The Oregon coast is like no other coast we have ever seen; wild, rugged, windblown, rocky and so very beautiful! We never get tired of looking at the scenery as we travel south. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
A great blue Heron, fishing at low tide.
Heceta Head Lighthouse, followed by the Sea Lion Caves, boy were they noisy!
Our home for the night at the Thousand Trails South Jetty park, just over the Siuslaw River in Florence. And to the west of the park are the Sand Dunes.
Continuing south along the coast, the road twists and turns, with ups and downs and finally emerges along the ocean.
Houses built along a spit of land right next to the Pacific. If a Tsunami hits…..
Looking back along the coast. Then up ahead is the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.
And Gray whales just off shore! Such a treat. Now if they would only show tale flukes. The most you can see is blowing and their backs as they dive again in search of food.
There is much to see in the Newport area, so we decided to stay the night in one of the Oregon State Parks.
Newport harbor, looking back at the Highway 101 bridge.
Believe it or not, this is a B & B! Wouldn’t you just love to spend the night here?
Walking thru the Historic Bayfront of Newport, we heard these guys long before we saw them. Harbor Seals love to sun on the docks. The town is trying to raise money to re-build these docks just for the seals.
Looking down the street in the old town section
This magnificent carving looks different from each side. Both photos are of the same carving.
We had a delicious dinner at Mo’s seafood in old town Newport. Beer Battered Halibut, Shrimp and cabbage salad (yummy!) and a bowl of clam chowder.
By the way, we only traveled 50 miles from our last stop! Maybe tomorrow we will make it to Florence, another 50 miles away.
Just over 20 miles from the campground is the town of Tillamook, famous for it’s cheese. But there also barns and buildings in the area with quilt blocks on them. Some are part of a walking tour of the town while the rest involve driving around the surrounding area.
The cheese factory is not as we remember. When we visited, about 20 years ago or so, there was a tour of the cheese making process then a sampling of some of the cheeses. Course the tour groups were small then so it was more personal. We even met the Rabbi who supervised the once-a-month making of Kosher Cheese. Don’t know if they still make Kosher, couldn’t find anyone to ask. We did the sampling line, bought a brick and some snacks and Tea then headed for the other cheese factory. Blue Heron makes Brie and nothing but Brie, they are a very small operation.
These old trucks were at Blue Heron.
Then we found the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center. Here’s their website (http://www.latimerquiltandtextile.com/history.htm) for more information. From there we went in search of quilt blocks on barns and buildings. Here’s just a few of the ones we found.
On the way back to the campground, we followed this lovely old car, it’s a 1915 Ford, with Calif plates.
Saturday we picked up our mail, haven’t had any for over a month, not much in it we needed. Sunday morning was beautiful, but we’d been here (Birch Bay) for a week and it was time to continue the journey south. Goodbye nice site and good TV reception, course it was Canadian.
Heading south, we skirted Seattle, no problem with traffic, then turned east thru rolling hills and farmland.
We arrive at Thousand Trails Chehalis Park in the early afternoon. This park was the first one that Thousand Trails purchased 45 years ago. It’s built up the side of a mountain so finding a level site is something of a challenge. We did manage to find one and it’s a big one too! However, because of all the trees there is no internet.
Next day was taken up driving into town to look around, the park is almost 15 miles out of town. Around the next corner was a fresh from the farm farmers market. We got some great local peaches and pears, they were great. All too soon it was time to move on again. Continuing south we crossed the Columbia River near Longview, Wash. Looking down from the bridge one can see large storage lots of logs with some being loaded onto boats, destination … probably overseas to be processed and returned to the US of A.
After crossing the river, we took some back roads thru the mountains to reach the coast. This drive was probably the prettiest yet.
Thousand Trails Pacific City was the destination. Like Chehalis, this park is partly up the side of a mountain, with the sites set among trees and wild berry bushes, again no internet reception.
In the afternoon, I walked to the Beach, thru the woods and suddenly, there it is, the pacific ocean!
On the way back, I spot some of the local “wildlife”.
Jon has become addicted to Lay’s Ketchup flavored potatoe chips. Only one major problem, they are only available in Canada! So he decided that we would go back into Canada, Surrey actually, and purchase some with what we have left of the Canadian money.
We took the scenic route to the border crossing, saw some geese swimming in the bay, that’s ocean water, I didn’t think they liked salt water. Who knew. Also saw a great Blue Heron.
Then we were in Canada, again. Surrey is a beautiful town, lots of trees and flowers. Got what we came for then back to the US.
Yesterday we went blackberry picking. They grow wild all over here, not just a few but massive bushes lining most roads and in open fields too. Course getting safely off the road to pick is another story, but we did manage to find a spot, got enough to make a cobbler. Yummy!
Today we went back to Bellingham to get the tires rotated and have lunch with an internet quilting friend. Spent the entire afternoon visiting, it was a great day! Thanks Judy T!
