Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Traveling the Oregon Coast

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, we left Seattle a day early and drove on to the coast of Oregon, stopping at the Gearhart Ocean Inn for a night just as rain squalls were moving in.

We did get a short walk in, but felt very lucky to have a warm dry (and quiet) place to go back to.
And on a morning walk before more rain squalls blew in, we saw a small herd of elk grazing in the dunes just when we thought most of our wildlife viewing was over.
We continued down the Coastal Highway 101 with a few stops along the way at Cannon Beach and some other scenic overlooks...


...and at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where we sampled a number of different cheeses, including their famous "squeaky curds."
Our next camping location was/is Beverly Beach State Park near Newport, Oregon for three nights. We managed to set up camp in a nice, spacious site and cook supper between rain showers.
Then had a lovely sunset walk on the beach...


You can't ask for scenery much better than this!  The good thing about coastal Oregon weather is that it changes quickly.  Squalls move in, rain pours, wind blows, then suddenly blue skies appear again for a short time.  We had an early morning walk between squalls...
 I wondered if this sculpture was man made or storm made...
 Bull whip kelp was strewn all over the beach...
And on the walk back to our campsite, we passed a few yurts...
and some magical tree creatures...


At noon we met up with my second cousin, Sarah Myrick, for a tour of the historic harbor area of Newport.  We had visited Sarah and her husband, Tim, here in 2010, and it was wonderful to be back in the area again.  After a delicious King Salmon lunch at Local Ocean Seafoods, we visited the local sea lions...
 and listened to their ruckus...
...saw a portion of a dock that floated all the way across the Pacific Ocean from Japan after the earthquake and tsunami...
...watched as the diver tried to free himself from the octopus...
...counted the arches under the bridge...
...admired the crab catch of the day and all the grooves cut in the railing from countless crab lines...

And finally visited the historic Yaquina Head Lighthouse just before another squall blew in...
Thank you, Sarah and Tim, for a lovely afternoon and evening!  Tomorrow we move on to Crater Lake National Park, where we just heard it is snowing and hovering around 30 degrees.  Brrrrr!

This photo of the map brings us up-to-date on our travel at 5 weeks today.  Three weeks still to go...

4 comments:

  1. Were that diver and octopus for real?! Your trip is highlighting the various landscapes, weather, and people our country has to offer.

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    1. Ha! No, the diver and octopus weren't for real. They were a display on the front of an underwater garden exhibit, but it did look very lifelike! This has been one of our best stops along the way!

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  2. Love reading about all of your cross-country adventures, Edie! I'm so glad you got to visit my parents in Newport and look forward to the next time we can see each other!
    Hugs from college,
    Jane

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  3. Thank you, Jane! I'm sorry we missed seeing you, too, but it sounds like you're loving college life. Sending all the best to you...
    Hugs,
    Edie

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