Oregon, Tillamook - Tuesday, August 21, 2018 - Return to Oceanside

After breakfast this morning we went back for a final walk on the beach at Oceanside.  Early in the morning it isn’t hard to find a parking spot.

When we were here before I didn’t notice the door in the cliff at the end of the beach.

This sign just says “falling rocks”.  A lady was coming out of the door as we were walking up and I asked her what was in there.  She said it was a tunnel to another beach that was really rocky.  We looked in and could see the other end so we started through.  At this point we didn’t know what the beach on the other side looked like but the floor of the tunnel had lots of big rocks in it and it was dark.

At the other end was a sharp drop off out of the tunnel that I wasn’t sure I could handle so I took a couple of pictures and we headed back.

Back out beside the cliff I find these flowers clinging to the side pretty amazing.

There is a lot of sand here.  We picked up some rocks and shell pieces along with some sand for the decorative trays we usually have on the dash.

I could sit and listen to the waves all day, I think I have said that before.  My favorite place is to be around water - I just don't want to be in it.

We stopped briefly at Netarts Bay.  These sea gulls were taking in all of the amateur boaters loading up at the dock.

Pelican Brewing Company in Tillamook was our stop for lunch.  The cheese curds were good, but I have had better fish and chips, the fish was panko breaded and a little too well done.

Lots of shiny stainless steel inside.  They need to post some information about what is taking place inside the tanks, there are a lot of them and for all I know the same thing I happening in all of them.

We’ll be leaving here tomorrow taking a couple of days to make our way to Idaho Falls where we will spend another week.

Oregon, Tillamook - Thursday, August 16, 2018 - Oceanside and Cape Meares

The smoke has cleared.  The weather has been in the mid 60’s during the day and into the mid 40’s at night.

This is my favorite picture for today.  We are at Neharts Bay.  People are out in the sand hunting for clams (don’t forget to get your license before you do this).

They are also out early this morning pulling in crab traps.

More crab boats at the dock.

This is a pretty area.

The Oceanside area is known for the three Arch Rocks.  This is a federal sea lion and bird refuge.

Looks like most of the homes are on the mountain.

About half of the homes in this area are second homes.

Parking is hard to find. We had to make a U-turn to grab this one.

The beach is so big it isn’t crowded at all.  This is what I picture as the perfect beach, quite, soft warm sand and waves lapping the shore.  I could sit out here all day.

Like this person, I ventured out to touch the ocean.  The waves came in a bit further than I anticipated and I ended up with water up to my knees.  I was surprised how warm it was.  Greg ended up getting water in his shoes also, he was afraid I was going to fall down.

Waves were rolling in, we were surprised that no one was taking advantage of them.

The sand had some smooth black rocks in it every so often but we didn’t spot any shells of significance.  I did pick up a few pretty pieces of rock or shell. 

A few seagulls were around, but nothing to create a nuisance.

Today, the Bluegate Café was the only place in town for lunch.  We asked at the coffee shop we parked in front of if they had sandwiches – maybe they should think about that.  It was a good thing we decided on an early lunch because the place filled up quickly and people were soon waiting outside.

This is why restaurants don’t like people taking pictures of their food.  This open-faced shrimp and crab sandwich with avocado and melted cheese came out looking great and then I cut into it before I remembered to take a picture.

Greg got the last bowl of their homemade daily seafood chowder.  He said it was wonderful.

We are on the road to Cape Meares Lighthouse.

The park is small but well-kept.

Beautiful Pacific Ocean scenery.

This is the three Arch Rocks from the other side.  I think the “arches” in the rocks are hidden by the water right now.

I expected the Cape Meares lighthouse to be taller, it is only 38 feet high.  I forgot it was up on a high cliff so it didn’t need to be very tall.  This one, as most of the others around here, has been decommissioned, we assume it is because ships have GPS systems to guide them now.

This area has some really big trees.  See the lady at the bottom of the picture?  She is walking up a pretty steep hill after viewing the lighthouse.  We have stopped at a conveniently provided bench to rest.