Tillicum Turn-around

On day three,  before leaving Boiler Bay State Wayside we got in a short, but obligatory, Buster/Bird Walk.  Preparations to leave caused Buster to wake from a deep sleep and have a real desire to get out the door, so we opted for a loop around the park.  In the process we got to enjoy surfacing Gray Whales in the kelp beds, singing White-crowned Sparrows, and nesting Cormorants, and more.  Click here for the bird list.

Our first stop of the morning was at the in Newport at the South Jetty.  Here the main birds in the parking area were gulls. Here are a couple of examples.

 California Gull

Glaucous -winged Gull

Lunch was an easy decision with a stop for take out of cod and crab at South Beach Fish Market before driving to South Beach State Park Day-Use-Area. After lunch another Buster/Bird Walk was in order and we walked a section of trail and garnered the following bird list. We spent the rest of the afternoon in our parking lot spot long enough for dinner and the TV news, before venturing on to Tillicum Beach.

The sign at Tillicum Beach said "Campground Full", but we had no worries as we had spot #4 reserved for two nights. It was a clean site tucked in among the shore pines.  In the site next door we noticed a Ford Transit van, so first order of business was to check it out.  Friendly campers from Arizona on their way to Washington.  We exchanges van stories of van life, looking at theirs and they looking at ours.  As we settled in for the night we were quite surprised to find that we had TV reception, however hard to believe, we had no cell service even after connecting up our signal booster.  Now here is where things get bleak.  We can survive with-out TV, but not with-out cell service.  Too much of our life is tied up with the Internet, which when we travel we get through our cell phones, to be with-out cell service.  All the work with e-Bird of listing observations and photos, e-mail, Instant Messaging, weather reports, and Facebook and YouTube which involves many people we connect with in our van life style, are all serviced by the Internet. We reluctantly made the decision to stay put for the night, but we would be out of there at first light, forfeiting our second night fee.  

Rain in the morning confirmed our decision to leave Tillicum Beach. Our first stop on our return route north was at Driftwood Beach State Recreation Area, a place we have stayed many times and knew we would have cell serve. Of course Buster was anxious to get out and explore, and we also knew from past experience this was a good one for him enjoy and run his heart out across the sand. After a beach romp we settled in to catch-up with Facebook, YouTube, eBird (see bird list here), and more as well as hot showers. Buster was mellowed out and content to just lay on the couch, so we decided to venture on.  In Newport we had lunch and got fuel. What the heck, we might as well drive on home.  We made stops at Depoe Bay City Park and Van Duzer Corridor Rest Area for dog walks and driver exchanges. We chose an alternate route home, continuing on up Hwy 18 to the Sheridan Exit, then through Balston and Perrydale, coming in the back-way to Salemtowne.  Home by 3:00pm.  In the four days out, we compiled 12 bird lists in the counties of Polk, Yamhill, and Lincoln.