03-09-22 Wednesday Depoe Bay and Newport, Oregon (Day Trip)

03-09-22 Wednesday

Depoe Bay and Newport, Oregon

Sea & Sand RV Park Good Sam

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 3

Drive Time: 0

Miles: 0

Arrived: 0

NEWPORT

Beautiful rainbow above the ocean this morning and what a great thing to wake up too. Observed a couple of seals out in the surf this morning. They didn’t stay long. Watched two fishing boats troll back and forth. The beach in front of us is probably a mile long and I’m still amazed how clean it is. Barry wants to check out a gas station in Depoe Bay. The woman at Sea & Sand office told us it has propane. Nope....no such luck. We headed to Walmart for a few groceries and a new coffee pot, Ace Hardware for two more vent caps. On the way we found a few gas stations we can get the RV into for gas and propane. Planning for when we leave on Monday. 

Lunch time and we found a brewery via Tripadvisor, Newport Brewery. Fell in love with this place. Beautiful murals on the walls. One of the servers informed us they were all painted by the art teacher at the local high school. My favorite, the octopus. Great looking bar and the longest bar I’ve seen. Local fav is the fried calamari, it was so tender and delicious, a little spicy but doable. I had a small Caesar salad and Barry had a hot dog wrapped in bacon with two slices of BBQ pineapple on top. He said it was fabulous. Renee Toomey you would loved this hot dog!!! They had Ace Mango cider on tap.....YES!!! Some of the workers were canning in the parking lot and Barry walked out to observe. One of the cans came off the canning line a little mangled so he gave it to Barry, score for him! As we were eating it started pouring. We bought a flannel shirt for me and a long sleeve tee shirt for Barry. We headed out and stopped at the liquor store for some cider and a flask. Our current one was leaking, and we can’t have that!!! 

YAQUINA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE

On the way back we stopped at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse and Preserve. I was able to get stamps and stickers for my National Parks Passport Book....happy camper. We saw a pair of Peregrine Falcons perched on the side of the cliffs by the visitor center. They were talking to each other and so cool to hear. This preserve had great trails and views of the coastline. We hiked to the lighthouse and unfortunately all tours are cancelled for now. We took the 6 flights of stairs down to a tide pool area. The beach is called Cobblestone Beach and the entire area is covered in dark grey smooth rounded stones. Talk about hard to walk on. You had to be sure of your footing. The most amazing thing about this little beach is when the surf moves back into the ocean, the grey rocks are tumbled and as they do so, they sing. It’s the noise from the rocks tumbling over each other, fascinating and a beautiful sound Mother Nature shares with us. From here we could view the large rocks off the shore better with all the birds roosting and noisy, noisy, noisy. We would have loved to stay longer but it was close to 5:00pm and the park closes so we headed up the challenging 6 flights of stairs. From there we had to hike back to our car. Wonderful trip and would recommend 

this to anyone visiting this area. 

Back at the RV, Barry heated up the remaining calamari. We talked about the awesome day we had, poured a glass of wine and walked out to the beach to watch the sunset. Amazing colors and peaceful. Good night all and thank you for following us. 

NEWPORT BREWERY

You get an idea of how big this is by the computer screens

 YAQUINA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE & PRESERVE

    

                 

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

03-08-22 Depoe Bay, Oregon @ Sea & Sand RV Park (Day Trip)

03-09-22 Wednesday

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Sea & Sand RV Park Good Sam

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 2

Drive Time: 0

Miles: 0

Arrived: 0

DEPOE BAY, OREGON DAY TRIP

Barry was up at 5:30am, he couldn’t sleep. He decided to make coffee and the coffee maker broke. Darn it! He tried to fix it but no luck. That darn thing isn’t even a year old. He had to make his coffee manually which was a pain in the you know what. Cereal for breakfast after I came stumbling out of the bedroom half a sleep. 

We needed to buy a vent cap that blew off one of our vents on the roof, so I found a few Ace hardware stores and he called to see if the cap was available. The Ace Hardware in Lincoln City had one. After breakfast we headed to Lincoln City. What a great hardware store. I love roaming around a hardware store like this one.... days with my dad come to mind. Our Ace hardware stores are nothing like these, they sell RV supplies, guns, and ammo. 

We then headed to the outlet center. We wanted to check out the Levi store. Barry couldn’t find his size of 501’s. They didn’t have them in stock. I looked for 501s but no luck. I did, however, find two pairs of other jeans and a few tops that were on clearance. We headed to Under Armour and we both found a few things. 

From the outlets we headed to McMenamins Lighthouse Brewery per a recommendation from a salesperson at the Levi store. Great place. They have a restaurant upstairs and the bar is downstairs. Of course, we ate in the bar. I had a new cider called Ace Guava, my favorite so far. The chowder was delicious. 

On our way back we stopped a couple of places to few the coastline. We took a long walk on the beach and looked at all the houses. Back to the RV for quite time, watch MSNBC and relax. 

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Happy Husband

See the face with horns?

My favorites

Many trinkets like this on the beach

              

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

03-07-22 Oregon Coast Trip – Albany/Corvallis Oregon to Depoe Bay, Oregon

03-07-22 Monday

Albany/Corvallis Oregon to Depoe Bay, Oregon

Sea & Sand RV Park Good Sam

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 2

Drive Time: 2.5 hours

Miles: 78

Arrived: 2:00

ALBANY/CORVALLIS, OREGON

Today is a drive day. Scones and tea for breakfast. Heading to Depoe Bay on the Oregon coast. We did have to stop on the side of the road because the RVi brake decided to disconnect from the Jeep. We pulled over on the side of the road and Barry had to unhook it then connect again and we were on our way. 

Our two-hour drive took us on Hwy 20 West to Hwy 101. The drive was beautiful and as mentioned before, everything was green. You can see bald spots on the mountain sides and as we drove closer the bald spots were areas logged. There were numerous logging trucks passing us.

The trees all had moss and lichen hanging on the branches, pretty. We still saw daffodil patches every now and then. Our planet is such a living, breathing, organism but who knows what climate change will do. 

DEPOE BAY, OREGON 

We missed the turn-around we were to take to the RV park so made a turn into a neighborhood and back onto the Hwy to the park. Easy check in, unhooked the jeep and I drove it down the hill to our spot #107. Barry followed in the RV and backed into our spot for the next four days. We are right in front of the ocean, the view I dreamed of. Weather was cloudy and cold. 

We decided to go for a late lunch/early dinner. I found a place just south about 5 minutes, Siren’s Oceanfront. We each ordered a bowl of clam chowder; I ordered a small Caesar and Barry Bruschetta. Everything was delicious, especially the Bruschetta. The restaurant sits on a cliff, and we enjoyed a hummingbird flitting around but always back to the same spot.

Back to the RV for some R&R, watched MSNBC to catch up on the Ukraine situation. Great day.... good night all. 

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

03-06-22 Oregon Coast Trip – Day Trip to Albany, Oregon

03-06-22 Sunday

Day trip to Albany, OR

Albany/Corvallis KOA Journey

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 3

Drive Time: 0

Miles: 0

Arrived: 0

ALBANY, OREGON

Beautiful weather today. We are spending two nights here and didn’t have to get up and worry about driving to our next destination. We got to relax a bit this morning. The KOA brochure we received when we checked in has an ad for a historic carousel and museum in Albany, so we decided to check it. Albany was only about a 15-minute drive from our campground. We had breakfast and headed out. 

During our drive I noticed daffodils blooming in clumps off the sides of the road, in open fields and home gardens. What a beautiful surprise. In addition, rye grass fields everywhere. Surprisingly Oregon is the world’s largest producer of cool-season grass seed. The fields seemed to reach as far as the horizon. All the trees were covered with moss or lichen. It was a striking site. 

We weaved through Albany following iMap’s directions to the carousel. We saw a Burger Queen and a Hasty Freeze, we thought the names were funny!!! We parked and walked across the street to the building. Upon entering the building, I was impressed by the door pulls. I have never seen anything like them. Solid brass carvings in the carousel motif, so beautiful. Inside the building I was immediately drawn to the carousel. The animals are carved and painted in such intricate detail it is hard to describe. Each animal is so whimsical. The gentleman that greeted us at the door explained all the animals are carved in real wood and painted by volunteers and the carousel is run by all volunteers. The process for an animal may take up to two years from start to finish before it’s mounted on the carousel. Individuals who donated the money for the animals had specific guidelines they had to adhere too. 

Each animal has to have some sort of whimsey to them. What does that mean? An example is in the photos ABOVE. The horse’s main is hiding a frog on top and a mouse in the horse’s mane on the side. BELOW shows a zebra has a vine of ivy in his mouth and a monkey is holding onto the vine. The Seahorse has a tail like a mermaid, and you can see the carving of a small mermaid and colorful fish as part of the tail. The elephant has a mouse reading a book standing on his trunk. You will have to zoom in on the photos to see. Each animal is given a name by the person(s) who donated to have an animal made. When all is done, 50 hand carved animals will circle around the carousel. In addition, there will be special animals for Christmas and a few other holidays. Oh, I almost forgot to mention if you grab the brass ring you get a coupon for a free ride. 

Inside are two food booths to purchase carnival type food, popcorn, ice cream and burgers. It was hard to walk past the popcorn. The building has two party rooms that were active today, even though it was a Sunday. We wondered into the museum area and stopped to read about the old building that was demolished many years ago where the carousel sits today. A glass case with artifacts found when it was torn down was interesting. A small alcove had photos of some of the animals along with a video capturing the building of the carousel. From here we entered the gift shop. I bought a hand carved, hand painted ornament that was designed after the frog on the carousel. 

Off to the side was another room called the painting room. It’s an open room and you could see a few of the animals being painted, a fox named Foxy, a griffin, and a Chinese dragon. Foxy's detail is incredible as you can see by the photo above. He will be welcomed with a party on June 4th this year. He is the 41st animal. 

I have to say I was so captivated by the artistry of each animal I stood and stared so I could imprint each into my brain. It’s nothing like I have ever seen before. Just breathtaking. This experience will stick with me for a while. If you ever have the chance to visit this, please do so. It really is unbelievable. 

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From the carousel we headed downtown to take a walk and see the buildings. Most of the buildings are in great shape and all filled with businesses. The two things we noticed the most, no litter or graffiti...amazing. We headed back to the jeep by way of walking along the riverfront. Great paths and views of the river.

We walked back to the jeep and headed to a brewery we saw when we drove in, Calapooia Brewing. Great little place. The inside was about the size of our kitchen and family room area of our house. Outside was a huge area called the atrium with tables and chairs, heaters, picnic tables and beer kegs planted with plants. I thought that was a great idea. We ordered food and Barry had an IPA and I had a cider. Drinks were tasty and food was hot and yummy. 

    

            

After lunch we decided to drive through one of the historical districts. It took us a few minutes to find it on a map but once we did all was good. Most of the houses were refurbished on the outside and beautiful. The city has a tour once a year that would be fun. We headed back to our RV since it was late in the afternoon. 

  

              

Barry built a fire and we sat and recapped our day and talked about all kinds of things. It was cold but the fire was nice. After about an hour I couldn’t stand the cold any longer and went inside. I put my fleece pjs on and sat on top of one of the heater vents to thaw out. The warm air felt so good. Well, that’s about it for today. Tomorrow is a travel day to the Oregon coast. Thanks again for reading....may your dreams be of a whimsical carousel. 

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

03-05-22 Oregon Coast Trip – Medford, Oregon to Albany, Oregon

MEDFORD, OREGON

We woke this morning to rain but not cold enough for it to snow. Had breakfast, if you can call Little Debbie’s breakfast, packed everything and we’re ready to go. We hit the button to pull the slide in and only half of the slide was moving. I hit the button to stop the slide. We both stood there with a terrified look on our faces. I pushed the button to see if it would slide out and again only one side moved…...!!*&$F#%?>*&<!!! Barry went outside to see if he could see anything. I heard him open one of the basement doors. A few seconds later I hear it shut and inside he came. By the look on his face, I knew we were in trouble. “We are so screwed (paraphrasing),” he said. The rod that pulls the slide in and out snapped! If we can’t get the slide to close, we are dead in the water. And it being Saturday, who was open. We talked about our options for a bit, had a shot of tequila, and I called the winery to inform them we are stuck. They were so understanding and said, “No problem”. We could stay as long as needed. Whew….that was a relief. 

The first call Barry made was to Gander RV. We passed them right before arriving to EdenVale. They didn’t have any techs working since its Saturday, but he did give Barry a recommendation to call. He called but only received voice mail. We looked up a few other numbers and he called a mobile RV repair place. They answered and asked Barry to send a photo so he did. He was talking about maybe being able to weld it back together. Chance agreed to come out and take a look. He arrived about half hour later, took a look and decided that welding would not work. He did feel that he and Barry could push the left slide back in since the other side was working.  We setup the Walkie-Talkie’s and I pushed the button to start the motor and they pushed the broken side in matching the speed of the other side. Successful! If any of you followed our trip in September, you will remember we had to have our alternator replaced in Nebraska after leaving a Harvest Host.....makes one wonder about staying at a Harvest Host. Unfortunately, we will have to leave our slide in for the rest of the trip. Kind of a bummer but we will make it work. 

We are 3 hours late but back on the road again. Albany here we come. We stopped for gas at a Pilot Station outside of Medford. I ran into Subway and bought us 2 tuna wraps. I made Tuna to bring but we left it at home in the ‘fridge. Such a bummer! I’ve been craving tuna for days. 

ALBANY, OREGON

It was a travel day. Our route from Medford to Albany was I5 all the way through the Klamath Mountain range. Beautiful country, cattle, horses, llamas, and countless sheep. Luckily no rain and the roads were great. We pulled into Albany/Corvallis KOA Journey around 6PM. Nice park, easy access off the main road, gravel roads in the park, a bit muddy but Barry got us all hooked up. We settled in and after a while Barry made a small platter of salami and cheese in addition to pouring each of us a glass of wine. We also took a walk around the whole park to get some exercise and count jeeps, only 3. Quite the day. 

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.