Happy Birthday, America! These are certainly not our finest hours in American history as politicians bicker back and forth and totally forget they are supposed to be working for the American public. But America still has the potential for being the greatest nation in the world. We've gotten a little off track and given up some of the freedoms we fought so hard to achieve, but hopefully, we will find our way back.
We got up early to photograph at Boiler Bay this morning, but soon realized that the sun was in a terrible location. We keep forgetting that we are shooting in the summer, and the sun rises and sets in very different directions than we are used to.
We returned to the motorhome, ate breakfast, and did a very American thing. We went shopping. We're trying to do our part to stimulate the economy. Although not as big as the Woodburn Factory Outlets, the Tangier Outlet in Lincoln City has Reebok. After our trek to Cape Kiwanda and the giant sand dunes there, Carol and I both needed new tennis shoes. We also supported Eddie Bauer and invested heavily at Columbia. We are going to be ready for a cold-weather fall trip.
After our shopping spree, we returned to the motorhome, made lunches, and set out for the areas south of Lincoln City. We scouted them on Saturday in the poor lighting, but today had blue skies. It definitely looked promising.
We returned to Boiler Bay
in better lighting, but it
was still lacking drama. Maybe, it would be better at sunset. We shot the smallest harbor in the world at Depoe Bay, and then drove the Otter Crest Loop road
to Cape Foulweather.
That is when the wind hit. It wasn't really cold, but the wind buffeted everything in its path. Tripods weren't an option. The shots
from the point were interesting, but now as you look south, you see a giant new resort near the water and a clear-cut forest on the hillsides.
Those weren't improvements.
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| Depoe Bay Harbor | View from Cape Foulweather |
We continued down Otter Crest Loop Road to the Devils Punchbowl. Although nearly
impossible to photograph in today's conditions, it's still an amazing place. Sea caves come
in from two different directions and meet in what appears to be a giant sinkhole. Since it's sandstone,
it can't be a true sinkhole. The sides are vertical and must drop about 60 feet to the bottom of the hole.
Waves enter from the two tunnels at high tide. At lower tides, you can walk in the side tunnel from a beach area and
watch the waves come in from the ocean side. Beyond Devils Punchbowl, the path leads to a view south that reaches
We arrived at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in
a wind storm. It is way out on a headland so there is nothing to block the wind. Even over the sound of the wind,
we could hear the birds perched out on the rocks. There was barely a square foot of space anywhere on the top of the rocks
without a bird on it. It was quite a racket! We're hoping to return to Yaquina Head to photograph in better conditions. There seemed to be a wide variety
of birds as well as seals (or sea lions).
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| Yaquina Head Lighthouse |
Yaquina Head Lighthouse |
As we left Yaquina Head, we realized that it was much later than we thought. Sunset was only minutes away. We tried to reach Boiler Bay for golden light, but it was gone by the time we got there. We still enjoyed the sunset, but the lighting on the rocks surrounding the bay was gone.
Returning to Lincoln City, we were reminded that tonight was fireworks. Cars lined the highway in every conceivable space to watch the fireworks over Siletz Bay. As it turned out, one of the better places to watch the fireworks was from our campsite in the comfort of the motorhome.
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