Remember our stay in Yachats last night, and enjoy this view of sunset outside our room. It was pretty gorgeous. We had the sound of the waves all night and the glow of the fireplace to warm us. Not bad, not bad at all.
This morning we headed up the coast to Yaquina Head, which features a lovely promontory and an historic light house. Great views, including a bird rookery and seals in action – if you call lounging on sunny rocks action. Seals are definitely prettier than sea lions.
Next, on to the Whale Watching Center at Depoe Bay. A word here about whale watching: It seems that one needs the patience of Job to peer through binoculars all day waiting for a whale to blow off steam. We kept hearing about how the Orcas have been seen migrating – and hunting for juicy seals and sea lions. And the grey whales live in this area so are supposedly here all the time.
But for the life of us, we can’t seem to connect with these creatures. Guess we’ll just have to go home and watch the Discovery Channel, or Planet Earth. The same thing happened with the elk that were supposed to be so numerous. Supposedly it was just too hot when we were at the elk-watching sites. Frankly, I think their existence – and that of the whales – is a bit of a myth. And I will believe that until one either crosses my path or swims up to me on the beach. Now if the whale crossed the road, that would be news. And I would share it with you .
At any rate, no whales at the Depoe Bay center, but there were cala lilies just growing here and there, and great salt water taffy, made on a machine from 1918. We had to have something to compensate for the disappointment over the whales…
Then on to a major tourist attraction. Forget the whales, my friends, and think cheese. We drove through a lovely dairy area, and got to visit the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory! Free samples! Lots of cheese to buy! Wonderful ice cream! A head-cheese guy named Christensen! (The geezer on the right.) Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! Sigh. We had a wonderful time, though Don would not let me eat there, as he was holding out for seafood. I did keep the menu, though, and hope to someday find another place just as perfect for lunch. It was my kind of place.
Lunch was had at the also-famous Ecola Seafood Restaurant, touted by the Sterns as having the best clam chowder in Oregon. Well, my vote is still with the Luna Sea chowder of yesterday.
But tonight we may try a cup from the famous Mo’s of Cannon Beach, where we are staying. This venerable purveyor of seafood has outlets in several other places, but we have not been able to synchronize our timing with their locations till now. Will advise on quality.
Re Cannon Beach, it is a real beach, with sand and miles of walkable waterfront. It also has a famous sea stack, known as Haystack Rock, which is a landmark for miles. Will see what the sunset does to it and may return with more pictures later.
