Newport,, Oregon
Trip Start
Apr 12, 1992
1
31
65
Trip End
Jun 15, 1992
Newport, Oregon
Tuesday, May 12, 1992
5-12-92
Newport, Oregon
Cool,slight overcast
I treated myself to another late start followed by a leisurely drive, stopping often to sit on the cliff top or walk among the tidal pools on the beach, making my way through Heceta Head, Cape Perpetua, and Yachats. NearWaldport I passed a couple on a tandem bicycle. They were headed north,towing a two-wheel trailer loaded with camping gear. Both riders were at least 55, overweight, puffing along up a 6% grade,red faced, clearly suffering. It took courage for them to set out on their journey. It will require even more courage not to give up. I hope they reached their destination, minus the pounds they wanted to lose.
The sun was setting as I rolled past Seal Rock and South Beach to Newport. Lights were coming on, one by one.
The harbor here is home port to a large fleet of fishing boats. Working boats have much more character than pleasure craft. You never see two alike.
The main business section lay straight ahead from where I elected to park for the night. A few souvenir shops mingle with the basic businesses, seafood processors, and marine supply firms. A little to the left, south across the bay I could follow the lines drawn in the darkness by the moving headlights of vehicles on US-101 crossing the bridge across the Yaquina River.
The resort area, loaded with motels and restaurants, lies a couple miles north across town, along the ocean front. It sits high on a bluff overlooking the beach. Early spring is a good time of year to visit the northwest coast. Many of the tourist oriented businesses are not yet open.
Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco has a herd of sea lions who took up permanent residence on a section of piers. Much has been made of this by travel writers. The noisy creatures have become celebrities, a major tourist attraction. Here in Newport harbor, near my parking place, there was a herd of rowdy sea lions lying about on a wooden pier, barking and getting fat on discarded fish scrap. Hardly anyone pays attention to them. This seems to illustrate the power of effective merchandising.
Here on the coast winds are predictable, except when a frontal system comes in off the Pacific. Otherwise winds blow east off the water during the day and blow out to sea at night. There is a period of calm between each change of direction.The quiet interludes result from temperatures of the air hovering over ocean water and coastal land masses becoming nearly equal. Surface temperature of the water has little daily variation, but the land surface heats and cools rapidly. Air rises over the warmer surface resulting in landward breezes during daytime and seaward movements at night. This also accounts for the period of calm morning and evening. These are my favorite times along the oceans.
Somewhere I managed to get into poison ivy or something similar. I'm getting a rash all over, including the cheeks of my tail. Not too bad, just uncomfortable and a little embarrassing when I allow someone to catch me scratching my groin.
There are very notable differences between local people and native Southeners, which, of course, is to be expected. One is, most Southeners greet strangers with real friendliness. They truly want to talk with people,learn all about them, and add them to their extensive catalog of friends. People here are polite and friendly enough, but it seems to require some effort from them, probably a result of seeing hordes of new faces everyday.
