After a fairly restful night, given the two hour time differential, Mark was up at 5:30, and out to gaze upon the ever restless Pacific Ocean as it crashed into the sandy beach below. What a sight and sound. For flatlanders from the Midwest, this coast provides a never ending fascination!
Today was a slow start, Ann preparing hot oatmeal for those who find that kind of gruel tasty, which is three of the four members of the party. We spent most of the morning chatting and staring out the windows at the sea. The weather today is surprisingly warm and sunny. We went for a short walk along the roads of the Salishan subdivision to find the new access path for the beach, although we did not take the time to walk the beach this day.
Shortly after noon, we loaded into our white chariot to head for Depoe Bay, the name being both a bay and a town, some 10 miles south of our location. As it is summer and the weather is warm, and the town is full of tourists. The whale watching boats were streaming in and out of the bay, ferrying the tourists out to look for the elusive cetaceans as they are straying close to the shore in search of food. The whale watching center in Depoe Bay has a marvelous display to teach one all about whales. As an example; the large gray whale, about the size of a school bus, consumes over 2,000 pounds of krill shrimp a day. That is a lot of very small crustaceans to scoop up; no wonder the occasional Pinocchio gets caught in the mix!
We stopped in for a late lunch at The Horn Public House & Brewery, overlooking the harbor, next to the iron bridge that stretches across the mouth of the Depoe Bay harbor. We watched the small craft come and go, fantasizing about which of the craft we would most like to own. Lunch was seafood chowder, fried cod with fries, cole slaw and some cod tacos. Very tasty, and delivered by a spritely young server whom Deb & Ann speculated must spend at least an hour each morning applying her facial make-up - quite a work of art!
After lunch we walked alongside a wall topping the sea break for some distance as we returned to the car, then drove back towards home base, first with a diversionary stop at Boiler Bay turnout for another view of the seemingly boiling ocean below, followed by an additional stop at Chester’s Market for needed supplies. Upon return to Salishan, we unloaded the car and plunked down in front of the windows to watch the sea for a while, during which Mark & Deb enjoyed a glass of wine. By 6:00, it was time for the news, first a 25 minute lecture by a U.S. Senator speaking on the Senate floor about the vast corruption of the Trump Administration, with fact after fact about all the graft and grift that is occurring with the family and friends of our wanna-be king. Next it was time for our daily dose of the PBS Newshour. Since we were all well sated from our late lunch, our evening meal consisted of snacks of crackers, cream cheese spread, small plates of miniature shrimp ala’ the gray whale, with some cocktail sauce.
Don wandered off to the lower level to read for the evening, while Ann, Deb & Mark watched some television until shortly after 9:00. Deb headed for the bedroom, while Mark, Ann & Don watched the tide roll in - admittedly not real eventful but, again as flatlanders, if not exciting, then at least exotic!?! A fitting end to a relaxing first day in Oregon.
