NEWPORT'S YAQUINA LIGHTHOUSES

Wednesday, June 6 – Before we begin this post, we must address the weather here on the Pacific Northwest coast. We have had many comments about the BEAUTIFUL, LOVELY weather we are experiencing. We must set you all straight…it has rained…hard…almost every day. We have had several hours of beautiful sunshine on a couple occasions and have taken full advantage of those times. So don't let the photos fool you. It's cold and raining most days here in the Pacific Northwest…like right NOW!





We explored the area of Newport, Oregon, today. Our first and last stops of the days were visiting the lighthouses.

We began at the Historic Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.


Yaquina Bay built in 1871 and decommissioned in 1874. It was officially restored as a privately maintained aid to navigation on December 7, 1996. It is believed to be the oldest structure in Newport. It is also the only existing Oregon lighthouse with the living quarters attached, and the only historic wooden Oregon lighthouse still standing. It was not open when we arrived so we were only able to take pictures from outside. It is located high on the cliff at the mouth of Yaquina Bay and just down the river from the historic Yaquina Bay Bridge.



It is said that Newport's iconic Yaquina Bay Bridge is the most photographed bridge on the coast. The bridge is located right next to the Lighthouse.



The City of Newport is the busiest working fishing port on the Oregon coast and none of the fishing fleet would find it difficult to pass under this bridge.

Our last stop was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.


This is a working lighthouse now managed by the National Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We like seeing things managed by the National Parks because that allows us to use our Golden Age Pass to enter free!

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the tallest on the Oregon coast with a 93-foot-high tower. It stands 162 feet above sea level on a cliff overlooking the ocean.



The light can be seen about 19 miles out to sea. Its automated light serves as an aid to navigation along the seacoast and at the entrance to Yaquina Bay.

This lighthouse has a flashing white light instead of a rotating lens, like we saw, and reported on, when we recently visited the Umpqua Lighthouse. We did climb the 111 spiral stairs to the top to see the light and the view out the windows of the rugged Oregon Coast.





View from the top of the Lighthouse.

Another awesome lighthouse visit. We especially like the fact that the workers in the lighthouse were dressed in period attire. A nice touch!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

DEPOE…PART 2

Tuesday, June 5 – We then walked across the street to the Whale Watching Center. The men inside were very informative and showed us where to watch for whales (much closer to shore then we thought) and gave us some interesting information on whale watching. We didn't see any Grey Whales here, but we did see several at out next stop – Cape FoulWeather.

Really neat to see these monsters. They are feeding on millions of tiny shrimp-like creatures. These Grey whales hang-out in this area, and according to the men in the Whale Watching Center, make-up about 1 % of the Grey whales that migrate between Baja California, Mexico and Alaska.

This is a zoomed in photo.

At Cape FoulWeather, we observed these tiny squirrels running all over the area. Not sure what type of squirrel there are, but they were sure cute and friendly. A fella was feeding them peanuts and let Paul join in the fun. Probably a no-no to feed these guys!

It looks like someone had fed them before. Look at his pudgy body.

Also in this area is the Flying Dutchman Winery.

Backyard area where they make the wine.

They are the only working winery on the Oregon Coast and the farthest winery West in the United States. They feature Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Riesling.

It is family owned and one of the owners, Dan, was our Steward today. They have free wine tasting, and we were free to walk through their wine producing area and even enjoy a bottle of wine on the back patio while watching for whales.

View from the patio.

We tasted several wines and purchased a bottle of Coastal Blackberry. As an additional bonus, they were having a clearance sale on rain jackets. Paul's been looking for a rain jacket and took advantage of the sale to pick-up a nice jacket for the rainy weather we've experienced lately

Our last stop for the day was Otter Rock and the Devil's Punch Bowl. Devil's Rock formation is named for it's resemblance to a punch bowl. Appropriately named, we must say!

Otter Rock

Devil's Punch Bowl

This would be quite a sight in rough seas. What a beautiful sight!!!

So ends our visit to DePoe. Next stop…Newport.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

 

DEPOE, OREGON..SMALLEST HARBOR IN THE WORLD

Tuesday, June 5 – We drove North on Oregon-101 to the Elks Lodge Wapita Campground in Lincoln City, Oregon. The Elks own a 40-site campground (Wapita CG). A very nice rural setting located on the Southside of town. We are in Site 31, having moved from site 34 after being unable to get satellite reception in the previous site. We have 30 amp electric service and water. There is a dump station we will use to dump our holding tanks upon departure. The sites and streets are gravel.

Love all the space!

Looking left.

Looking right.

Our BIG backyard.

Sun is out; life is good.

After getting settled-in, we headed into Lincoln City, to the Elks Lodge, to pick-up our mail, which we had forwarded there. We use the Escapee mail forwarding service and are very pleased with their service. We are only a phone call and a day or two away from having our mail forwarded to us. Our mail was there and ready for us to pick-up.

We then headed South toward DePoe, Oregon. Our first stop was the Chowder Bowl for another chowder taste test. We have a new front runner! This was the best we've had so far, and we believe the least expensive.

DePoe Bay is known as the smallest harbor in the world. It is pretty small and the channel getting there from the Pacific Ocean would be pretty troublesome in foul weather. This is one of the locations to look for whales that hang-out and feed in this area.

More on DePoe in our next post.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!