to far. It had started to recede, but we did make it back in time for them to see just a little of how great it is.

Next we started whale watching - there is a whale information center along the waterfront in Depoe Bay and we stopped in to "get information". While there, the attendant said that whales had been spotted in Boiler Bay, just up the road, so off we went! It took us awhile, but see whales we did. They are just so shy, it was hard to get their picture. I think we watched them playing in the bay for about 30 min. It's so neat - they blow (through the blowhole) about three or four times, then they dive and will stay down for up to five minutes. When they dive they partially come out of the water and that's when you get to see them. Unfortunately for us, none of them breached the water - what a sight that would have been!

We then started driving south, back toward Depoe Bay and Newport. There are so many turnouts and state parks to stop at with each one offering wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean and the Oregon coastline. I just can't seem to get my fill of looking at the ocean and coast. It certainly is so different from the east coast.

We made stops at Otter Crest, Devils Punchbowl and Cape Foulweather to name a few. Every one offered it's own unique view and more whale watching.

Our last stop was at Agate Beach were we just knew we would find a million dollar stone - NOT! We did have fun hunting for it though. As we walked to the beach we found that we had to cross a fresh water stream. No problem, someone had put a pallet at a narrow spot so we could cross without getting our feet (shoes) wet. We walked along the stream, talking to some of the people that were rock gathering. One showed us what to look for to find an agate, but it didn't help us - we found none. At least I don't think the rocks we gathered are agate, but some are pretty? I think one of mine is a red jasper. We laughed as we gathered rocks, thinking back to the Lucy Arnez movie - The Long, Long Trailer, where she gathered BIG rocks during their vacation. We picked small ones so hopefully the weight won't be to bad. We had crossed back over the stream on a fallen log and when we got back to the area where we had parked - there was no visible way out except to cross the stream again and this time without benefit of a log or pallet. Dean explored (must have been the Boy Scout in him) and found a path (?) up to the road. I'm just glad that no one took my picture while trying to climb up this path - would have broke the camera for sure - LOL!

After such a wonderful afternoon of beautiful vistas along with a lot of sea air, we decided we were hungry and went to a great Chinese restaurant in Newport. Very good food. Well, at least Henry, Anne and myself thought so. Dean ordered the chicken fried rice and it was so full of "other junk" (his words) that he only ate about half and then ordered a bowl of white rice. I had sweet n sour chicken, egg roll, pork fried rice and Chinese BBQ pork. Ate most of it to!

Our last stop before taking Henry and Anne home was the docks in Newport. The harbor seals have taken over one area and the locals don't use this dock anymore - they would have to fight the seals off and I'm not sure who would win. When you look at the pictures, you will see that they are quite big!

After a wonderful afternoon we bid the Goldman's farewell and headed back to Pacific City - happy but tired. The drive back took about 90 min. even though it is about 50+ miles. There are a lot of 30 mph areas that really slow you down.

On Wed. it was overcast and rainy - a real good day to do laundry and just relax. In the afternoon the sun did peek out so we decided to drive north to Meares State Park to see the lighthouse. The ride there was really terrible - very, very rough roads, but some pretty sights!

We ended up in Tillamook, so stopped at the Safeway for a few groceries and then came back home for the evening.

Thursday dawned with more sun than clouds and we had decided previously to meet Henry & Anne back at Depoe Bay for another high tide display.

We met around 1 p.m. - high tide time, but were disappointed. Even though the tide was high, the seas were calm, so there was no great display of the "horns". We went back to the devils punchbowl expecting to see something more than an empty hole - we found it full of sea water, but no great display of force there either. Guess it just was not our day. After a late lunch at Izzy's we parted company, not knowing where or when we will meet again - but be sure - we will!

Pictures are at this web site:

http://picasaweb.google.com/SchultzTravelPhotos

Till next time.......