P.S. Beautiful Bend, Boise not so much!

Bend was spectacularly clear and crisp this morning. Couldn't resist taking the extra time to go to the top of Pilot Butte. You could see forever. Which seemed odd since there are forest fires burning everywhere.

The drive through the canyons between Burns and Vale was beautiful. As we got near Vale we started to see the smoke settling into the Treasure Valley....and by the time got to Emmett it was almost choking! I assume that smoke is from the big fire around John Day.

Seal Rock and Newport

Today was a two-discovery day! We left Yachats after a nice breakfast at the Blue Whale. We agree that we like Yachats a lot  - would gladly return. Its a tiny town, very eclectic, some great little eateries and its centrally located to some great ocean adventures.

Our first surprise today was just beyond the town of Waldport (which we don't like any better today). We came to a state park at a feature called Seal Rock. A great place to hike down to the beach and explore the tide pools and watch the crashing waves on spectacular rock formations.

From there we continued north of 101 to the city of Newport. Our goal was just to snoop around the fishing piers. So, as soon as we crossed the rather large bridge and turned right to go toward the harbor we were, all of a sudden, in whats called the Bayview section. Very cool! Like Coney Island! A fish factory, eclectic eateries, Ripley's, undersea tourist trap, barking seals, and more! We sat on a bench on the boardwalk and ate a crab sandwich from a Thai cafe.

We left Newport around 2:00 aand headed off into the wilderness toward Bend, passing through
Corvallis, Albany, Lebanon, Sweet Home and eventually Sisters.  US 20 all the way!

Stopped in Bend at the SugarLoaf Motel - a cheapy fleabag but OK for a place to sleep! Dinner at Shari's. Home tomorrow.

P.S. As it turns out, with a good internet connection, this little netbook works just fine!

Crashing Waves

Woke up to fog today, which is not that unusual. It hung around for most of the day. We're thankful for the sunny day yesterday.

Great breakfast at The Drift Inn then back to Spouting Horn/Thor's Well at low tide to poke around in the tide pools. (We'd come back in the afternoon at high tide). Then we drove north about 15 miles to the town of Waldport and had a decent lunch at a Pizza/Fish place. We didn't like Waldport - seemed kind of creepy somehow! Its only claim to fame is the interesting bridge over the Alsea River.

Then back to the Cape Perpetual area and Devil's Churn, said to be best at high tide. Wow! You hike down to the rocks and get up close and personal with the waves crashing in. You can scramble along the rocks and feel the spray. The power is awesome. Its almost frightening. Then we went on down the road to see Thor's Well, at high tide. Is is so cool!!

I took a bunch of video clips today which I hope I can link together. Still photos don't do these things justice.

We head back to Bend tomorrow. We've decided we really like this quirky little town! The Adobe hotel is fine. The Fireside next door looks good too.

Exploring Around Yachats

Spectacular sunny day today -  lot less wind (but still a lot this afternoon) temps around 70. (Over the mountain in The Valley its about 100!)

Breakfast at the Green Salmon cafe. Drove south toward Florence stopping along the way to walk on the beach or watch the waves crash on the rocks. When time came for a late lunch, we found the Surf something hotel. We had a less than satisfactory meal in the hotel dining room.

Then headed back north to be at the Spouting Rock/Thor's Well at around high tide. First stop was quite by accident. Just off the highway was a small bog with a protected field of Darlingtonia Californica (we know as Pitcher plant) Then on to a nice hike up to Haceta Head Light. Returned to Yachats for a great dinner at "ONA". Then we crashed. Computer connection is really slow here, so not many photos.

Haceta Lighthouse

Boise to Yachats via Sisters

This isn't really a blog! Rather, its to test a new routine for our trip to Greece in October. I had our little netbook upgraded. Now I wanted to test that it will connect to a hotel wifi (it does), that I have the right cable to export photos from the camera to the netbook (I do) and that I can insert photos into a blogpost (remains to be seen). If all this works as planned, we won't have to lug our trusty, but heavy (and valuable) laptop.

A long time ago, we'd blocked off this August week from our calendar, with no particular idea as to where we might go. So, on Sunday, we would decide on a road trip either to Montana/Beartooth/Yellowstone or the Oregon Coast. Oregon was the winner, mainly because it was less driving.

We left Boise after church on Sunday and went to Bend. We had planned to take the scenic route hru John Day, but Rt 26 was closed due a major fire. So we went the usual way, through Burns, and arrived around 6:00PM. We stayed at the fleabag Holiday Motel, which was fine and the price was right. Dinner at the Black Bear. 

Monday breakfast at The Gallery in Sisters. Smoke from a big fire down by Crater lake was pretty thick. Then proceeded up the McKenzie Highway heading for Eugene. At the the top of McK Pass is the Wright Observatory, built in the 1920s in the middle of a lava flow. Very pretty!

Arrived in Yachats late afernoon, after a fe stops to enjoy the views of the ocean. We checked into the Adobe Resort, where will be for three nights. Bar food in the hotel lounge was quite good!

 Weather is sunny, cloudless, aound 70 degrees, with a gale force wind!

I was unable to upload all the photos I wanted to. Its a function of file size, internet connectionn speed or my computer. Will try again later. Why are the photos all different sizes?