September 25, 2014 Thursday  From Portland to the Oregon Coast

We made the 100 plus mile trip from Portland to the Oregon coast today.  We passed through many of the vineyards in Oregon.  Oregon is a big timber state but they also have considerable agriculture. Not only do they have many fruit trees they grow filberts.  Know what they are?  Hazelnuts.

We entered the coast at Lincoln City.  You pass through small towns/villages and then you get these breathtaking views of the ocean and coast line.  Pictures to follow.

We arrived at our destination, the Port of Newport RV Park and Marina, in a light rain.  I had turned the lights off of "automatic" on Fiona and on "on" since there are highway signs telling you to turn the lights on for safety in certain areas.  But, I  learned that F-150's keep their lights on when you turn them on and they stay on until you turn them off or back to auto.  So, we ran the battery down!

I had checked the battery before we left and almost changed it out since it was four years old. Another one of those "almost did it right" situations.  We have a generator that can charge batteries but I would have to unlock it from its position in the truck and take it around to the front of the truck to use it.  It would be easier to just attach one of my two electric battery chargers except I left them in our storage room in Pensacola.  No problem, a quick walk to the office and the polite manager sent one of the maintenance guys over.  He arrived before I could walk back to our site.

We found the battery was too far gone to jump off.  A four year old battery that has been totally discharged is not one you want to rely on.  So, the maintenance guy cheerfully volunteered to run me to the nearby NAPA store where I could buy a charger.  Now I have three battery chargers but one of them is better than the other two because it is with me!  I charged up Fiona's battery overnight and we retired to have dinner and watch TV and to bed.

September 26, 2014  Friday  Touring the Oregon Coast

After coffee and my faux bagel (we haven't found real bagels since Colorado), Fiona cranked up just fine.  Off I went to the Ford dealer, located only about a mile away.  We had a new battery within an hour and I was back.

Lib and Maggie had taken a nice walk and we were ready to be tourists.  We took a tour of the harbor area where the commercial boats dock.  These are pretty large vessels that go out in the Pacific fishing for tuna, salmon, crabs, halibut, etc.  Joy Greer would have loved the smells.

We heard the sea lions barking and it didn't take us long to locate a group taking advantage of some floating docks along the side of one of the piers.  We learned these are all male sea lions and mostly young ones.  The older, larger males have left for California for mating season.  These young males have learned that it is not worth the swim just to get beat up by a larger male so they are here waiting to get larger and tougher.  Females stay in California year round.

We can't imagine the big males because these guys are huge!  They communicate by barking and we can even hear them when we are in bed at night.  We are just next to the water.

They lay all over each other and take snoozes but someone is constantly barking

Ahhh, a good scratch feels sooo good!

The sea lions are all over the place in the harbor.  

  When they aren't barking at each other they snuggle and nap

The fishing fleet at Yaquina Bay

And you can buy fresh fish right off the boats

You also have the usual cast of harbor characters

We had been told that the bridges across the inlets in Oregon were beautiful structures.  They were designed by Conde B. McCullough.  Here is the one over Yaquina Bay here in Newport.

The Yaquina Bay bridge built in 1934 for $1,300,000 by the WPA

Not to get political but the Government sure did a lot of good things during the years of the WPA. We have benefited from the infrastructure they created for decades.

Oregon, from what we've seen so far, also does a good job of keeping the ocean front open to the public.  There are many pullouts for vehicles and State of Oregon parks as you go down the highway.

Tourists at an Oregon State Park

At Yaquina Bay there is a lighthouse on the point.  We developed an interest in Capt. James Cook and want to read more about him and his exploits.  These Oregon inlets were important because the trappers found entry into this region through the inlets.  This set up the trade and development of the area that followed.   Being boaters we can't believe the hazards they had without NOAA weather reports, GPS and color digitized charts!  Not to mention, they had no engines!  Imagine trying to enter a harbor and sighting rocks below and being at the mercy of the wind and currents.

A wave breaking on the rocks

The Oregon Coast

We drove north (because we are going south in a couple of days) to Depot Bay.  This area boasts the smallest harbor on the coast.  The channel is very narrow and empties into a very small harbor.  We were told that sometimes the boats have to come in with a following sea and they literally surf all the way through the inlet into the harbor.  Wow!  We've surfed some pretty big boats but only for a few hundred feet at a time and we didn't like it (though it is exhilarating).  We couldn't get a good photo of the inlet.

We had a late lunch at a place called Moe's.  No, not the Moe's Southwest Grill chain.

They have a lot of Moe's on the coast and they specialize in seafood and chowder.  I had the grilled Cod and Lib had fish tacos.  Very good!  But, the locations of the Moe's are super because you usually have a good view of the coast.  This one was at a place called Otter Rock.  While seated the couple next to us started pointing out the whales passing by.  Whales!  We ran out the door and got some photos.  You can see the whales blowing in the pics and we could sometimes see a body roll but no big tails up in the air.  You need to watch the Pacific Life ads for those pics.  Of course, those are computer graphics.

You can see the whale blowing in the top right of the photo.  We were told these are Gray Whales

Gray whales reach about 50 feet in length and weigh about 80,000 lbs.  These are baleen whales so they eat by filtering plankton.   They were everywhere. I could take a photo like the one above almost every time I depressed the shutter.  The couple with us told us you can sometimes see the whales clearly if you are at the right outlook when they come by. 

It was getting late in the day so we decided to head back toward Newport and the Safeway! 

Tomorrow we plan on a lay day of doing chores and watching some Saturday football games.

September 24, 2014 Wednesday

After a full day of touring the area on Tuesday we started the tour again this morning.  Portland has one of the largest parks in the U.S.  The Japanese Gardens are part of Washington Park which covers more than 400 acres in Portland.  The Japanese Gardens are 5.5 acres and is designed to promote a peaceful and tranquil experience.  As you would expect, every leaf, blade, bloom, stone, and walkway is cared for individually.  Below are some shots of the park.

At the Koi Pond

Stone Gardens

The city in the distance

We left the Japanese Gardens feeling peaceful and tranquil but we quickly got over it with a lively lunch at the Hall Street Bar & Grill.  In fact, we got into our conversation so much when we realized it was 2:30pm and Lib and I were to meet an old friend at 3!  

Bruce Stern was one of the guys I went through the PhD program with at Arizona State back in the early 70's.  He is one of about four of us who went through the entire program together and we have all remained close over the decades.  Bruce grew up in Portland and after a stint at Illinois he got his dream job back in Portland.  He retired from Portland State University and had a great career serving as an editor of a major journal for several years. He is married to Sheila.  They have two sons and four grandchildren.  Bruce is big into volunteer work and we had to meet with him between three meetings.  It was a great visit with a dear old friend.  We called Paul Solomon and had a good chat while Bruce was visiting us on Cream Puff.

What happened to our thick dark hair we had in the 70's?

After Bruce's visit Louise picked us up again for a mini tour of her condo and then we went to dinner with she and Jeff at a cool place called McMenamins.  This is a restaurant chain that refurbishes historic buildings, like old schools, and turns them into nice eateries.  They brew their own beers and you get a mind-staggering choice of different types of beers.  Oregon is a major beer brewing state and there are many micro-breweries in Portland.  This is very different than what Lib and I observed when we stayed in Tuscaloosa on our boat in the Fall football season of 2010.  There were only Busch Lite cans on the side of the road.  I don't think they sell another brand in T-town.  

We ended another day getting to see some of Jeff's videos he had produced for his outdoor TV show.  We saw a fascinating program devoted to HawkWatch.  The HawkWatch people count the number and type of raptors and correlate the sightings with weather/seasonal conditions.  In this way, they can keep a statistic to help them measure the overall condition of wildlife since raptors are at the top of the food chain.  If the smaller critters dwindle, so do the raptors.  They also have a technique for catching and banding the birds using decoys and nets.  Very interesting and the birds are beautiful.

The second show we watched was devoted to rodeos.  We learned much about bull and horse riding.  Jeff had worked with the folk who breed and keep "bucking stock."  These are animals who are born to buck off the cowboys.  The program covered the thrills and ills of the sport and presented both sides of the issues.  Fascinating sport but its another one of those I don't care to do.  Watching is fine! We thought of  our good Pensacola friend, Jackie Drewett.  In one of our late night conversations we learned what she  enjoyed watching most on TV is bull riding!

We ended our visit with some excellent instruction from Jeff on what to see as we travel down the Oregon coastline.  We take off in the am eager to see sea lions and maybe sight a whale!  We don't meet up with niece and nephew (and family), Mary Elizabeth and French III, until October 4th so we have a week to amble down the Oregon coast!

Many thanks to Louise and Jeff for being perfect hosts!  On to the coast!

September 22, 2014 Monday

We left Port Angeles at 8:30am and drove down alongside the Olympic National Park road on the east side of the park all the way down to Olympia, Washington where we picked up I-5 to Oregon and our destination, Portland.  There are small towns of only a few hundred people along this road. These people have water to their east and the park to their west.  The towns occupy the small strip of land between the water and the park property.  Is a beautiful place though remote.  The road is narrow and winding and has speed limits of 25mph in several places.

We've noticed some things these westerners do that would help traffic in the south.  I think I already mentioned that trucks have different speed limits; 60 mph on the Interstates.  This makes traveling much less hectic and probably a lot safer.  The second thing they do, in Washington at least, is they have pullouts on two lane roads.  They also have signs that say "Illegal to have 5 or more vehicles trailing you without pulling out."  So, for slow vehicles, you must use one of the pullouts when traffic stacks up behind you.  This keeps the 20 year olds from trying to pass everyone when they can't see ahead.  Reduce passing=more safety.

We got to Portland about 3pm and pulled in our RV Park.   We contacted Louise and she and Jeff had planned dinner for us.  We had a very relaxing evening.  We got to know Jeff who is retired from a career in radio and TV.  And, we had a most excellent meal of Salmon.  Tomorrow they are taking us on a tour of the Portland area.  More to come about Salmon!

Jeff and Louise

September 23, 2014

Jeff and Louise picked us up at 9:30am and we took off on a day long tour they had planned for us. We stopped at Willamette Falls.  These are falls just south of Portland near Oregon City.  The fur traders who were the first to settle this area could not get their boats up past these falls so this area was one of the early settlements.  A lock was installed later, 1873, and the river is now navigable.

Willamette Falls

We went through Boring, OR on the way to Mount Hood up Highway 26.  There is a lodge at Mount Hood that was built in the 1930's, again a project of the WPA.  FDR came to dedicate the lodge as well as the Bonneville Dam which comes up later in this blog.  

Now here is an interesting sign on the back of a truck.  We wondered, what are we supposed to do? Turn around and go back?  Maybe they should have added the word "closely." We followed the truck!

The Lodge is a beautiful building that offers a place for skiers, hikers, and tourists to rest, eat, etc.  We enjoyed an excelled buffet.

Entrance to the Lodge.  Snow is up to the top of the arch in winter.

All the furniture was made by craftsmen of the 1930's and is very heavy and sturdy.

One of the many spectacular views from the lodge

The buffet was super!

And, yes, I found the cookies!

The major mountain chain is the Cascade Mountains that run down from Washington and through Oregon.  In California the name changes to the Sierra's. This next photo is looking south down through the Cascade chain.  Mount Hood is directly in back of us.

The Cascade Mountains

Jeff was the host of a TV show that focused on outdoor activities in Oregon.  Louise has done a considerable amount of hiking and touring so, between the two of them, Lib and I had great tour guides!  Louise hiked up to the top of Mount Hood.  You leave at night at the base and you reach the top early in the am.  Mount Hood had a cloud cover on its peak when we were there.

Mount Hood

Elevation of Mount Hood is 11,245 ft. and average snow depth where we are is 21 feet!

Not wanting Louise to have anything on me; I decided I would hike the trail toward the peak.  I will have to add this to my last year's accomplishment of hiking the Appalachian Trail.

After we left Timberline Lodge we drove to Bonneville Dam.  This was also built during the WPA years and FDR came to dedicate it the same day he dedicated Timberline Lodge.  The Army Corps of Engineers have built in fish ladders which are stair-like structures that allow the Salmon to swim up and over the top of the dams to spawn.  They are migrating up the rivers to spawn now.  Jeff was very knowledgeable of how all this works and the different types of fish, how they count the fish going upstream, etc.  

Watching the fish go up the fish ladders

Water is rushing down the ladders but the fish have no problem in jumping up the next rung in the ladder to get to the top of the dam

It is difficult to catch a fish jumping on camera but if you look in the water you can see plenty of  fish

Now, the most interesting part of this whole process is that the Army Corps of Engineers built in "viewing windows" in the walls of the dam below the water line!  This was fascinating to watch the different fish, large Chinook or King Salmon, Coho Salmon, and Steelheads, wait and rest and time their jump and then go!

A Coho Salmon getting ready to jump

The Sea Lions feed on the Salmon as they migrate.  You can see where a Sea Lion took a bite out of the tail of this Salmon

This viewing window captures the water flow the fish swim against

Our friends in Tulsa, Dennis and Jan, both good fishers, will like these photos.  Also, they catch a lot  of trout.  We had trout at their house when we visited.  Jeff explained to us that Steelheads are Rainbow Trout that migrate to the ocean.  Having more food to eat, they get very large.  Watching this Salmon run was fascinating to us southerners.  Other than TV shows, we have never seen this migration.

The Salmon ladders and viewing stations attract a lot of tourists.  Wouldn't you know it, a large contingent of tourists arrived on a tour bus and they were from Alabama!  You can always spot them because of the high percentage wearing Roll Tide or War Eagle hats.  

Next on the tour was The Gorge.  Joe and Joey Hair had told us when we were in Colorado to be sure and see The Gorge. The Gorge features the Columbia River running through a huge canyon with towering rock walls.  Washington to the north and Oregon to the south.   Jeff explained how it was formed and it is fascinating!

A recap of how The Gorge was formed is this: During the Ice Age, as huge ice deposits melted in Montana creating the Missoula floods.  Large amounts of water equal to all the water in all the rivers of the world, rushed to the sea. It blew out this gorge as it traveled through this area.  The amount of water is staggering when you consider the height of the canyon walls and realize the water was above these heights!  All of this was figured out by a a geologist by the name of Bretz whose works were not given much credibility at first.  Now, geologists agree this is what happened.  I took this photo which offers an explanation at one of the lookout points.

The Gorge.  This is also the path Lewis & Clark took.  They probably knew they were close to something but they had another 50 miles to go at this point.

The road alongside The Gorge has its own history and has many waterfalls.  We stopped at several and took some pictures.

Our last stop was at the Vista House built in 1918.  The road was built in 1915.  Louise served as the Director of Vista House for a number of  years.  She got views of The Gorge every day in all kinds of conditions.  This gorge is very popular for wind surfers and kite surfing but you had better be good...VERY good.  The wind howls down this gorge which runs east and west.  The winds sometimes reach 75 mph..the speed of a hurricane!

 Vista House

Vista House sitting atop The Gorge

Thank you Louise and Jeff for a wonderful, full day of seeing the sights around Portland!