This fall, my cowboy and I went to the Oregon Coast for the first time. Since his family is from Georgia and Tennessee, we’d driven to see the Atlantic Coast once or twice. Yet we’d never experienced the ruggedness of the Oregon Coast.
It was beautiful and daunting.
We learned a lot.
You know how ag producers chuckle at people who come to ranches and squeal over every little thing? Tourists get excited over deer, elk and moose where we live. Since we don’t live too far from Yellowstone National Park, we hear buzz about bison as well. Personally, we’ve seen several bison – and we have wildlife in our backyard. While we appreciate their existence, their presence is common. We still enjoy them and feel blessed to live where we do, but we just don’t see them like tourists. They get giddy with excitement and their cameras never stop.
Did you know the same thing happens when a ranch wife sees a whale?
Let me preface this by saying that I was an adult before I saw the ocean, and I fell in love with the grandeur of it. I wouldn’t want to work on a ship or anything, but the massive amount of water, the power of waves, the plethora of sea life … it enamors me.
During the few times I’ve been to the ocean, I’ve never seen a whale. So for this trip, I prayed that I’d see one. To me, they are the fascinating cattle of the sea.
We planned the trip around a wedding for a dear friend’s daughter, which was just a bit inland. This gave us two-and-a-half days at the coast. According to what I’d read before leaving, we would miss the whale season in the area, but I didn’t quit hoping. The first night we arrived, we met a couple who had seen whales that day just up the road. So guess where we went the next day?
When we arrived at the bay, we realized we were not the only ones looking for whales. In fact, it was a tourist hot spot. And if anyone knows what ranchers are like among tourists … well, blending in doesn’t happen. In fact, the last time my husband was in Oregon, someone asked him if he was a “real cowboy.”
So as my real cowboy and I funneled through people to find a spot on the decorative wall that overlooks the bay, I saw a tail. It looked like a dot out there, but I know it was an actual tail. Then I saw a waterspout.
You may have been embarrassed of me. I squealed in delight, “I see a whale!” Of course, other people were saying it, too, but I felt like a 5-year-old in a candy shop. “Look! Look! Look!!!”
I dragged my hubby to the visitor’s center to watch from the observation deck. However, it wasn’t as clear as watching from the overlook. So we hustled back outside. And do you know what?
A man wearing a naval hat asked us if we wanted to go on a boat for whale watching. The boat wasn’t very expensive, so you know what I said! I was so excited; I could hardly wait for the boat to be ready. I was also nervous. I get motion sickness in airplanes and take medicine for it, which I hadn’t brought with me. But I was not about to pass up the opportunity.
I weathered every swell of the ocean’s waves without incident, and we saw multiple gray whales. Breaching, spouting and belching … oh my! Did you know that a whale’s breath smells like gas? It’s not pleasant, but the whales were amazing. The captain said they were late arriving at the bay this year because the salmon were late. It was such a blessing for me. I felt like a young child experiencing the wonders of the world for the first time – because I was. I had my camera out for an obnoxious amount of time and hollered with every whale sighting.
After this experience, I understand better the draw tourists have to our agricultural enterprises and expansive, rural landscapes. The captain of the whaleboat saw a sucker and talked me into going on the ocean. And it was worth it because it was a new adventure. Much like the folks who come out to hunt, fish and ride around each of our places. They are fascinated not only by the landscape and the animals but also by our way of life. I didn’t buy a whale shirt or anything like the tourists who buy cowboy hats, but I appreciate the respect for another way of life. I’d never want to live on the ocean, but I sure do love visiting.
Visiting other places brings a new appreciation for the life we have and for the life others experience. And getting cowboys off the ranch isn’t the worst thing in the world either; everyone needs a break sometimes. Even “real cowboys.”
