Sea Lions, Whales, and Oregon Coast

July 4, 2011

Hi, for a change I am able to update my page the same day that I traveled. I am camped in the town of Cannon Lake, OR and the campground has wi-fi in the recreation center. So, I thought I would take advantage of it and an electrical outlet since the updates this morning ran out my laptop battery.

It was in the low 50s this morning when I woke up… brrr… I left the campsite about 6:15 a.m. and after I drove for a while there was some really thick fog.  I drove really slow since the visability was really poor. I was surprised that people were actually driving without their headlights on.  Thankfully all went well.

Photos of the Oregon Coast, and photos of Sea Lions, Whales, and the Oregon Coast

I stopped at the Sea Lion Caves and paid the $11 to go down into the cave to see the sea lions, and also to look down on the rocks to see the rest of them.  It was pretty smelly in the cave area… they did not allow flash because of some nesting birds just below the viewing area, but it was too dark for a flash anyway. I did take some pictures but they came out too dark to really see.  So, I will post the photos I took of them on the rocks by the ocean.  I also took some video of the sea lions, which I will post one day when I have time since it takes about an hour to upload a video to picasa web.

Sea Lions

After seeing the sea lions I continued north on 101 which went through lots of small towns with 25 mph speed limits and lots of traffic since they are beach/ocean communities and even though it was really cool and windy lots of families and people were on the beach area.

I stopped in Depoe Bay and found a place to park, which is not easy. I could not find places on some of the other towns so I did not stop.  Seems there are lots of salt water taffy and fudge places, and glass blowing shops in all these towns.  Anyway, I decided to take the whale sightseeing boat trip for an hour which I am not sure was a great idea. It only cost $16 but the water was pretty rough and there were 2 whales we saw in 2 different areas.  The way to see them is to see the spout of water come up then the back of the whale. By the time we saw the spout of water, and got the camera on the whale, it was already down below the surface. Since almost all the whales have migrated already, it’s only a few that are in the area.

Whale Watching, Depoe Bay, OR

Due to the wind and rough seas, it made it more difficult to spot the whales, and I didn’t like the motion, so after seeing the whales and trying to get photos, I sat down and just breathed while keeping my eyes closed to fight back motion sickness. I knew from a previous boating experience to close my eyes so it makes it easier.

There were a few boats in the same whale watching area as we were in, including a rubber kodiak raft type boat.  When I looked at it, I was surprised to see a dog in the boat just looking over the side. That is my favorite memory from today.

Dog Whale Watching

Also, after we saw the whales, on the way back into the dock, the captain drove by a buoy in the ocean where 2 sea lions, were resting on the buoy.  I tried to take some pictures, but it was not easy with the boat going up and down on the waves, trying to hold on to the camera and railing and getting a good photo.  It sounds funny, as I am trying to describe this, but it really wasn’t.

Sea Lions on buoy

I didn’t want to walk down the steep stairs to the boat so they told me I could walk down a road to get to a different dock where the boat would pick me up.  That turned out to be a good idea. There was a man on a boat that had been trapping dungeness crabs for 6 days and he was selling them from his boat on the same dock.  After my boating experience I went to him and bought a 2 1/2 lb. crab for $14. He broke it in half and cleaned it, and tore the legs apart from the body for me and put it in a plastic bag so I could take it to my camper and cook it for dinner.  I have had snow crabs and king crab legs before that I  bought at the grocery store,  but never dungeness, and never any crabs caught the same day I was going to eat them.  I have to tell you, they were worth the work to cook and eat them.  I only have a small 3 qt. pot, so I boiled water, cooked the crab legs, and realized I better eat them outside instead of inside my camper so I don’t make a mess inside and smell them for weeks if not longer.  Turned out to be a great idea.  They were so good and so messy to eat.  I used a scissor to cut the legs open and it wasn’t easy.  I ate what I could of the crabmeat, I took the rest out of the legs and put it in a container to eat tomorrow.  What a treat. I’m guessing the actual crabmeat was about a pound after it came out of the shell.

Between the time I bought the crabs and got to the campsite was about 3 hours.  I drove and kept going through these small towns with traffic jams, I felt like I was in Florida traffic. It was 1 lane each direction with people stopping suddenly when they found a parking spot or decided to stop.

I was getting tired and my van was so dirty, even though I gave it a quick wipedown about 3 or 4 days ago. It was so dusty that the side mirrors were getting tough to see through.  As I drove through one town, I saw a sign and some kids on the corner saying Fire Department car wash, so I stopped and had them wash the camper and I made a nice donation to the fire department. They are doing the car wash to raise funds to supplement what they get from the city and for programs for children. I know how tight government funding is for departments, so it was nice I could get my van washed and donate to a great cause.

I continued on and found a state park, but it was full. So I drove further and found a private campground that was also full, but they let me pay part cost and park in a non-hookup space. This worked fine for me, it was the same as camping in forestry campgrounds without hookups, and it is quieter than a truck stop.  I cooked my crab legs, set up my little table outside and made the mess outside eating them.

After dinner, I looked at my Washington State map and I’m working on mapping my route through Washington. I know I want to do the Journey Pow Wow in La Conner, WA the last week of July. It’s pretty far north in WA.  I also have some other pow wows I want to attend during July. I left a message for my friend Patt in Seattle to see when we can get together.  I got to WA a few days sooner than I thought, so now I have some extra time to explore. I may go to Mount Rainier National Park, not sure yet.

I’m guessing I will be in WA for the rest of July and part of August, then head down through Idaho to Utah.  It’s written in sand and subject to change.

Guess that’s about it for tonight. I will load some photos I took today to the photo gallery. I also took some pictures of the coast.

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1 Response to Sea Lions, Whales, and Oregon Coast

  1. Laura says:

    The sea life never holds still while I take the picture either! Glad trip is turning out better than expected and your faith is strengthening. There is no cap on spirituality! Love reading your thoughts and reviewing the pics. I guess I don’t have to tell you to have an awesome day!

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