Elephant Seal Viewing Area

Dave and I have been in Pismo Beach for a week.  Today we decided to take a drive north up Highway 1 along the coast.  We went by the exit for Hearst Castle, but didn't visit this time since we had been there before.  The road is a long way from the castle, but I was able to get a decent, if somewhat blurry, shot from afar.

Hearst Castle

We didn't know exactly where the Elephant Seal Viewing Area was located, but as we drove a few miles north of San Simeon and Hearst Castle, we saw that it was clearly marked along Highway 1 and that there were lots of cars and people there.

This time of the year, elephant seals come here to mate and birth their young.  They don't bark like sea lions, but they make all kinds of other noises, mostly sounding (to me) like a bunch of cattle.

Elephant seals on the beach--no, they're not dead.

The one on the bottom left is loudly complaining!

This is a happy family (I think).

Most of the elephant seals were playing dead on the sand, but I caught these two frolicking in the water.

Besides seeing the elephant seals on the beach, the view of the Pacific Ocean's rocky coastline was spectacular here.

North of the elephant seal viewing area a working lighthouse was visible.  Of course we had to drive a few more miles up the coast to visit it.  

Piedras Blancas Lighthouse

The lighthouse wasn't open today, but can be viewed on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  Do not, however, go to the lighthouse for the tour.  It's a guided tour that meets at 9:45 am at a motel one and a half miles north of the lighthouse. 

Viewing the huge elephant seals was the highlight of our day trip today.  The male seals grow to 5000 pounds and the females reach 1500 pounds.  The adult males arrive in early December after a journey from Alaska.   The pregnant females also begin arriving in December and each one selects a comfortable location to give birth.   Eventually each male will have as many as 40 females in his harem.

The first pups are usually born around December 20 and births continue through January.  By March, the next mating season, which begins about a month after the births, is over and the adult seals head out to the ocean leaving the weaned pups to teach themselves how to swim.

Reflections

I still expect to see Margie's blog pop up each afternoon.  I was happy to see her daughter, Stephanie, post an update yesterday.  My tears are starting to dry up but I am fully aware that the emptiness is just beginning for Margie and Bruce's family members. 

Many of us knew Margie through her blog, but we weren't as familiar with Bruce.  I was surprised, when we visited with Margie and Bruce in person, to find out that Bruce was just as interesting and captivating as Margie was.  Bruce had a lot to say!  So even though Margie's voice and personality was the one that came through on the blog, Bruce was right there with her. 

We know from Margie's blog and pictures that Bruce was a very active grandfather.  He seemed to have infinite patience with the "Grands", even though he sometimes pretended to be reading or sleeping so he didn't have to play one more game of beauty shop or restaurant!  The pictures of him playing chess with Mackenzie on the computer were precious.  Margie was the scrapbooking grandma, and both grandparents played a lot of games with the girls.

Together, Margie and Bruce were quite a team.  I really can't picture one of them without the other, so in a way, maybe it was a blessing that they entered heaven together, just as they spent their lives here on earth together.  I'm sure it was harder on their family to lose them both at the same time, though. 

So carry on we must, even though one of the lights in my life has burned out!

Margie's last comment to me referred to the logo pictured above:

"Cute logo, Carol, and it really would be great for your blog. Congrats to Dave on the re-election results. Hope you enjoy a lovely weekend."

sent October 15, 2010 7:04 PM

North Jetty

The last few times we have visited Cape Disappointment State Park, the end of North Jetty has been closed because the river is being dredged in order to deepen the shipping passage.

This time we were able to see the dredge doing its work.  

A closer view of the dredge ship.

We couldn’t walk all the way to the south end of the beach because of the work going on at the jetty.

This area, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean is such an interesting area.  We never get tired of exploring here.

Cormorants

When we are this close to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, we can see that it needs a paint job!

Cape Disappointment’s other lighthouse is North Head, which is visible from Benson Beach at the campground. 

Update on Jonathan

I’m  writing this while sitting out at a picnic table at North Jetty.  Behind me, up on a hill, is Cape Disappointment lighthouse.  Why I am sitting outside, besides taking advantage of the sunshine and mild weather?  It’s because this spot in the state park has two bars of cell service, which allows me to tether to my computer.  I need the umbrella so I can see the screen. 

Have you seen all those pictures of people using their computers outside or at the beach?  How do they do that?  I can’t see the screen if I’m outside.   As it is, my face is reflected in the screen, and I don’t like looking at myself while I type.  Oh well, at least I’m connected to the internet!

We talked to Jonathan yesterday.  Since he put the news on his Facebook, I think I can put it on my blog.  He made it into Trooper Basic!  21 out of the 54 cadets are moving on to Trooper Basic and the others will be employed as security officers.  Those people can apply to get into Trooper Basic after they’ve been out in the field for a while.

Jonathan has two more weeks of the “arming” session and then 21 weeks of Trooper Basic.  After that comes eight weeks under supervision in the field.  Then…if he makes it…graduation at the state Capitol on March 16, 2011.  His dream and career choice is coming true!

Sunset at Benson Beach, Cape Disappointment State Park

Oregon Lighthouses

After I blogged about Yaquina Head lighthouse yesterday, Jerry and Suzy of Our Life on Wheels asked if we had visited the other Newport lighthouse.  We didn’t visit it this trip, but we saw it in December of last year. 

Newport has two lighthouses, each very different from the other.  The names of the two are similar.  Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is located in town and Yaquina Head Lighthouse is  located about five miles north of Newport. 

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, photographed 12-30-09

It’s still on our to-do list to see the inside of this lighthouse.  I understand that the house is decorated like when the lighthouse keeper and his family lived there.  While it’s interesting to see the actual light, it’s also interesting to find out what their lives were like while tending to the lighthouse.  

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, photographed 7-6-10

 This picture on display inside Yaquina Head Lighthouse shows the layout in 1877 and in 1955.  All the buildings except for the lighthouse and the building attached to it are now gone. 

For lighthouse-lovers, Newport, and indeed, the entire Oregon coast, contains a wealth of lighthouses. Oregon has eleven lighthouses.  Click here to see pictures and a map of them.

Heceta Head Lighthouse, north of Florence, photographed 12-28-09

We visited Heceta Head when we were in Yachats after Christmas last year.  We were fortunate to be there when the lighthouse was open and we got a guided tour of it.  Even though it was winter and cold, we had sunshine that day!

Dave and I like to visit lighthouses.  We have only seen a few of the ones on the Oregon coast, because most of them are located on the southern part of the coast and we live nearer to the northern part of the coast.  There’s always more to see!

A Day at the Oregon Coast

We decided to stay one more day at Mallard Creek.  Dave didn’t play golf today, so we headed for the coast.  It took a couple of hours each way to get there and back, but the sun was out and the weather was warm, so it was a perfect day to go to the coast.

Our first view of the Pacific Ocean as we headed west on US Highway 20 into Newport, Oregon

We drove to Depoe Bay so that we could eat lunch at the Chowder Bowl restaurant, one of our favorite places.  Then we walked across Highway 101 to admire the rocky coast at Depoe Bay, known for being the world’s smallest harbor.

The Pacific Ocean at Depoe Bay, Oregon

As we headed back south on Highway 101, we stopped at Devil’s Punchbowl, an Oregon State Park.  It was low tide, so this wasn’t as impressive as it could have been, but was still interesting.

Devil’s Punchbowl State Park     Surfers at Devil’s Punchbowl

Then we headed to Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, our destination for the day.  This is a federal park, so we were able to use our Interagency America the Beautiful Pass and save the $7 entry fee.  This area has much to see, with the highlight being Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse on the Oregon Coast.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

We walked up all 114 steps!  The view at the top of the lighthouse  

Cobble Beach and tidepools

To read more about our day at the beach and to see more pictures, see Dave's blog.

Tomorrow morning we head for home.  Our son, Jonathan, will be driving down to Vancouver from Bellingham, WA.  We look forward to seeing him!

Cape Disappointment, Day 3

Last evening the rain stopped long enough for us to have our first campfire of the year.  It was cold outside so we huddled fairly close to the fire.  We cut the fire short when it started raining again around 8:45 pm.  We had rain during most of the night and rain again this morning.  But around 10:45 this morning, the rain stopped and it didn't rain again just now at 5:10 pm. 

We took a drive to Ocean Park, Nahcotta, and Oysterville.  We drove along the beach north of Ocean Park and saw this private lighthouse.  When we tried to track it down, the entrance had a large gate that was closed.  Guess they don't like visitors.

This part of the Washington coast allows cars to drive on the beach.  Since we have a 4-wheel-drive vehicle, we like to drive on the beach occasionally.  This is the view of the ocean that we had:

After we got back from the drive, Dave and I went for a 7-mile bike ride around the park. 

Here's a picture of Dave and me that Charlie took yesterday.  Cape Disappointment Lighthouse is way in the background above our heads, and the jetty is right behind us. 

And here is a picture of Charlie and Pam: