Sunday (Monday) Salon, September 6th

View of the tiny harbor at Depoe Bay from our hotel window

Labor Day

Weather: Overcast, light rain, temperature is 58° F (14° C). The weather has turned on a dime from hot, summer weather to cool, fall weather. Last night we were so cold in the house we had to turn on the heat.

Last week of summer: I've been back at school most days this past week but Friday Don and I drove to the Oregon Coast for an overnight and then on to Eugene for the first Oregon Duck football game of the year. Summer is now officially over, we have been to our first fall football game.

Don ready with his camera for some whale watching

Depoe Bay, Oregon: we stayed in a small hotel on the smallest navigable harbor in the world and spent the afternoon watching whales from the town's seawall. We watched one playing or feeding 400 yards offshore. Don was able to get several shots of it breaching and blowing. The weather was warm with a very light breeze, unusual for the coast. It was just a lovely day to be at the coast. That evening, after wine and cheese at our hotel, we had a lovely seafood dinner at the Tidal Raves restaurant, situated right on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Breaching whale, I thought it looked like an Orca but we were assured it was a gray whale 

Depoe Bay harbor entrance, Highway 101 bridge over the inlet.

Devil's Punch Bowl and more whale watching: after breakfast and checkout on Saturday, we stopped off to see the interesting rock formation known as the Devil's Punch Bowl which traps the churning incoming tide. The tide was too low, so the punch bowl wasn't that interesting. But we looked out in the ocean and noticed two or three whales very near the shore playing among a few rocks offshore. We learned over 200 resident gray whales stay between Lincoln City and Newport all summer. I am sure the three we saw here lived in the area. 

Yaquina Head Lighthouse: we took one last detour before we left the coast, to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It is situated on a preserved natural area. From the bluffs above the ocean we could see more whales, seals, cormorants, and pelicans. We could have lingered longer but we were on a timeline so we took a quick look around and said our good-byes to the Oregon Coast.

The beautifully situated Yaquina Head lighthouse

The weather was absolutely gorgeous.

A seal sunning on a rock.

The view from the lighthouse bluff. The water just shimmered in the sun.

University of Oregon Football: Kickoff was at 5 PM. Mom, Dad, sister Kathy, niece Kaylyn and her husband, Bobby, cousin Steve and his wife, Anne, Don and I enjoyed the Ducks' 61-42 win over Eastern Washington.

Photos compliments of Anne Parr

Humongous Cat: my sister's cat is huge. My younger sister, Grace, gave Kathy a children's book called The Humongous Cat. We all had to get our photo taken with the book and cat. It was hard work holding him. He must weigh over 30 pounds.

My mom with Pumpkin.

Books read this week:

• Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer. Don and I listened to this during our road trip. It is a very difficult topic but extremely well-written and researched book. We talked about the subject all weekend. (Audio)
• To the Field of Stars by Kevin Codd. About his pilgrim's journey to Santiago de Campostela. I really enjoyed Codd's writing style.

Still reading:

• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Matilda: the Musical: Thursday evening we drove up to Seattle for "Matilda: the Musical." It is based on the Roald Dahl book, Matilda. It was cute and funny with an amazing set. Someone's hearing aid hummed and whistled the whole second half. It was very irritating. But the fun of the musical outweighed the irritation of hearing aid debacle. Dahl wrote Matilda near the end of his writing career, emphasizing the importance of books because he feared they might become obsolete. "Children instinctively realize that Roald Dahl is firmly on their side, that he will never talk down to them, and that he will lead them through the most alarming adventures unscathed" (Albert Evans, in the program.) My favorite part of the evening was listening to the laughter of the children in the audience.

Tomorrow is back to work for the 2015-16 school year. Sigh. Summer is over.