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Depoe Bay to Portland

May 25, 2026May 25, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We went for a run Sunday morning. It was not our best personal records since I kept stopping to take pictures, but Depoe Bay was stunning. It was high tide so we randomly stumbled on to this spouting horn, cliff. Brants cormerant (bird) and 5+ of whale spouts.

This led us to stop by the OPRD Whale Watching Center before leaving Depoe Bay. They had binoculars set up for everyone to use and a video feed. We saw whale tails and spouts;)

https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=%2Fm%2F02qhxj8&hl=en-US&q=OPRD%20Whale%20Watching%20Center&shem=rimspwouoe&shndl=30&source=sh%2Fx%2Floc%2Fosrp%2Fm1%2F4&kgs=86c634a710ce8257

Grey whales are the only bottom feeders. They scoop up mud and eat the krill, eating as much as 1.2 tons of food per day.

After our educational whale stop we took a pit stop in Bob Straub State Park for some giant sand dunes and beach time.

Next we stopped at Tillamook and my second ice cream in 2 days. I’ve reached my quota for the summer;)

We got to Portland late afternoon and stopped at the Scotch Church Winery that had music.

As you can see Mt Hood was out when we got to Portland. We ended the day with some fabulous sushi at Bluefin Tuna and sushi on Broadway.

Today has been a travel day. Our flight this morning was delayed so we all scrabbled to get on an earlier flight to Charlotte. George and I got to CLT with a 3 hr layover but Sadira and James didn’t get the same flight and had a 5 hr layover. Then they delayed our flight. So, we rented this bad ass ride for 100 bucks to get home in 2hrs.

Calling this trip a great success. Signing off

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Coos Bay to Depoe Bay

May 25, 2026May 25, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We stopped at Heceta head and took a walk about the rocks

We continued up the coast for a picnic lunch and some more beach time.

Then we stopped at thors well, but since it was low tide the kids missed the big event. We did have a sneaky wave surprise James and Fiona which made the stop worthwhile. Fiona really took a hit, she’s always been the lucky hand. We also stopped at devil’s churn and devil’s punch bowl.

We stayed at the Trowler’s Lodge in Depoe Bay and saw a lovely sunset after dinner of halibut and Sadira’s world-famous orzo. Depoe Bay is the smallest harbor in the world and is home to grey whales. We didn’t see any spouts this evening. (Fore shadowing).

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Coos Bay

May 24, 2026May 24, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

The next morning James had to work so we made our way to hike at Sunset Beach SP, Shore acres SP and Cape Arago just south of Coos Bay.

From Sunset Beach we could see the lighthouse, and we got surprised by a bunch of harbor seals with their babies.

This is a picture of the pile of sea lions through the telescope at Cape Arago. They were crawling all over each other.

We finished the day with some pepper jelly tasting.. so very difficult to decide which one was best

Brookings to Coos Bay

May 23, 2026May 23, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We started the day right by going on a low tide run and serving up a big breakfast. So far I have failed to mention the Brookings rental has Pac-Man. Check out is 10 o-early-o-clock and the pac man high score had not been beaten. Right before 10 and before my bags were neatly packed, George started a two man game. I got closer than any other game but eventually killed myself on my bonus life because the house keeper was waiting outside. Sadly, I ended up leaving my toiletries and had to circle back after dropping everyone at the first hike (Cape Ferelo) but sign me up for the Mouth of the Pistol River Beach access. It was amazing.

Next stop was otter point, but we didn’t see any otters, seas lions or seals. Just cool trails

After traveling and hiking we decided to hit 7 Devils Brewery – Where The Oregon Coast Meets The Tap https://share.google/0z8F8emmd4lBkK2By

We had dinner there and called it a night.

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Brookings and Samuel H Boardman

May 21, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

James had a work day so we headed out after a big breakfast. We started our day by heading down to the secret beach which was quite stunning. Sea caves, sea stars, sea stacks, sea waterfalls, sea anemone.

After spending the morning in secret we headed to whales head for lunch. After lunch we stopped at the fish market for some fresh salmon, and tuna for our poke bowls which Fiona made. We grabbed James after some turtle time and hit, Harris, the natural bridge and lone ranch Beach.

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Redwoods

May 21, 2026May 21, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

This morning after a beautiful beach run at low tide with sea stars and fog we hopped in the car and traveled down to redwoods national Park. We started with the lady bird Johnson trail which was dedicated by Nixon (r) after Johnson (d)left office. We spent a good amount of time discussing how far we’ve sunk regarding the civility of our current president. Now we have a thug posting petty insulting narratives under the past presidents portraits. Alas, back to the trees. Here are some lovely pictures.

We couldn’t get passes to Fern canyon. We didn’t know that was required in advance. Our last visit here, we hiked the 10 miles to get there and realized when we got there that people could just drive in. So instead we took the James Irvine to cathedral trees trail right out of the prairie creek visitor center which was truly amazing.

Sadira and James made shrimp tacos when we got home. It’s good to be here in Brookings.

Portland to Brookings

May 20, 2026May 20, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

George and I walked Mt Tabor a extinct cinder cone volcano/city Park. Then we gathered the kids for breakfast at jams in Hawthorne before heading out of Portland.

The ride into Brookings was long but relatively easy. The Pacifica rides with style. Our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean was by the sand dunes. Then we had an epic feast when we got here, Dinner with a view.

Admin completion

May 20, 2026May 20, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We signed Fiona’s and Ashe’s paper work for their new Portland apartment early on Sunday morning and got busy having fun.

Picture from the new Portlandians on their front stoop.

After the admin work was finalized we leapt into fun mode. We started towards Mount Hood, but had to stop and wait for some clouds to pass. We stopped again at mcmenamins for a picnic lunch and arm wrestling before heading to the Timberline Lodge.

The timberline Lodge was built during the great depression and is a testament to American history. It’s an awesome hotel that is open to the public from our history when we all worked together to lift Americans up. It contrasts so much to the gaudy gold decor ballroom that the molester in chief is going to build and make us pay for and I’ll never get a chance to step foot in (don’t get me started). It is also where the shining was filmed. It’s beautiful with a rich history and unique craftsmanship and has an amazing view.

After the lodge we stopped by the international rose test garden. It was founded in 1917 as a safe haven for roses from wwi. It now showcases over 600 varieties of roses and has views of Mt Hood. Sign me up

Portland admin work

May 20, 2026May 20, 2026 / rugreen4u4632 / Leave a comment

We started our summer fun with a reconnaissance mission to Portland to find housing for Fiona and to see what Portland has to offer. We kept Portland weird. We visited the Columbia River gorge, roster Rock, and multiple water falls. George and I took a trail to nowhere while the kids saw Multnomah falls, but our reward was a giant cookie. We ended the day at mcmenamins in troutdale but oddly, I took no pictures (having been there before… ). We had a delicious dinner and a designated driver.