Donna B's Blog : vacation, Oregon Coast

August 2012 Oregon Coast Trip (3)

Donna B — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 05:05:00 GMT

Day Three at the Oregon Coast for us! This morning, we decided to do something a little different and went for a short hike in the Culver City Wetland Preserve. Culver City was an early coastal settlement that became part of Taft early in the 20th century. It was a fishing village at the mouth of the Siletz River and amazingly, this plot of land was never developed into canneries and/or home sites. This little gem is only about 3 blocks from the cottage where we stayed! It is a mix of salt marsh wetlands and higher areas with spruce trees and native rhododendrons that are over 15 feet tall. Here are a few pictures:

Here are some spruce branches draped in moss in the early morning sunlight:

Here is DH looking up at a tall native rhodie:

Here is a shot looking straight up through the rhododendrons toward the top of a towering spruce tree high above:

These wetlands wouldn't be complete without a few "shrooms":

And lastly, one of the spruce giants of this special place:

Unfortunately, our dog-sitter had an emergency and we needed to leave a day earlier than expected and had to make a quick trip home. It was very windy in Eastern Washington as we were headed home and all the wind turbines were whirling away. This is the first time we have seen them all turning at the same time. It was almost twilight when we took this picture of a few turbines along I-90 heading east toward Vantage and George, Washington (yes, that is the correct name).

Hope you have enjoyed the pictures and a little snippet of the Oregon Coast.

August 2012 Oregon Coast Trip (2)

Donna B — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 04:13:00 GMT

In spite of warnings of an incoming storm, we lucked out and awoke to another day of beautiful blue skies and pleasant temperatures. The wind did come up a little today, but after all, it is the Oregon Coast...LOL! Today, we drove south along the coast stopping at a few viewpoints and going for a walk on Agate Beach. And, we saw gray whales...if from a distance. If you have never been to the Oregon Coast, it has spectacular scenery with lowland areas with wetlands and marshes for many sea-birds and other wildlife. And then there are these spectacular headlands with lighthouses and fantastic views. Sorry, but we didn't take any pictures of the lighthouses! I guess it comes from being an Oregon native and growing up with this scenery. Unfortunately, we sometimes forget how special it really is and don't take picture. How sad!!! However, we are always amazed at the geology of the coastline, so we do have a few pictures showing the massive upheavels of the cascadia subduction zone. Millions of years ago, this area was thrust upward above the sea by the push of the pacific plate under this coastline. It is hard to imagine, but the evidence is everywhere around us! Something new to us was all the Tsunami warning signs now on the coast highway. After the Japan disaster, it seems all low-lying areas around the Pacific are now very aware of how fragile the coastline really is and the possibility of the same thing happening here. So, on to the pictures! This first group of pictures was taken from Cape Foulweather - which was one of the first landmarks on the Oregon Coast identified and named by British explorer, Captain Cook in 1778 during a huge storm. It is one of the large "head-lands" (rock promintories) visible far out to sea on this coastline.

In this picture, you can easily see the upward tilting of the shoreline to the north of Cape Foulweather.

Here you will see a small whale-watching boat and I hope (with zooming in) you will be able to see the grey whale to the right and in front of the boat:

This is the view to the north along the coastline with the numerous resorts and beach homes:

The coastline is an ever-changing landscape and Agate Beach was no exception. When we were children, it was a narrow beach of pebbles where agates could easily be found. Today it is a wide (1/4 mile) beach with loose, dry sand that makes for difficult walking to get to the firm sand near the surf. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of this beach. But, I did manage to take a picture of the "souvenier" I was drooling over that I did not get!!! We found this gallery that these amazing kinetic sculptures on display (I should have guessed, since it was a gallery...LOL). The next morning we stopped by to check on the prices...sigh! I am sure they are priced appropriately, but were way out of my price-range. The little one (like a pine tree) in the foreground was what I was hoping would be around $300...but it was $600!!!!! YIKES!!!! The price range was from $500 - $3,000! So, I drooled a little while and went home without a kinetic sculpture. They sure were neat though:

Here are a few more pictures from the little beach cabin we were using.

DH on the laptop at one end of the front room:

This is the original bedroom (note the darling vintage quilt and linens):

and two pictures of the kitchen:

Now, the 2nd bedroom and bathroom "combination" take a little explaining! In the original garage area of the cottage, our friend's parent's added this 2nd bedroom and incorporated the bathroom fixtures into the same room. That's right, the sink and commode are right next to the bed (the ultimate in convenience during the night...LOL) and the shower is in one corner. Since it was just the two of us, it wasn't a problem but I don't think it would work for more unless it was within a very close family! BUT, the best thing in this room is the adorable vintage butterfly quilt on this bed along with more hand-embroidered linens!

With all its little quirks, this was a very homey little beach cottage and we loved staying here! We were very thankful for the generosity of our good friends!

Oregon Coast Trip August 2012

Donna B — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 03:06:00 GMT

We just returned from a trip to Oregon - including 2 days at Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast. Some good friends offered us the use of their beach cabin (built by Grandfather in the 1920's) and it was a quaint little cabin that made a great home base for our daily adventures. The cabin is located in the village of Taft (now a part of Lincoln City) near the mouth of the Siletz River - where it enters the Pacific Ocean. The weather was wonderful - clear days in the low 70's and little wind! On the first day, we took a walk along the mouth of the river and then north along the beach for about 3 miles and then back. Here are a few pictures:

This is the beach cabin where we stayed.

Here are a group of sea lions basking in the sun along the Siletz River. If you look closely you can see two heads sticking out of the water (they like to cool off every once in a while).

It was such a beautiful day, that there were sections of the beach that were more crowded than usual - especially when we would be near a resort:

This section of the beach has neat rock formations with lots of tidal pools containing a lot of sea-life even when the tide is out (which it was at this time). Here are some pictures of the rocks and tidal pools:

Here are another set of rocks that are not accessible - even at low tide:

And here are some tidal pools - with sea anemone, starfish and mussels:

There are lots of starfish in this picture! Can you find them???

Here is a picture of one of the tidal pools and a good shot of the mussels on the rocks. I would have to say that the mussels in Oregon are recovering nicely. When we were younger and living in Oregon, you would never see mussels of this size!

This is a nice shot of the tide coming in over the rocks:

Note, the boat in the background is a whale-watching boat...looking for grey whales migrating along the Oregon shoreline.

(The next day, we saw a whale from one of the headlands, so keep watching for those pictures!)

I had to show you this picture of the driftwood washed up on the shoreline during the winter and DH going back to find his jacket in all of this. Somehow he managed to locate it! Good sport that he is, he was helping me find a small piece of driftwood that would work as a hanger for a beachy wall quilt.

It was a beautiful day with shirtsleeve weather and hardly any wind! Who could ask for more!!!