We pulled the car cover off of Midget-San around 11am Monday and headed out. I saw a guy checking the car out just before we left. As we drove out of the RV park, we passed him with a group of people and Donna heard him say, “It sounds just like mine.” We get a lot of comments on the MG Midget – even more than the Spyder drew.
We headed north on US101 – our destination was the little town of Depoe Bay (pronounced DE-poh). The population of the town is around 1,500 people. The story on the name of town had to do with a native American that was originally deeded the 1.8-square-mile plot of land – he was known as Depot Charlie or Charles Depot. Later, the family changed the name to DePoe.
The town claims to have the world’s smallest navigable harbor. We drove past the Coast Guard Station at the harbor and after a couple of loops of the parking lot, we found parking near the Dockside Charters. Midget-San drew a few more comments there – in fact a couple parked next to us wanted to take a picture and she told us her parents had a 1964 MG Midget. The boat charters out of Depoe Bay are both fishing charters and whale watching excursions. Whales abound on this stretch of the Oregon Coast.
We walked along the small marina and watched as a boat sailed out of the narrow harbor entrance. US101 passes over the harbor entrance.
Donna and I drove away from the harbor and found public parking at the corner of Collins Street and SW Conway Avenue. We walked a couple of blocks and crossed US101 to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) Whale Watching Center. The center offers free admission and is staffed by knowledgeable people. It has several informational placards describing the area and the fish, birds, marine mammals and flora of the area. It also has several pair of of binoculars tethered to the window sills for spotting whales. We found a couple of gray whales offshore.
We were getting hungry so we walked along US101 and took a look at some of the eateries. We settled on The Chowder Bowl. I think we could have done better. Donna ordered steamed clams and salad and was disappointed to find the clams in a garlic broth that was extremely salty. I ordered the halibut fish and chips and thought the breading was too heavy. The cup of chowder that came with it was good though.
After lunch, we drove back south on US101 and took the Otter Crest Loop cut-off a couple of miles out of town. This is a scenic loop that twists and turns along bluffs over the beaches. A large part of it is one-way only – southbound. We stopped at the Lookout and Observatory at the Otter Crest State Scenic Viewpoint. The observatory section was a small room with windows facing the ocean. They also had binoculars available and we saw a whale a few hundred yards out.
We walked out to the lookout point and saw the whale again and had great view of the coastline south to Yaquina Head.
We continued driving the loop until it rejoined US101. We went south past Beverly Beach and turned off at Yaquina Head Lighthouse Drive near Agate Beach. The lighthouse is located on state park land and there’s a seven-dollar entrance fee. We decided to pass on that and came back home to the RV park at the Port of Newport.
On another subject, I posted a while ago about the mysterious rate of data usage lately on our Verizon data plan. We have a 30GB allowance of high speed data per month giving us great internet access. For the last few years, 30GB has been enough for our usage. We hadn’t changed any habits, but suddenly, our rate of data usage started going up resulting in overage charges in the last couple of months. I can’t figure out how that happened. Meanwhile, Verizon has been bombarding me offers to change my data plan.
Last week, on Friday, we were on the last two days of our data cycle and only had about 1GB left before we faced another overage charge. We weren’t likely to get by on 1GB. A week ago Monday, Verizon rolled out new data plans. I don’t think they’re actually new – it seems like they just streamlined the number of plans and changed some of the plan names. But the thing that caught my attention was the lack of contracts. That’s right. The new data plans do not require long-term contracts. You can change your data plan at any time you wish without penalty.
Contacts were one reason I’ve been hesitant to change. The other concern is throttling of “unlimited” plans. I don’t know how much slower the connection gets. I looked the plans over and decided Verizon wins – I was making a change to their new plan. As I went through the process, there was one warning though. It told me once I changed, our old plan would not be available again and we could not change back – the only changes allowed would be to one of the current offerings at the time.
I made the change Friday evening. The funny thing is, I’m continuing to monitor our usage and since the new plan started, we are using data at about the rate we used to use – just under 1GB per day. Hmmm…like I said, Verizon wins. I still can’t explain how our rate of data usage suddenly increased while Verizon was encouraging me to migrate to their new plan.
The forecast for the rest of the week looks good with mostly sunny days and highs in the upper 60s. This afternoon Donna has a dentist appointment. A crown came off one of her molars last week. She attempted to reinstall it with an over-the-counter cement, but it wouldn’t stay put. So she’ll have it checked and re-secured by a dentist here in town.
Back in the early 80’s I spent a lot of time at Depoe Bay while I was attending Oregon State. One other claim to fame of Depoe Bay is that is where Jack Nickolson’s character took everyone fishing in the moving “One Flew Over the Cookoo’s Nest”! Thanks for bringing back great memories.
movie not moving