Oregon Coast--May 29-June 1

As you can see from the date of this blog, it is late. We are in British Columbia and do not have internet unless we stop in a wi-fi hotspot. I hope to catch up soon!


On our last visit, Bob and I took our time touring the Oregon coast, but this trip we were in a hurry to get Bobby and his family to Ft. Lewis. We only spent three nights on the coast!

Our first stop was in Brookings. We wanted to collect information on tides at the welcome center….but it was closed!

We continued on our way, stopping at the first pullout where the rv and both cars would fit. All enjoyed looking at the ocean from the cliffs overlooking the rocky beach.

One of the sights was Arch Rock.

Since there was a huge drop-off, I told DeAnna I would catch if she couldn't stop running!

From there, we continued on our way north following US 101. South of Port Orford we stopped to visit Prehistoric Gardens. The dinosaurs were started in 1953 and are displayed in the rain forest along this section of the coast. As you can see, all the adults were taking pictures.Christopher would have stayed with the dinosaurs all day, but DeAnna preferred the kittens in the gift shop.

We stopped for the night just north of Coos Bay at the casino. Bob and I took the kids to Sunset Beach hoping to see tide pools, but the ones there were disappointing—just sea anemones, hermit crabs, and barnacles. Christopher enjoyed climbing over the rocks to get to the tide pools.

After a night in the parking lot, we were once again headed north in our quest for tide pools. We made a stop at Heceta Head Lighthouse and took the tour to the top.

Then we were on the road again headed for Yaquina Head just north of Newport, Oregon. Bob and I remembered the tide pools and the museum as being worth the visit.

Well, since we didn’t have the tide schedule, we were disappointed. It was high tide.

We did see a bald eagle perched in a tree near the lighthouse.

Finally, we got a tide schedule. We headed to Tillamook for the night. Once again we stopped at the airport campground just south of town. It was late and rainy as we arrived so we just hung around the rv. Bobby made plans to meet a WOW friend the next morning.

We all set out for Oceanside early the following morning. It was supposed to have great tide pools…and it did!

We found a parking spot near the beach entrance and headed out around the rock cliffs in search of an excellent tide pool---we found many.

In one area the starfish were stacked side by side on a rock.

There were sea anemones and cluster sea anemones along the rock faces.

Small fish darted around in the pools. I even found a purple sand crab for the kids to hold.

Cathy and Bobby left the kids with us to go meet their friend. Chris is the explorer—he searched for rocks and shells.

DeAnna is the artist—she drew and built in the sand.

Finally, we gathered everyone and headed to the Octopus Tree. Chris and DeAnna wanted to climb it, but it is fenced for protection.

From there we went to Tillamook Cheese Factory. Since it was Memorial Day the factory was closed, but the sampling area was open. We bought some ‘squeeky cheese’ to take back to the rv. We made one more stop before heading back and that was Tillamook Country Smoker. We bought some beef sticks to eat with our cheese.

The next morning we returned to the cheese factory so the kids could see the big blocks of cheese being cut and packed. Then it was on to Washington!