Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

We had a leisurely morning at Frank's and then headed to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. What a place! There are more than 150 historic aircraft and exhibits as well as the "Spruce Goose". The Museum is located in three different buildings, historic aircraft in one, space in a second and an IMAX theater in the third.

The Sopwith Camel (Snoopy would be happy here!)

The Spruce Goose

The Spruce Goose is a monster! We got to go inside and it's hummongus! It basically takes up most of the room in one of the buildings and the other planes are displayed under and around it. The display boards for each aircraft were very well done, with enough, but not too much information and there were volunteers all over to ask more detailed questions. Many of them had flown the particular aircraft they were by. A not to be missed for any aircraft buff!

We went back to Franks then and we headed out for a tour of the countryside. This is wine country so we stopped at one of his favorites for a wine tasting. Pinot Noir is the specialty grape for this region and the tasting included three years. Nice to be able to compare the weather differences. We then stopped at another small shop for an olive oil tasting - yes, they do have olive trees growing here. Just about everything grows here! The fruit tastes amazingly different when it's ripened on the tree! Back to Franks and then we headed to a local restaurant and then home for a little conversation and then to bed. Frank and Mary Margaret are deep in the planning of an International Conference on Jane Austin so their days and nights are dealing with the complications of planning a four day conference with incredible workshops, gala dances, wonderful dinners and general comforts and demands of 700 folks! It's getting down to the end, so all the loose ends and things they thought someone else was covering are appearing and are falling in the Chair's laps. We appreciate that they took all the time to spend with us that they did!

A Visit with Friends

After a good night's sleep we headed to the famous Astoria Column on the advice of Frank McClanahan, and so glad we did! Check out those skies! The Astoria Column is 125' high and was built in 1925 to commemorate the westward sweep of discovery and migration. It has 14 murals made in Italian sgraffito technique (etched concrere). They are amazing in their detail. I wish we could have laid them all flat to really be able to see them.
We climbed the 164 interior steps to the top for a 360 view for miles! It was gorgeous!!

Into the car for one last trip up the coast to Ft. Stevens State Park at the northernmost tip of Oregon. Clatsop Indians lived here for thousands of years and traded with folks from Asia long before Lewis and Clark arrived on the scene. They aided the Corps of Discovery during their winter stay, providing food for them. After the land became part of the US the Army built a fort and an extensive series of bunkers. From the Civil War through the end of WWII, more than 80 years, Ft. Stevens Milirary Reservation guarded the mouth of the Columbia River. There was a military interpretive museum and many of the bunkers are still in place.

Back down the coast to Tillamook - this time we did stop at the Blue Heron French Cheese Co. Wonderful place! Then back inland through the woods to Frank and Mary Margaret's in McMinville. Frank McClanahan and Jean went to High School together and Frank was in Boy Scouts with my brother, Alan. We had reconnected at a reunion about 5 years ago and have kept in touch since then. We arrived at their wonderful house mid-afternoon and just did some catching up. Great fun! It's really fun to reconnect with special people from way back in your life and this was an especially fun visit.

Mary Margaret relaxing after a days work!

Frank setting the table for dinner - yummy!

The North Coast

More sunshine today as we continued our Oregon Coast adventure. We're now on the north coast. We left Tillamook and drove through some of the first settled communities on the west coast. When folks arrived from the Oregon Trail they continued to the coast and used the coastal road to move into new areas. One of the most difficult areas was "Hug Point" as the travelers had to hug the rock with their wagons to get around the point. The road was closed during high tide. These were some solitary rocks that had been left by the tide.

On we went to the famous Cannon Beach (named for a cannon that washed up on the beach in 1846). Haystack Rock, the large one in the middle, is part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the unofficial symbol of Cannon Beach. It's home to thousands of birds in the spring and between April and August, tufted puffins abound. We were really sorry to miss those!On up the road we went to Ecola State Park which offers dramatic views of the coastline and Haystack Rock. In 1806, Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark exppedition named a creek in this area Ecola Creek, based on the Chinook Indian word for whale, ekoli.
This was our view for lunch! We walked down to the lighthouse that was at the end of the point, but it was closed on Mondays. It's one of the smallest ones, so we were able to get very close to the light. It was a little nippy up there with the wind, but gorgeous sun!

This is William and Clark country so we stopped in Seaside to see the Salt Works site that commemorates the expeditions salt making camp where they spent more than a month boiling seawater to make enough salt to last the winter and their return trip home. Took a little searching to find it, but it was interesting. We then headed to Ft. Clatsop, where the expedition spent the winter from Dec. 1805-March 1806. There is a replica of the old fort as well as a visitor's center and film about life during those times. Very interesting.

Ft. Claysop replica.

Interior of one of the cabins at the Ft.

We then headed up the road to Astoria, the last big city on our coastal adventure. We had a nice cozy sleep in a motel as we needed to catch up on things. What a great beach adventure!

Ah, will these wonders never cease! What an incredible three days along the coast we have had. The Oregon Coast has lived up to it's reputation! More sunshine today too! Up and out early after a chilly breakfast. First stop was Devil's Punchbowl. It was just after low tide so not as impressive as it could have been, but pretty amazing. It's this huge bowl area where the waves come crashing in.

Devils Punchbowl

Next stop was Boiler Bay State Scenic Viewoint. The waves were crashing in here and these seaweed were hanging on for their lives. Every way would bring them back waving high. Fun to watch.

Foot high seaweed kept coming right back up!

Then on to Depoe Bay. Right in the middle of town they have the Whale Watching Center where we saw a Gray Whale spouting several times as he went by. They don't breach like many other types. There is a pod that are year round residents here, so they are frequently seen. Right down the street, however, were the fascinating spouting horns. They are rock formations that turn crashing waves into a plume of water.

Spouting Horn

Not much other action in Depoe Bay so headed on up the road to Lincoln City and beyond. We had thought about stopping here, but too early so headed on up to the Three Capes Drive. As we were coming around yet another corner we spotted this lovely sight!

To the left is the Pacific and up ahead to the right is Netarts Bay. Please note the blue skies :-) And if you look closely you can see the Cape Meares Lighthouse way up the way. That's the destination!


Along the way we pass the Three Arches Wildlife Refuge area where in season there are hundreds of Puffins and Cormerants. However, this is not the season so only the seagulls were there today. There are arches in all three rocks depending on where you are viewing them from.


Ah, success! The Cape Meares Lighthouse. There were great viewpoints all around here for watching for whales. Had lunch up the hill from the lighthouse (which is closed on Mondays) and then headed to Tillamook for some cheese tasting and a laundromat. We found both as well as a nice room with wifi to do some catching up! It was another great day!

Got up this morning to clouds. The weatherman had said rain during the night though and most of today, so we were happy with a dry tent! Headed towards Waldport and low and behold what do we pass but St. Luke's by the Sea. Services didn't start until 9 so we headed into town and got a cup of coffee and walked the port. Lots of fishing boats. Then back to a great service and very friendly congregation. They offered breakfast, but we'd already eaten twice and needed to move on. It had rained during church and now the sun was beginning to pop out! It was a beautiful drive with lots of waysides with beautiful views. When we got to Newport we stopped at the Hatfield Marine Science visitor center. It's home to researchers studying the ocean and estuaries and has exihibits demonstrating their work. Sen. Mark Hatfield did his constituents proud with this one. Then we crossed another of the wonderful Conde McCullough bridges built back in the 30's. They are steel and concrete with the tall concrete towers typical to that age. We had heard the sound of barking sea lions when we entered the Center and John asked where they were located -- in the Old Town across the river so we headed there. Went by alot of restaurants and it was getting time for lunch so stopped at the LocalOcean as it looked very popular. John had Dunganeese Crabcakes and I had a Spicy Shrimp Salad and of course we shared. Marvelous! Best food we've had in weeks! (My camping on the go menu is fairly limited and not my best cuisine!). Then on to find the barking.
We talked to a local dive shop owner right near the dock these guys were on. The locals are not happy they hang around here...all the time....as they eat the salmon and the barking is endless. But, they do draw people to the area who spend their $$.

Back to the Lighthouse quest. Just up the road was the Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site with the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. This lighthouse was only in service from 1871-1874 before the commissioning of the nearby brighter Yaquina Head Light eliminated it's necessity. It is now a very interesting museum about life during the time of the Light Keeper.

The Parlor

On down the road a mile or so was the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area with the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It's the tallest on the Oregon coast.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

This area is administered by the Bureau of Land Management and has an outstanding Information Center and down below you can go out to the tidepools at low tide. We walked down and it's a black cobble beach. The tide was still going out, but they were pretty frisky that day so we had to watch the water as there were sneak tides coming in. But, we did see the following...

Ochre Starfish

Green Anenome

Another long day so we ended it at the Beverly Beach State Park where we had a whole section to ourselves. It had turned out to be a gorgeous, sunny day for all of our nature activities. Thanks be to God!

It's a Lighthouse Day!

Words can't quite describe all that we saw today! Our eyes are tired from it all! We woke up to sunshine and had it all day. We broke camp and headed for the Coquille Lighthouse just down the road. Our goal for the coast was to visit each of the lighthouses on the Oregon Coast.


From there we returned to 101 and headed to Sunset Bay State Park. We followed the road there to the end for beautiful views of the ocean on high bluffs. While there we heard the barking of sea lions so headed back down the hill to the Simpson Reef and Shell Island Overlooks and found the following!

Hundreds of California and Stellar sea lions, literally crawling all over each other on this
Island. The tide was low so they were squeezed into a much small area than usual. It
was one noisy party!

Next to the sea lions were a number of rocks that had Harbor Seals.

Then another large rock with a hundred or so California Sea Lions.

and this Mother and Baby had this section all to themselves. It was noisy and raucous
but fascinating to see. We had the spotting scope with us to got up really close with that.

After an hour plus of beholding this we headed down the road further and stopped at the much quieter Shore Acres State Park where Louis Simpson, early timber baron had built his estate. The original mansion is gone, but the botanical gardens remain and are lovely. The roses (which actually smelled like roses) and dahlias were splendid and there was a special orchid show in the caretakers house--beautiful!


On down the road and we stopped at this overlook of the Cape Arango Lighthouse. It stands 100 feet above the ocean on an islet off Gregory Point. It's the newest of the lighthouses.

We stopped for lunch at Sunset Bay and then headed back to 101 and on to the Umpqua Lighthouse Loop. At the Lighthouse there was a platform so we watched for whales for awhile....no luck this time. The Grey Whales are heading south at the moment.

Umpqua Lighthouse

Back to 101. It was heading towards evening at this point so we were beginning to look for places to lay our heads. Unfortunately, a number of forest service campground we had aimed for were closed for restoration ... so on we go. As we were going around a curve we spotted this little gem...

The Heceta Head Lighthouse, on the west side of the 1000' high Heceta Head, 205' above the ocean. This picture doesn't do it justice. The house on the right has become a very nice bed and breakfast. There was a seal below the viewpoint and we saw our first surf scoters. On we go and we entered the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

and not to long after that we found our little niche of the world for tonight. Tillicum Beach campground turned out to be almost new and delightful. We were in quiet woods across from a short bluff to the beach. The sunset was delightful and the sleep good with the sound of the waves below.

Goodnight all.

South Coast - Brookings to Bandon

Holy Cow! Mouse number 4 met his demise last night. Think that is it! What a happy little family we were entertaining! So glad they're gone! Up this morning to some fog, but looking like it's going to break up.

We began our day traveling the Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corridor. There are alot of pull-off along this long narrow park. Above is Whalehead Rock in one of the pocket beaches along the way.

Split Rock in the same general area.

Natural Bridges Cove was gorgeous!
Cape Sebastian State Park

We drove a little further and then stopped for lunch at the Geisel Monument State Heritage Site which commerates early settler John Geisel and his three sons who were killed by Indians in the early 1800's.

Then on to Port Orford which was established in 1851 and is the oldest town on the South Coast. The dock here is the only open-water port on the Oregon Coast and is one of six "dolly" ports in the world where recreational and commercial fishing boats are hoisted into and out of the water daily. These are the big cranes that hoist them out and place them on large trolley's that can be moved around. We saw one fishing boat being hauled out. Very interesting.

Water thundering through an opening into an inner cove. This was taken on a walk at our campground area at Bullard's Beach State Park. It was an absolutely amazing day. This coast in wild and spectacular!