(Oregon) Coastline ~ West Coast RV Adventure 2023 ~ Day 20

So yesterday was a GREAT day for sure with so many beautiful sights. But guess what, today started out as ANOTHER great day from the minute Mom opened the shade. Bright sunshine poured onto our bed, and I just laid there soaking it in. That was until Mom said that it was time to walk on the beach. So off we went to see that big beautiful beach in the morning sun. Mom found a great chair that we didn’t see last night and plopped down in it. Of course, I hopped on her lap. I think we both could have sat there all day long just enjoying the sight, sound, smell and feel of the ocean. 

 

But Dad said we had to get up and get going. So we started walking. Boy, was the beach beautiful this morning with the morning sun dancing on the water and wet sand! We hadn’t gone very far when Dad called us over. There on the sand were two gorgeous starfish! It’s like they were just waiting for us to see them. Every morning Mom says a prayer that starts with, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I put my trust in you…” Well, if this wasn’t a sign of His unfailing love, I don’t know what is! Wow! It was just so cool. 

 

Then Dad surprised me by taking my leash off and throwing one of my balls. The wet sand was so hard that it rolled forever! But I’m pretty fast, and I ran to get it every time. It was SO MUCH FUN running free on this beach!! And there weren’t other dogs around, so this was pure dog beach heaven! I ran and ran. Mom and Dad kept throwing the balls, and we had a grand time! 

 

But all good things must end, so we headed back to break camp and kept moving on up the road. We crossed Winchester Creek; it really looked more like a river that came down from the mountains and fed into the ocean. It was a pretty blue. Dad chose our next stop. He had heard a lot about Dutch Bros. Coffee, so we found one. Imagine our surprise when we discovered it was this tiny little shack that you’re supposed to drive through to get your coffee. Well, obviously, that wasn’t going to work with the LHOW, so we all just walked up to order our coffee and pastries. I think the cars behind us were having a good laugh at our expense. Whatever, I liked it because they gave me a treat after asking Mom’s permission. We went back and had our coffee and treats in the LHOW. I don’t think this was the exact coffee experience Dad had imagined, but live and learn. Mom was trying so hard not to laugh! 

 

On our way out of town, we saw a place with lots of tree trunks in piles. Mom said they had sorted the trees by size and were getting ready to ship theml. Boy, they sure must have cut down a lot of pretty trees to make all those big piles. We’ve seen lots of big trucks on the road carrying really long tree trunks, so maybe they get loaded here. 

 

We saw Coos Bay when we went over a bridge. It was pretty big. After driving along a while, we went over another bridge over another river, the Umpqua River. Maybe you’ve already figured it out, but we saw a lot rivers and bridges today. And a random lake thrown in here and there. 

 

Then we started seeing these huge hills of sand! The map said we were in a Sand Dunes Recreational Park. Mom and Dad couldn’t believe it! They’ve never seen sand dunes so big! They were the size of big hills. Some were just sand. Others had shrubs growing on them. And still others had tons of trees growing on them, like a forest. It was crazy!! And these sand dunes went on and on for miles. Some places offered boards to ride down them or mini jeeps to ride around on them. We didn’t do either of those things, and I’m kinda glad. That would have been scary. We went to one place where we could walk out and see them. I thought they were pretty boring, so I just sunbathed on the warm deck. 

 

 

Back on the road, we crossed another creek and bridge. Then we stopped off at the beach below the Heceta Head Lighthouse where the Cape Creek meets the Pacific. The Cape Creek bridge here is really tall and pretty cool. A sign told us that almost all of the bridges in Oregon were built but the same guy in the 1930s, Conde B McCullough. Oregon decided they wanted to connect all the coastal areas with a road which meant a lot of bridges had to be built. I think this one is cool. Mom says it could have been used in Italy to carry water from the mountains to the towns since it’s built like an aqueduct, whatever that is. Anyway, we really liked this little hidden gem of a beach. 

 

After some beautiful vistas along the coast, our next stop was Cape Perpetua, and man was it amazing!! You’re not going to believe these pictures!! Cape Perpetua attracts all kinds of wildlife throughout the year from whales to tons of bird species. But the crazy part of it is the rock structures that the waves pound. Lots of the rocks are flat, and people were walking out on them. The sign said to be aware of “sneaker waves” that may surprise you and mow you down, but no one seemed concerned. I’m glad Mom and Dad decided that we were going to stick to the paths. There were some areas where the waves roll in and splash up high at the end of the little canal. Other areas were the waves just splashed high over the rocks. But the most interesting was Thor’s Well. It’s a round circle in the rock and the waves come in from underneath and spray up like a geyser! There were a lot of (crazy) people out around it. I could have just sat there for hours watching the waves crash against with the rocks. It was fun to see the color change from blue to green to white as the waves came in too. Boy, that water looked really powerful and cold. I’m glad I was a long ways from it. 

 

We drove to a lookout point in the park. The nice man there told us it’s the highest place along the Oregon coast that you can get to in a car. What a great view! I bet it’s an amazing venue for whale watching when the whales are in the area. Wish we could hang out here for a while too. 

 

Mom says that the coast of Oregon is a geological conundrum!! Wow, that’s a mouthful!! But we’ve seen flat beaches, lots of creeks, rivers and bridges, a lake, sand dunes and now these amazing rock structures and breaking waves. All along the coast! 

 

From Cape Perpetua, we went to Yachats. It’s pronounced “yah-huts” but Mom likes to call it “yack-it!” It was a cute little town with some interesting stores. I was tuckered out from all of our walks today, so Mom and Dad explored the town and had lunch at Ona’s without me. They had a great view of the beach at low tide. 

 

We got gas at Fred Meyer’s which was a new experience on this trip because Oregon only allows full service gas dispensing. Dad heard a guy say that in that county, someone can get $3,100/month in unemployment for up to two years. What??? For doing nothing?? That’s so wrong. Even I know that! 

Our drive to our campsite in Netarts Bay, close to Tillamook was a pretty one. But it had been a long day. And for the first time on the trip, I asked Mom, “how much longer?” 

After a walk around the campgrounds, Mom and Dad had a lot of planning to do to figure out how we were getting the LHOW from Washington to Vancouver Island over water. That boggled my brain, so I left them to it. Some fun people from Washington were in the campsite next to us.  They offered to share their campfire. So we went over and Dad took some bourbon to share. There was a nice lady with a big fluffy blanket, and it was cold. She wanted to hold me, so I let her. Boy was it warm on her lap!! We all slept well that night after all the fresh air, walks and memories of the amazing things we saw today! 

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