Newport, Oregon

We have been spending most of our time in the local area. It has rained almost every day since we got here, but it hasn’t kept us from enjoying the sights, food, and the beaches. We have also been spending some time just hanging out in our campground. Whalers Rest is a very nice campground. It is heavily wooded with trails and just a walk across the highway from the beach.

It’s a good thing we are only staying in this area for three weeks. Every time we order food it is a very generous amount. Whether it was breakfast burritos from Super Oscar’s Mexican Food in Newport or a scoop of ice cream on Lincoln City’s waterfront, they were big enough for two people and very tasty.

It is advised to travel southbound if you want to make frequent stops along the coast as all the scenery and all the pull offs are on the ocean side.   So, we drove to Lincoln City and turned around to head back south to view the scenery. In one section, we drove the Otter Crest Loop instead of staying on Hwy 101. The Loop is a one-way starting from the north end. The drive is very scenic with tree covered winding roads giving us glimpses of the cliffs and the ocean. There were quite a few pullover areas and we took advantage of stopping to take in the views. We stopped at Cape Foulweather’s Look-Out Observatory and Gift Shop. We could not believe this building was built in 1937 on the edge of a 500 foot cliff! Talk about a view! Wow! It is absolutely breathtaking! As usual the pictures in our Webshots album do not give the view the justice it deserves, but we try.

We visited both lighthouses in the area: Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is the only wooden lighthouse and was decommissioned after 3 years because the Yaquina Head Lighthouse was so close that it was confusing the ships. The local Historic Societies renovated and refurnished the old lighthouse after saving it from demolition. They did a wonderful job of bringing the old place back to life. After our self-tour, it was hard to believe this place had been neglected for almost a 100 years.

At the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, we were able to go all the way to the Lantern room in the 93ft tower. We spent a couple of hours exploring the tidepools during low tide and watching the Harbor Seals. Yep, more pictures of the tidepools are in our Oregon album on webshots.

Sandy found the Yaquina Bay Bridge very interesting the first time we crossed it. The unusual Art Deco design on the bridge looked very old yet the bridge looked strong and in good condition. She decided to look it up online and found out it was built in 1936. It was the last of six bridges to be designed by Conde B. McCullough to link Oregon’s coastal highway. We came across two more bridges built by McCullough. One is on the Otter Crest Loop and the other is in Walport. Of course, Sandy had to take pictures of the bridges’ Art Deco. You can see the Bridges in Webshots. Sandy also started mumbling something about not having the right color scheme for an Art Deco quilt while digging through her stash    ..….uh-oh…

Family Business, Repairs and Cats

Since we left Westport, we laid Sandy's mom's ashes to rest in the national cemetery in Kent Washington with her husband's ashes.  We then traveled to La Conner and Oak Harbor Washington to prepare Sandy's mom's home in an over 55 mobile home park for sale, sorting, distributing, and donating all personal effects.   The home is now on the market, and Sandy's brother Jay is monitoring the progress.

On the cat front, all the pills and special diet foods are finally gone. Dan became quite an expert on how to pill the cats. Half the time, the cats did not know what had happened until it was over. The cats have been permanently switched over to canned meat with just a little dry food to keep them happy. Two have actually lost a little weight. During the medication, Squirrel was pulling out clumps of his fur. We think he may have had a reaction and was getting a hot spot. It is growing back and he is looking a lot better. Dusty is acting like a kitten again. He sounds like a miniature elephant running up and down the rig making strange mewing sounds. With all this renewed kitten-like energy, we have to wonder how long he was feeling bad. We are happy they are all feeling better even with all the additional activity going on between four very healthy cats.

The cats were not the only ones getting our attention this past month. Our motor home did not like sitting for seven months in a moist salt air environment. By the time we left La Conner, our motor home had a list of needed repairs. Dan did some of the repairs in campgrounds and on the road, and we used 4 service facilities as well.  We now have a working propane furnace, increased engine power with potentially higher fuel economy, a updated and more powerful engine exhaust brake, all exterior lights working correctly, and all new heavy duty Michelin 16 ply tires.  With all safety and comfort items back in order, we are now traveling for pleasure once again.  As we write this, we are in Newport Oregon on the coast, and will soon post on our experiences here.