We saw a whale!!!

Thursday 6/18,09 After a very lazy morning, with the sun shining brightly, we headed out for a ride and a little more sightseeing. We went south on 101 to a small town, Depot Bay www.depoebaychamber.org , the "Whale Watching Capital of the Oregon Coast." It has a long seawall where you can park, sit & watch the ocean. They are also have a Whale Watching Center that has a movie on whales & lots of pictures & information. A wall of glass with binoculars to use & search the ocean for whales. When you come in the center you are greeted by a blackboard that tells how many whale sightings for that day (1) the week & the year...the year was over 600. So of course we assumed our position at the wall of glass & started looking. They say they have a pod of resident gray whales that make their home there from March thru December. Then I hear someone say, "there's one" & Will says, "I see it" of course I can't find it . They continued to watch him spout water & then he would dive & come back & spout more water. They tried to help me find him but I never did....I felt very dejected and sad.

We then head out in search of postcards as I don't take pictures (sorry Rog) I usually buy several postcards from each town we visit & keep them together as my "pictures." Of course it's noon time & Will's lunch so we head for a small cafe - chowder for me & a hot dog for him. Both were NOT good and cost $12, so one more time we make a vow to bring our own lunch when we go out. We then head for Newport, a town we have already seen but there was still more to see. On our way there (22 miles) we stopped at a place called Devils Punch Bowl which was a beautiful view with this gigantic whole just below the seawall & the water comes in & out. At low tide people actually climb down there & hang out on the rocks...I just can't imagine that one. I started a conversation with a nice couple vacationing from Washington (I'm the mayor, you know) and they started telling us about the area & about the whales which at that exact moment we ALL saw it, including ME and this "guy" actually dived where we saw his tail out of the water heading down...it was terrific. I started applauding, what a show...now I felt better, I saw a whale.

We continued on into Newport & parked down by the boat harbor walking up and down the docks, reading the names of the boats and actually talking to some of the guys who work on the boats. It was interesting, the sun was shinning, it was a great day....I saw a whale dive!! Then back to our home, fix a fish dinner, watch a movie & go to bed...life is good.

Friday, 6/19/09 it rained all Thursday night and I mean alllllllll Thursday night. At one point it woke me up when I felt water as I had left my bedroom window open & it actually was splashing & hitting me in the face. What a shock that was. When we got up this morning the RV park was starting to look like a small lake. They had to bring pallets to one RV so they could get out their door. Fortunately, it wasn't us! We spent the morning marking Washington state booklets that we have with different places we want to go & things we want to see which gets exciting with the thought of moving on. Of course Will didn't want to leave the house, his heater & fireplace so I took the car & headed into town, Lincoln City, OR as I was starting to feel stir crazy with NO walk this morning. I drove down by the beach, watched the rain & very angry ocean, found some little shops to walk through, bought my 2 newspapers, a bag of pretzels & headed home....I was now set for more rain but fortunately the rain has stopped (for now) but it is very gray & the weather prediction for the weekend is more rain. Have I mentioned how much I miss the Fresno weather.....hot and hotter!! We both love this trip but very grateful we don't have to live here.

Signing off for now; much love to our family and friends and to Nancy, who is sick with the flu in New York City, sweetie, I hope you feel better soon and I can't wait to see you next week.