The Pacific Coast of Oregon

The beach at Lincoln City, Oregon

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Ever since we began traveling in an RV in the fall of 2009 we have seen a lot of beautiful natural sights.  It would be difficult for us to name the single most beautiful place we have seen.  There have been so many, but at the top of the list would be Glacier National Park, the Canadian Rockies and the Pacific Coast along Oregon.

For the past two days we have been traveling south on U.S. Highway 101.  It is, in some areas, absolutely beyond description.  There is the deep blue of the Pacific, contrasted with the white caps of the waves and in places the buff-colored sand.  Just amazing!  Highway 101 is a pleasure to drive.  It travels through many small towns and it is fun to see the many small unique businesses and attractions.  There are countless pull outs and view points from which we could stop and see the scenery.  This morning  we pulled into a little lookout point and I caught the sight of a whale exhaling a plume of water spray and then saw his tail as he dove under the water.  


And the real estate.  Some of these homes are on bluffs overlooking the Pacific and can best be described as costing a whole lot of money.  

We learned from the motel clerk this afternoon that "summer" here starts around July 4 and continues to the end of September.  The rest of the year it is cool and cloudy and often rainy.


We have had some great seafood and delicious ice cream.  


So here are photos of some of the scenery we have passed by.

Just outside of Astoria, Oregon we visited the Lewis and Clark 
National Historic Park and walked through a replica of Fort Clatsop in which the expedition spent four long months in the winter. 

 The baby stroller is not an artifact

In so many places along the Oregon coast you can see masses of stone rising from the water.  We remarked how dangerous this coast was during the early days of shipping and whaling.  It is still dangerous today, but sonar and good maps make it a lot safer. 

This natural feature is called Devil's Churn because as high tide comes in large flumes of water are ejected into the air.  Too bad we did not get to see this happen.

Tomorrow we head to Medford,Oregon.  Stay tuned.