Okay, I’d heard it rained a lot in Oregon. But when I think of “raining a lot” I think of the non-stop, no break in the clouds type of rain.
Although that certainly does happen here, it’s not the norm. Yesterday it was just showers with peaks of blue sky!
Bray’s Point
We packed a picnic lunch and headed south to checkout the work that’s been done in the campgrounds. One of our favorite spots on the central Oregon coast for a “picnic” (ie, sandwich in the truck) and whale watching is Bray’s Point. (Now if this gets too crowded I’m going to stop blogging!)
That photo is looking north over Bob Creek. We like Bob Creek for tidepooling and fishing and mussels.
Silvery Surf
Here’s the view to the south from Bray’s Point. I can see why businesses are named Silvery Surf this or that.
Heceta Lighthouse Overlook
We always stop (if there’s a parking spot) at the Heceta Head Lighthouse overlook just north of Sea Lion Caves.
All the sea lions must have been in the cave yesterday because we didn’t even see any playing in the surf; let alone on the rocks below.
I wanted to be sure to get a walk on the beach today. So I got up early and headed out to the minus tide and the possibility of an agate bed or float or another beach treasure.
Out there, on the edge of the surf, was a bird. It looked larger than a seagull and a little darker in color. The shape looks wrong too. My camera is messing up so I wanted to wait until I got closer in case it only worked for a short time.
As I walked closer, I saw it walking and it reminded me of a goose. But what would a single goose be doing on the beach?
Goose on a beach?
So I had to go investigate. As I got closer, the bird was moving away from me. It moved out into the surf. Maybe it’s a pelican? hahaha
in the surf
Nope! It’s a Canada Goose. I wonder where all his friends are?
Surfing Goose
Sometimes things just look out of place. I wonder if he’s confused?
Notes from my Workamping Journal:
We got a report that some moron vandalized a restroom in one of our remote campgrounds. So we went up to get a look at the damage. It looked like they started the toilet paper on fire, ripped the handicap handle off the wall, ripped the door off the hinges and broke the window out. The campground is in the Florence Oregon area. There were several Forest Service Day Use areas that were damaged the same way last fall.
If anyone has any information about this vandalism, please let me know.
I hope the bears find them!
Vandals are nothing but cowards – they do their damage when no one is around to see them
Ever wonder why the trees grow like this on the Oregon Coast? C’mon out today and you’ll see. The weather forecast is showers/wind. Remember, “showers” mean you’ll see the sun part of the time 🙂 The sun was shining when I went for my camera and was gone by the time I took the pic. Tillicum Campground still has beachfront sites open for spring break/whale watching!
Tillicum Campground - beachfront
There’s a high wind warning for tonight and tomorrow morning. High winds mean high surf! They are awesome to watch but don’t get too close!
Notes from my Workamping Journal:
Travelling along Hwy 101, on the Oregon Coast, provides unique opportunities for parking along the ocean to enjoy the scenery or walking on the beach. There are tons of waysides that are free of charge. However, there are some day use areas that charge a fee. Those that charge a fee accept all the Day Use passes sold in the Northwest. Most of these areas also accept a camping receipt or a day use receipt from a different area you visited on the same day. If you do park in a Fee area, please display your pass or pay the fee there and display that receipt. Your fees provide for maintenance of that area.
Tonight we had a new “adventure”! I’ll start with the end and go backwards. We are safe at home after getting stuck in the snow and meeting a Moose on the Alsea Hwy.
Snow at Tillicum Campground
Not an animal-type moose, a Moose Lodge-type moose. His name is Chris and he was kind enough to drive us home to Tillicum after we slid off the Alsea Hwy. Boy are we thankful to be the recipient of the Moose Charter to “do a kind deed a day”! Chris lives on the treacherous corner (and hill) where, according to him, “accidents happen every time it snows”. It is just east of Grandpa’s Feed store. As we approached the corner, we saw 2 sets of brake lights. We tried to go around them slowly but, not knowing what they would try to do, we ended up going too slow and started to slide. So we stopped to avoid sliding into one of the trucks. One of the trucks got up the hill and parked. He walked back and Don joined him to push the first guy out. (Of course Don was in shorts…silly question.) Then he offered us help but all we did was slide towards the deep ravine. There is a gravel shoulder and we thought we might get some traction there, but nnNNOOOoo. Alrighty then, we have emergency road service so I called Bill’s Chevron for a tow. Chris was trying to keep traffic moving past us. Don stood outside for a while but finally got back in to get warm. The tendency was for people to stop when they saw we were sideways. But that was always a mistake. Everyone else got through, except for a car load of teens. I think a parent came and escorted them back the other way. 🙂 Maybe a half hour later Chris came over to tell us the tow truck driver just went by to get the truck. We waited and watched as people gingerly passed us by; hugging the top side of the road. It was a little nerve-wracking when traffic was coming both ways. At one point a driver was coming down the hill, in front of us, and headed straight over to our side of the road about 30 yards from us. I thought it might be the tow truck and he was confidently coming to get us in his big-wheeled, heavy-duty truck. But, as he got to our side, he took a sharp turn to angle back over to the right side of the road and continued on his way; missing us by a good TWO feet. :-} It looked completely intentional to me. Don laughed and said “he lost control, slid and hit the birm (sp?) which bounced him back onto the road.” He missed us! hhhmmm – I think Don would say that it’s hard to tell when I am experiencing the peace and calm of the Lord’s protection or if it is just an “ignorant bliss”. As we started to talk about how long it had been since the tow truck driver passed us, here he came back, but not in the tow truck. He said he couldn’t even get it off the lot! He mentioned he didn’t know if he had enough gas to get him back home. I thought that was a little weird since he’d just come from Bill’s CHEVRON.
Anyway, he and Chris helped us get to the other side of the fog line so we could lock it up and leave it. We gathered our things and started walking in the ruts of the snow on the Alsea Hwy. (Of course Don is in shorts….but he had wool socks on.) We got to McKinley’s RV Park and here comes Chris in a 4WD truck. He asked if he could drive us home to Tillicum. He made up some story about having to go to town to pick up his Father-in-law’s truck anyway. What a guy! He wouldn’t let us pay him. We got home, to Tillicum Campground, about midnight. Turns out Chris used to work for our employer, American Land & Leisure.
Snow Plowing Tillicum Campground
We were so wound up! I took the camera to get some snow photos. But, the way it was coming down, I knew it would mean snow on the beach in the morning! The stairway was deep with slick snow so I snapped a shot from the top and resigned to getting my pix in the morning.
Snow Broke Rhody – Tillicum Host Site
There’s a LOT of storm damage in all the campgrounds. Tillicum’s power stayed on. But Sutton, Alder Dune and Blackberry lost power around 3am.
This big boulder was on the Alsea Hwy yesterday afternoon. They cleared it off quickly. (I think that guy pushed it…jk) The hwy was closed this morning due to more debris from the same area.
Boulder on Alsea Hwy
We’d started this day with a business trip to Florence. I was excited to get some high surf pix in Yachats.
High Surf – Yachats State Park
But, with it raining horizontally (typical of the Oregon Coast), getting a photo without salt spray on the lens is a challenge.
Flat Seagulls
This photo of the seagulls looks distorted because they are hunkered down so low. I don’t think I’ve seen them make themselves so flat! I wonder which one is named Stanley? (Anyone remember Flat Stanley from their child’s geography class?)
Maybe we could conclude that I started and ended my day in a peaceful, “ignorant bliss”. 🙂
It’s not just watching the big waves, its hearing them crash! I tried to get a video, mostly for the audio. 🙂 When I replayed the video, though, all I could hear is the wind.
As I’ve spent a lot of time walking the beach, I’ve gotten used to the sound of the waves. You can hear a low, constant, rumble of the large waves furthest out. The ones that are closer in have a higher pitch and you can hear the individual waves crash. There is also a higher pitch sound, that the small waves make, that are washing up on the sand. It is mostly from the water drawing back and rippling against itself. Then, at random, you hear a silence of these higher-pitched wave sounds. That’s when you need to pay attention because, if you are too close, you’re gonna get wet! hahaha I think that’s why they are called “sneaker” waves. It’s all fun and games on a wide, sandy, beach like Tillicum. But it is deadly if the only place to run is on rocks/boulders. They are uneven and slippery just when you need your footing the most!
Bull Kelp or Bull Whip Kelp
I saw this pile of something in the distance so I had to go investigate; even though there is an icy wind blowing. The seagull is finding something to eat in this ball of Bull Kelp (nicknamed Bull Whip for its shape). It has an air-filled ball on one end that makes it float. I imagine a storm will churn a group together so they get knotted. Then the surf will push them onto the beach.
Seagulls Feasting on Barnacles
There are tiny barnacles on this fairly new log. (I know it is fairly new because there is still bark on it.) The seagulls will clean it off quickly. This is looking north from Tillicum Beach.
I’m not sure what a normal surf is but the swell is predicted to be 22′, peaking this evening. The tide is going out now and the high at 6:20pm is only a 5.1. But I’ll have to make time to find a good place to watch the waves before sunset.
