Travel with Manfred

Travelogues from around the world

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Copyright © 1992 by Manfred P.. All rights reserved.

Mar 30, 1992

Oregon Coast Trip

Whale Watching

by

Manfred P.

Keywords: USA, Oregon, Depoe Bay, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

This weekend was one of the rare weekends with absolutely nothing on my mind. So, I drove to the coast as recommended by friends. The scenery was quite enjoyable. Most of the way (about 75 miles) is a single lane highway that winds along vallies, with little chance to pass other drivers. Oregonian drivers drive me nuts. They always seem to go 10 miles below the speed limit. And if you start tailgating them, they get even slower. After about 2 hours a place called Depoe Bay which calls itself the city with the smallest harbor. It lives only from tourism. Depoe Bay is famous for fishing and whale watching. I took one of the many 1-hour whale watching tours that are offered. Our small boat with about 30 people zoomed out the "tiny" harbor at 10am. Fresh cold winds plus the windshield factor (the boat was really going pretty fast) were anticipated by most spectators. Some of course had to show off by wearing shorts and tee-shirt. I was happy to have my jacket and sweater.

Because I listened to the radio communication between boat and ticket agent during the previous tour, I knew that our chances for seeing whales were very good. And sure enough after about 20 min we followed the tracks of a "family" of Gray Whales. There a a whole bunch of maybe 7 or more whales. Spoutings were quite easy to see, and I gave up counting after 50. We got as close as 300 ft, which allowed us to see the backs of the whales and on rare occasions a fin. We followed them for 20 min before we had to turn around. This was an hour well spent. I "attempted" whale watching once before in Baja CA about 1000 miles south of the Mexican border (I forgot the name of the bay), but there I was without luck. So, having seen a whole family of whales, put me into a pretty good mood. I strolled thru the town a little bit more (mainly souvenir shops) and head north to Boiler Bay State Park were I enjoyed my lunch while watching the whales from the coast. It was less exciting than from the boat but once we saw a tailfin twice.

The remaining of the afternoon I spent at the beach near Lincoln, the Kite Capitol of the World. Is there a place in the US that's not the Bigggest, Best, Smallest, etc. of something?. Some of the kites must have been 45 ft long. It was pleasantly warm (close to 70 degrees). For some warm enough to go surfing. I didn't get tempted (the swimming pool is certainly warmer). On my way home I detoured through two more State Parks: Devil's Lake and 3-Rock-Bay.

Bonus question for you: What company has the nicest campus in Beaverton? There is this wonderful building complex that looks like a piece of art by itself. I always wondered what company that is. Initially I thought that the Intel Campus since I was told Intel is right around the corner. Today I found the answer. Nope, it's not Mentor Graphics or Sequent. It isn't Fujitsu or Epson either. Nor is it NEC. The "most fashionable" campus is from the "most fashionable" shorts/shoe designer: It's Nike's head quarters.