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Post by totoro on Jul 29, 2011 0:33:31 GMT
One of the best things about living in Portland, OR is that you are just hours away form a number of things - mountains/volcanos like Mt. Ranier and Mt Hood, the beautiful Columbia River Gorge and its waterfalls, old growth coniferous forests, and the Pacific Coast. Here are a couple of photos from a rather short, 4-day trip our family took to the central Oregon Coast. I'll add a few more later to avoid swamping the "newest posts" link with a bunch of pictures. Plus, I accidentally left my camera at home, so all I have from this trip is what I could coax my phone to capture.   Rocky coast near Yachats Oregon  Nessie, the Yaquina Bay Sea Monster - this is mostly for Lio99  A closer view of Nessie's sea lion-hole (I assume she probably eats sea-lions)  My 11-yr-old son hamming it up in a Megalodon display at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport |
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Post by stoneage on Jul 29, 2011 15:49:25 GMT
What's the story behind Nessie? Was she part of a parade or exhibit?
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Post by Himmapaan on Jul 29, 2011 16:20:25 GMT
Haha. ;D Thank you for sharing these. More please.  |
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Post by totoro on Jul 29, 2011 17:45:47 GMT
What's the story behind Nessie? Was she part of a parade or exhibit? Well, if there is a charming story behind Nessie (how original is that name, huh?), I don't know it. I think it's a tourist trap, frankly, as it's located near some gift shops down the road from (and seemingly unaffiliated with) the Aquarium. I saw it as we left the aquarium, and thought I'd better snap a couple shots for the board. I suppose Nessie could be acronym? Perhaps it stands for: Nudges Eager Souvenir Shoppers Into Extortion  |
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Post by totoro on Jul 30, 2011 20:07:05 GMT
My coastal life began in the 90's (I grew up during the 60's and 70's in Illinois) on the barrier islands along the Texas and Mexico Gulf Coast. Texas has this ridiculous law called the Open Beaches Act that requires that all beaches be accessible to the public. This meant that there either had to be parking within a short distance (1/4 mile, I think), or the beaches had to be open to vehicles. Most beaches don't have nearby parking. So... if you visit the Texas coast, be prepared to see something that resembles a linear parking lot in many areas. So sad. And, to facilitate these vehicles, the beaches are "groomed" by graders to remove the unsightly seaweed ( Sargassum - a beautiful plant that floats in from the Sargasso Sea - usually loaded with amazing sea animals cryptically shaped and colored to almost disappear within the "seaweed". Fortunately, Oregon has more sense (or maybe just doesn't have beaches where driving would be safe most of the time). And, Oregon beaches are chock full of rock, so there is plenty of scaffolding for barnacles, sea anemones and other intertidal creatures. The tidepools are almost as cool as the Sargassum. One of our family's favorite pastimes is "tidepooling". We've seen some amazing things in the tidepools, including colorful crabs, shrimp and nudibranchs. Here are some photos from the last trip. Tide wasn't very low, so limited options this time. Next time, I promise to bring a respectable camera and take better pictures!  A nice tidepool  My son Brett, the future naturalist  A small shelf of green sea anemones  Anemone close-up  Sea star |
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Post by lio99 on Jul 31, 2011 1:05:54 GMT
I don't think it looks like nessie
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Post by totoro on Jul 31, 2011 3:30:34 GMT
I don't think it looks like nessie Exactly. Not only is the name horribly unoriginal, but it resembles a pliosaur, not a plesiosaur. Still, it's pretty cool looking, right? I mean, I bet you wouldn't kick that out of your backyard, would you? |
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Post by lio99 on Jul 31, 2011 4:46:00 GMT
If i had that in my backyard i would call it pliosaurus. ;D
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Post by totoro on Jul 31, 2011 5:02:07 GMT
If i had that in my backyard i would call it pliosaurus. ;D Or, maybe, Lio?! |
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Post by sbell on Jul 31, 2011 5:57:07 GMT
I don't think it looks like nessie Exactly. Not only is the name horribly unoriginal, but it resembles a pliosaur, not a plesiosaur. Still, it's pretty cool looking, right? I mean, I bet you wouldn't kick that out of your backyard, would you? Technically, pliosaurs are a type of plesiosaur, so really either is correct. I don't think it looks like nessie Nothing looks like nessie because nessie doesn't look like anything ;D |
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Post by lio99 on Jul 31, 2011 6:22:04 GMT
Have you seen the movie the water horse?
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Post by sepp on Jul 31, 2011 10:33:03 GMT
I love going to the coast. It's become a tradition for my boyfriend and I to take a trip to Newport and Beverly Beach at least once a year  Maybe drive up the coast too. A couple of years ago I got a picture of him in front of that same ridiculous Nessie statue, I don't think it has any special story whatsoever - definitely a tourist trap, but a cool looking one if I may say so myself (speaking about tourist traps, it's across the bay from Ripley's Believe It Or Not and the Underwater Gardens - Newport has amazing things to see all on its own without needing to resort to such things, come on!) |
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Post by totoro on Jul 31, 2011 17:38:18 GMT
I love going to the coast. It's become a tradition for my boyfriend and I to take a trip to Newport and Beverly Beach at least once a year Maybe drive up the coast too. A couple of years ago I got a picture of him in front of that same ridiculous Nessie statue, I don't think it has any special story whatsoever - definitely a tourist trap, but a cool looking one if I may say so myself (speaking about tourist traps, it's across the bay from Ripley's Believe It Or Not and the Underwater Gardens - Newport has amazing things to see all on its own without needing to resort to such things, come on!) Well, you're quite right about the trashy tourist traps there. We've endured the Ripley's and Underwater Garden attractions. I'm sure they succeed for the same reason they nabbed us - kids! Fortunately, Brett is old enough now to prefer the natural world. We still waste money every year on crabbing though. I've eaten a couple dungeness crabs, but generally all we catch are small ones and females, so it tends to be a rather futile, expensive venture. We generally don't have a lot of flexibility with regard to timing our visits, unfortunately. I'd prefer to hit the coast when there are very low tides to do more tide-pooling, agate hunting, and perhaps clamming! Here are a few more pictures, from the Aquarium in Newport:  Jellyfish  Colorful coral shrimp  Seahorses - such amazing creatures!!!  Cool octopus tentacle door handles  Beautiful cormorant handle  Stunning sea turtle sculpture carved from big-leaf maple burl  Inside tunnel passing through large aquarium (the one that used to house Keiko [aka Willy of "Free Willy"] I believe) Brett and me as deep sea divers:   Brett and me as drunken or deranged deep sea divers:   OK, I promise...no more pictures....FOR NOW....bwahahaha!! ;D |
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Post by Himmapaan on Jul 31, 2011 18:49:16 GMT
Haha. ;D
I love the cormorant door handle and the turtle sculpture!
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Post by lio99 on Jul 31, 2011 21:52:52 GMT
Cool
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Post by bokisaurus on Aug 2, 2011 6:27:56 GMT
Nice pictures I love the central OR cost, spend a lot of time there during the off season. YOu guys go to the Yachats area at all? Some cool places there to look for Agates, petrified wood, and sometimes fossil bones. Ah, I ,too have a picture with that Plesio by the aquarium ;D |
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Maybe drive up the coast too.
