Oh how nice it is to get away from the piles and files and just drive to the quiet Oregon coast! We enjoyed a week seeing new things on a relaxed schedule. Well, mostly relaxed -- the first day we drove to Portland but recorded books made the miles just roll along. The GPS that we received some time ago from the family was put to good use and made life easier. Early Tuesday morning we drove to Astoria and found it a big time tourist town but it was a gateway to other sites. I had to go to the school featured in Schwarzenegger's 1990
Kindergarten Cop and there is Louise -- the all-time best kindergarten teacher.
A few months ago I watched a documentary on the Lewis & Clark expedition so I was interested in going to their 1805-06 winter camp at the mouth of the Columbia river. Fort Clatsop, as you can see, was little but so much better than soaking in tents. The Indians treated them well and so it was at least livable. It was remarkable all of the scientific documentation that was accomplished by the Corps of Discovery. The forests of western Oregon are incredible -- dense, many hues of green, and huge Sitka pine trees that rise into the morning mist.
We arrived in Waldport late Tuesday afternoon and settled in to our apartment. It was about two blocks from a huge, vacant beach. The beach is about 150 yards wide and I never saw more than 4-6 people on it at a time. We could have walked for five miles along the water. OK, so the air temperature never got above 64F so it wasn't a swimming beach but it was still enjoyable. Us and the birds -- good company.
Louise looked out of our kitchen window and said "That looks like an LDS church." Sure enough, we walked the two blocks and it belonged to the Waldport Branch.
We wanted some new experiences so we went crabbing on Wednesday. You take a chicken breast or a mink carcass (looked like a skinned cat -- OK, so I have never seen a skinned cat but .. never mind), fasten it to the bottom of the crab trap, and throw it into the water by the wharf. After about 10-15 minutes to give wandering crab time to smell and travel to your trap, you pull it up and there are the guys. Well, there are gals too but you have to throw back females and any under 5.75" wide. Fish chunks are not used because the local harbor seals way find their way to your trap and tear it apart getting to the meat. We did have success in getting two that we took home and ate that afternoon. Very good.
Thursday was another new adventure where we went kayaking. We paddled toward the ocean to see some (approx 500) harbor seals then back into the bay and up a slough to enjoy a rather peaceful little trip. Peaceful that is until at the halfway point where a ten year old said "Hey, we are ahead of the grandma and grandpa!". Punk kid, I'll show him! I did not know it but Louise thought the same thing so before long we were 150 yards ahead of him.
We went south of Waldport on two occasions (Cape Perpetua named by Capt. Cook) at low tide to enjoy the tide pools. There were amazing! There were hundreds of thousands of shells locked on the rocks and in the pools -- well, look for yourself. There were hundreds of "sea stars" (I guess they are no longer starfish) that ranged in color from bright orange to purple. A fun experience.
Louise had hoped for a whale sighting. A friend from Hyde Park lived in the area for nine years and never saw a whale but Louise selected a nice restaurant (Adobe Resort) next to the ocean and right in front of us for one hour was a whale. You can see it spouting in the center of the photo.
By the way -- restaurants are not a high point of Waldport. The Salty Dog Bar and Grill was a big recommendation by the locals. They can keep it in business. I won't be a repeat customer.
Another "experience" that we had was agate hunting/gathering on the beach (Lost Creek Beach just north of Waldport). After some uncertainty, we learned what an unpolished agate looked like and gathered a few of them. Now we just need to get with someone to polish them.
The Oregon coast is beautiful. I could go again if I want a "chill out" experience. Haystack Rock (next to Cannon Beach) was one of the many beautiful sights along our drive. It can be reached by foot at low tide.
Well before what seemed too short of a time it was time to head home. We drove to Corvallis where my cousin Cathy Leishman (Aunt Joice's youngest) lives with husband Steve. We had a nice visit for a bit over an hour then headed to Boise.
About 30 miles NW of Bend, Oregon along Hwy. 20 is Mount Washington. Unlike several other volcanic peaks in the Cascades, it is a glacial formed peak that is a good landmark on your way to Boise and other points south. We stayed in Boise (a rather tiring drive from Waldport) Friday night then got home shortly after noon on Saturday. It was a good week and an area that I recommend to others.
