Newport, Oregon: First, two corrections. DT says we are paying $120 per night for this campsite, not $110. My bad. We also learned the bird we saw yesterday dining on a Murre, was a juvenile Bald Eagle - not a Golden Eagle. My bad again. Past pages have been updated.
Again, we walked about four miles on the beach below the RV resort this morning. Today we had sunshine and not too much wind. Now I can post a photo of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse without fog:
The tide was at the lowest point, so we had great access to the tide pools and saw so many colorful sea stars:
By the time we had finished exploring the tide pools - the fog started to return.
We basically covered the same route as yesterday - south down the beach, reverse about two miles north, then back to the staircase/trail back to the campground.
But today, we could find the lighthouse through the arch - so artsy!
One thing we always enjoy while visiting Newport is lunch at Nana's Irish Pub in the Nye Beach neighborhood. Since they have a large outdoor seating area, we decided to give it a drive-by to scope-out the situation. To our amazement there were a ton of empty outdoor tables and we scored one in a wind-free area and never had neighbors during our lunch.
I'd say this was my annual Guinness, but we haven't been to Nana's since 2019. We split a Reuben. I had fries with my half, My Driver had a cup of chowder.
It's a knife+fork sandwich, with thick slices of corned beef. They do not serve the sando with sauerkraut, but with braised cabbage. Marbled rye.
After lunch, we took (another!) walk down to Nye Beach... walking-off that lunch. Our last stop of the day was to the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area Interpretive Center and Lighthouse - another of our favorite places in the Newport area. Sadly, due to the pandemic, the lighthouse is closed (would not have gone inside if it were open anyhoo), as was the interpretive center. Still, looking over the edge of the cliff to the sea below is free. (And it truly was free today as we used our Senior National Park Pass for entry. The normal fee to enter is currently $7 per car.)
Outstanding!
This is the lighthouse we can see from the beach below the RV park. It was built in 1872, and is still in use.
There are several large rock outcroppings just off-shore, with Murres, Cormorants and Pelicans - either hanging-out or nesting. They are noisy, even with roar of the sea.
This beach - at high tide - has great tide pools (during low tide). I really do not like going down there because the beach if filled with large (egg sized) stones (no sand) and it is very difficult to walk on the wobbly stones. Happily, without the tide pools to poke around in, even Dave didn't want to venture down to the rocky mess. We saw a few sea lions in the water today.
We returned to the RV for chicken tacos! I marinaded boneless-skinless thighs in spices and lime juice all day. DT grilled.
Calling it an early night - and tomorrow is my rest day.
Thank goodness.
Until my next update, I remain, your outstanding correspondent.
RV PARK: Pacific Shores Motorcoach Resort - We have a full hook-up 50 amp site and this resort has everything, including indoor and outdoor pools and beach access. We are paying $120 per night.