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

Our Oregon Adventure - Day 1

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Happy New Year!

We got home yesterday after spending eight days traveling up and down the Oregon coast on Highway 101 in our camper. This is a great time of year to visit the coast because of the fierce winter storms that pound the beaches and rocky coastline. I had soooo much fun and Mother Nature put on quite the weather display. One day it felt like if we didn't like the weather, just drive ten more miles and experience something different. Hail, rain, sun, wind, snow...we saw it all during the course of our adventure.

First, if you are a camper and plan on visiting Oregon, check out their state park system. They have the best I have ever visited. Clean and well-run parks, friendly staff and during the Discovery period (aka the off-season), camp fees are very reasonable for full hookups. The most we paid was $22 USD per night with the typical rate being $20. We stayed in five different parks - Nehalem Bay, South Beach, Sunset Bay, Bullards Beach and Harris Beach.

Over the next several days, I will be sharing photographs taken during our trip.

We started our trip by crossing into Astoria, Oregon from Washington state via the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. The bridge is just over four miles long with the highest point being four hundred feet. It is the longest continuous cantilever through-truss bridge in the world (at least according to their sign). I will have pictures of the bridge from our return trip.

We didn't stop in Astoria although I understand it is worth visiting. Instead we headed south on Hwy 101 and made our first real stop in Cannon Beach.

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, Oregon

Karl and the Dogs at Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach Sky

As you can tell from the pictures, it was a gray day with periods of wind and rain. Plus it was chilly on the beach, too.

After leaving Cannon Beach, it was on to Tillamook and the Tillamook Cheese Factory. They offer a free, self-guided tour of their cheese making operation. First of all, it's FREE; and second, we eat a lot of Tillamook cheese so why not take a tour? I apologize for the color of the pictures. I was shooting through the windows during the tour and got weird colorations.

Tillamook Cheese Factory in Tillamook, Oregon

Here is where the cheese making starts.

• On average, each of the eight stainless steel vats makes three batches of cheese each day
• More than 1.7 million pounds of milk arrive at the plant each day
• It takes ten pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese
• Approximately 167,000 pounds of cheese are made daily

Stainless Steel Vats

After the cheddaring process, cheese curds go into the pressing towers where the curds are pressed for thirty minutes. Then a block of Tillamook cheese is born.

• Although the blocks are called "forties", they weigh between 41 and 42 pounds.
• After being bagged, vacuum-sealed, boxed and cooled, the forties are sent to the warehouse for aging.

Pressing Towers in Action (Note the block in front of the upper right tower)

After the blocks have aged a minimum of sixty days in the warehouse, they are moved to the packaging department. This is where the forty pound blocks are cut and packaged into the smaller sized blocks we purchase at the store.

• Blocks are cut into individual pieces on one of three different packaging lines
• Each piece runs over a scale called a checkweigher. Underweight pieces are patched; overweight pieces are trimmed.
• Approximately one million pieces of cheese are packaged in a week
• Tillamook Cheese is the number two brand of chunk cheddar cheese in the United States

Tillamook Packaging Area

At the end of the tour, there were free samples of Tillamook cheese as well as store area for purchasing Tillamook products. We opted for delicious Tillamook ice cream cones. Click here for more information on Tillamook Cheese and other products.

After leaving Tillamook, we thought we'd travel the Three Capes route that ran along the coast rather than Hwy 101. Big mistake.

This was one of the worst roads we traveled. Full of potholes, rough, and not very enjoyable. At least with an RV. Maybe on a bike this would be better suited but never again for us! I was glad to rejoin Hwy 101 again just below Pacific City.

Leaving the north coast section of Oregon, we journeyed into the central coast region. After a quick stop for lunch in Lincoln City, we made our way to Depoe Bay. Just south of town, there is the Otter Crest loop. I had read in our guide of a few scenic stops so we crossed our fingers and left Hwy 101 again. 

Almost immediately you come to the historic Ben Jones bridge that was refurbished in 2001.

Ben Jones Bridge - Depoe Bay, Oregon

Just down the road from the bridge, we rounded a bend in the road and spotted what we thought was a house perched precariously on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. No playing catch in the yard here!

Why??

 

Then we found out the building was a gift shop called the Lookout at Cape Foulweather. We browsed around the shop and looked out the windows. Neat little place five hundred feet above the ocean!

The Lookout at Cape Foulweather

 

Before long, the sun was setting and it was time to find a place to stop for the night. We knew there was a campground at the Newport Marina. It basically was a paved parking lot and with our Good Sam discount, it still would have cost $37 per night! Luckily, we came upon South Beach State Park just down the road and began our love affair with Oregon state parks.

Newport, Oregon Bridge

Until tomorrow...