Our Oregon Adventure Comes to a Close

The final two days of our Oregon Adventure and the beginning of the New Year. Since the day the kayak fell off the camper roof, it has been either on Roy’s truck’s kayak rack or sitting on the ground. However, now that we were heading home it would be time to stow back up there. Or would it?

Hmmm…maybe we can stuff thirteen feet of molded plastic inside the camper. Oh yes, that it the answer! It will be much easier to remove for one night than to hoist up twelve plus feet and strap it down. I wish I would have taken a picture of this feat, but I forgot.

We discussed our routing options – the freeway or Highway 101 and quickly decided on the coast route again. Rather than get into a mindset of freeway autopilot mode and dealing with Portland, it was a no-brainer choice. Our rest stop would be somewhere up near Astoria. We got the camper ready for transit and off we went.

 Effect of the Ocean Winds on Trees

The weather was almost perfect – no rain, light winds and sunshine! The first stop was at an overlook for Heceta Head Lighthouse. What a gorgeous lighthouse. The beam on this working lighthouse is the brightest on the Oregon coast and can be seen twenty-one miles from land. You can visit Heceta Head Lighthouse State Park, but bring your wallet since this is a fee-based park.

 Heceta Head Lighthouse

Continuing north, we passed South Beach State Park and the city of Newport, then Depoe Bay and back into Lincoln City, one of longest cities distance-wise along the road. The dogs needed another break and we found our way back to a nice little park called Devils Lake State Recreation Area, also part of the Oregon State Parks system.

Remember on the way south, we took the Three Capes route coming out of Tillamook. On this day, we stayed on 101 instead of turning towards Pacific City and drove through a nice valley with many dairy farms. This section of the highway stays inland away from the coast.

In Wheeler, we stopped for a late lunch at the Tsunami Bar & Grill. We ordered up fish and chips again (I need to get away from the salty air). We watched a little football on television while we munched on our lunch. The food was okay, but nowhere near as good as the Crazy Norwegian’s.

Leaving Wheeler, we passed the turn off to Nehalem Bay State Park and decided to turn around and go back there for the night’s stay. Am I glad we did! Yet another gem of a state park.

We got camp established (like taking the kayak out of the camper) and then headed over to the beach to watch the setting sun. Although slightly breezy, we stayed awhile and let the dogs romp on the beach before pausing to enjoy the beauty of the evening sky.

Path to the Beach at Nehalem Bay State Park

 

 Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain 

 Karl at Sunset

Spray off the Waves at Sunset

We came back to our campsite and Karl worked on getting the campfire going. The wood was difficult to get burning plus it was getting cold…upper 30’s, with a stiff wind blowing through our open campsite. We lasted less than an hour before calling it a night. We offered our slightly burnt wood to campers across the road from us and then played a few hands of gin rummy before crawling into bed.

Our last day dawned bright and cold. We enjoyed nice hot showers and then loaded the kayak back into the camper. Time to roll on!

We fueled up in Astoria and found a park near the Astoria-Megler bridge that offered up a nice perspective of the massive steel structure. We turned left upon reaching the Washington shore so we could continue on Highway 101. 

 Astoria - Megler Bridge

I saw sign for Cape Disappointment State Park and we followed it into the park. We came to a turnoff to a lighthouse and saw a sign that said “No RV’s”. Bummer! I really wanted to see it. We continued on the loop and came to a four-way stop. To the right was the campground, straight went to the Coast Guard training station and another lighthouse, and left was continuance of the loop. Ooooh, another lighthouse! Arrrgghh, another “No RV’s” sign! Talk about the park living up to its name. Two lighthouses, two not visited because they can’t accommodate an RV in their parking area. I left feeling VERY disappointed and won’t go back, even to camp.

Highway 101 snakes along the eastern shore of Willapa Bay upon leaving the Longview area. At times, it winds inland and then rejoins it. It was a fairly scenic section of the highway.

The “city” of Raymond was very interesting. They have several metal sculptures within a five or six mile stretch of 101. I liked Raymond a lot and would like to go back to see more of the highway art. 

 Metal Sculpture Art in Raymond

Then we drove through an area where we noticed a tremendous amount of logging activity. A sign explained that 120+ miles per hour winds had blown through a few years earlier knocking down acres and acres of trees.

We left Highway 101 before reaching Aberdeen and made our way to Montesano and Highway 12. If you ever need a place to eat on your way to or from the Washington beaches, I recommend the Crow’s Nest in Montesano. Great burgers, fries and milkshakes!

Before long we were back on Interstate 5 and then pulling into our driveway. Our vacation was over but we saw so many wonderful places that will last in our memories for a long time.  We had time to reflect on the events of 2010 and think about what 2011 might bring.

I hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did.

Day 6 in Oregon

Day 6 – New Year’s Eve began on the chilly side, but no rain. Plans were for Karl and Roy to try and catch a fish or two on the last day of the tournament. Weather conditions were favorable for achieving this goal.

Because of a noonish tide change, fishing in the bay would have to wait until then. Another trip to Empire Lake for one last attempt at a bigger trout would fill the morning hours. Off we went to the lake!

The Empire Lakes are part of John Topits Park in North Bend. In addition to fishing, they have several paved walking trails around the lakes. Camera in one hand and leashed dogs in the other, I took a morning stroll.

 Karl on Empire Lake

One of the nice things about having our camper is the ability to be “at home” just about anywhere, even in a parking lot. Upon returning from my walk, I turned on our propane furnace to take off the chill inside the camper and then relaxed for an hour or so with a book while the dogs napped on the bunk.

Sitting there, I got to thinking about the problems with the kayak on the camper roof. I decided to go in search of a rack system that would safely and easily carry it. Roy previously recommended Sunset Sports in North Bend and after a minor detour through a residential neighborhood, I was able to find the store. Combined with a moving sale they were having along with no sales tax in Oregon, I picked up a nice Yakima track and rack system for a very reasonable price. Installation would have to wait until we got home. Then it was time for me to head back to the lake.

The guys returned to shore with news that Karl at least had increased his point total for the fishing tournament. We went back to Roy’s house so the guys could set up for saltwater fishing. I fixed sandwiches while Karl prepped for the afternoon’s fun.

The put-in spot was the boat ramp in Charleston harbor. Following their launching of the kayaks, it was up to me to find a site for the night at Sunset Bay State Park. But first…I was going to drive out to Cape Arago State Park.

There are three state parks in row at the end of Cape Arago highway. First is Sunset Bay where the campground is located, then Shore Acres and finally Cape Arago where the road ends. Since I knew Shore Acres required a fee to visit and I didn’t want to go without Karl, I opted to visit Cape Arago instead.

I pulled into a small viewpoint area between Sunset Bay and Shore Acres parks and saw the Cape Arago Lighthouse. It was kind of confusing because the lighthouse was north along the coastline, yet Cape Arago State Park was to the south of me. 

Cape Arago Lighthouse

Cape Arago State Park is a quiet park. No buildings to go tour. Just some hiking trails down to a couple of coves and tide pools. I leashed up the dogs and took a short walk along the top of the cliffs. I also spent a few minutes whale watching – still nothing sighted.

On the drive back to Sunset Bay, I stopped at the Simpson Reef overlook. I was drawn closer to the edge by the sounds of barking. Sure enough, there were two groups of sea lions on the rocky areas exposed by the low tide. You can also do whale watching from this overlook, but my eyes were focused on the sea lions and then the crashing waves along the many rocks protruding from the ocean floor.

 Sea Lions at Simpson Reef

 Crashing Waves

I needed to find a campsite so off I went to Sunset Bay and site A-8. 

 Our Site at Sunset Bay State Park

I put the leashes back on the dogs and went exploring around the park. The bay itself is on the other side of the Cape Arago Highway. There was a pedestrian underpass through a large culvert but it was flooded with about six inches deep of water. The stream next to it had gone over its banks from the recent heavy rains. 

We crossed the road as quickly as we could but I wished the underpass had been available. There was not much walking room along the road, especially with two dogs in tow. We safely made it to the beach area and played around before heading back to camp. 

 View From the Beach at Sunset Bay

Karl and Roy arrived a few hours later with the news that they both caught fish and further increased their standings. Roy was now in second place! We thanked Roy for his hospitality and sharing in the fishing experience before he left to get home to his dogs.

I fixed a quick dinner and afterwards Karl got another campfire going. Wouldn’t you know it…it started raining! What the heck?! We decided to put on our rain gear and sit around the fire pit any way. Karl was able to keep the fire going, even as the rain came down harder. It was a very memorable evening. We didn’t stay awake until midnight to ring in the New Year, nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves. It was the second year in a row we spent New Year’s Eve in our camper (last year was in Barstow, California in a Wal-Mart parking lot).

Tomorrow we would start our drive home to Washington.

Day 5 on the Oregon Coast

A little exploration of Bullards Beach State Park was on the morning agenda for Day 5. This is a large state park and we decided to drive around in advance of our return to Highway 101. Good thing. The lighthouse was three miles from the campsite. That would have been a long walk round trip with two little dogs, especially Buddy.

The Coquille River Light was built in 1896 and remained in operation until 1939. It was replaced by the automatic light on the south jetty (seen just to the left and behind the lighthouse below). Of the eight remaining lighthouses on the Oregon coast, this one was the last one built. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places. We had the area to ourselves on this gray morning.

Coquille River Lighthouse

Karl was able to get in contact with a fishing buddy the night before and plans were made to rendezvous with Roy later in the morning up in Charleston just outside of Coos Bay. The guys were going to try to get some fishing in.

Camper at Bullards Beach State Park

(Note kayak on top...it plays an important part later in the day) 

Karl has mostly good memories of the Coos Bay area since he was stationed there during his service in the Coast Guard thirty years earlier. His ship was the USCGC Citrus. We drove by the old dock that definitely had seen better days. It looked like it was falling into disrepair. The new and smaller vessel that replaced the Citrus is now moored a couple of hundred yards further up the river.

The Citrus Dock in Coos Bay

We also had to swing by the auto parts store to pick up the new windshield wiper relay that was ordered for us a few days earlier. We replaced the relay and then tested the wipers. Problem NOT solved. Oh well, it cost under $12 so we weren't out much money. We'd have to postpone the case of the crazy wipers until we got home. At least it wasn't raining for the moment.

We met up with Roy but ocean conditions were not favorable for the guys to launch their kayaks. Off we went to Empire Lakes in North Bend. The sun was trying to make an appearance and was marginally succeeding.

Upon arrival at Empire Lakes, Karl climbed on top of the camper so we could offload the kayak over the side. I would be on the ground to help guide it gently down. As the kayak cleared the camper side, it tilted ever so slightly and water started to drain out and onto to me. I stepped back to avoid the temporary waterfall. A little angel must have been watching out for me because at that exact moment, the kayak handle broke and 70 pounds of orange plastic came plummeting down. Orange crush, anyone?

Silly me, I instinctively reached out to keep the kayak from hitting the truck and camper. It hit my hand and left it stinging for a couple of hours, but fortunately, I was not hurt. Karl was mortified!! I think it scared him more than me.

Things settled down, the yak sustained a few minor scratches but no cracks, and the guys launched to get some fishing in. Both of them are in a year-long tournament and they wanted to catch a large trout to increase their points total.

 A Heron at Empire Lakes

 Karl

Roy

While they were on the lake, I went in search of an RV parts dealer to replace a vent cap that the kayak had knocked off when it moved during the storm two days earlier. The dealership was closed but I entertained myself by looking in the windows of the campers on their lot. It was a good thing they were closed or I might have had to indulge in some retail therapy. Oh honey, I got a vent cap and it came with a "new" camper. There was a used camper that would have fit nicely in the bed of the truck with lots of bells and whistles.

I checked back in with the guys at the lake and found they were not successful in their efforts to improve their standings in the tournament. :(

Later, the three of us went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant that we previously had patronized. I ordered my go-to Mexican dish of Carne Asada. It was nothing like any previous meals I've ordered in other restaurants. I have an aversion to green peppers and this came covered, smothered, blanketed in green peppers and onions. Ugh! Not only that, I swear the meat didn't have any carne asada seasoning on it. Karl also ordered the Carne Asada. He likes onions and peppers and even he thought it was a terrible dish. Guess we won't be going back there.

We returned to Roy's where we camped out in his driveway. After watching a movie (The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington), we retired for the evening. It had been a long and eventful day, and we didn't even drive far! Less than fifty miles.

Next...are fish in Karl and Roy's future?

Day 2 of Our Oregon Adventure

Day 2 took us from Newport to the Charleston area which is near Coos Bay / North Bend. We were scheduled to rendezvous with our neighbors and friends, Don and Debi, in their RV. But first...

We noticed the day before that our intermittent windshield wipers were acting up. Sometimes we would get one swipe across the windshield and other times would get up to nine. Crazy! We thought maybe the relay for the wiper was going bad. We decided to take a slight detour back into Newport and find an auto parts store. The store did not stock the relay and pointed us to the local Dodge dealer who also did not have the part in stock. We made the call to continue on and order the part when we got to the Coos Bay area since we knew we would be there for a couple of days.

Before leaving Newport, we visited the Yaquina Bay lighthouse, not to be confused with the Yaquina Head Light. It was built in 1871 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also is the Oregon state park system. The morning we were there, it was all shuttered up (maybe to protect it from the recent storms) but I understand that there are hours of operation when you can tour the light. It is still a working light from dusk to dawn.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse

 

We left Newport and started our journey south to Charleston, a distance of just over one hundred miles.

Before long, we came to a pull out along the coast at Cape Perpetua, south of Yachats. Just so you know, Yachats is pronounced YA-hots. This place looked interesting, we thought. We got out and were greeted by two volunteers with whalespoken.org. Seems this was the peak migration week for the gray whales from the Arctic Circle to their winter grounds in the warm waters off of Baja California where their young are born. On this day, the high winds and white-capped waves made whale watching a difficult task. Normally the whales are easily spotted when they surface and blow to replenish their oxygen supply. The wind made it very difficult to distinguish the spray off of the breaking waves from surfacing whales. The cold rain also did not encourage us to spend much time gazing out across the ocean.

Looking North from Cape Perpetua

One neat thing about Cape Perpetua is the chasm there. The crashing waves would come in and blast the rocks, roil up into the chasm, and if lucky, spout out through a small hole in the rocks near the upper end. We walked down the path to try and get a better look at the spout hole. One wave had just come in and launched a nice little demostration that we caught the tail end of. We wanted to see the whole thing! So we waited and watched. And waited and watched. There were a few times we thought here it comes, only to see nothing.

Out near the end of the chasm, there was a large round hole in the rocks that I likened to a witch's cauldron. With much more frequency, water would bubble up out of it. I was able to capture a few pictures of the bubbling brew.

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble!

The cold rain and wind soon drove us back to the warmth of truck. As we got in, I noticed my cell phone was missing. I looked around the truck - no phone. Then I remembered what I did with. It was back in Newport at the campground on the picnic table! In the rain, no less. What had happened was earlier that morning, we needed to resecure the kayak on the roof of the camper. We were using a ratcheting tie-down system that we had threaded wrong. I used the internet capabilities on the phone to look up how to properly rig the tie-down straps. And then promptly forgot to stick the phone back in my pocket. Duh!

Luckily, before departing the campground we stopped in at the hospitality yurt where we were given a nice little magazine with all of the Oregon state park information. I quickly got it out and lo and behold, there was a phone number for the park. Using Karl's cell phone, I called the park and explained my predicament. The ranger said to call back in five minutes - he would go check our campsite for the phone. I called back after the allotted time and sure enough, the phone was still there on the picnic, open just like I left it, but now it was wet. The ranger said it was still working though. I said we were on our way back to retrieve it. We had about 30 miles to back track to the campground.

After picking up the phone and a bag of free freshly popped corn, we were on our way south again. Actually, we tell ourselves that we liked that part of the coast route so much, we wanted to see it three times!

The weather was increasing in intensity as we drove to Charleston, so we kept our stops to a minimum. We made a quick stop in North Bend for supplies and then hooked up with Don and Debi.

The Bridge over the Coos Bay into North Bend

 

The intent was to stay at Sunset Bay state park but we changed our minds and went to Oceanside RV park just up the road from the state park. Don and Debi had stayed here previously so we went with what they knew. We each fixed our own dinners and then played Apples to Apples, a riotous card game that had us practically rolling on their motorhome floor. Then we retired for the evening.

Worst. Night. Ever. Our campsite offered little in the way of protection from the winds off of the ocean. I thought for sure the wind gusts were going to blow the camper over a couple of times during the night. Plus the wonderful ratchet strap was vibrating non-stop throughout the night. I eventually got some sleep from 4:30 a.m. until about 7:15 a.m. Needless to stay, I was a little crabby after that.

Day 3 coming up....Charleston to Brookings

My World Tuesday #45 - Mukilteo Lighthouse Station

Mukilteo Lighthouse

Keeper's Quarters

Front of Keeper's Quarters

Fun Facts about the Mukilteo Lighthouse Station:
- Opened in 1906
- Convertered to electricity in 1927
- Automated in 1979
- 36 steps to the top of the lighthouse
- 4th Order Fresnel lens
- Light is visible for 12 miles (19 km) on a clear day
- Light operates 24 hours per day, 2 seconds on, 3 seconds off
- 2 Coast Guard Families lived in the 2 keeper's quarters until 1996
- Ownership turned over to the City of Mukilteo in 2001

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