Mar Clair Motel Tillamook

OK, the 101 coastal highway is a misnomer in the northwest. You are teased with some vistas but not for long at all. But finally breaking out of the lumber backcountry with all the mixed growth, clearcuts and plantings to be harvested in 2045. The bridge to Astoria area brought me into Oregon and the coastal highway doesn't ...

... in the water and our mom was even smaller, recognizable only by the pile of our stuff she stood by. We waited for a bit for Dawn to return from the other side of the hill, and then ran straight down the hill as we had seen many others do. It was quite exhilarating, certainly way more fun than the climb up! We hurried back to where Mom was waiting, as we got closer we could see that she was really quite cold standing there so we headed back to the car right away and hit the road once more.

... Meares lighthouse. It took awhile to get there and after all the bumps in the road we were pretty happy to arrive and park the car. There was a steep walk down to the lighthouse itself but it was very interesting and we could even go inside and see the workings of it. We enjoyed the sweeping views of the ocean, rock formations (3 Arch Rocks) and even saw whales spouting in the distance.

We ...

... pick up a fresh berry pie but nobody else was hungry so this was voted down. We drove through Manzanita, looking at all the pretty shops and restaurants, crossed the Nehalem River and around the Bay. The highway took us through the small town of Wheeler then Rockaway Beach, with its quaint narrow homes and shops lining the street with flags flying out front. We passed a couple of lakes then arrived at the town of ...

We stayed at this beach for quite a while checking out the caves We actually went inside one of the narrow caves then around the rocks to the next cove where there was the little waterfall we had come to see (in the magazine picture it was huge!).

By the time we finished oohing and ahhing and looking around the tide had advanced and we had to run through the very icy cold water to get back to where we started and up the beach to our car

We stopped at Cannon Beach and drove in (tiny road).

We hiked to the point but the camera didn't work.

We watched a herd of elk.

We got her cell-phone and took some pictures.

We continued south and decided to stay in Tillamook.

We had oyster and seafood pasta.

In the morning we headed south towards Newport.

Driving through Lincoln City, there was terrible traffic.

Some guy cut me off driving so we stopped in Depoe Bay.

... basics (i.e. microwave or pots/pans for the stove.....lol). Once everyone showed up, we were in route for the coast. We hiked Saddle Mountain that afternoon. The loop was just over 5 miles. Cory's decimal-rounding skills aren't the sharpest. He likes to round his miles down to lure hikers on the trip, but once on the trail the number seems to lengthen. No worries, the hike was well worth each extra ...

... of the gods! Actually, I've never had them before but kept hearing about them from my friends in Oregon (More about them later). Apparently, they have a very limited life span so you have to get them fresh and eat them right away. Since I am a self confessed "cheese-a-holic" I had to check these out. "What the heck is a cheese curd" you say? Well ...

... 2:30 putting in 63.49km(brian's bike computer got switched to km...I think it was my falt...oopsie!) Our campsite is really close to the beach and we took a walk to it to do some exploring. The sun is out and the sunset should be awesome tonight. Oregon has proved itself to me already. I like it here. peace love bicycles

... tallest coastal waterfall in Oregon. One last trip to the shore took us along the "Three Capes" scenic route to visit Pacific City, Netarts, Oceanside, and Cape Meares, where we viewed our final lighthouse. Altogether, we managed to see 7 of the 9 Oregon lighthouses and covered about 280 of the 360 mile coastline.