Got up this morning to clouds. The weatherman had said rain during the night though and most of today, so we were happy with a dry tent! Headed towards Waldport and low and behold what do we pass but St. Luke's by the Sea. Services didn't start until 9 so we headed into town and got a cup of coffee and walked the port. Lots of fishing boats. Then back to a great service and very friendly congregation. They offered breakfast, but we'd already eaten twice and needed to move on. It had rained during church and now the sun was beginning to pop out! It was a beautiful drive with lots of waysides with beautiful views. When we got to Newport we stopped at the Hatfield Marine Science visitor center. It's home to researchers studying the ocean and estuaries and has exihibits demonstrating their work. Sen. Mark Hatfield did his constituents proud with this one. Then we crossed another of the wonderful Conde McCullough bridges built back in the 30's. They are steel and concrete with the tall concrete towers typical to that age. We had heard the sound of barking sea lions when we entered the Center and John asked where they were located -- in the Old Town across the river so we headed there. Went by alot of restaurants and it was getting time for lunch so stopped at the LocalOcean as it looked very popular. John had Dunganeese Crabcakes and I had a Spicy Shrimp Salad and of course we shared. Marvelous! Best food we've had in weeks! (My camping on the go menu is fairly limited and not my best cuisine!). Then on to find the barking.
We talked to a local dive shop owner right near the dock these guys were on. The locals are not happy they hang around here...all the time....as they eat the salmon and the barking is endless. But, they do draw people to the area who spend their $$.

Back to the Lighthouse quest. Just up the road was the Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site with the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. This lighthouse was only in service from 1871-1874 before the commissioning of the nearby brighter Yaquina Head Light eliminated it's necessity. It is now a very interesting museum about life during the time of the Light Keeper.

The Parlor

On down the road a mile or so was the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area with the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It's the tallest on the Oregon coast.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

This area is administered by the Bureau of Land Management and has an outstanding Information Center and down below you can go out to the tidepools at low tide. We walked down and it's a black cobble beach. The tide was still going out, but they were pretty frisky that day so we had to watch the water as there were sneak tides coming in. But, we did see the following...

Ochre Starfish

Green Anenome

Another long day so we ended it at the Beverly Beach State Park where we had a whole section to ourselves. It had turned out to be a gorgeous, sunny day for all of our nature activities. Thanks be to God!