Coasting Down the Coast

After Portland, we went west to kick off our cruise down the Oregon Coast into California. Here is a list of the locations and sights we stopped at on our drive down US 101.

• Ecola State Park -  From here we could see the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, AKA "Terrible Tilly". It sits on a rock a mile from shore and it was as remote a spot as any lighthouse keeper could be put.
• Cannon Beach - Here is Haystack Rock, a large "sea stack" left over from erosion of the coast by the relentless waves. We saw some large starfish here during low tide.
• Nehalem Bay State Park - We camped here for 5 nights. The beach has a nice view of the Nehalem Head Lighthouse.
• Tillamook - Home of the Tillamook Cheese Factory where we were able to see the cheese making and packaging and pick up some blocks of cheddar.
• Newport - We camped here for two nights and visited the great Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We also saw the seal lions and seals who rest on the wharf docks in the evening.
• The Devil's Elbow - Near here US 101 gets pretty twisty and high above the rocky surf. We stopped for some pictures in a couple of spots.
• Umpqua River Lighthouse - We stopped here and looked through their museum.
• Sunset Beach State Park - We camped here for 2 nights, viewed the Cape Arago Lighthouse, walked in the tide pools, saw the Simpson Gardens, watched seals and sea lions on Simpson's Reef, and looked out to sea from Cape Arago.
• Bandon - We stopped here for lunch and a view of the Coquille River Lighthouse.
• Port Orford - We stopped here for a view of the fishing port where they haul the boats out of the water with a crane rather than tie them up. This is because the port is not well protected from the sea waves.
• Gold Beach - We camped here for two nights. Ellyn went to a quilt show nearby and we sat on the beach and watched the surfers and seals swimming in the surf.

From here it was a short drive into California.