Whalers Rest and Newport, Oregon

Our travels in the Pacific Northwest were blessed with good weather, and it continued as we worked our way down the Oregon coast. Whalers Rest is a Thousand Trails/Leisure Time Resort located in South Beach, just south of Newport, Oregon. The RV park is nestled in the trees, so it was difficult for us to find a site where our satellite dishes could have unobstructed views of the southern sky.

Although most RV parks have fewer customers after Labor Day, this one was almost full. Our friends Al and Tryna Morton had arrived the day before we did, and they were lucky to find a sunny spot. We tried a site near them but couldn't get the sat dishes tuned. So we packed up everything and moved to a second site, where we got the DataStorm (Internet) dish tuned in, but not the one for DirecTV. We spent Wednesday night there, figuring we'd just have to live without TV for a few days. We got a weak signal from the batwing antenna, enough so I'd be able to watch my favorite Friday night programs, but we couldn't record them and watch at a later time like we can with the DirecTV DVR.

Don walked Shadow on Thursday morning, and was pleasantly surprised to find a nice site vacant next to Al and Tryna. The RV parked there the day before had departed a few days earlier than planned, so once again we pulled in the slides and scooted over. I was a happy camper!

From Whalers Rest

Newport is a lovely coastal town with a beautiful bridge spanning the opening to Yaquina Bay.

From Whalers Rest

There are two interesting lighthouses, Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head, which I visited on a previous trip to this area. (If interested, go to http://discovernewport.com/index.php/activities/lighthouses) So we decided to explore other landmarks. One of these is called Devil's Punch Bowl.

From Whalers Rest

Made of sandstone, the bowl was formed when the roof over two sea caves collapsed. Looking down on it, we could see an opening in the sandstone where ocean waves would crash through. I'm sure it would be more spectacular at high tide. We visited the nearby gift shop at Cape Foulweather that towers 500 feet above the sea. In this photo, the sky was gray due to a fogbank that hadn't yet burned off, but the beautiful blue sky came out later that day. Large windows in the back of the building still offered spectacular views.

From Whalers Rest

On Friday, one of the LTR park employees took a group crabbing in Alsea Bay in Waldport, about 10 miles south.

From Whalers Rest

This was one of the few days that was gloomy until almost noon. But it was a fun outing as we were dressed warmly. Unfortunately, the crab must have been swimming in waters farther away from the dock, since our group of 9 people, who could have caught a total of 27 crabs with a limit of 3 per person, only caught one that we could keep. We used raw chicken as bait, but the man who caught a crab was using a can of cat food with a few holes punched in the lid in addition to the chicken.

From Whalers Rest

Even the woman leading the group, using her "failsafe" method of fishing pole and basket, wasn't successful. She's on the left side of this photo.

From Whalers Rest

Tryna bravely practiced her skills of grabbing the legs of the crab to avoid being bitten. A moment later she threw back this small crab.

From Whalers Rest

The crab below would have been a nice catch, because it was large enough to be legal. Unfortunately, it was a female, making it off limits. We learned how to tell the difference in male and female: males have a narrower shape on their bellies.

From Whalers Rest

This guy was too small, so he got a reprieve.

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And here's the one legal catch of the day.

From Whalers Rest

One more item for this long (and long overdue) posting. Don and I visited the Newport Bayfront to see the California sea lions. We learned that the males (adult and juvenile) migrate to this area for the fall/winter/spring months. The females stay in California waters year-round. The males go south for the breeding season only. This group of males were sunning themselves on a deck below the walkway for people to observe them, occasionally trading places, scratching each other's backs and barking at everything.

From Whalers Rest

This fellow commanded his own solitary area and was grabbing as much attention as possible with his constant barking and posturing.

From Whalers Rest

Click on any photo to see the whole album online. All in all, it was another fun time along the Pacific coast.