The Oregon Coast Post
It’s the Oregon Coast Post! It’s cool because it rhymes. After spending a day in Washington, Ruth, Bri, and I left Bothell to meet my family in Newport, OR, for our annual family reunion/vacation.
The first thing we did was grab dinner at the Chowder Bowl in Nye Beach. I usually stick to eating vegetables, but will venture into the animal kingdom if the setting is right. I indulged in some clam chowder and it was excellent.
The next day we drove to the Yachats farmers market and picked up some farm fresh eggs, ate some homemade grilled cheeses with homemade soup, and had the best americano. We also got a couple smoked eggs for $1 each. These have the consistency of a hard boiled egg but are smoked on a grill for many hours. They were very tasty with just a hint of smokey flavor. We also stopped by a pot shop in Yachats and tried out some weed cartridges (apparently what all the cool kids are smoking these days).
Much time was spent on the beach — Throwing frisbees around, playing in the sand, making smores over a bonfire, and of course, drinking beer. It was also Quincy’s first time on the beach and seeing the ocean. He was a bit timid at first, hopping into my shirt to hide from all of the terribly trained off-leash barking dogs, and was uninterested in the ocean, preferring the soft warm sand further inland.
We went whale watching one of the days, on the same boat that we went on two year prior, and saw the same exact whale that we saw two year prior (among many, many other whales). Her name is Scarback, named for the scar on her back. She incurred this injury by means of an exploding harpoon during the 1980’s from Russian whalers. Brianna snapped some great pictures of her scar and tail while we watched her drive to feed. She’s also known as a ‘cougar’ because she prefers to mate with younger males, mothering at least 5 calves over the last 40 years.
My favorite activity was waking up early to catch the tide pools on the beach at low tide. The tide pools were about 15 walking minutes on the beach from where we were staying. We got to see many different kinds and sizes of crabs, sea stars (most people call the starfish), muscles, and sea anemones. It was the best way to start the day. My favorite picture that I took was the crab shown below, who willingly modeled for me for over 5 minutes.
Other activities included walking along Newport’s Historic Bayfront, eating tasty fresh caught seafood, and crabbing (throwing netted pots out of a fishing boat and hoping that crabs crawl their way in). All in all it was a great week. Very relaxing, though I was itching to climb by the end of the week. On to Smith Rock!
-TheLazyClimber