Oregon Coast - Day Four

Thursday, July 30th

We spent the day exploring Newport. Not the beaches but the actual town. We started out the morning by crabbing. The whole dock experience was completely new to me.





We had 2 big nets to crab with. We put a whole chicken inside and threw it into the bay (the other end was tied to the dock of course!) We waited about 15 minutes and then pulled it up. Success! They were catching 2 types of crabs, a greyish one that had to be a certain length otherwise you had to throw it back or red ones which you could keep regardless of their size.


Tudy attaching the chicken


Gage throwing the net in


Lake with the first catch of the day

The little kids' attention span lasted just about that long so we split up at that point. Tudy and the 4 older kids continued to crab while the rest of us headed to the Aquarium. The sun had come out about this time and there was a lighthouse in Newport that I really wanted to see. I knew I had to jump at the chance to see it while the weather was on my side. So my crew headed to Yaquina Bay light house. It was really cool to see at actual light house and so scenic! Unfortunately Spencer wasn't tall enough to climb up the stairs so we couldn't go all the way up. But they had lots of displays we could still look at and learn about. A completely different era and way of life, fascinating.








This cliff was covered with birds, it was crazy!






Rooster taking in all the beauty

We met up with Becca and Dena at the Aquarium. It was very nice and a great way to see other ocean life. We touched some starfish and different sea cucumbers and anemones. None of us were too anxious to touch the string ray. Spencer and Emma were so excited to see the real "Dory" and "Nemo" fishes. Austin and I both liked the Passage of the Deep where the aquarium was above and below you. You walk through the ocean and shark and sting ray swim all around you. Emma did not like it. Thank goodness she was not hysterical but quietly crying. She closed her eyes and held onto me as we walked through. Ruth loved the otters. They were pretty cute but Ruth getting all excited watching them was even more cute!


Passage of the Deep


Rooster loving the otters




Outdoor play area

We did a few random things in the late afternoon (like go to a laundry mat. I just used the dryer for our towels. It was always so wet and misty that nothing would ever dry!) We also stopped in Depoe Bay on the way back to camp and got a few over priced mementos.

Of course we had crab for dinner. They had caught about 25 but only kept 15. Naturally I tried it (and I took pictures of course because I knew Kurt wouldn't believe me!) All my kids tried it. Rooster took a tiny piece, it touched her tongue and she immediately spit it out. She spent the next 10 minutes spitting and not coming very close to me! It was pretty funny. So crab isn't half bad. I didn't think it was overly fishy. Mainly it was a lot of fun to rip the legs off and break it open, but a lot of work for a small amount of meat.