Very little has changed from our routines in Phoenix, aside from the scenery and the foods we’re eating. We wake at 5:00 a.m., futz around on the computer as we shake off drowsiness, and check the temperature here in Depoe Bay, which was a chilly 45 degrees this morning (7 Celsius) compared to the heat advisory affecting the Phoenix area, where it was 80 degrees before 6:00 a.m., already (26.5 Celsius). With a push for some momentum, we got in the car for a 7-minute drive north to Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site in Lincoln Beach.

Other than a couple of campers still in their tents, there was nobody else to be seen out here this morning. Maybe the marine layer was obscuring them, but to our senses, we were alone in the solitude of having the coast to ourselves.

This idea that it will be 112 degrees in Phoenix today (44 Celsius), yet we were able to sleep under our comforter here on the coast, and that in the early morning, we need our wool base layer and fleece along with a beanie still feels unreal. With Caroline needing to be “at work” by 8:00, there is no time for fun and games, hence, her hands are in her pockets instead of holding and guiding Happy McKiteface.

This kind of start to the day arrives with its own issues. I’m compelled to capture these reminders of our time out here, but I should try to keep things to a minimum as if I could, when presented with scenes such as this.

What you are not seeing in all of this beauty is that the original “road” that you could once drive down to the beach is gone. Eroded and broken off, the asphalt just dead ends into thin air, hanging over nothing and waiting to disappear even further back. All along the cliffside, there are signs of desperate measures to reinforce land that is being dragged into the sea. But while they last, these perches towering over the beach must be amazing; too bad they seem mostly empty as the owners must call somewhere else home, and these are simply getaway locations.

Without being in the water to capture the real churn and size of the waves, photos have never really done justice to demonstrate the power of what we are gawking at.

Gotta say, gawking at the sea is always tough when such magnificent god rays are present.

Later in the day, we enjoyed an amazing lunch of elote, which is Mexican-style grilled corn. The grilled ears of corn are easy to understand, the interesting part is they are smeared with a mixture of crema Oaxaqueña, mayonnaise, garlic powder, cotija (cheese), and Tajin (chili, lime, and salt mixture). Following that, we took the small trail next to the house down to a nearby park. Yet again, we must note the incredible scents we encounter when walking through coastal forests.

It turns out that the harbor at Depoe Bay is also the path used by salmon, with the South Depoe Bay Creek and its tributaries being the ancestral homes of these fish. Another interesting note regarding the harbor: Jack Nicholson, in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, commandeered a fishing boat arriving here for a scene from the movie.

Speaking of a cuckoo’s nest and some of the characters from the film, this one has been back here in the park since 1975, riding the springy whale. That’s why she was never seen in the movie.

Time for a commercial break from our sponsor. When the need for an afternoon coffee sounds like the pick-me-up that will help you muscle through the day, consider brewing a pot of WeBe’s Rwanda Kivubelt People’s Farm coffee. They’ll even grind it for free, just as they did for our Le Creuset French Press, another great sponsor of today’s blog post. So kick back, but not so far that you fall into a nap, and enjoy a hot cup of WeBe coffee. Buy a bag today, and you, too, can have a happy life on the Oregon Coast, just like John and Caroline Wise.

The workday is done, and as much as we’d like to head right out, the matter of our evening meal must be dealt with since convenience down the road is not an option. With leftover smoked fish chowder reheating on the stove reheating, I’m over on my computer updating this next paragraph, which will be followed by whatever photo will be shared next in sequence. As for my own productivity, it has taken me more time than I’d like to jump back into my novel, though I didn’t expect it to be all that easy, considering the month interlude. So far, it has been but a small step of two new paragraphs, but it is a continuation, so I should be happy. Hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll be turning to it a lot earlier than today, hence all this effort to work on this post before the end of the day. This trail is at the Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint in Depoe Bay on the way to the Whale Cove Overlook.

I must have a subconscious delusional secret fantasy when we leave for our evening activities that somehow everything will be so familiar, seen, and experienced before that I’ll be happy to forsake taking more photos, thus saving me from the need to write even more, but no, that’s not the way it works. It’s like everything is new again and requires photographing everything just in case these photos are the best ever.

This one and only time, I’m admitting that more than a few times, I’m inspired to take a photo of something Caroline felt inspired to take a photo of. Believe it or not, there are times when her sense of the aesthetic kicks in before mine, and I have to follow her lead. Good thing we have two pairs of eyes working to explore our environment.

We are traveling south, collecting steps and sights as we go. This stop is on the Otter Crest Loop in Otter Rock.

A stretch of the Otter Crest Loop is a narrow one-way road prone to induce involuntary sphincter-pulsing due to its proximity to some rather steep precarious cliffsides. The white building on the hillside is the Lookout; more about it in a moment.

I likely took about 50 photos of this scene or one very similar, as bumblebees were buzzing around the blossoms, and though I gave it my best effort, not one of those photos turned out very well. The plant is called escallonia or redclaws by its common name.

Originally a coffee shop operated by Wilbur S. and Florence Badley, the Lookout became a gift shop due to popular demand back in the 1920s and 30s. By 1928, the couple had gifted the state the adjoining land; in 2013, the state acquired the gift shop too. This area of the coast is known as Cape Foulweather and was named by Captain James Cook on March 7, 1778. This is the guy who, a year later, was killed while attempting to kidnap the King of Hawaii, Kalaniʻōpuʻu.

About midway down the coast in this photo, jutting into the ocean, is the Devils Punchbowl Arch, and in the distance, you might see a spit of land; that’s where the Yaquina Head Lighthouse stands.

Look closely, and you might see a small speck of light near the water level in the shadows on the cliff left of center; that is one of the arches that make up the Devils Punchbowl Arch. A collapsed cave is what the Punchbowl is named after, and during low tide, you can walk down this very beach into the formation. However, right now, it’s full of water and extremely dangerous. The trail we’ve taken brought us down to the Otter Rock Marine Garden.

With the tide high, there wasn’t very far we could walk, so our time was brief out here but well worth the visit.

I must have been oblivious or tired because it was Caroline stepping up into some plants, which triggered me to see what she was looking at. How could I have missed this? How could she inspire me twice in one day to see what I was blind from seeing? Well, here it is, the Japanese honeysuckle flower.

We had two more stops to make before driving back to Depoe Bay: the first was up at Devils Punchbowl, where the sun was already too low to get an adequate photo into the churning chasm below, and the last stop was in the town of Newport to pick up a couple of things at the grocery store. It was almost 9:30 p.m. when we got back, and passed out shortly thereafter.