Another new beginning

Here we are again on our fifth winter adventure!  There is a newness about it, as we're travelling down south a different way, through Washington and down the coast of Oregon on our way to California.  We have more than a week to get to our first SOWER project in the San Francisco area, so are meandering, well, sort of... and exploring on our way. We took scenic Highway 101, which hugs the coast,  once we got past the congestion of Washington.  That was a good decision.
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Here is a beach at which we stopped, just north of Reedsport, on the coast.

One of the nine lighthouses along Oregon's coast

Beachgrass holds the dunes together, although the sand does shift a lot

It's not as warm as it looks.  I'm back to wearing six layers, as I did a couple of years ago in California, to keep warm.  With the wind blowing, it seems colder than in Alberta at minus temperatures! We eat our lunches very quickly at a picnic table, or in the car.  I'm not complaining; it could've been pouring rain, and we wouldn't have seen anything.

Our first "field trip" was to a natural cave just north of Florence, home of over one hundred Stellar Sea Lions.  Down 200 feet in an elevator brought us to this sheltered area, smelling very fishy, and noisy with the roaring of the sea lions.

Some of these giants, weighing up to 2,400 lbs, lay on the rocks, some slithered about, and some smaller ones rode the waves to get to these rocks. Maybe these were the kids playing!

 Trees on the cliffs hang on, permanently leaning in one direction from the force of the strong ocean winds. 

Back at our campsite at Winchester Bay, it was a short walk to this floating café, where we indulged in fish and chips. 

As we ate, the wind stopped and the sea turned to glass.  We quickly took the opportunity to walk the mile loop around the campsite, observing a Pacific Loon and...
What was that?  Is it a piece of wood?  No, it dove under...a harbour seal! 
Forgot to mention, earlier on, that we spotted several distant spouts of water, and a flash of the whale's body.  Not as close as the ones we saw on our Alaskan cruise, but whales nonetheless.

Funny how exhausted we are by early evening.  Terry says it's because we're not used to being at sea level. 
Beginning a new adventure is always hard in some way.
Happy New Year!