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 - Monday, August 20, 2018 - Pacific City and Lincoln City

We stayed home yesterday and did some responsible adult stuff like grocery shopping and laundry.  We were at the Tillamook Creamery early this morning to try their breakfast sandwich and yogurt bar – yummy!

We were headed to Pacific City, but the Cape Lookout State Park looked interesting so we decided to stop on the way.  There is a $5 day use fee.  It was cool and breezy today, but this picnic area would be wonderful on a warmer day.  This park has lots of nice picnic areas.

More views in Cape Lookout State Park.

Pacific City is famous for its dory boats that are launched directly into the surf.  Dory Days in June of each year celebrates the dory fleet. For more than 100 years, boats have gone to sea from this sandy beach, sheltered by Cape Kiwanda.   According to the travel guidebooks there is no other harbor, port or fishing fleet anywhere in the world exactly like this.

After 1927 commercial fishing was only allowed in the open ocean.  The dory was built to allow fishermen to launch from and slide back onto the beach at Pacific City.  The dory fleet boomed to 600 boats in the 1960’s.  At that time the city had five boat builders.  I think the fleet now numbers around 200.

If there are boat trailers in this area (like today) people and pets are not supposed to be in the area because the boats come in from the ocean at high speed.  Several stupid people were out this morning and the park ranger truck was sitting empty.

This guy knew what he was doing, he’s blowing his horn and hitting the beach full speed ahead.

Still coming full on – people beware!

He slid so fast across the packed sand I couldn’t catch a picture.  He is ready to hook up.

Loved that!  You would think after watching him people would realize they should move – Nope, let the dogs and the kids run free.  There is a huge beach and they want to stand in the way in this one little spot.

This guy slowed down because a kid and a dog were running around.

This is what happens when they slow down.  Had to push and tow the boat in.

This was a charter boat coming in full speed, horn blowing.

And then people got in the way and he had to slow abruptly.  I bet the captain was swearing.  I think the park ranger was supposed to be out keeping people who can’t read out of the way.

This large sand dune next to the beach seemed to be a favorite with hearty hikers.

The sandstone of Cape Kiwanda.

Haystack Rock, the third largest monolith in the world, is about a mile offshore.

What a great view these folks have.

Parking is allowed on the beach.  However, be sure you know what you are doing, we saw a car get really buried.

Pacific City was supposed to be our last stop of the day but it was still early so we decided to go on to Lincoln City for lunch.  A stop at Winema Wayfinding Point had a pretty good view.

Everywhere we have gone along the coast we see espresso bars every block or two.  Greg remarked that it was similar to how we saw lobster shacks one after the other when we were in Maine.  Speaking of that, lobster isn’t on the menu out here, its crab, clams, oysters and shrimp.

Wild raspberry bushes (huge patches of them), ferns and vines grow in the areas surrounding the beaches and along the roads.  Some of the berry vines stick out into the road.  I checked, they aren’t quite ripe yet even though some look like they might be.

For lunch we are headed into Taft Historic District in Lincoln City.

Mo’s is our destination.  We got lucky again and got a front row parking spot in a very crowded lot.

Inside was crowded but we got a table right away and the service was fast.

The view from our table.  This is Siletz Bay and Taft Dock.

Mo’s is famous for their clam chowder.  This is the first bowl of clam chowder I have ever had.  I really like it – just what I need, something else I like to eat!  Since Greg is a big fan of clam chowder I asked for his review of this particular chowder, he thought it was very good also.

The beach near Mo’s and the pier is filled with large pieces of driftwood.

View of Mo’s from the pier.

Wildlife picture of the day.  We keep seeing these signs and signs about bald eagles, sea lions and whales.  This is the closest we have been to any wildlife since we were in Yellowstone.  The sign in the background states that we are on the 45^th parallel halfway between the equator and the North Pole.

Yesterday I splurged on Sandra Brown’s new book, Tailspin, so I’ll probably be on the couch the rest of the day enjoying it.

Oregon, Tillamook - Saturday, August 18, 2018 - Seaside and Ecola State Park

Pirates Cove restaurant in Garibaldi was our destination for breakfast.  We met a professor from Rose Hulman University in Terre Haute he said this was his favorite spot for breakfast.  We found out our waitress also spent several years in Terre Haute.

The view of the Pacific from our table.

The view inside was pretty good also.  Greg had a seafood omelet and half order of biscuits and gravy.  I had a waffle with wild blueberries.  Neither of us could finish our meal, way too much food.

It’s a cute place but parking in front is hard to maneuver.  We found out later that there is a lower parking area that looks better.

We decided to drive to the northernmost site we wanted to see while we were out here and work our way back, that way our pull offs would not be across traffic.

Our first stop was a short one in Gearhart.

Seaside was our first main stop.  Actually, it ended up being our only major stop for the day.  We got lucky and snagged one of the three remaining parking spaces in the public parking area.  This place is well worth the trip, but my advice is to get here early to find a parking spot and spend the day because anywhere else you plan to go is going to be full by the time you get there.

The Resort at Seaside (a Wyndham Vacation Ownership Resort) would be a good choice if you can afford it.

Seaside was Oregon’s first seashore resort.  It boasts a great assortment of shops and restaurants.  Lots of things for kids to do – museum, aquarium, paddleboats, arcades and bumper cars.

The waves were coming in and lots of people were enjoying wading.

But, most were just sitting soaking up the sunshine or flying kites.

I found out from signs on the beach why we haven’t heard of tsunamis in Oregon.  Although there is still the potential of tsunamis and the need for awareness, the last tsunami happened around 1700 AD – I’m feeling safer.

Seaside is also the end of the Lewis and Clark trail.

We had lunch at the restaurant in the Shilo Inn.

We had a great view of the ocean, beach and the promenade.  The promenade follows 1.5 miles of the beach.  Those aren’t fireworks in the picture, they are reflections of the lights in the restaurant.

We did make one more stop at Ecola State Park because I wanted to get some pictures of Haystack Rock.  It was a two mile drive on a winding, narrow road.

There was quite a wait to get into the park caused by the need for each car to pay the $5 entrance fee.  Most of them were paying by credit card through a machine on the outside of the ranger’s building.

Haystack Rock is the large one in the background.

Other views from the area.

Tables were set up for an upcoming wedding reception.  It was really windy, we are up pretty high on a bluff overlooking the ocean.

Here comes the wedding party.  We had to wait for the bus to get straight in the road before we could pass.

Views from a pull off along the way.  A weather system is moving in but you can still see the town of Manzanita in the background.