Thursday we decided to explore the scenic byway north of the campground. Originally we planned to go only as far as Newport...
The beaches north were more sand and less rocks. Some of the towns resembled shore towns of the east coast. Still no one swimming and few people sitting on the beaches. We saw several people flying kites...so THAT is what the beach is for, too cold and windy to swim.
Newport was a weird combination of working town/tourist trap. Only problem was the main drag for tourists is the same one the fish processing plant trucks need to use. Bad combination. Tourists are usually in a hurry and don't want to wait for a semi to try to turn or back up on a narrow street while they are fighting for free parking. As we were waiting for exactly that, some yahoo passed us on the wrong side of the road weaving between us and the truck backing up. We just drove to the far end of town and found parking along the marina. Working boats tied up had fresh tuna and halibut for sale right off their boat! It was very tempting to buy some, but though we had a cooler with ice, we couldn't fill the freezer. We did buy some crabs to have for dinner.
Newport has the usual tourist shops with t shirts, nautical, made in Oregon, and every other place has food! The town smelled of fish, fresh fish, and I am not complaining about it. It was a fresh fish of an active fishing town... There were some sea lions lying around the dock. They had been injured by man, one had raw skin that almost looked like it was branded. I guess they felt safe there because they slept, lifted a tail or a head here and there and roared. They posed for photos in their inactivity.
There were two different lighthouses close by. They were very picturesque. One was maintained by volunteers and donations, the other was a National Historical Monument. We were able to go into the one maintained by volunteers which was lovingly restored. It was furnished with antiques and there were several volunteers in the building who loved to talk about how the folks would have lived while the lighthouse was active.
We decided to go further north than Newport to Depoe Bay because there were supposed to be a pod of whales living close to a whale watching center. When we got there the folks said they hadn't seen whales that day. We were disappointed, but the ride was worth it. Depoe Bay says they are the smallest bay in the world...The town reminded me of a Jersey shore town.
We stopped at a small winery on the way home, but didn't buy anything there. No problem, a stop at a grocery store was all we needed to have the proper beverages for our crab dinner.
The beaches north were more sand and less rocks. Some of the towns resembled shore towns of the east coast. Still no one swimming and few people sitting on the beaches. We saw several people flying kites...so THAT is what the beach is for, too cold and windy to swim.
Newport was a weird combination of working town/tourist trap. Only problem was the main drag for tourists is the same one the fish processing plant trucks need to use. Bad combination. Tourists are usually in a hurry and don't want to wait for a semi to try to turn or back up on a narrow street while they are fighting for free parking. As we were waiting for exactly that, some yahoo passed us on the wrong side of the road weaving between us and the truck backing up. We just drove to the far end of town and found parking along the marina. Working boats tied up had fresh tuna and halibut for sale right off their boat! It was very tempting to buy some, but though we had a cooler with ice, we couldn't fill the freezer. We did buy some crabs to have for dinner.
Newport has the usual tourist shops with t shirts, nautical, made in Oregon, and every other place has food! The town smelled of fish, fresh fish, and I am not complaining about it. It was a fresh fish of an active fishing town... There were some sea lions lying around the dock. They had been injured by man, one had raw skin that almost looked like it was branded. I guess they felt safe there because they slept, lifted a tail or a head here and there and roared. They posed for photos in their inactivity.
There were two different lighthouses close by. They were very picturesque. One was maintained by volunteers and donations, the other was a National Historical Monument. We were able to go into the one maintained by volunteers which was lovingly restored. It was furnished with antiques and there were several volunteers in the building who loved to talk about how the folks would have lived while the lighthouse was active.
We decided to go further north than Newport to Depoe Bay because there were supposed to be a pod of whales living close to a whale watching center. When we got there the folks said they hadn't seen whales that day. We were disappointed, but the ride was worth it. Depoe Bay says they are the smallest bay in the world...The town reminded me of a Jersey shore town.
We stopped at a small winery on the way home, but didn't buy anything there. No problem, a stop at a grocery store was all we needed to have the proper beverages for our crab dinner.
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