A World Class Aquarium

Our next base of operations was Lincoln City, Oregon. We've developed a pattern of selecting a base of operations and going out on day trips. Our stays are running three to five days, and the distance between stops has been, on average, maybe 70 or 80 miles. Although it seems like we're traveling slow, we are only seeing the highlights.

We love being able to have lunch sitting at our own table and seeing marvelous views, like this.

An hour or two later, we could look out our big rear window and see the Siletz River. This will be our home for the next few days.

The next day, we backtracked down Highway 101 to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. This is a "world-class facility, one of the nation's top ten aquariums." We were just in time for the sea otter feeding. I don't mind the admission fee; we paid about $32 for the two of us, and I know caring for these animals is expensive.

The aquarium is also home to seals and sea lions.

Next, we made our way to the "Passages of the Deep" exhibit, where we walked among the creatures of the underwater world.

There are three tunnels like this, each with its own component of inhabitants. I could almost hear the "Jaws" theme music as the sharks circled. Here we are looking at them from below. I learned how to tell a boy shark from a girl shark, not that I think that's knowledge I'll ever have a practical use for.

Other buildings had exhibits of smaller sea life.

You could actually touch these animals. I'm squeamish, so I didn't, but lots of other people did. I guess they're really soft when they're alive. (I can't even take a fish off a hook, so that's why I don't fish.)

More exhibits:

We went to the aviary to watch the seabirds at feeding time. This puffin came over to the crowd and put on a show for us. They can swim, walk, and fly, but they swim best of all. Especially underwater.

On our way out of Newport, we stopped at the park just north of the harbor bridge.

The steps to the lighthouse and lookout were closed.

The beach was open, though, so we took the dogs for a nice, long walk before heading "home."

Darlingtonia, or Encounter With A Carnivorous Plant

During our time in the Florence, Oregon, area, our base of operations was the Sutton campground in the Siuslaw National Forest. Only part of the campground was open this early in the year. Some sites have electricity, which of course, we chose. This was home for four days.

The campground lies between Highway 101 and the Pacific Ocean. We could hear the ocean in the distance but couldn't quite find our way there on foot. While hiking the trails around the campground, we learned about the Darlingtonia, a carnivorous plant. I had no idea such a plant was native to this area.

The Darlingtonia Californica grows in bogs along the coastline. It is commonly called the Cobra Lily because the leaf overhanging the flower resembles the head of a cobra snake in profile. The plant lures, traps, and digests insects.

One of our walks on the shady trails,

I stopped to watch fish feeding on insects at this wide, slow place in the creek. Every couple minutes there would be a little flash of silver and a splash.

It was so peaceful. The loudest sound was this woodpecker, only a few feet off the trail.

Another day, we visited dockside Florence

and went for another walk on the beach. We do that a lot lately.

Our last day in Florence, Sunday, we attended the local Lutheran church. They had recently lost their musician, so I offered to play. The congregation was so appreciative and nice. We were invited to join several of them for lunch at a local Asian restaurant afterward, which we did. Talk about extravagant hospitality!

What a perfect ending to our time in Florence. We look forward to coming here again.

Sea Lion Caves

North of Florence, Oregon, are the Sea Lion Caves, billed as the world's largest sea cave.

Hundreds of Stellar Sea Lions gather in this natural shelter to avoid predators and nurture their offspring. The caves have been open to the public as a private business since the 1930s, and the owners are vigilant in protecting and championing the sea lions. After passing through the gift shop, you'll have a brief outdoor walk to the elevator, opened to the public in 1962. Before that, visitors had to descend by walkway that wound down the cliffside. To the south, you'll see in the distance the Oregon dunes.

And, to the north, you will see Heceta Lighthouse, said to be the most photographed lighthouse in the world. (The lighthouse was not open for tours just now.)

I didn't mention the amazing smell that was apparent before we even entered the gift shop atop the cliff, and it only intensified when we stepped out of the elevator some 200 feet underground; it was not a pleasant smell. I suppose the smell was a natural outcome of hundreds of huge sea mammals, if you know what I mean. The noise was deafening, as the Stellar Sea Lion makes a kind of roaring bawl, and the sound echoed through the cave. We were asked to be quiet so as not to disturb them, but our shufflings and comments were no match for their roars and the crash of the ocean waves that continuously churned the waters of the cave. The sea lion cave itself could be viewed through bars.

Found from California to the Bering Sea, the Stellar Sea Lion normally congregates on offshore rocks; this is its only mainland rookery. The base of the cave is about 2 acres in size, and it rises about 125 feet in height.

 They live on fish they catch, primarily bottom fish. They are prey for the large whales that swim offshore.

Here's a skeleton that is on display. Unlike seals, they can bend their rear flippers forward and use them for walking. You can clearly see this in the skeleton's position.

Males, the strong ones at least, have harems of 10-20 cows. Males weigh around 1200-1500 pounds, although they can be much larger, and females average 500-700 pounds; a newborn will weigh 40-50 pounds. Sea lion lifespan is about 20 years.

Although they shelter in the cave in winter and inclement weather, they also like to lie on the rocks at the foot of the cliff. Today most of them were inside, but a hardy few braved the intermittent rain.

The opening to the cave is inconspicuous from outside. If you look carefully, you may see a couple sea lions swimming near the entrance.

If you happen to be traveling by RV, there is RV parking in the parking lot directly across the highway. We spotted this motorhome parked there.

Look carefully at the license plate; it is from Switzerland. We were behind the family, parents and two children, at the ticket counter; they were indeed Swiss. Hmm, if we ever run out of things to see on this continent.....

Oregon's Famous Myrtlewood and the Port of Port Orford

The next day was drizzly, but we went into town anyway. Drizzly days are perfect for visiting shops, and we'd seen this myrtlewood souvenir shop on our way into town. Myrtlewood is a popular souvenir because this tree is native only to the Oregon coast. We enjoyed browsing for some time but really don't have much use for souvenirs or even beautiful myrtlewood bowls and so forth, living in a travel trailer as we do (and besides, we don't really have a budget for souvenirs). We did buy a little saltwater taffy, though.

Next, we went to the port, which is remarkable because there are no boats bobbing at their moorings. Instead, the boats are hoisted onto wheeled dollies until it's time for them to be lowered back into the water. I learned that this is quite unusual, as there are only two ports like this in the US, the other being in California, and only six in the world.

Because of the fog, there were no boats entering or leaving the water while we were there.

There is a restaurant-tackle shop-seafood store-souvenir shop-museum (yes, all in one) among the boats, where I took this picture in the museum room.

Later, the sun came out, so Jan left me (happily) at the trailer and went back to the beach to look for more agates. I love his enthusiasm about rocks. I don't share that enthusiasm, but I love how his face lights up when he shows them to me.

We've really enjoyed our stay here. Not only is there a lot to see around Port Orford, but the RV park we stayed in has a nice clientele who make a lot of effort at community and made us feel welcome and wanted. We would like to come back.

An Amazing Coincidence

When we arrived at Port Orford, we promised ourselves we would treat ourselves to some clam chowder at a local restaurant. Port Orford is a small, artsy community. I read somewhere in the tourist literature I picked up that there are no fast food places in town, and I believe that is true, as I didn't see any. I would have liked to have had our chowder at the “Crazy Norwegian” restaurant, just because of its name, but it was closed on Monday, so we chose another restaurant. For budget-conscious people like us, who think a splurge is the value menu at (insert favorite fast food franchise name), the clam chowder seemed scandalously expensive at $4.95 a cup, or $5.50 a bowl, but a promise is a promise, so we each ordered a bowl. They were still making it, the server said, so it would be a few minutes wait, and freshly made.

A couple sitting at the next table said hello and asked where we were from. We gave our now standard answer, “Mostly Montana, but for the last couple years we've been Washington residents.”

“We're from Wenatchee,” the man offered.

Well. Jan has several relatives in Wenatchee, so he asked the man if he knew any of the family. Did he ever! It turned out that the man's sister is married to Jan's first cousin, who shares our last name, so we know his sister well. There's no reason these people would have gone to any of Jan's family reunions, so we'd never met them, and probably never would have if we hadn't decided to have clam chowder at that restaurant on that day as they were passing through town on their way back to Wenatchee from Arizona and decided to stop for a bite to eat.

It was some time before the clam chowder was ready, so we had a wonderful conversation and exchanged contact information. They left about when the chowder arrived, which was indeed delicious, and we decided it was a bargain, considering the wonderful bonus we received.

Hughes House & Ranch Plus a Walk on the Beach

Where the Sixes River meets the Pacific Ocean is an unbelievably magnificent setting for a farm and ranch. This beautiful place became home to Irish settlers Patrick and Jane Hughes in the early 1860s. Like many who came to this area, young Hughes had dreams of gold, but turned to ranching. They prospered in children, welcoming nine, and also prospered in their dairy ranch. Eventually they owned over 1800 acres, numerous farm buildings, an orchard, and a large garden. Their butter was shipped by sea to San Francisco.

The Hughes became prosperous and were local philanthropists. For themselves, after thirty years of hard work, they hired local builder Pehr Johan Lindberg to build them a large, modern house with money they had saved.

Although most of the outbuildings are gone, the house survives as a museum, lovingly staffed by volunteers. The Hughes family story comes alive on the free guided tours.

After touring the house, we checked out the Cape Blanco campground and walked down to the beach. You can see the Cape Blanco lighthouse in the distance.

We had to show you this crude beach shelter. Jan and Claire have moved right in.

What a beautiful day we had!

Cape Blanco Lighthouse

After leaving the lifeboat station, we went to the Cape Blanco State Park. Our main goal was to visit the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. The lighthouse, Oregon's oldest continually operating one, is located at Oregon's westernmost point. Cape Blanco is thought to have been sighted by Spanish explorer Martin de Aguilar in 1603. Tours are available.

Originally, the light burned oil. Later, electric lights ran from a generator, and still later, electric lines were brought to the lighthouse. Here is an oil can; the lighthouse used to have eight. Now the light runs automatically, but in early days, maintaining the light was nearly constant work.

The walls are very thick at the bottom of the tower and gradually become less so as they rise. I couldn't resist taking this shot of the spiral stairs.

Just before reaching the light, there is a little machine that, via a shaft running up to the giant Fresnel lens, rotates continually.

In the top of the tower, the lens encloses a 1,000 watt bulb and a backup bulb.

The lighthouse and adjacent gift shop are staffed by volunteers. Here, our guide is explaining about whales that not only pass by but often stay in the area to enjoy rich food sources.

The lighthouse originally was part of a compound that included housing, garden, and livestock facilities, as the early keepers were expected to care for many of their own needs. Those additional buildings no longer survive. Well, I could stay up here for hours, but it's time to head back downstairs. Love these spiral stairs shots.

Next, we'll visit the historic Hughes house and ranch that we passed on our way to the lighthouse.