Thursday 18 January 2018

Salem, Albany & Newport

Our run of good weather officially ended today. Cooler temperatures and rain on top of the overcast conditions made for a miserable day. Salem, the capital of Oregon, not the place where the witch trials occurred, did not offer much in terms of attractions. Thus we drove on heading south and east towards the Coastline. We had higher hopes for Albany, but we ended doing a drive though only, with no one wanting to get out of the car because of the cold and gloomy weather! We braved a new chain of US fast food for lunch... Arctic Circle. It has now joined Arby's and Taco Bell on the list of shame.

It didn’t take us long to get to Newport, a city on the Pacific Coast. We could see the rough ocean from the iconic Yaquina Bay bridge and got a closer look at Nye Beach. The weather made it difficult to enjoy the natural beauty of the coastline. Some of us made a dash for a good photo spot. Others stayed in the car. Offers for the aquarium, the wax museum, the light house were all quickly shot down. Our hotel next to the chocolate factory was it! We finally braved the weather and discovered a nearby source of super-hot beef jerky and apricot flavoured beer - essential survival food in case we were snowed in. It never quite snowed, but our walk home from dinner was through a slippery layer of hail or some other sort of icy slush. Lucky we were all donning our new outdoor wear!

We had found a use for the microphone...singing navigational instructions!

One of the many covered bridges in Oregon

Sorry Salem...

Sorry Albany...

Crossing the Yaquina Bay Bridge on a bleak day

Fat, fat seagulls


Looked like a doomsday scene. Very rough ocean!
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Opa colouring...

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