Newport
24 May 2010 | Newport
Eric
After a sixty hour run down the coast we pulled into Newport Sunday night to wait out some bad weather per our weather router's instruction. Sure enough, less than 12 hours later it started to blow. It was nice being in the marina. We had much needed showers and a 12 hour sleep. We will need to manage nights and naps better on the long legs. The stop was productive asit also gave us a chance to fix and fine tune a few things. We made it about two weeks into this trip before I needed to fix the head ;). After several hours of trouble shooting the inverter issue turnout out to be some simple mis-wiring. We are going to have a lot to shake out. Unfortunately our boat work ran right up to our departure, and we couldn't spend the last month testing and practice. Everything we are encountering is minor and addressable though.
Newport was a nice town, and seemed like a close knit community. Being without a car, we round the local loop bus. The bus ride was more entertaining than its stops. Everyone on the bus knew everyone else, and greeted them by name as they entered. Age was no barrier to conversations, students discussed travel plans with retirees. As we boarded near the marina, they guessed us to be from a boat and included us in the dialog.
The Rogue Brewery was within walking distance, and had a very nice, family friendly restaurant. It also gave me a chance to replenish my small stash of Northwest beer from PT brewing, the waiting in Port Angeles had depleted it. (We are dry underway.)
There was also a nice Aquarium and Library, but Sophie and Finn's favorite place may have been the mounds of dirt and sand near the marina: climbing, exploring, and digging. It will be good to get them to a tropical beach and less constrained.