Day #27—South Beach SP, OR --June 18, 2011

Today is Jessica's 39th birthday

Since we had such a short distance (only about 70 miles) to our next overnight, we planned to go beachcombing and exploring today . . . but we awoke to heavy fog and sifting rain. Nonetheless, after our standard breakfasts, we locked up the cabin and found our way to the beach, which is still in the Oregon Dunes area, so had several ATV trails in the dunes before it, and an ATV trailhead on the opposite side of the road.

We walked a stretch of beach at low tide, picking up sand dollars and odd bits of shell. Oregon and Washington’s beaches are strewn with large and small driftwood, and this beach had three driftwood hideaways on it. Crossing back over the dunes to the car, we picked a variety of beach grasses. Now I will see if I can get these delicate grasses home in one piece. 

Beach Grass

Tussock Grass

We also found a spot that explained the "Fractured Coastline" we were standing above. This area had a large fault line crack running through the viewpoint area from which I took the coastline photo below of all the rocks that have tumbled to the sea. I took a photo of the crack and Sarah reading the sign below.

The fracture running through the viewpoint area

All the rocks that have tumbled to the sea from this "fractured coast"

Susan, hoping that this is not the time that a chunk of the
fractured coast will fall to the sea and carry her with it.

After our beach walk, we visited the Umpqua River Lighthouse and its attendant museum, which details the history of the lighthouse and explains how the first settlers explored the river and started a small town and hotel and port. An earlier lighthouse commissioned on the north spit of the river in 1857 was the first lighthouse on the Oregon Coast. The present lighthouse was commissioned in 1894 and stands 165 feet tall. It is identical to the Hecata Head Lighthouse 12 miles north of Florence, which Jess and I visited on our 2000 coast bike ride. Its Fresnel light signature is two white followed by one red flash. 

After the museum, we decided to pack up and move north up the coast to see what we could find. As we pulled onto 101 from the SP, I said, “I’m getting that chowder urge again, but let’s wait until after 12 to eat.” It was 11:00. Not two minutes later we spotted Sourdough Bakery with a chowder sign in the window. I couldn’t control the Prius and it did a left turn and parked itself outside. We each ordered a bowl of chowder and a slab of sourdough. Also bought a loaf of kalmata bread for dinner that evening. I wonder if this Sourdough Bakery was related to the Sourdough Bakery Jess and I loved on the Homer Spit in Alaska.

Back in the Prius, we passed up the Sea Lion Caves and several other coastal attractions because it was gray, foggy, and raining. When we got to South Beach SP, we found our yurt and got set up. It is so nice to be in a cabin or a yurt and not have to erect the tents and take them down each day. After we got settled we drove into Newport to see what was going on. Went to the Oregon Coastal Aquarium. It was interesting and they had done a good job with most of their exhibits, but many of the animals seemed to be in too small areas. They had nice tanks for their sea lions and seals and sea otters; however, some of the shore bird enclosures seemed bare and uninteresting. They had tufted puffins, guillemots and other sea birds as well as a (too small) cage of vultures. 

A kid at the aquarium asked his mother: “What do octupuses eat, Mom?” “You,” she replied. “Little boys,” said the dad. We gave his couple an F- in child rearing skills. (All aquarium pics below from Internet.)

Rhinoceros Auklet

After this we tried to find an art gallery advertised in the Coast newspaper. Failing this, we made our way to Mo’s a seafood restaurant and had bowls of chowder (what else?) and fish & chips. 

As I type this we are both exhausted. What have we done today to be so tired? Sarah says, “We are tired because it was a gray, foggy, long day.” As soon as I am finished with this journal entry, we’re going to take showers and hit the sack. Below is our yurt for the night.