Day 55 - 59 ~ OREGON - Continued

We continued our trip down the Oregon Coast with short stops at Tillamook and Newport.

Tillamook (Oct 1 - 2)

As we left Troutdale, it started raining.  It was a short two-hour ride to Tilamook and it rained the whole time.  It was pouring when we arrived at NETARTS BAY GARDEN RV RESORT in the town of Netarts Bay just outside of Tillamook.  We changed sites two times until we finally settled into a third site that was level and long enough for our trailer.

    

After setting up in the rain, we settled into our trailer and stayed put.  It rained the rest of the day and into the night.  It stopped raining in the wee hours and at around 3am a rooster, nearby, started chatting away.  So now instead of a noisy train, we now get a chatty rooster.  The damn thing kept it up until around 6am.  During the last hour I started hearing an owl.  So I prayed…. Mr. Owl have some breakfast…please.  When it quieted down after 6am, I thought my prayers were answered.  But no… Dave heard it again when he went to the showers.

  

The next morning it was cloudy, but no rain yet.  We finally got to check out the place.  The park has about 90 sites.  The main part of the park is a marina and is next to Netarts Bay.  The upper section is an open area surrounded by trees.  This area is fairly private, but the sites are close together.  Our site is in this area.  We have a strong WiFi signal, but no TV.  So this is where we finish watching the DVD’s we brought.

  

We are staying in Tillamook for two nights.  Tillamook’s lush grasses due to 70 – 90 inches of rain a year sustain the herds that compose Oregon’s dairy industry.  Much of the county’s annual milk production of 25 million gallons is made into natural cheddar cheese.  There is also a lot of crabbing and deep-sea fishing done in this area.

  

There are a lot of hiking trails and nice beaches to walk on, but it was a cloudy, cold and wet day so we did none of that.  But we were able to visited some sights.

Cape Meares Lighthouse

Oregon’s shortest lighthouse stands 38 feet on top of Cape Meares and 217 feet above the ocean.  The lighthouse was built in 1886 and the lamp was first lit on January 1, 1890.  Some interesting facts:  the bull’s eye lens generated 18,000 candlepower of white light and 160,000 candlepower of red light.  The Mariners could spot the powerful beams from more than 21 miles away and the distinctive red-white pattern allowed them to plot their location.

 

See all the white on the cliff side. 
 That's the nesting area for a seabird called 'Common Murres Manners'

A view from the lighthouse

Nearby is the “Octopus Tree”.  An unusually large Sitka Spruce is named for its unique shape.  Ten feet at its base, it has no central trunk.  Limbs 3-5 feet thick branch out close to the ground.  This tree is about 300 years old.

Blue Heron Cheese Company

Known for its Blue Heron Brie, Blue Heron Cheese Company has been in business for 30 years.  It’s barn-like store house a gift shop, gourmet foods, wine tasting, a deli with homemade bread and soups.

Tillamook Cheese Factory

This factory has been processing cheese and other dairy products for over 100 years.  In 1894 renowned cheesemaker Peter McIntosh brought his cheddar cheese-making expertise to Tillamook County, where he taught the locals all he knew and earned himself the nickname “Cheese King of the Coast”.  Over 120 years later, the same cheddar cheese recipe is still being used.

Newport (Oct 3 - 5)

Newport is another coastal village and a resort community for over 100 years.  Newport’s location at the entrance of Yaquina Bay has made fishing an important industry.

 

We stayed at nearby Beverly Beach State Park.  This State Park has a very nice campground with full services.  No WiFi but we got a few local channels on the TV with the antenna.  The campground is huge and is spread out under the trees.

  

We stayed here for three nights and like Tillamook, it rained every day.  Stormed all night and parts of each day with lots of wind.  You should have seen the ocean waves!  But we still went out on both days and visited the historic Bay Front in Newport, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, nearby Depoe Bay, and some coastal sights between Tillamook and Depoe Bay.

 

Historic Bay Front

Is known for its giant, colorful murals and fish processing plants.  It’s a place where you can wander the docks and buy fresh fish from the fishermen or have a fishy meal at one of the many restaurants.  You can visit the funky shops or view the seals sunning themselves on platforms below the piers.

 

California Sea Lions.  The below pile of rocks are covered with them.

Oregon Coast Aquarium

The Aquariums’ 1.32-million gallon “Passages of the Deep” exhibit is an underwater adventure featuring 5,000 sea creatures where visitors can walk through shark-filled water in the safety of a 200-foot acrylic walkway deep beneath a simulated sea.

Sardines!

Depoe Bay

Is the whale watching capital.  We came here to see the whale museum on the recommendation of someone we met at the campground.  But it was closed.  The museum is only open on weekends.  So we walked down the main street and checked out the gift shops and galleries.  After about the 5^th one, we realized that all the shops had the same stuff.  By then it started storming, so we ducked into the “Sea Hag” for some lunch and waited for the storm to pass. 

 

During the calm of the storm, we returned to Newport and stopped for some coastal views along the way.

 

Rocky Creek Bridge

Devil’s Punch Bowl

This is a ‘State Natural Area’.  It is located at Otter Rock between Newport and Depoe Bay.  During winter storms, water from the ocean slams into a hollow rock formation shaped like a huge punch bowl.  The surf churns, foams, and swirls as it “mixes a violent brew”.  This was the perfect day to view this phenomenon.   The punch bowl was probably created by the collapse of a roof over two sea caves, then shaped by wave action. 

 

This place is also a popular whale watching site where there is a park and picnic area.  There is also a small gift shop and tasting room for Flying Dutchman Winery.  We tasted a few samples and bought a bottle of Raspberry Mist.

Off to California and HOME!