3 weeks in Pacific City, Oregon

I just spent a month in Oregon, including (you guessed it) three of the weeks in Pacific City on the coast.  It was a great time and I got several things accomplished.  I had two goals; get some medical appointments taken care of and to completely go through every bay, drawer and cupboard in my coach, downsize and reorganize, and do my deep spring cleaning.  Done!  I did have to add some chiropractor appointments to the end of my visit, but worth it.

The Oregon coastline is awesome, and the beaches are clean and lovely...you can even drive on them!  I was so excited, I had to try it.  The second time I watched all the stuck cars getting towed ...

I drove the coast road US 101 north as far as the Washington border and south to Newport ... Note, some of the outlooks you can't access unless you are heading south.

Along with being the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, US 101 is also the Oregon Coast Bike Route, and I have to take my hat off to these bikers .... those are some hills to traverse ... no small feat.

 This is a haystack rock at the beach by my campground ...and my car parked on the beach  :)














Lincoln City claims that its winds are the best anywhere for flying a kite because of its location exactly halfway between the equator and the north pole (the 45th parallel is the town border).

Lincoln City - Kite Capital of the World

One of Oregon's most visited places, the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, overlooks the ocean at the mouth of the Yaquina River.  After it was no longer used, tales spread the the structure was haunted by the ghost of Muriel, a girl who disappeared while visiting the light at night, leaving only blood stains.  The lighthouse is now restored, with a museum and gift shop; at Christmas it is ablaze with holiday lights.

Not to be confused (I did) with the Yaquina Head Lighthouse ....

Cape Meares Lighthouse

Cape Meares, Cape Lookout and Cape Kiwanda, about halfway between Cannon Beach and Newport (actually about Pacific City) are some of the coast's most stunning headlands, strung together on a slow, winding and sometimes bumpty 40-mile alternative to US 101.  It's a worthwhile drive.

Cape Meares is 38 ft tall, Oregon's shortest.

Short trails lead to Oregon's largest Sitka spruce and the "Octopus Tree," another Sitka shaped like a candelabra.

Along the coast there were stops in Cannon Beach, another popular resort community with a sandcastle competition.  Seaside, only 10 miles up the coast from Cannon Beach, was Oregon Coast's first resort; its amusement park dates from 1873.  Here I stopped for lunch and a walk along the Promenade (a famous 1.5 mile walk that separates the beach and town) to the Salt Works ...

I took another hike one day - Drift Creek Falls Trail .... it got a little warm (in the 80s), but the bridge and falls were lovely.

A few of my other stops:

Nye Beach Historic District 

Oregon Coast Aquarium

I found these vents on chimneys interesting - I assume they are for birds

There is a very nice military museum at Fort Stevens ... worth a stop.

Depot Bay - world's smallest harbor; one side of US 101 is side by side chowder houses

In Lincoln City - I didn't think there were any Lil' Sambo restaurants left

OK, here is a "fun" story ...

I was on this draw bridge and happened to be the first in line to cross.  I waited patiently at this guard rail as the boat came toward the bridge (the bridge was actually shaking back and forth, like there was a minor earthquake), but the bridge didn't seem to raise in the middle like I thought it would .... and then the red light turned to green and the bar raised, so I started across the bridge .... only me, not the cars behind me because the guard man came running out of his little house to stop them.  So, here I am, sitting in the middle of the bridge, unable to go either way because of the guard rails that run across the bridge in case someone (me?) goes around the bar .... I sat there, very nervous, while the guard returned everything to "normal" to allow me to continue across the bridge so he could then raise it for the boat.  What fun ... not! 


Headed for Washington for a month.  My GPS sent me up Timber Road; turned out to have a couple of hairpin, 10 mph turns; I scraped my hitch trying to make the turns. It was a long drive up that road!  It had so many dips and waves in it, it felt like a "roll over" hazard most of the time.

The Columbia River Longview Bridge (although it says on the internet it has been renamed) I think is actually cooler than the one in Astoria.

Lewis and Clark Bridge, with Mount St. Helens, Washington. Lewis and Clark Bridge, as seen from Oregon Highway-30, downstream of Rainier, Oregon. The bridge spans the Columbia River from Longview, Washington, to Rainier, Oregon. Mount St. Helens, Washington, is in the background.