Day     22        May 23, 2009              Newport Farmer’s Market

Before work today we checked out the local Farmer’s Market. Although it is a little early for farm goods there were great baked goods and we bought some strawberries, sourdough bread and two baguettes. It was another cool and windy day but busier than yesterday with nearly 200 visitors. We spotted several new birds today including red-necked phalarope, northern shoveler and peregrine falcon. We spent a quiet evening getting ready for the rest of the holiday weekend.

Day     23        May 24, 2009              A Busy Sunday at Yaquina Head

It was a glorious day at Yaquina Head today and the crowd was bolstered by Memorial Day weekend as well as the extra low tide this morning that provided great tide pooling. We had 298 visitors on the platform today looking at seals and birds and asking questions ranging from, “Are the seals dead?” (No but they sleep a lot) to “How much do the babies weigh?”. One lady who asked this was shocked when Carl said 20-25 pounds since she was asking about the birds!! Carl realized the misunderstanding when she then asked how big the eggs were! We had visitors from China, Japan, Italy, Russia, India and a busload from New Jersey. It continues to be a joy to show people the birds and seals and hear their excited squeals. One of the visitors recommended a place for great chowder and we stopped on the way home to get some. It was excellent but not so good as to stop us from trying chowder in different places along the coast.

Day     24        May 25, 2009              Memorial Day at Yaquina Head

Another extraordinary day. The weather was even better than yesterday. Carl was in shirtsleeves for most of the morning. We only had 200 visitors today, 2/3ds of yesterday’s total but they were enthusiastic and seemed to enjoy everything we had to show them. Once again a mother and pup harbor seal crawled up on a ledge near to our platform so we could give visitors close up looks at these interesting marine mammals. Unusual sightings today included several large flocks of pacific loon, several gray whales including one that raised their tail flukes high out of the water and a dolphin of unidentified species (later determined to be a harbor porpoise). The great weather coupled with the abundant wildlife made today really special. We spent another quiet evening deciding where to go birding on our days off.

Day     25        May 26, 2009              Another Busy Day Off

We left about 8 AM and drove north, stopping at most of the sites recommended in the Oregon Coast Birding Trail. We saw most of the birds we see at Yaquina Head as well as rhinoceros auklet at Boiler Bay and hundreds of seals hauled up on the sand bar in the mouth of the Siletz River. For lunch we tested yet another clam chowder, this one unabashedly claiming to be the best on the Oregon coast. It was very, very good but we will continue the quest. We stopped at several scenic overlooks on the way back south and at one we found a winery! Great scenery and chardonnay, what a combo. We tasted a few types and bought a couple of bottles. The merlot is quite good; I am enjoying it as I write this.

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Day     26        May 27, 2009              Taking It Easy !

Laundry and coach cleaning filled the morning. After lunch we walked around the historic bayfront district in Newport. Lots of restaurants and many high quality craft shops, several of which now have less merchandise. The walls of many buildings were adorned with nautical theme murals, many covering the full length of the buildings. Carl will put some photos on the web site. We had a quiet evening since we are back to work tomorrow.

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Day     27        May 28, 2009              Showing Off Yaquina Head

Our five hours pass quickly when interesting and interested people visit. Today we met Myra and John the newest volunteers at Yaquina Head and numerous visitors from across the country. We watched the Yaquina interns lead groups of students along the tidepools, then drag a plankton net through the shallow water and examine their catch under microscopes. It was a pretty quiet day wildlife wise; that is new wildlife. There are always 65,000 nesting murre, cormorant, guillemot, oystercatchers and gulls and about 100 harbor seals. Never a shortage of wildlife to show visitors.

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Day     28        May 29, 2009              Repairs and More Birds.

We have had a worsening leak in the kitchen faucet for a couple of weeks. The local RV service center finally got a replacement faucet and we drove the coach there this morning for the repair. At Yaquine head we had another great day of good weather and enthusiastic visitors. In the afternoon Sandy spotted a tufted puffin sitting on the water quite a ways away. Sadly there were no visitors there at the moment. After work we picked up the motorhome and drove back to the science center where we found our campsite was occupied by a car. Actually there were cars parked all along the road as well. It turns out, the day we picked to leave briefly was the day when the parking lot was being repaved and everyone was displaced down to our end of the complex. We wiggled in but could not deploy the slideout until the car next to us moved at about 5:30. We went out to dinner at an unusual seafood restaurant, no fryorlator. Delicious though after a long wait.