Newport, OR area

Sunday:

First thing, we went to Corvallis to do laundry, stop by Trader Joe's to pick up two bottles of Carols favorite salad dressing then grocery shopping at Fred Meyers. After that it was off to the South Beach State Park near Newport. When we got there we all took a walk on the really nice paved trails. Then we realized we had been here before. We picked up this Lazy Daze, in April, 2008 then headed north to Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks to see the giant sequoias  then over to the California coast to see the redwoods then headed slowly north to Seattle (we just had to visit the Pikes Market). We must have stayed here on that trip. Surprisingly enough, when we pulled in the “vacancy” sign was up; we had really expected a full house. At any rate, this is the perfect campground for Carol. There is a very long, paved trail leading to a Pacific Ocean overlook and then continuing north to the Jetty plus all the interior streets, and sites, are paved.

When the registration lady noticed we were from Florida, she said that FL and AZ residents were responsible for bringing sunshine with them. :-) No sun today but the forecast for the next two days looks promising.

The campground, itself, is nice but  nothing remarkable. Mostly 287 campsites each separated from the next by a patch of grass and some type of pine trees. Our site is a little nicer because it backs to a large common area.  Ron ??? from Portland is camping here in his Lazy Daze. Two years ago, he and his wife completed a three year odyssey covering every state and most Canadian Provinces. 

Monday:

The day started out gloomy but by 1pm, checkout time for the campground wouldn't you know, the sun came out and it stayed that way all day. I took Gopher for an early walk on the beach. Oregon state parks are really unique with their dog policy. I've never stayed in a SP anywhere, that allowed dogs on the beach. In OR, the dog doesn't even have to be on a leash, just under the owners control. Gopher quickly joined two Labs in a good game of ball. 

By noon time, the campground was about emptied out from the long holiday weekend.

After the sun came out, the three of us took another walk to the beach.

It was cool this evening so we had a small campfire from wood I scrounged here and there.

Tuesday:

Yet another perfectly bright and sunny day. That's two in a row!!

Today was exploring day. Our first stop was the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, a National Parks project located just north of the Newport bridge. The tide was fairly low so there were all sorts of creatures to be found in the tide pools. Sea Lions were basking on some of the rocks.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

 

 After that, we continued north to the DePoe Bay area stopping at all the scenic overlook areas. DePoe Bay's claim to fame is that it is the worlds smallest natural harbor. Then it was back to Newport for some grocery shopping then a stop at the Historic Bayfront area. 

The Sea Lions

The Newport bridge from the Bayfront

Newport is home to Oregons largest commercial fishing fleet. We had lunch at the well regarded Local Oceans restaurant. I had a dungeness crab Po-Boy and Carol had two crab cakes. A very good lunch. We walked along the boardwalk and saw the California Sea Lions. Generally you can hear sea lions before you see them. For some reason, they do an awful lot of barking. After that we parked along the south jetty. I walked Gopher out the jetty while Carol watched the fishing boats come and go. Today was the cooks day off, that's me, so we also had dinner out, this time at the South Beach Fish Market. It's only about a five minute drive from the campground. The clam chowder was as good as any we've had. The fish and chips I had was good, but nothing remarkable. Carol had a bowl of steamers that were small, but tasty.

In the morning, we head south to the USFS Tillicum Beach campground.