2014 Big Truck across the NW, Day 15

Day 15 marked a return trip to US101 and the Oregon coast, seen here just outside of Newport.

This was one of our shortest drives of the trip at right around 3 hours. We were staying at the Port of Newport (sounds pretty redundant), which from our research was a very well kept RV park that looked as though it was a giant parking lot, but was walking distance from our 2 destinations.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Clay - quite possibly the friendliest and best RV park mgr ever. At 84 yrs old, he's got this down to a science. He introduced himself, immediately remembered all of our names, and directed the rest of the conversation at Kimberly, knowing who was running the show. Here he is leaving after hooking us up with a bunch of discounts and generally being awesome.

As I mentioned, we were walking distance from our main destination - the Oregon Ocean Aquarium. After literally a 5 minute walk, we were there and Jordan was ready to explode.

Once inside, I got a bit reflective and appreciated these words of wisdom - this guy was pretty smart.

A few minutes in, and it was pure excitement. Kimberly was trying to be patient, but we all knew she wanted to see the sharks. Jordan was like the 6 year old version of me whenever we get close to a National Park, so we just let her lead the way.

After a few exhibits (she is very much an experiential learner), we stumbled on the hurricane simulator, and no words were necessary.

By the time we were finished, there was a crowd of people who apparently were waiting for someone dumb enough to try it out. They were in luck.

Next up was the seabird (I'm sure it had a more scientifically correct name) exhibit, where shortly after me taking this picture, Kimberly had a different Puffin buzz her tower, actually briefly perching on her head. One of them found it amusing.

I'll spare all of the details, but as always these places are always one of the highlights of our trip. This was no exception.

Our MO in the big tank was simple - first get a lay of the land and see all the different types of fish, 

then let Jordan give us the rundown on what was coming,

then identify them and check them out up close.

It really started to feel like we were part of some crazy ocean environment, not unlike (you knew it was coming) this master vision of a life on the seas...

We then headed to the feeding of the sea otters, seen here hamming it up for the tourists.

If you see the reflection in the glass, that is not actually NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabaar,

Instead, it was a very polite, overly comfortable with PDA (he and his girlfriend - hope that was the case - were not making Kimberly comfortable with their antics) hipster who looked like Chubbs.

And if you think I'm making a Chubbs reference without getting the audio gold that is 'Win in the End' stuck in your head, you don't know me.

Following the aquarium, we wandered across the parking lot to the Rogue Brewing World Headquarters, which was also conveniently located here.

You know it's a real beer geek's place when the entrance to the the restaurant and gift shop takes you directly through the brewing operation first.

They had a few beers on tap.

After an excellent dinner, Jordan gave me a detailed explanation of the brewing process on the way out.

We also picked up one of their collaboration brews (done with Voodoo Doughnuts, the place that lured us in yesterday in Portland) for Kimberly to try. Interesting combination.

Finally, upon retiring to our little slice of asphalt heaven, we got this sight looking out toward the Pacific.

At this point, we found out that one of Clay's predictions was accurate. Within a few hundred yards of the campground (sadly, out of sight), there was a spot for the sea lions to beach themselves, so we fell asleep to the not so distant sounds of these guys.

Tomorrow - a trip across Oregon to Crater Lake NP.