We arrived home Wednesday afternoon. All is well. The drive on Tuesday from Reno to Las Vegas was uneventful after it took 45 minutes to go 3 miles in Reno traffic on I-80 (due to an accident, we think). Most of the trip was on two lanes with no traffic (and 70 mph speed limits in Nevada).
We stayed overnight Tuesday in Las Vegas at our new mainstay, the Marriott Residence Inn near the airport. It’s a nice hotel on a quiet stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard well away from casino row. We had dinner the Bootlegger Bistro next door, a old-style Italian eatery. Good food. No pictures from Las Vegas as the only thing we saw was the hotel and the restaurant.
We drove home on Wednesday. Instead of taking the normal route by the Hoover Dam and through Williams to Wickenburg, we tried a different (longer by 40 minutes) passing by Searchlight, Needles, and Parker. It was vergin roads for us. Easy driving until we hooked up with I-10 to head into the Phoenix area.
While we were traveling, I booked a trip for us that will see us spend most of the month of May in our Irish home, Dingle. We’ll have the same house as last year. We’ll fly Phoenix to Boston and then Boston to Paris where we will pick up our new Peugeot. We’ll probably spend a night or two near Normandy (where we have been) before taking the ferry from Cherbourg to Dublin. Same route going home.
There may be some mini trips in the interim. Stay tuned.
It’s Tuesday morning and soon we head out from Reno to Las Vegas. So this will be quick.
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Monday was a beautiful day weather wise. The ride from Klamath Falls to Reno (5½ hours) was pleasant, all on rural roads. We stopped at Lava Beds National Monument for two hours. We viewed the lava beds and went into two caves. The first (Moshpot Cave) was at the visitor center and was lighted and pathed. There are 15-20 other caves, none of which are lighted. We borrowed two flashlights from the Visitor Center to visit another cave. Some caves are very low and require helmets; others require duck walking and crawling. We chose Skull Cave with high ceilings. We were the only ones in the Skull Cave. It is one of the deepest caves and we climbed down a lot of steel steps to get to the bottom where there is ice. Long climb back out.
At the Bottom with Flashlights Off
We stopped for lunch in a small town. No chains or much of anything else on this route. We ate at the Only Frosty in Town where we had absolutely delicious food – bacon cheeseburger with tater tots for me, hot dog for Elaine. Yum!
Then it was on to Reno. Busy town with lots of construction. The Courtyard Marriott is right across from the new minor league ballpark. We walked the casino area. The casinos were empty and the area was totally quiet. Disappointing place. There was one casino where the whole front facade up to the top is a climbing wall. (We didn’t climb!) Dinner was at the Mellow Fellow Brew Pub right next to the hotel.
On Sunday we left Depoe Bay for home. Day One was about a 6½ hour drive to Klamath Falls, Oregon with a stop at Crater Lake National Park. For the first four plus hours it looked like the visit to Crater Lake would be a waste as it was cloudy, rainy, and very foggy. Then magically as we got off I-5 and drove through rural (very rural!) Oregon, the skies cleared and there wasn’t a cloud in sight.
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We drove along the picturesque North Umpqua River as we headed east. We mostly just enjoyed the view, but we made a few stops including one at the Colliding Rivers viewpoint.
We stopped at a waypoint at Diamond Lake for a picnic which we enjoyed as we fought off the foraging birds and chipmunks who wanted our food. Great views of the lake, Mt. Thielsen (looks like the Matterhorn) and Mt. Bailey.
Diamond Lake & Mt Bailey
Seamus & Mt Thielsen
Then we visited Crater Lake National Park. Click the link to learn all about this magnificent lake, the deepest (1,943 feet) in the US and sixth deepest in the world. During the cold spell we had last week, the Crater Lake area got significant snow. It made the lake look more beautiful than ever. We did the East Rim Drive. Pictures tell the story here.
Shadows in Snow
About an hour after leaving the park we arrived in Klamath Falls were we stayed at the Best Western Plus Olympic. (No Marriotts here.) Pretty nice place. After checking in, we plugged the address of a Thai restaurant that we had researched on TripAdvisor into the GPS and headed out to dinner. 30 seconds and 200 feet later we arrived – the restaurant was next door. Alas, it was closed on Sunday. So we drove up and down the road and chose the restaurant with the most cars – the Mazatlan Grill. It was GOOD Mexican food.
Quick and to the point post with lots of pics. We leave tomorrow (Sunday) for the ride home by way of Crater Lake, Klamath Falls, Reno, and Las Vegas. We’ll be home Wednesday afternoon and may post along the way.
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Friday
Nice weather day. We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. We’d been before, years ago. It is partly inside, partly outside, so the good weather was appreciated. Lots of aquarium pics follow. If you don’t like fish pictures, skip down to Saturday.
Saturday
A last breakfast at the Surfrider. A last dinner at our Thai restaurant. Today was the kite festival. Beautiful sunny day. Good. No wind. Bad. The big kites couldn’t get up. We watched some of the small kites which we able to perform.
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Wednesday and Thursday were quiet. We didn’t visit many photo worthy venues save for restaurants. Weather was off-and-on cloudy-rainy-sunny.
Lunch Wednesday was at Local Oceans in Newport.
Grilled Calamari Salad
Rockfish Italiano Sandwich
Wild Salmon Sliders
Flowers Outside
Fine dining is not what we come to Depoe Bay for. Tidal Raves is great food but not truly “fine dining”. There is one fine dining establishment nearby – the Bay House in Lincoln City, only about eight miles north of the condo. We had never tried it in all our stays here. Today we gave it a shot. We won’t miss it ever again! It’s expensive but everything about the place is true class. Here is the menu just as we saw it:
They also had scallops as a Special. Here’s what we had. No pictures of dessert, sorry. I forgot.
The Table and the View
The Eyrie Wine
My Clams
Elaine’s Dates
My Duck
Elaine’s Scallops
Here are a couple of odd pictures and then some pictures from Elaine’s camera.
For those who love ocean videos, here’s a shorter one taken at Devil’s Churn on Monday
For my Tuesday morning walk, I detoured from the usual route into town and went out onto Center Pointe in Depoe Bay. Our condo is on North Pointe. You are pretty much alone out here. Warning – Don’t get too close to the edge – no fences and it’s a long way down! Some pics:
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The Path to the Rocks
Long way Down
That’s Our Building on Far Left
My Shadow Way Over There
Careful!
Then we drove the short three minutes to Fogarty Creek State Park. Fogarty Beach is the closest beach to the condo. Elaine collected rocks for her new hobby of rock painting (Mandala Stones). She found some great ones. I wandered the beach taking pictures.
Images from Fogarty Creek:
Yesterday Breakfast was Up There
SELFIE!
At Water’s Edge
Fogarty Creek Meets the Pacific
Tree on Cliff
Wind Blown Tree
Patterns from Fogarty Creek:
Dinner Tuesday night was our final stop at Tidal Raves. Grand as usual. Elaine had Coconut Shrimp. I had the Mixed Platter – oysters, cod, and shrimp. No food pictures.
We took walks in the morning and then never left the condo again. First day our trusty car (Seamus) never moved from its spot. The weather was cloudy, cool, overcast, foggy, and occasional steady rain.
Our activity for the day was football, mainly watching the Patriots. Well, they won, but it was one of Brady’s poorest games since his arrival on the scene lo those many Super Bowls ago. Thank goodness for a stout defense. Not a fun game to watch. But a championship team always wins one or two games that it easily could have lost. Put this one in that category.
For the ocean watching crowd, here’s a video taken from the balcony. It wasn’t taken today. Depoe Bay Harbor (“the world’s smallest”, they claim) has been shut down for a week now.
Monday
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Thunder and lightening through the night as a front passed by. Behind the front, much cooler weather and bright sunshine is in store for a few days. When we took our (separate) walks in the morning, it was 38 degrees – that’s the coldest we have ever encountered in Depoe Bay. There were four seals sleeping on the rocks right below the bridge in town.
Then it was my treat for breakfast at a new spot for us – the Surfrider Hotel and Restaurant. Breakfast with a view! Pan fried oysters, eggs over, hash browns, a side of bacon, and hot tea for me. Sausage, has browns, and scrambled eggs for Elaine. Whole wheat toast for both.
At 10:30 we set out on a ride under beautiful sunny skies, heading south to Florence (about 60 miles). We drove through Newport, over the Yaquina Bay Bridge, to Waldport, Yachats, and made our final stop at Heceta Beach where we had a so-so lunch at the Driftwood Shores Resort. Nice location and OK food, but this place needs some updating. I had fish and chips; Elaine had a cod sandwich.
Then we drove to the top of bluff overlooking Cape Perpetua for some pictures. You can see Oregon’s Highway 101, which runs the length of the Oregon coast, winding it’s way well below the top of the bluff.
Finally we stopped at Historic Heceta Head Lighthouse, first to view it from a distance and then to hike from the parking lot up to the lighthouse. Elaine had a nice chat with a volunteer docent. The keeper’s cottage here is the Heceta Light B&B which features a two-hour, seven-course communal breakfast.
See the Lighthouse?
There It Is!
We got home at the cocktail hour which featured a spectacular sunset as we sipped and noshed. No dinner tonight after a big breakfast and a big lunch. Good news: the seas have noticeably calmed and the fishing boats and whale watch boats are sailing from the harbor once again.
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Friday
Walks in the morning. Some pictures along the way:
If You Hear This, Run
Depoe Bay War Memorial
Canabis Anyone?
Downtown Depoe Bay
Coast Guard Station through the Bridge
Nice in the morning, rainy in the afternoon. We decided to do a bit of exploring while the weather stayed good. We drove to Siletz Bay National Wildlife Preserve. It’s located just five miles from the condo and we have driven by it hundreds of times without stopping. It’s a preserve for salmon, birds, and animals and is run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. We saw none, none (save a sea gull), and none. The Siletz River, which runs alongside, is obviously a favorite spot for salmon fishermen (following strict preserve rules). We had a nice hike through the preserve. We did hear lots of little birds. It was a very pleasant walk.
For Recycling Fishing Line
Then we drove another mile or so into Lincoln City’s Historic Taft District. We parked and walked along the driftwood log cluttered beach. Normally there are lots of seals basking on the offshore island, but there were few today. There were lots of people casting into the sea for fish from the beach. We didn’t see anyone actually catch anything.
Blue Strobe Light Tsunami Warning System
Then it was lunch at Mo’s Seafood and Chowder, an Oregon seaside tradition with lots of branches along the coast. We split wonderful lightly fried calamari for an appetizer. Elaine then had a shrimp salad sandwich and I had a crab melt sandwich with cheese. We walked on their new pier before leaving.
Calamari
Finally we decided to drive Oregon Route 229 from the Taft area all the way to Newport along the Siletz River. Very scenic. On reaching Newport we returned home. Nap time. Then cocktails on the deck. As we imbibed, the rains came. Our balcony is covered (by the balcony above), and we sat and watched the rain for awhile. The appetizers consisted of Blue Heron Black Pepper Brie that we got in Tillamook earlier in the week and smoked steelhead trout from Robba Gump Smoken Fish Company in Depoe Bay. Boy, is it good!
Saturday
There was still some light rain around in the morning, but we took our separate walks. I saw a nice rainbow that ended at the pot of bouillabaisse gold at Tidal Raves. The weather cleared quickly and it was a sunny day although much cooler than it has been. For the sixth straight day the red flag has been out at the harbor (small craft warnings). That means another day of no fishing trips or whale watches. This is the longest stretch of rough seas that we have seen here in all our visits.
We drove into Newport for the weekly farmer’s market where Elaine loaded up on vegetables. Alas, the French Bread Lady was not there! On the way home we drove the scenic Otter Crest Scenic Loop. Then it was a quiet lunch at home, naps, cocktails on the sunny balcony.
For dinner we went to Bay View Thai Kitchen in Depoe Bay. We enjoy the food there once on every trip. We shared spring rolls and shrimp wrapped in basil won tons. Elaine had a vegetable red curry. I had a seafood curry served in a hollowed out coconut. Then we went to Gracie’s Sea Hag Lounge for a drink at the bar and to watch the Ray Charles imitator perform – he’s been there for 26 years.
Not much to report. We did our walks in the morning. We drove to Newport to pick up a couple of items. We took naps. It was rainy all morning but cleared in the afternoon. We had the usual cocktails on the deck at 5 pm. We walked to Tidal Raves for our second dinner there. Dat’s about it. Some random photos follow.
US Route 20 in Newport, OR – 3,350 Miles East and You’d Be on Route 20 in, I Think, Waltham
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It was foggy, cloudy, and drizzly in the morning. Elaine took her walk into town anyway. I walked the other way, away from town, to Boiler Bay Overlook. It’s one of the nicest overlooks on Oregon 101, but not so nice when it is drizzling. Great whale watching and bird watching spot. I saw no whales and only a few seagulls (flying rats) and blackbirds.
The afternoon was sunny. Elaine got her haircut. And the Chamber of Commerce called. Guess what? We won an overnight stay at the Inn at Otter Crest in the raffle at the Salmon Bake. We may give it to someone. We drove into Newport and had lunch at our favorite luncheon spot at the harbor, Local Oceans, a combination fish market and restaurant. We shared the must-have grilled calamari salad for a starter. I had my usual sandwich, the rockfish italiano while Elaine enjoyed fish tacos. No food pictures today. We watched the sea lions for a bit and visited a few of the many shops.
Cocktails on the balcony were under bright sun. Dinner was homemade pizza and salad. Then early to bed.
Wednesday was sunny all day with a little light fog in the morning. We decided to walk (together for a change) into town and have breakfast at Gracie’s Sea Hag. Elaine had scrambled eggs and diced ham. I had a Hangtown Fry – an omelet with Yaquina Bay oysters. Yum. Then we checked the foggy harbor and watched the surf across the street as it pounded the rocks. Great spray. Instant rainbows.
Depoe Bay Harbor
See Our Shadows
In the afternoon we drove the hour north up the coast to Tillamook. We had yummy ice cream cones at the Tillamook Creamery. They make the best ice cream! Then we visited the Blue Heron Cheese Store to get some of their great pepper brie. I took some pictures on their property where they have various live animals and lots of old equipment.
