The drive to Depoe Bay was uneventful with stopovers in Bakersfield, CA and Redding, CA. Last year it was close to 110 degrees in both places; this year it was a much more tolerable 90 or so. In Bakersfield we revisited Zaika Indian Cuisine for dinner, and it was excellent once again. In Redding we tried a Thai restaurant in a strip mall based on the Trip Advisor reviews. Janya Thai Cuisine was wonderful. We already booked a table for the night of our return stopover.

In Depoe Bay we couldn’t check in until 4:00 PM, so we diverted a bit to arrive at the coast near Tillamook, famous for the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Rather, we visited the Blue Heron French Cheese Store a few miles down the road. We stocked up on Blue Heron Pepper Brie (it’s outstanding!) as well as some sausage and salad for tonight’s dinner. We also got a bottle of Pudding River Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley (which we drove through getting to the coast).

We checked into the condo at about 4:30 after filling up with gas. It was good to see our Oregon home again. The sun had been out all day but it was clouding up at cocktail hour. I had brought the fixings for my gimlet with us and we opened a different bottle of wine that we had, thus saving the Pudding River for dinner. The weather is refreshingly cool on the Oregon coast – in the very low 60’s. Still, it was very comfortable having cocktails on the balcony overlooking the Pacific. We also ate dinner on the balcony.

The highlight of the day was spotting some resident grey whales feeding just 50-100 feet off the cliff in front of our balcony. There was a mother and baby as well as some others, swimming around, spouting, and presumably having dinner. Then it was time for bed.

Here are some pictures of the condo:

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