RHH's photos with the keyword: seacoast

We are leaving for home today but have been away for nearly two weeks. We were first in Oregon near the coast staying with family in a house on the Wilson River near Tillamook. We spent a week there exploring the coast and enjoying family time and then went to western Washington for a backpacking excursion with our oldest daughter and time with our youngest son and family. We are going to pick strawberries later this morning and then head for home. The photo is of the lighthouse at Yaquina Head Natural Area, one of our favorite places on the Oregon coast. The area, near Newport, Oregon, not only features this beautiful lighthouse, but seastacks, thousands of seabirds, whales, seals, tide pools and beautiful scenery. We drove there from Tillmook last Friday, a beautiful day, stopping at various beaches and viewpoints along the way and then enjoying this wonderful place which many of the family had not seen.

This was the sunset last Friday evening along the Oregon coast at Windy Point. We had stopped at Meyer's Beach to watch and photograph the sunset and then stopped again here before going on to Brookings where we spent the night. Saturday we went on into northern California and saw the Redwoods at Jedediah Smith State Park and did some hiking there as well. Yesterday we spent a quiet day around Crescent City, California, where we also spent Saturday and Sunday nights, going for a short drive and walking a short trail in the Redwoods. Today we head up the Redwoods Highway to the California-Oregon border and the area of Grant's Pass to see the Cobra Lilies, do some orchid hunting and explore the area around the Rogue River. I've not had opportunity to do much with my photos of the trip, but decided to work on this one and post it as a tribute to my wife, Nancy. Tomorrow is our 44th wedding anniversary and this trip was in celebration of the occasion. She has put up with me and my foibles all these years, is a great mother and grandmother, is my hiking and backpacking companion and best friend, and deserves much more than this acknowledgment. She never balks at sleeping in a pup tent or in the back of the car, is always willing to eat camping and hiking food, enjoys not only the trips we make and the photography we do, but also looking for rocks and shells as souvenirs (where it isn't illegal to take them) and is always ready for the next adventure.

This drive along the coast of Northern Ireland is spectacular, one of the most scenic coastal drives anywhere.

Torr Head and Fair Head are two rocky headlands that are part of the Northern Ireland coast between Cushendun and Ballycastle.

"The Giant's Causeway (or Irish: Clochán na bhFómharach) is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim, on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about two miles (3 km) north of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (36 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places. The Giant's Causeway is today owned and managed by the National Trust and it is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland. Legend has it that the Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner's great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn. Another variation is that Oonagh painted a rock shaped like a steak and gave it to Benandonner, whilst giving the baby (Fionn) a normal steak. When Benandonner saw that the baby was able to eat it so easily, he ran away, tearing up the causeway. The 'causeway' legend corresponds with geological history in as much as there are similar basalt formations (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at the site of Fingal's Cave on the isle of Staffa in Scotland." - Wikipedia. The main area of the Causeway which includes the largest number of basalt columns is shown in this photo, taken from the cliffs above. This photo was taken by my wife.