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The drive west on US Hwy 20 (said to be the longest road in America, it runs from Boston, MA to Newport, OR: a distance of 3,365 miles) from Corvallis to the coast was gorgeous, past rolling farm land, through tall trees, and over the Coast Range all under a bright blue sunny sky. Pulling into Newport on the central Oregon coast was quite a shock. The sun was completely obscured by thick, pea soup fog and it was cold, yet we could still see the sunny skies in our rear view mirror!

First stop, the ocean. Having lived in the dry desert for years we are drawn to bodies of water and feel the urge to be near them as soon as possible. We pulled into Yaquina Bay State Park, yanked on some jackets and hit the beach. It is difficult for us (especially Lance) but we have to resist the tendency to pronounce unusual, new words in Spanish. In the Southwest you can usually use Spanish pronunciation but north of the California line most of the words are Native American derivatives, like Yaquina. In the Southwest we would say ya-ke-na, in the Northwest it is yuh-KWEN-uh.

It was cold and windy as we walked along. The waves were large and crashed ashore in rapid succession sending sea spray high in the air. The wind picked up the spray, mixed it with beach sand and blasted us with wet, salty grains of sand that stuck to our damp clothes and skin. Undaunted, we headed out along the jetty that protects the Newport harbor and watched as fishing boats slipped in and out of the fog. We were damp, chilled and covered with sand but it was beautiful!

It was a relief to return to the top of the bluff and tour the lighthouse, as it got us out of the wind. The volunteer at the lighthouse said this was unusual weather for the summer, that it was like a winter storm. The Yaquina Bay lighthouse is the oldest wooden lighthouse in Oregon. It was built in 1871 but it only operated for three years because it was in a spot that was of little navigational help to sailors. It was decommissioned after a new lighthouse was built further up the coast. What a lonely job that must have been! Out on the coast, in the middle of nowhere, with supplies brought only a few times of year by boat, you would have to be one dedicated and resourceful person to do it. Of course, at the time it was one of the best paying jobs in the United States, around $600 a year.

We required a refresher so we drove across the famous Yaquina Bay Bridge to the South Beach area and popped into the Rogue Brewery. Lance and I sampled some of their award winning brews upstairs overlooking a crowded pier. We had to find out why the pier was so crowded so we finished up and headed back out into the cool breeze. The city fishing pier was packed with people who were “crabbing” for Dungeness crab.

Apparently Newport is famous for its large crab population and it looks so simple. You take a crab pot (you can rent one in town), drop in some raw chicken parts, tie on a long rope and toss it in the water. After awhile, maybe a half hour, you pull it up and take out your crabs. I’m sure there are size limits but we didn’t see anyone leave empty handed. There is a large cleaning sink nearby and lots of sheltered picnic areas with grills, so you can eat fresh crab, from bay to pot in 15 minutes! They looked so good that it made us hungry.

Our stomachs took us to Newport’s historic bay front. We walked the length of it and found it to be the usual tourist area. The best thing was discovering the resident California Sea Lion group. That was easy, we just followed the loud barking. The large pinnipeds are so entertaining! There’s always a few really crabby old ones, a really sleepy one that sleeps even when a 600 lb. sea lion climbs over him, and a couple overly exuberant young ones that want attention and get barked at by everyone, including “Sleepy”. We were really close to these sea lions and trust us, they smell!

Now we were really hungry so we went to Mo’s Restaurant for dinner. We had heard the chowder was to die for. Our dinner was reasonably priced and hot and we were hungry, but can’t say we’d go there again. Our tummies full, we walked back to our home-on-wheels and went to bed.

The next morning’s weather was a repeat of the day before but nothing could stop us from enjoying it. A few miles north of Newport we pulled into the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. I’d never heard of an “Outstanding” area before but Congress created this one in 1980 and I’m glad they did. Managed by the BLM, the area includes the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Seal Rock, Cobble Beach, and several nice tidal pools.

We toured the recently restored 1874 lighthouse all the way to the top where the first order Fresnel lens was being cleaned. A first order lens is the largest of the Fresnel lenses; at over 12’ tall and it can throw a beam of light 20 miles out to sea. Developed by French physicist Augustin Fresnel, the lens is not a single glass piece—it is actually a framework of hundreds of prisms. The light is still operational although now it is powered by electricity instead of pig oil.

We dropped down the steep trail to Cobble Beach and were well rewarded. Not only were we buffered from the incessant wind but we were surrounded by wildlife; cormorants, Harbor Seals and the best part, a Gray Whale! We watched the whale as it fed in the kelp beds at the south end of Cobble Beach. We were mesmerized as it rolled, spouted and fluked.
It was our own private show, we were so close to the whale we could’ve waded out to it (but we didn’t)! I’m so glad we spotted it as it turned out to be the only whale we would see all day.

We drove north on Hwy 101 to Cape Foulweather which was named by Captain Cook in March of 1778. Amazingly we were spared the horrible weather Cook experienced. It was the only place all day where we saw the sun. We could see the heavy fog south of us at Devil’s Punch Bowl and north up by Whale Cove.

Whale Cove is the center of historical controversy as some now claim that Sir Francis Drake landed there in 1579. Whether you believe Drake was a bloody pirate or a distinguished explorer it is well-known that he had the financial support of the British crown. It is also well-known that Drake purposely falsified his maps in order to throw off other explorers, especially the Spanish. Unfortunately, the truth about his landings and sightings is still unknown and claims like the one at Whale Cove abound. Though some may not be interested… “Actually, I find this stuff fascinating!” ...to quote Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

The Oregon coast is full of interesting places and Depoe Bay is no exception. It is the smallest navigable harbor in the world but what I liked best about it is the story behind its name. In the early 1800s a Siletz Indian (whose now extinct language gave us the word Yaquina), called Charlie, worked at the supply depot. Since he was always at the depot and had no last name the residents started calling him Charlie Depot. Someone wrote his name down as they heard it and the name was later used for the town, Depoe Bay.

In Lincoln City we crossed the 45th parallel which means we were halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. Sounds impressive but we didn’t feel any different! Just north of Lincoln City we crossed over the D River which claims to be the shortest river in the world. The river flows a mere 120’ from Devils Lake to the Pacific Ocean but during high tide the distance is even shorter. It did not make it into the Guinness Book of World Records, that honor went to the Roe River in Montana. Yet another coastal controversy!

We enjoyed our wanderings along the coast but we had to leave. We left Hwy 101 and the coast behind as we turned towards Portland where we will stay for the next two weeks.

Photos: See our Oregon Coast photos.

Dates: We visited the Central Oregon coast from 08/26/06 – 08/27/06.