Melissa's Blog

CENTRAL AND NORTH OREGON COAST

After a rainy stay in Bandon, Oregon, Tuesday & Wednesday the 17^th and 18^th, took us to the Florence area.  Of course, there was off and on rain – but not constant.  We are starting to “get the hang” of this rain thing!  We actually stayed north of Florence in a Beautiful little state park called Carl G.Washburne.  The park was more or less out in the middle of nowhere – between Florence and this cute little seaside town of Yachats.  The campground was set in a lovely mossy forest with a couple of great hiking trails that went from the campground to the ocean – through the mossy forest.  One of the trails was called the “Hobbit Trail” – really, I’m not making this up!  The other trail didn’t have a name – it was just a short ¼ miler that went from the road to the beach.  But I like to think of it as the “Enchanted Forest Trail”.

I’ve given up on trying to caption the pictures in my blog editor, so I will try and remember to tell you what they are as I go!  The very first picture was taken on the “Hobbit Trail”.  The second one was taken on the beach near our campground, and the picture directly below is from the “Enchanted Forest” Trail.

We explored both Old Town Florence and Yachats as well as the nearby forest.  One of the things we enjoyed most about Yachats was the “Drift Inn” – a really, really yummy restaurant in Yachats.  In fact, it was so good that we ate there both nights of our stay in this area!

The photo below was taken on one of our forest excursions.

The next 3 days took us to Newport, Oregon.  We had only planned to stay 2 nights in Newport, but it was pouring rain that morning when we left Washburne State Park, was still pouring rain when we arrived in Newport, and was still raining the next morning (Friday) when we woke up.  There was a lot to do and see there which is why we decided (after missing an entire day because of the rain) to stay an extra day.  Anyway, it stopped raining on Friday about 10am & we had mostly sunshine until today – Tuesday!  That was 4 full days without rain – probably a record for the Oregon Coast and we were there to experience it!!

We stayed at a fabulous RV Park right on the harbor in Newport – run by the Port Authority.  I was able to take pictures, practically, right outside our door!  The photo below is of the harbor and bridge just steps from the camper.

One of our favorite attractions in Newport was the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  The aquarium has both indoor and outdoor exhibits.  Indoors, there are many – both small and large - aquarium tanks filled with underwater sea life.  They are both beautiful and colorful.  The jellyfish were particularly beautiful, interesting, and mesmerizing.  There is also a huge walk through tank with sharks and other fish critters swimming above and below.  The picture below is from one of the inside exhibits. 

Outside, there are Sea lions, Harbor Seals, and Sea Birds.  I took so many pictures of all these guys, I’m afraid to count how many there actually are.  Most of them will need to be deleted, but there are a few keepers in there.  The image below is of a Tufted Puffin – probably my favorite bird at the aquarium.  They were so cute!

There are 2 lighthouses in Newport – the most famous one being The Yaquina Head Light.  There are round black rocks on the beach below the lighthouse, and when the tide washes in and out, it makes the rocks rattle and they sound like marbles rolling around.  This next photo is of The Yaquina Head Light.

OK, so the “great adventure” that I have to report from Newport was our drive to and hike in the “Drift Creek Wilderness”.  The drive took us out of town and east away from the coast to an old growth forest.  The directions took us on 6 different roads – all but 2 were one lane forest service roads.  Shortly after we turned onto the first one lane road, we came upon a Great Pyrenees standing in the middle of the road.  We both shouted out, at the same time, “Sugar”!  Well, we knew she wasn’t Sugar, but she certainly looked like Sugar.  She didn’t move, so we stopped the car, got out, and loved her up for awhile.  (We didn’t steel her because she looked very well cared for AND her house was right by the road.)  Anyway, it wasn’t until after we had driven away that I thought to take a picture of her – for the blog.  I told myself that I would just do it on our way back.  Unfortunately, on our way back, “Sugar” was nowhere to be seen!  So, sorry, no Sugar Bear picture.

The driving adventure continued on ever more narrow roads up the mountainside.  The entire drive on these narrow roads was supposed to be about 14 miles long.  After about 5 or 6 miles, we started running into trees and branches that had fallen onto the road.  They weren’t all the way across the road, but enough onto the road to cause us to need to move around them.  The further we went, the more trees and branches, and the more they covered the road.  Now, Tom is getting out of the vehicle to move things and/or assess whether or not we can actually drive any further.  We were about 3 miles from the hiking trailhead when we came to the “impassable point”.  So we parked the car, grabbed our lunch and continued the adventure on foot.  We didn’t hike all the way to the trailhead, but probably hiked a couple of miles before we found a log in the woods on which to place our situpons, upon which to plop our butts where we enjoyed our lunch.  After finishing lunch, we hiked back to the car and drove back through the branches to civilization. 

*A side note about the downed trees.  It appeared that because of all the rain, the trees just came out of the ground – roots and all!

The photo below was taken DURING the drive – it wasn’t the stopping point.  We were actually able to get through this spot.  (Tom held the tree back, while I drove the car through and under.)

I have one more photo for you from the Newport area.  This was taken after sunset at an area called Seal Rock.

Sunday & Monday, April 22^nd and 23^rd, we stayed in Netarts.  It’s a small Oceanside town.  Tillamook is a bit larger town about 6 miles inland from Netarts.  Cape Mears and the Cape Mears Lighthouse are very close to Netarts.  See the photos below of Cape Mears and also the lighthouse.

We also visited Pacific City, which is just a little south of Netarts.  We happened to be there at low tide – there were some interesting rocks and tide pools on the beach in Pacific City.  See the image below. 

My quilting friends will appreciate this little tidbit.  In Tillamook, they have not one, but TWO quilt trails!  One of them is a walking trail through town, and the other a driving trail throughout the county.  The community has designed various blocks, made them out of wood, and than placed them on various historical buildings and businesses.  Below is a picture of one of the blocks.  The block is on the top part of the wall - below the block is a painting.

Today, Tuesday April, 24^th, it is windy and rainy again.  We drove the short distance from Netarts to Canon Beach. We explored the area by car, than came back to the camper and took a nap!  (And hey, this rain has given me some time to get out another blog entry.) We were going to stay in Canon Beach for 2 nights, but there is 100% chance of rain tomorrow, so we’ve decided to leave tomorrow and go to the Columbia River Gorge where we will stay for 3 nights.  Maybe it will be drier inland???  Who knows?  All we know is that there is certain to be more adventure somewhere along the way!

Melissa