Out to Sea

Today the weather was beautiful. We were able to go on a whale watching excursion out of a coastal town called Depoe Bay.



So we hopped on the boat 'The Mariner' with captain Dan and headed out to sea.




We were probably out for about 30 minutes when he said "There she blows" (thats sea talk for the sighting of a whale). These particular whales were camera shy so only came out of the water slightly. If you double click on the pictures to enlarge them, you'll see in the first one the whale blowing air out of his blowhole, the second one is all the further they came out of the water.





We followed them for about an hour and the captain said it was two adults and two babies.

Later we drove to a place on the coast called Otter Rocks. There's a rock formation there that's called a "blowhole". At the bottom of the picture you can see a squirrel on the edge, he appeared to be sunning himself.



On the beach below they were surfing in very cold water but they wear wet suits.



In this picture below, notice in the middle about an inch from the bottom there is a patch of green and there's a hotel right behind it, that's some high cliffs!!!!


All in all it was a great day.

See ya
Nancy

Trees of Mystery

Today we continued south down Highway 101 in California (in thick fog) to a place called Trees of Mystery. It really was an amazing place once you got past the cheesy Paul Bunyan and anatomically correct Babe the Blue Ox.






This tree has branches that grow up as if it's another tree. They call it a "family tree".




More of the forest.....





even the spider webs were amazing.




We finally climbed to the gondola call the "Sky Trail" and road up the mountain above the clouds and fog. This is definitely worth the $15 admission charge. Again the photos don't do the view justice.









After this we did a little shopping........






and drove back to Newport, Oregon to Heather's house.

We ended the day with this....ahhhhh




See ya
Nancy

California

Today we drove down the Oregon coast to California.






We spent the afternoon hiking among the giant redwoods at two different locations. Here are some pictures but I don't think they do these awesome giants any justice.





















My neck is sore from looking up.

See ya
Nancy

Newport, Oregon Wednesday 4/18

Today we explored Newport, the town where Heather lives.




A few pictures of the pier and some crabbing pots.





The top one on the left is hers. It's on the hills above the pier.



Here's the view from the inside, it's amazing, the picture doesn't do it justice. The above pictures of the pier are behind the trees on the left.





Unfortunately we were unable to get out to sea today. However, the restaurants across from the pier serve fresh fish daily and even can their own tuna. I had the best tuna salad wrap today you can imagine but I ate it before I thought to take a picture. Here's the can anyway.



Later
Nancy

Oregon Dairy Country

Today it was raining (all day), so we drove up the north shore of Oregon, which looks a lot like the north shore of Minnesota on Lake Superior. Our mission was cheese and wine. After about an hour drive we found this place called Blue Heron French Cheese Company.




They had a few animals outside that were entertaining.






We entertained ourselves inside also.


The second cheese factory had no wine but good cheese, you might have seen it in your local grocery it's Tallmook. Great cheese curds.

We ended the day inside with a Mojito, it was great!!



Hoping for better weather tomorrow, would like to go out to sea.

Nancy

Oregon Coast Aquarium

Today we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium here in Newport where Heather works.




Today she helped feed the sea lions and we got to be in the pool area with her.....






and later we got kisses!!!!




We also toured the back scenes at the aquarium and even got to play with a giant pacific octopus who wasn't full grown yet.





Later we drove up to one of the local light house and saw some fabulous views.



See the wild sea lions??? If not, you can double click on the pictures to make them larger.



The weather here is still cold in the 40's and 50's but we are still having fun.

Later

Nancy