Time to explore Seal Rock State Park, just a few minutes from our campground. To get down to the beach, there is a short walk through windblown trees that leads to the trail down to the beach. The view from the top is so cool...you can see all the rocks in the ocean and get an overall view of what awaits you when you get down to beach level.
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| look how the wind has affected the trees |
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| love the moss on the trees too |
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| view from the top |
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| isn't that magnificent? |
Once on the beach, we didn't know where to look first! There are so many birds on all of the rocks nesting. Of course, there is the magnificent ocean, with thundering waves crashing through the rocks. Then, there are the tide pools. So much to see and do here. (We love this kind of thing)!
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| ready to explore the beach |
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| the ocean is so "alive"! |
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| what is that? |
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| cool stuff everywhere |
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| this is a pretty beach |
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| lots of nesting birds here too |
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| amazing stuff |
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| close up |
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| exploring the tidepools |
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| the birds and the ducks are exploring the tidepools too |
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| looks like a goose....but where is the long neck? |
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| I'm not leaving until I find a starfish |
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| such cool tidepools...so many things to see |
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| close up |
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| haven't seen any starfish yet |
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| the ocean is so alive, crashing against the rocks |
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| its mesmerizing to watch and listen |
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| just hanging out |
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| good place for birds to nest or hang out |
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| so much to explore here |
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| the sound and the colors.....just taking it all in |
A few minutes after I joked with Tom that I wasn't leaving until I saw a starfish....we saw a ton of them. They were everywhere. So cool! This was by far the best tide-pooling we've ever done. Jess, you would have loved it!!
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| a starfish!!!! |
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| wow! |
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| actually they were just everywhere! |
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| aren't they just the coolest things? |
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| lets look for more! |
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| look!! three together! |
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| this is so much fun!! |
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| oohh and an orange one too! |
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| the starfish were everywhere! |
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| what a nice "garden" |
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| lots of interesting things to be found in these tidepools! |
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| oh, here comes Tom now |
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| ach! Caught on camera...hhahha |
Tom left me on the beach to go back up to the car (well, alright, to the nice bathroom which was right up there in the parking lot). I didn't want to go on without him, because I wanted us both to be thrilled at the same time with some of these discoveries we were making. Haha! The starfish were everywhere and
I we were thrilled! What can I say...the beaches in NJ don't look like this!
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| pretty tide pool garden |
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| just look at that! |
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| so many starfish in one spot |
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| more on this rock too....they are everywhere |
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| close up |
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| the orange one is right on top of the red one |
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| so cool |
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| oh...and when you get your head out of the tide pools, there's the powerful ocean to admire (always have to keep your eye on it)! |
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| this is sooooo much fun! |
There were a couple of things we saw that we didn't like. Some people walk around with buckets collecting things. Why anyone would collect a starfish is beyond me. We also saw some fool guy walk up on top of the rocks where the birds were nesting! Why would someone do that?
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| hey....what are you doing there buddy? |
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| the view was beautiful |
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| its getting pretty deep here for tide pool viewing...hahaha |
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| are we having fun or what? |
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| just hanging on |
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| look at all those textures too |
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| close up |
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| what a view |
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| what are you doing????? |
After enjoying watching the waves for a bit more, we headed out little further down the coast just to sight-see. It looks like a different day, but its just that the sun came out for a bit and brightened things up. The weather has been quite changeable since we've been on the Oregon coast. Often the sun is out at the beach, and there are clouds and fog inland just across the road. Something for everyone :)
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| the skies have brightened like a new day |
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| this coastline is gorgeous |
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| some of the fog is moving inland |
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| serene |
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| just beautiful!!! |
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| the colors are so different with the sun out! |
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| oops...back in the fog....the weather is so variable |
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| the weather can change dramatically within minutes |
We stopped at a scenic overlook to take some more pictures of the ocean and the Hecita Light House. We noticed some of the other tourists taking pictures of the water....but actually, they were taking pictures of the sea lions/seals (?) on the rocks below us. They were the first ones we'd seen on the Oregon coast, so we were excited about that. We are like 2 little kids...truly enjoying such simple stuff. Nature! Priceless!
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| looks like a postcard (Hecita Lighthouse) |
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| our first seal/sea lion sighting! |
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| oops...turned our heads and saw this! |
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| this is an incredibly scenic coast! |
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| the road winds between the sea and the woods at some spots |
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| gorgeous |
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| so peaceful |
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| the lovely Oregon coast (midcoast) |
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