We stopped at South Beach State Park across Yaquina Bay from Newport. 
We reached the end of the boardwalk and climbed the last dune to get to the beach. It almost looked like a Florida beach except there are rocks instead of shells! Okay, so there are some shells, but not many--mostly rocks. Agates are the big finds. When you hold an agate to the light, the light shines through it.
There are a lot of things to do and see in the Newport area. It was difficult to decide what to do first!Thursday
Our plan for the day was to get our bearings and start exploring. We drove south of Newport to see Seal Rock (not to be confused with the Sea Lion Cave). The shore looked like I expected Oregon beaches to look--rocks in the surf and along the shore.
The next picture is misleading, the rock behind us is huge! We were standing at the edge of the walkway which leads down to the beach. There was a big drop-off between us and the rock!
The tide was receding and this chasm would soon be a tide pool.
After leaving Seal Rock, we went back north to Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. It was only in service for 3 years. Once it was operational it was discovered that ships coming from the north couldn't see the light because of the position of the lighthouse. The tower next to the lighthouse was built recently by the Coast Guard. 
Yaquina Head is now an award winning natural area. In addition to the lighthouse, the beach is unique in that it had cobble, not sand. The beach looks black as you view it from the walkway.
The rocks make a strange sound as you walk on them and we were told that they make another unusual sound as the waves cover them. We were there on an outgoing tide so we didn't hear that sound.
The urchins in this pool were purple. 
The star fish were orange and red. The colors contrasted with the dark surroundings in the water.
For those who miss the low tide, Bureau of Land Management created Quarry Cove for them to see what tide pools are. We didn't go into Quarry Cove since we were able to rock hop among the real tide pools.
Friday
It was time for a hike! The campground was less than 2 miles from the Oregon Aquarium. A trail leads to South Beach State Park Day Use Area which is near the aquarium. We walked over--could have been nicer weather as it was in the mid 50s and windy. We enjoyed watching feeding time at the seal and sea lion area... 
The displays inside were fascinating. This rock is covered with strawberry anemones.
This lionfish sports a fu manchu so it is aptly named--fu manchu lionfish. The holding tanks were decorated with local artisans glass. Mr. Fu Manchu was swimming among brightly colored glass disks which were about 8 inches in diameter.
Sea otters like to float on beds of ocean kelp. Here is the root ball of ocean kelp! I was surprised to see how long and thin the roots were under the sphere.
Outside the aquarium were the Yaquina Bay. The shrimp in the area burrow into the mud to keep warm and lay eggs.
We entered the building through the tall red tower.
We ate lunch in the tasting room. Of course we each had a taster tray. Bob preferred Imperial Pilsener. The Chipotle he tried definitely had a bite to it. I was partial to Honey Orange Wheat and Mocha Porter.
The walk back to the campground was as cool and windy as our walk to the aquarium. We sure wish warm weather would arrive on the coast of Oregon! Oregonians keep telling us it is ten degrees cooler than normal for June.Saturday
Saturday morning we went to the local farmers' market at Newport City Hall. There were some fresh veggies, but mostly vendors selling crafts. The booth that had the longest line was for fresh baked sourdough bread. The line wrapped around several booths and didn't seem to shorten while we were at the market. Joyce picked up some fresh broccoli, cauliflower and round zucchini. Then is was off to check out Fred Meyer and pick up a few things at Wal-Mart. Fred Mayer is a notch above Wal-Mart. It sells the same type items--food, clothes, sporting goods, etc.
After we finished our shopping we found a car wash and gave the CRV a good cleaning.
At the campground we rode our bikes around the trails and then took it easy for the rest of the day.
Sunday
Geocaching! There were 5 caches hidden in the park and 5 more by the aquarium and science center. Two of them were multicaches. The multicaches took longer than all the other caches and we couldn't complete one of them! We rode our bikes to find the caches in the park, then took the car and drove for the others. Bob got to eat lunch at Rogue again. This time we got pints instead of sampler trays. All in all, it was a good Father's Day.
Monday
Travel Day! We drove down the coast to Florence. We weren't sure where we wanted to stay so we stopped at Three Rivers Casino because they have free rv parking. Bob would be able to check out how our solar panels work. After saying hello to our hosts (playing the slots and eating lunch) we took the crv to look at the area campgrounds. We were looking forward to staying in a Forest Service area, but their campgrounds were too expensive for what you get--no hookups for $20. They were more expensive than the national parks we where we stayed! Maybe we will stay at Three Rivers one more night! They do have good morning coffee.
4 comments:
This was certainly interesting. It is good to know you have become a sampling sister. did you look at the crafts? Love and miss you.
Yes, I am a sampler. No, we didn't look at any crafts. We are having a great time--just want the wind to quit blowing or the temp to go up 10 degrees!! Love and miss you, too.
Joyce
Free Beer! Now thats nice. Makes it tuff on the walking though. Lets see Drink beer or Walk? Drink Beer of course. How was it? We use to go to Hops and get a tray of there different beer. Cecil
It would have been nice it the beer was free, but it wasn't. The 4 samplers were each 4 ounces--$5.75 for the pint!
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