Oregon Coast Vacation Days 4-5

 

To read days 1-3 click here.

Warning: Long post. Apparently these were rather adventurous days!

Day 4: Sunday

Day 4 started as the previous day did, I walked out to the edge of the cliffs and enjoyed my morning coffee and smoke in front of the ocean. I tell you what, there is absolutely no better way to start the day. Well, there is one way, if a whale should happen to swim by. Unfortunately I did not bring the camera out with me this time, but it was still nice to watch.

Here is a better picture showing the wall of fog out in the distance. Even if we have sun the fog is never far off!

Today was actually very pretty! It was nice and sunny all day! so we thought we’d fit in a hike! But first we stopped by the Whale Observatory in Depoe Bay. It’s a cute little museum that offers great views of the bay, and is good for whale watching.

The hike we really wanted to do was closed for construction so unfortunately we couldn’t do it. Sad face. So we drove around Devils Lake, and then, while looking for a backup hike, we found the Old Highway 101 loop. So we took a scenic drive instead.

 

These purple flowers are everywhere up here! I think they are very pretty so I had to get a close-up of one.

View of the pretty forest.

The little visitors guide the hotel provided us did not make it easy to find the hikes. The only one we found was closed, the rest we could not locate so we gave up and went back to the coast.

 

Siletz Bay

This sign made us laugh really hard. I know it is a serious subject about tsunami’s but that imagery is hilarious!

     More seals. It was fun watching this younger seal try to climb up on the rock with the adults. He tried several times falling back in each time until he finally made it up. So cute!

Devils Punchbowl

We then decided to go to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. ($15.45 a person!)

You can’t see em, but there are piranha in this tank.

HUGE turtle! HUGE crab! these things are about the size of oh… a large pitbull. Not counting their legs.

Jellies!!!

Swimming Seal! This guy was rather playful. He kept swimming up to the glass, do a summersault then swim off again.

Landis being eaten by a shark hehe. Shark Tube! This was the entire reason I decided to spend the money on the aquarium the walk through tubes! I thought they went into the bay, but no they are just large aquariums. This is a lot better than the Salt Lake aquarium! The only thing Salt Lake has over this one is the Ray petting tank. This just makes me sad. Humans suck. (if you can’t read the little sign it reads: “This trash was picked up on South Beach in only 2 hours.”)

From the aquarium we decided to visit Yaquina Bay lighthouse. It was closed but I managed to snap a few shots anyway.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. This one is actually free to visit as well.

This is cape Foul Weather I believe. Towards the top you can see Devil’s Punchbowl.

After that we made it back to the hotel and enjoyed the foggiest night of all. It was so foggy everything was wet, including myself if I stayed out too long. It was kind of like really light rain, you know when its just misting, but different. It wasn’t coming down, it was just everywhere. Really cool experience.

Day Five: Monday

Here is the bay in front of the hotel room. I like that I caught a large wave crashing into the cliff.

Today we decided to spend the 7 bucks (a car load) to see Yaquina Head lighthouse. Happily there are quite a few things to see and do in the area so it was worth the money to see it. Not to mention you can actually climb up this one.

  This last one would have made a better shot if I got people to move their hands, but I really had one thing on my mind. DOWN. I am deathly afraid of heights, and even though this stair case had landings every story and wasn’t just a spiral up, I was having a small panic attack the entire time. Odie of course being the fearless fool he is was goofing around and delaying my reaching stable earth so I screamed at him “F***ING MOVE!!!” only to hear it echo back at me from both up and down. Oops. Sorry kiddies.

Upon reaching solid ground again, refraining from kissing it that is, we walked around and checked out all the birds gathered on the rocks up here. Loud things.

I rather like this shot.

We then hiked down to Cobble Beach. This is by far the coolest beach ever! There is no sand, it is all cobble stones. The most amazing part of this beach is as the waves came in and out not only did you hear the standard ocean sound, but it was accompanied by the sound of rocks being moved up and down. There really is no way to describe this unique noise but I tell you, if I could I would build a house right on this beach and sleep soundly for the rest of my life.

If look closely towards the center you can see the cute little seal poking his head out of the water. I love this shot of me. (very rare indeed. I take pictures, I don’t typically like pictures taken of me.)

You can see the water draining through the cobble stones.

I don’t normally do texture shots but this beach inspired me.

Again, not my typical subject but inspired. Yaquina Head is a definite must do if you are in the area.

These are artificial tide pools they built in a former quarry. I love that they managed to restore what would normally be an eyesore in a very pretty area. What's cool, is what was not anticipated that the ocean currents changed and filled the area with sand, and then a family of seals moved in. I would say the restoration project was a success!

From Yaquina Head we had lunch then parted ways with the family. We wanted to go down and see the Sea lion Caves.

Pretty rock formation Sea lions a plenty

To actually get into the cave it is $12.00 a person. I think its worth it, being the largest sea cavern in the US. You then take a scary elevator down 20 stories into the cliff wall. It lets you out into a cave where they have a few exhibits and then ultimately to the sea lion cavern. I was slightly disappointed as I thought it was going to be a big ol cave system, and well it wasn’t but it was really cool.

In the caves.

On the other end of the caves you can walk up what appears to be a lava chute to get a view of Heceta Head lighthouse.

  Heceta Head Lighthouse. According to the little guide I got this lighthouse only costs $3.00 a vehicle. We didn’t go explore the area though so I don’t know for sure.

After the sea lion caves we decided to continue south towards Florence. On the way there we passed a turn out for Darlingtonia St. Scenic park. Why not we decide. So we drive down a long road that went around this creepy lake. Don’t get me wrong its a very pretty lake but it was so quiet I was just getting a scary Jason, Friday the 13th vibe. I kept hearing that che che che che ah ah ah ah. Anyway, after seeing a deer and her 2 fawn we didn’t really see anything else and the road turned to gravel. I guess the lake is the scenic thing? Either that or we didn’t drive far enough either way we turned around. At this point we decided to go back to the hotel rather than continue on to Florence. We ultimately decided all the coastal cities are the same and we’d rather see nature.

On the way back we passed Cook’s Chasm. I learned there is a sea spout here of course the tide wasn’t high enough for it to do anything, but I was excited that I had finally found one! This area offered a small trail so we hiked it.

There were a bunch of tide pools in the area within the lava rocks. Rather cool. Another fun creepy trail.

Also in this trail system was Devils Churn. This is really cool the way the waves crash through the crevice is amazing! It really reminded me of Dragon’s Mouth Hotspring in Yellowstone. Just the violent churning of water in a rocky chamber. What I found rather interesting was you can walk right up to the chasm. There are no safety fences or anything. I kind of joked that that will change when some dummy falls in. Sadly though, you know that is not far from the truth. Here is the tip of the Churn. Supposedly during high tide the water will gush out pretty high here.

We decided to pull over at Seal Rock and the beach there. I am very glad we did. This is a cool area consisting of 2 beaches with a ring of rocks that extends out into the ocean. Between the beaches lies the largest, I am guessing seal rock itself. I absolutely LOVE this beach. It is very photogenic.

   My brother informed me a day or 2 before this that this was where they filmed the last scene of Goonies. You know where the ship comes out from behind the rocks. Being a few years since I have seen the movie I was totally there. I even imagined seeing the pirate ship coming out from behind those rocks. However, after doing a little research I found this was not the case. That scene was filmed in California. Some of Goonies was however filmed in Oregon, and after my research I really wish I had visited Cannon City while I was up north by Seaside as that beach looks amazing. Sigh. Next year. Next year. There were also tide pools at this beach.

Another random texture shot The view of the other beach that I never did figure out how to get to.

Panoramic of the southern beach.

After we climbed back up to the top I noticed a sign I really wish I had read on the way in. Apparently the beach I just wandered all over is an extremely dangerous beach. Prone to rip tides, sudden changes in water level, falling debris, etc etc. Well, glad we made it back safely!

After that we made it back to the hotel room and had quite the exact opposite night than the night before. It was the clearest it had been the entire trip. I just marveled at all the stars I could see, not to mention the milky way! Also, my life is now complete as I finally not only recognized the Scorpio constellation, but I could see every single star that is encompassed by it. YAY!

Wow, that was a busy two days! Stay tuned for what I hope to be the finale of the trip. :)

Photo Of The Week July 11th – 17th 2009

 

“Feuergeist”

My friend had some fire dancers at her birthday bash and I snapped quite a few amazing shots. This particular one is just stunning. I will probably be posting an entire post with these but I have so much more to get posted right now.

Oregon Coast Vacation Days 1-3

 

Those who have followed my blogs over the years know that I tend to write a detailed account of the vacations I take. This is mostly to help me remember my vacations down the road, but also to share my experiences with people and maybe even perhaps give people ideas for things to do if they happen to vacation in the same area.

This vacation started out a little more stressful than normal. It was on, it was off, and last minute it was on again. So we kind of scrambled last minute. Not to mention right before leaving I broke a crown off. Luckily my old dentist was able to fit me in and get it fixed before we left. So we packed and got a late departure of around 6 pm with a 14 hour drive ahead of us.

Day One: Thursday

Day one was well, driving. We made it all the way through Idaho before it got dark. I really had hoped to push us past the halfway mark so I pushed on to Baker City, Oregon. I didn’t realize that this unfortunately meant we drove blindly through a very steep and winding canyon that we couldn’t see. That was a very nerve wrecking drive. But we made it, and found a well priced hotel to crash in. Now I would have given this hotel 5 stars even though it was a cheap super 8, however, people are inconsiderate. When we came in just after midnight we were quiet, we whispered walked quietly, and closed our doors slowly. It was after midnight after all. Well, I will never be so considerate again as at 6 am to about 8 am when I got up it was nothing but: SLAM SLAM SLAM thump thump thump thump SLAM SLAM! morning people are inconsiderate jerks! I guess they figure everyone should be up when they are! so I had to remove a star from the hotel because of this. Maybe they should consider the nature of people and soundproof better.

Day Two: Friday

Anyway, we got up, enjoyed our free breakfast and headed back out on the road. The first landmark I enjoyed, being the nerd that I am was the sign saying we just crossed the 45th parallel (halfway between the equator and the north pole) woo!  We then climbed yet another mountain that offered this amazing view.

Have I mentioned yet how much horizons freak me out? Particularly this one that just stopped. I could not for the life of me figure out why it stopped until we got 40 miles or so down the road and I learned that this was a dust storm area.

Dad: “What lake is that over there?”

Mom: “That’s the Columbia River, dear.”

Dad: “That’s a river!? Wow it’s so big!”

We finally reached the Columbia River signaling we were almost to our destination. YAY. I’m with my dad, it is pretty freaking huge! Of course, I have never seen the Mississippi but yea.

Next we got our first glimpse of Mount Hood. (part of my Drive By Photography album) There were a lot of things I would really have liked to stop and get out and take a proper picture, but I really just wanted to arrive at my destination.

Multnomah Falls – The namesake falls

View from the bridge.

Multnomah Falls was the one thing in the area I had researched and planned on doing. There are actually 10+ falls in the area and I had hoped on hiking up to all of them, but it was extremely crowded and we still had quite a way to go to our final destination. So we decided to push on. I did make it back before the trip was over (see the last day post).

Our trip route, provided by google ended up driving through the heart of Portland. I should have known better but I thought it couldn’t be so bad, and hell, why not scratch off another major city right? Oi. NEVER AGAIN! I… well, lets just suffice it to say I am not a fan of Portland, it’s terrible freeway system, or it’s terrible drivers. It is official, Portland drivers are worse than Utah drivers. (but not as bad as Idaho drivers) I will say that it appears to be out of necessity as the Portland freeway system is well, terrible. Ug. And then we were stuck in this traffic from Portland out through McMinnville. I did find a better route that does not put you through Portland, so next time hopefully I wont have to suffer through that part of the trip.

We finally reached the coast and made it to Depoe Bay. Of course this was now Friday and all of the tourists were here as well, so traffic was terrible here at the time. We made it to the hotel, checked in unpacked and went to check out the view.

People. I am not kidding this is the view just a few steps out of my door. How sick is that! Wait, wait, I have a cherry to put on top of this…

Those are seals. Real live seals sitting in the little private harbor in front of my room.

And look at this adorable pup! Again, in the wild, right outside my hotel room!

After thoroughly enjoying the wildlife right outside my door we decided to get something to eat. We were totally done driving and I had happened to ask where was the closest place to eat and the front desk lady told us Jacks. Less than a mile down the road. Let me do you a favor, do NOT eat at Jacks. It was terrible and over priced. ick.

Day Three: Saturday

Here is the Hotel we stayed in. Note the fog, it was foggy about 85% of the time we were here which I loved! I know, most people want sun when they are on the coast, I happened to enjoy the fog.

If the fog wasn’t ashore, it was always about a half mile off coast.

What is better than enjoying coffee and a smoke in front of the ocean? Well, Happening to see a Whale go by.

First photo a good “spout” second photo you can see his/her back.

This happened to me twice. I snuck out to have a smoke and a whale goes by. Second time I did not have my camera handy and It was twisting and showing flippers. Grrr. But it was still amazing to watch. I can’t believe how close to shore they come here!

More seals. These guys are so stinking cute!

After an exciting morning of seeing a whale we decided to head up north to Tillamook to see the cheese factory. Not a very photogenic place so I have no pictures, but I, and my family as well, all enjoyed getting to munch some squeaky cheese. (or cheese curds as my family is used to from the now out of business Star Valley Cheese.) nom nom nom.

After a lot of debate we decided to keep pushing North towards Seaside. I had my mind set as we were already halfway there, why not just go for it? My mom was with me in this thought, Jeff and Tammy were being back and forth. Eventually they agreed to continue north as well. We got to seaside, which advertises the “Famous Promenade” Yea, Seaside sucks ass. EXCEPT that is has an amazing beach. Of course I didn’t bring my swimsuit and even though I wanted to play in the water I was forced to roll up my pant legs and wade but it was great. So Seaside has the best beach, but the rest is kind of scary.

The Beach My Mom and Niece playing in the water

  My brother attempting to body surf.

As the tide went in and out I was enthralled with the fact that I was slowly being sucked into the sand. That is until we started seeing these creatures scurrying about and digging into the sand, and being discovered underfoot. Ok, I am done with the water.

 I don’t know what it is but its creepy.

The fog rolled in as we came out of the water.

After slowly dragging our way through the sand we decided we would meet in Lincoln City to have dinner. I however had plans to see more scenery so we took a slight detour west of Tillimook through the 3 capes loop.

Small patch of sunlight. Well i’ll be the ocean really is blue!

Here we arrived at Cape Meares which had a lighthouse. So we decided to take the short hike down to it. My dad actually decided that he could handle this short hike so he came along.

View of the cliffs

Foggy trail

Cape Meares Lighthouse. Free to visit.

View from the other side.

Octopus Tree – They aren’t really sure what caused this but it is cool. Designated an Oregon Heritage Tree April 2009.

There was actually quite a bit to do in this small area by the lighthouse. This was probably my favorite part of the trip because I got in a short hike with my mom and dad again, and they were both as excited as I was (they are both photography nerds too). My only regret was not taking their picture while we were here. I get so caught up taking pictures of the beautiful scenery, I completely space capturing some memories. I only have maybe 10 – 15 pictures of Landis and I, and believe it or not, that is a record!

Those 3 arches from sea level.

I believe this is Cape Kiwanda near Pacific City. That rock is stinkin HUGE!

If it were just me, I would have spent a lot more time in this area taking pictures. Waiting for the perfect lighting and such, it was absolutely beautiful!

That was definitely worth the extra time it took. My parents both enjoyed it, and within an hour of complaining that I described them as “gushing” in my Yellowstone post, they were both gushing about this loop, and the hike. hehe. I like it though, that tells me they really enjoyed it and I am very happy to have enjoyed that experience with them.

After this we finally met up with the rest of the family at Pier 101 for dinner. Okay guys, if you are anywhere near Lincoln City I definitely recommend Pier 101. This was the BEST place we ate. They even got a second visit from us! I recommend the prime rib (only on Friday and Saturday) or any of the seafood. It was all delicious. They are reasonably priced and their proportions were huge! So unless you can take in a lot of food, you can share your meal with someone which makes it even more cost effective. :) I would give this place 6 out of 5 stars, that is how good they are.

More on my trip coming soon!