Saturday I went back to many of the same spots on the southwest Oregon coast which I had stopped at Friday when I entered the state from California. These were taken at various times Saturday morning. Some, but not all, of the beach pictures have people (or animals) in them as a size reference.
About 20 minutes after I took the photo above the sun started to break through the fog:
Saturday I went back to many of the same spots on the southwest Oregon coast which I had stopped at Friday when I entered the state from California. These were taken at various times Saturday morning and afternoon. From some vantage points you will see a big difference between photos in the morning before the fog burned off and later in the day when the sun was out and the ocean reflected the blue sky.
Someone seems to have misplaced their boat (it appears to have been abandoned on shore)
And then the sun came out….
Saturday I went back to many of the same spots on the southwest Oregon coast which I had stopped at Friday when I entered the state from California. These were taken at various times Saturday afternoon. Some, but not all, of the beach pictures have people in them as a size reference.
And Saturday afternoon I saw three more people wind surfing, this time in the ocean and not on the calm Pistol River.
I stood and watched them for 20 or 30 minutes. They traveled continuously back and forth up the coastline and out into the ocean and back near the shore. I only saw one of them wipe out that whole time so they all seemed to be very experienced. I can only imagine that this activity must be physically exhausting though it appears to be a lot of fun.
I’ve already posted some pictures of Arch Rock which I took on Friday, July 27. Here are photos taken the next day, at various times throughout the day, which show it in a variety on sunlit and shaded states. This is the Arch Rock off the southwest coast of Oregon. I discovered last night that there will be another Arch Rock out in the ocean when I get up to northwest Oregon in about a week and a half.
I was looking forward to finally seeing my first Puffin but evidently they have literally “flown the coop” with nesting season being over and have traveled north into Canada and Alaska for the remainder of this year.
Here are two photos I found online:
(Photo credit: hbw.com)
(Photo credit: Greg Homel abcbirds.org)
And here is a Puffin statue at one of the beaches I went to Sunday, constructed entirely of litter found on the beach (sad but creative)!
Those photos are all of “Tufted Puffins,” one of the two varieties sometimes seen in the Pacific Northwest. The other is a “Horned Puffin”:
(Photo credit: E. J. Peiker)
In the northeast US (Maine in particular, and also in eastern Canada) “Atlantic Puffins” are the variety most commonly seen. A fourth variety, the – are you ready for this – “Rhinoceros Auklet” is generally found outside the United States. Over 60% of the world’s Puffins live in or near Iceland.
Young Puffins are called chicks or pufflings.
A group of Puffins can be called any number of things: An improbability, a parliament, burrow, raft, gathering, loomery, puffinry or, (I love this one) circus!
Meet Sam:
Sam’s a lucky young man. When most kids go to the beach they build a sand castle. Sam’s Dad helped him build a fort!
Well, they actually fortified (sorry – I couldn’t help myself) an existing foundation…
More wood:
Even more wood:
Document and admire their handiwork:
Now, hop back in:
And wait……
Who knows what might come along… Indians… Varmints…. Bigfoot….
I went down to the beach from my vantage point up by the road and got the photo of Sam, who wanted to take off his sweatshirt and show me his cool dinosaur t-shirt. Gathering wood for the fort was hard work, right Dad?
I climbed back up on my observation perch and thought maybe I planted a seed and they decided to build that sand castle after all:
No, let’s play “Where’d Dad Go?” instead (and now Dad had shed his sweatshirt as well):
He was just here a minute ago…
Later, Sam decided if Dad could climb the rock, he could too:
Found you. Ha!
Now I’m going to go up and help you get down….
Quality time at the beach!
When I entered Oregon from the south on Friday the first place I stopped was the Oregon State Parks Visitor Center, called Crissey Field (the same name as the airfield at The Presidio in San Francisco).
After visiting with the nice folks who work there, and getting an armful of magazines, books, maps and brochures to study, I headed back towards my car. I noticed a sign which explained a little bit about the building which I found very interesting. I’ll just let the sign explain the story behind the construction of this facility.
When I came out of the Oregon State Parks Visitor Center Friday morning a minivan was parked next to me which had these characters skewered on the radio antenna – sort of a comic totem pole…
I’m not sure I wanna know exactly what’s going on here….
This is the “Jack in the Box” guy (a hamburger chain):
People with newer cars are missing out on the fun.
Friday I drove up “The 101” and entered the state of Oregon. I’ll be traveling up the entire 343 mile length of the Oregon coast over the next two weeks. The first big city I came to, shortly after crossing the state line, was Brookings.
I ate lunch at a restaurant down near the harbor, then drove back up to a long bridge which took me over the Chetco River so I could continue my trek north.
I saw this old Coast Guard ship down by the harbor:
And I saw these two puppies at the restaurant where I had lunch:
When I got back up to the roadway this was the view looking inland from the bridge:
And this was the view looking towards the ocean, down at the harbor below:
These are some flowers I saw at the Botanical Garden where I parked my car while I took the pictures from the bridge. This is a “Harlequin” Marigold:
When I was in Death Valley National Park I posted a photo of a Desert Holly. Since I’m near the ocean it is appropriate that I post a photo of a Sea Holly:
There was no sign but I believe this is another Bottlebrush plant, like the ones I saw down in California:
And this is where “Hot Tamales,” the delicious red-hot candy comes from:
Actually it’s a Nine-pin Heath, which comes from South Africa.
History was not my strong suit in high school (nor were English or French, as those teachers would attest to…) but I learned an interesting history lesson shortly after arriving in Brookings, Oregon on Friday. I realize the title of this post seems to be a contradiction in terms but here’s the story…
On September 9, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced off the coast of the western United States. Crew members quickly assembled a specially designed modular aircraft which would carry two 170-pound incendiary bombs. The plane flew inland to a position near Wheeler Ridge, east of Brookings, and dropped it’s cargo. Their intent was to start a fire, causing panic and pandemonium (ask anyone living on the West coast how they feel about fire…). Fortunately, thanks to a wetter than normal summer and alert Forest Service spotters, crews were able to detect and extinguish the resulting fire before it got out of hand (and later found bomb fragments to verify what happened). The sub tried again 20 days later but farmers and military personnel spotted the plane and no fires resulted and no bombs were ever found. The September 9 attack remains the only time enemy aircraft successfully bombed the US mainland during wartime.
Here are photos of the sign I saw in Brookings:
The story has a happy ending. In 1962 the pilot of the plane which dropped the bombs attended Brooking’s annual Azalea festival and surrendered his 400 year-old samurai sword as a gesture of goodwill to the United States and the people of Oregon. Here is a picture of the sword I found online:
(Photo credit: atlasobscura.com)
#NoCokePepsi
He also returned in 1992 and planted a redwood tree at the site of the bombing.
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