November 2023 random pictures

 November 2023

Here are some random pictures, enjoy. 

Got a new hat, nope I never seem to be able to put them on in a trendy way but when the wind is blowing as long as my head and ears are warm I do not care!

Hello, doing ok?

Wonder if they paid their camping fees?

Thanksgiving Oregon supermarket deals

First time finding non alcoholic cider

Jack's Country Store Ocean Park, Washington

This is a huge pile of seaweed washed up after a high tide. Looks like the Christmas tree lights after Ros took them down!

More bones

People on beach at sunset

Cute teeny tiny vintage camper, think the car is bigger.

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse waves

 November 2023

Do you remember when we hiked around Cape Disappointment Lighthouse then parked and looked at it from across the bay?

This lighthouse has a great history and if you are into it here is a link with some facts.

https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=115

I returned here by bike a few more times to get cell service when John traveled to New Jersey. It was an awesome place to sit on a driftwood log and chat with John or our daughter and download some You Tube videos to watch later. This is a very popular spot for professional photographers and each time I went I would see them arrive as high tide drew closer. A lady at the local tourist office said that the November full moon would bring an incredibly high tide and they were predicting some big storms too so there would be at least ninety photographers trying to catch the best shots of the huge waves. 

I love the ease of my cell phone camera but sometimes I wish I had the gear and knowledge of professional photographers.

With each trip to the bay I was enthralled by the ever changing vista and the power of the sea. To sit in the same place each day but the view ever changing.

 Here are pictures taken on different days, some grey wet days some blue skies, all at high tide, no editing.

Ghost ship

Low clouds on the horizon mirroring the waves

Air Sea Rescue

 Wednesday 8th November 2023

John was working at the library and I was pottering around the rv when I kept hearing a helicopter very close by. after a while I decided to investigate so me and Morgan wrapped up and went onto the beach to see a Air Sea Rescue helicopter training session on the cliffs below the North Head Lighthouse. 

There were people on the cliff who seemed to be getting rescued in different ways. One of the rescue team would be dropped from the helicopter on the winch, climb along the cliff to the person and hook them up and winch them up to the helicopter or another way was to partly raise them on the winch then dangle them along to the lighthouse. This went on for a bit then the helicopter flew off and a few minutes later another helicopter arrived.

I sat on a log on the beach watching for about two hours, fun entertainment. The following Wednesday they were at it again. I had thought on the first day it was funny they picked lovely calm blue sky days for training unlike a few days previously when it was black dark, pouring rain and the waves were crazy. Shouldn't they train on those sorts of days? Maybe Wednesday is training day and they lucked out with the weather.

Astoria, Oregon

 Thursday 9th November 2023

John had a lot of vacation days to take before the end of the year but due to a change at work he was not able to use most of them but he did get to take Thursday and Friday off. We drove to Astoria which is in Oregon State but not a far drive and was the nearest big town.

We drove across the Astoria-Megler bridge that is four miles long and spans the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. It was very cool, it began quite low and flat at the Washington end but then climbs upwards very dramatically to allow huge tankers and cargo ships to sail under.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astoria%E2%80%93Megler_Bridge

 Opened in 1966, it is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

We parked and walked a section of the Riverside Walk which is a 12.8 mile path that follows a portion of the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad. In the Summer there is a tram that runs along the route that would be fun. As we walked we heard sea lions. They were very loud! 

Pigeons

I'll look after your truck mate, payment in chips please

Not a great shot but those lumps are sea lions

While we thought the sea lions were awesome to see the locals are not happy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4z4ufL5TeI

 I guess it's a bit like people in New Jersey who did not like the deer who eat all your plants and cause road accidents. Or the squirrels that raid the bird feeders.

After grabbing a coffee at a Starbucks in the Safeway supermarket we headed downtown. It had a nice main street but the rain became quite heavy and as we had Morgan with us and we could not go inside to shelter we had to cut it short.

So foggy you can't see all of the bridge

Tankers in the mist

When we left Washington on the 18th November we once again crossed the Astoria-Megler Bridge. We saw a huge cruise ship docked on the Oregon side just before the bridge. After Googling we found out it was the Carnival Panorama which usually sails between California and the Mexican Riviera. Strange we thought, wonder why she is here? Turns out that she needed some urgent repairs at a shipyard 95 miles up river but her whale tail funnel would not fit under some of the bridges. After thinking they could remove the tail in situ and finding that would not work and after some thought (probably by a lot of over paid men, should have got women to work it out) it was decided she would sail to British Columbia Canada, they would remove the tail then she would sail back to the Portland shipyard, get the repairs carried out then return to British Columbia to get the tail replaced ....all in time for her 23 December Holiday Cruise. Good luck with that! I am sure this story will be continued in the news.

https://maritime-executive.com/article/low-air-draft-creates-whale-of-a-tale-for-carnival-cruise-ship