Yaquina Head Natural Area

Hey guess what ! this is the same as the "donut" rather ugly/weird looking thingy in the last installment of my blog. Went back to the Tide pools another day and got a better pic of this thing attached to a rock. Drum roll......... it's a Green Sea Anemone, showed a Park Ranger the pic in my camera and she identified it for me. It just looks so different from the anemones you see at OSU Hatfield Marine and Science Center. Wish I'd put my finger in it's mouth and felt the little tentacles close around it. They aren't harmful to adults but a child would feel a sting.
Love the way the surf crashes against the rocks and try to capture the spray on camera. If you enlarge the last pic you'll see the star fish clinging to the rock. The surf really pounds them but they can take the beating without letting go. Of course these pictures are all from Yaquina Head Natural Area in Newport, Oregon.

Tidepools, Quarry Cove, Yaquina Head

Thursday's low tide found us at the artificial tidepools, created in a former rock quarry in 1996. First time we've been fortunate enough to be there at "low tide". Was disappointed there wasn't sea stars or anemones but there was an array of interesting sea life. Whatever is in the upper photo is alive and when touched rather draws within itself. I wasn't sure I wanted to touch it but did and it feels kinda spongy. It's round like a donut but does have an indented center, there was "stuff" caught in there and presume it's food.

The second photo is hermit crabs, no justice here for the color of the shells. They were attached to almost every rock.

Found the white tree branch looking thingy in the third pic to be really neat. Wish I could've picked it up and brought it home but rules are rules. We could observe and gently touch but remove nothing except driftwood. We enjoy the Yaquina Head Natural Area so very much and have been there three times already, might have one more visit before we move farther north up the coast. Golden Age Passports are wonderful, wave 'em at the Ranger at the fee entrance and drive right thru. Today when there the tide was still high but we saw Brown Pelicans, Pigeon Guillemot's with the brightest orange feet you'll ever see, and lots of gulls. There's always something different and exciting. Wednesday we'll move up the coast to Warrenton and see what that part of the coast has in store for us...........can't wait for the installment.

Pacific Ocean/Siltez River

Finally, July 3rd we got our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean, made my heart sing! The Oregon Coast is so breath taking and I could spend hours (literally) watching the waves come in, waves go out, waves come in..... The top pic is looking west from Highway 20, soon to intersect with Highway 101, just outside Newport. We left Sutherlin, OR and our friends in Winston, OR to head to heaven. I fell in love with the Oregon Coast our first trip up here in 2006 and am always ready to head this way again.
Coyote Rock is located outside Lincoln City on the Siltez River, a fisherman's paradise and importantly for us a Passport America Park, they gave us the PA discount for a whole week and reasonable rate for the other 3 days we're here. The last pic is looking out thru the back window of the RV, nice scenery eh? Yesterday we drove down to Depoe Bay and Yaquina Lighthouse, both favorites. Went to a HUGE Fred Meyers (Kroger) grocery/everything store, would be easy to get lost inside. Groceries are higher since we left Arizona but still have to eat. Fuel, specifically diesel at $4.19, is about the same but with the 10 cents a gal from Kroger and rebate from our bank's credit card, we've got it down to $4.04 right now. The sweet California cherries we're getting here are so wonderful, am eating my share and Dave's too. As we get closer to Washington, I'll switch to grapes in the form of Washington wine...................... Tomorrow is Yaquina again, low tide so we're hoping to get to the tidepools. Friday is lunch in Newport with a lady I knew when working at DHL. We're managing to stay busy and give thanks everyday for health and attitude to live this lifestyle. Hope you're all well and enjoying your summer in Arizona, Tennessee, Arkansas or where ever you are. We think of you often, sending love and hugs, Kathy

Where we're parked in the FamCamp at Beale AFB, lots of grass and most sites have two trees. It's been very pleasant here, quiet except for the birds and there's lots of songbirds. The third pic is of the "penthouse" next door. Never saw a rig like this one before, there's two adults, toddler twin girls and two large dogs living in there. We figure they're waiting to get into base housing. (Beale is north of Sacremento, two more moves and I should see the Oregon coast.)

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

You're not going to believe this, I have such a painful "crick" in my neck from our visit to Yosemite National Park Wednesday..........look up, look up, look up! It was AWESOME and we're told because of the heavy snowfall and now run-off, "the falls are better than ever!" Where ever you looked there was a scene to take your breath away! Will post more pictures on the blog without comment so I can share some of the 350 + photos I took, went thru 2 camera batteries and did need to delete a good third of what I snapped, but when the second battery died ........... I wasn't ready to be done! Can you see the mama bear on the log in the first photo, baby is there too but shows better in the second pic, at the left end of the log. What an awesome experience to find traffic stopped and this golden photo op! Dave didn't really want me to get out of the truck, we didn't know how large the bear might be or how close to the road but I HAD TO GET OUT and take a closer look. The cub was sooooo playful and cute, both had very shiny coats so hopefully they're healthy. There was deer almost everywhere and would come quite close while grazing. I think the fall showing here is Vernal Fall. We left home at 9 AM and after stopping for a late dinner we got back at 8:30, tired and our visual senses on overload.
This is now one of my favorite places to visit, right up there with Niagara Falls. The GOOD LORD gives us so much beauty to enjoy but man screws it up whether intentionally or not. While talking to a very nice couple from Florida, they pointed out oil residue that was contaminating the river, leeching from the parking lot and the automobiles. Made me want to cry because to see the interior of Yosemite we're so spoiled we must have the convenience of comfortable transportation. We were so surprised to find the park CROWDED on a weekday as well. We did a lot of walking, up and down too for a great work out. We wanted to walk across the "Swinging Bridge" but there wasn't a parking place anywhere around, people were double parking, something we were leery to do. Got a new bird, a White-headed Woodpecker but he was too fast and busy to pose for a pic. The giant sequoia's made me think of a mammoth elephant foot at the base, beautiful majestic trees, and from Glacier Point we looked down 3,214 feet to Yosemite Valley below. If you have an opportunity to visit this park, wear comfortable shoes, layer your clothing and pack a lunch, we didn't and were pretty hungry by the time we got back to a town.
Til next time............

The two missing photos, my Acorn Woodpecker and the truck bed rail.

Edwards AFB to Coarsegold (CA)

Geez, I need a class for blogging, Molly where are you????Guess we should be going to the Escapade but that's another story.
This shot is from CA State Highway 58, beautiful scenery! We left Edwards this morning after discovering a (what looked like) serious water leak. Dave thinks it's coming from the kitchen sink and probably a crack in the holding tank. We stopped at Camping World in Bakersfield but they couldn't touch us til Friday, too long for our schedule. We've left the drain open for that tank and we'll see if that is a temporary fix or not.
The oleander's in the next photo are along the same highway, and along most of the highways we traveled today. Sure brightened up the center/median and were so pretty. At first we weren't sure they were oleander's and they must get water to them somehow.
The third photo is of our space at the Escapee SKP Park in Coarsegold, Ca. We're about 35 miles north of Fresno and found it to be COOL and pretty cloudy when we arrived. We had a "little" problem getting into this parking spot and the hitch for the RV dinged up the siderail of the truck bed, it was such a tight turn. The SKP Park fellow that was directing the back in commented that the hitch was sure loud, yeah, that was the truckrail crunching!!!!!!! Shoot had a couple more photos in here but they're NOT showing up. Got an awesome shot of an Acorn Woodpecker on the neighbor's sugar water feeder. I quickly concocted sugar water after we got here and have hummingbirds fighting over the feeders now, didn't take long at all and I am in heaven!
We are here for a week.........PROBABLY...........this park won't allow use of personal washing machines in a personal rig, MUST use their laundry to preserve their fragile sewer system and we'll see how long Dave can wear the same clothes and not smell.... We are at the south base of Yosemite National Park and they tell us there's more waterfalls there than you'd ever hope to see in a lifetime, maybe that'll be tomorrow. I'm so excited..................................

HI

Edwards AFB/NASA

Wow, what a thrill it's been to be here at Edwards Air Force Base! Lots of testing and NASA stuff here, the aircraft on static display are awesome. Of course y'all know this is where the shuttles land if the weather in Florida is bad, only wish I could've seen one of these first hand. There's a huge dry lake bed here where they'd land, Dave was fortunate to see a landing when he was TDY with the Guard. There's two 747's (that we saw) that would piggy-back the shuttle to FL and they're an amazing sight all on their own. My airplane is the SR 71, THE BLACKBIRD, I love that aircraft! It's so long, sleek and intimidating, it's HUGE and looks like there's only room for the pilot. How amazing to control an aircraft like that..... We don't have enough respect for or knowledge of our test pilots, I certainly have a little better understanding and am in awe.
We spent a week outside of Wickenburg, AZ, then moved on to Laughlin, NV. This is our third stop and in the morning we'll move farther north in Ca to Coarsegold. From there we'll have photos of Yosemite National Park, a new stop for us.

Hope all is well with everyone reading this, we love you, each and every one. Will make a REAL effort to keep the blog up to date this summer, can't wait to see the Oregon coast again and share with YOU!