The Oregon Coast

Back in February, we'd planned a trip to the Oregon coast but we ended up postponing it because of the snowstorm that swept through the PNW that weekend. We took that postponed trip last weekend. 

We left after Greg finished work on Friday afternoon and headed to our hotel in Astoria. It was a relatively short drive and Debbie set the kids up to watch The Goonies (which was filmed in Astoria). Alex watched half of it then decided he'd had enough but Abby watched all of it and said she liked it.

Of course, the first thing Abby wanted to do when we got to the hotel was to get in the pool. The hotel had a reservation system to ensure the pool area never had too many people. True to each personality Abby was in the pool showing all her skills and Alex opted out and just watched from the deck. Debbie relaxed (and watched Abby) in the hot tub. While Debbie took the kids to the pool Greg went and picked up a pizza. We should have ordered more than we did. It was a delicious pizza and we all wanted more.

We were up and ready to go early Saturday morning. After snagging a geocache near the hotel we had our to-go breakfast in the car then headed South. 

Our first stop was the Astoria Column which is a concrete tower built in 1929 overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River. The views were spectacular and there were a couple fun geocaches to get.

We spent a good chunk of the morning exploring Fort Steven's State Park. We tried to snag a geocache at each point of interest. We were lucky on our first one at the Wreck of the Peter Iredale. When we first arrived the waves were gently lapping the bow of the ship. We took a little detour to find what we thought would be the stern. When we went back to the more exposed part of the wreck the waves had cut off our access. We spent a bit of time still on the beach and then move a little back to the bluff and found another geocache and watched a bald eagle.

We also wandered the Battery Russell and Battery Freeman. These were active military sites from the late 19th century through WWII. Alex loved climbing around the fort and Abby was guessing what the track on the ceiling of some interconnected rooms and passageways would be. 

As we continued down the 101 we stopped at the beach in Seaside, enjoyed the view at Ecola State Park, and found a few more geocaches. Looking for caches was a real highlight for this trip. 

We ate a picnic-style lunch in the van and grabbed another geocache at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach. It was super windy and cold at Haystack rock. There wasn't easy parking either. Debbie and the kids just jumped out of the van at a beach access point on a slightly busy road (that was interesting). While they looked for the cache Greg found a parking spot up the road and walked down the beach to meet them. We didn't stay long because of how cold the wind was.

Our next stop was a bit longer and way more adventurous. At Hug Point there are a few sea caves and lots of beach to wander around. The geocache here ended up being a little harder to find. We had to traverse around an outcropping of rock that was going into the beach. This meant we had to time the waves just right before making a mad dash. We also had to scramble up some wet boulders and cross the top of a small waterfall. We continued up a hill that gave us spectacular views of the beach and ocean. When we finally found the cache it was designed like a little pirate treasure chest hidden in the wreck of a fallen tree. 

While getting to the cache was exciting we all thought making our way back to the van was even more exciting. The tide had come in a bit which made going around the point more difficult. Alex was not happy about accidentally running into a deeper place close to the rocks as he tried to stay as far away from the incoming waves as possible. His boots were absolutely soaked. Good thing he had dry clothes in the car to change into.

We didn't detour much after Hug Point because we wanted to get to the Tillamook Creamery before it closed. But first, we had to make a quick stop at the store to get Alex some dry shoes (he was due for a new pair anyway) and some dry ice so that we could get some of the specialty ice cream flavors they offer at the creamery.

We began our Tillamook Creamery visit with the self-guided walking tour which outlined their cheese-making process. At some point in the process, the cheese is in 40-pound blocks. It took some of us way too long to figure out that the orange-colored boxes hanging from the ceiling represented these large bricks of cheese.  We then headed to the cafe where we got dinner first and then ice cream. For dinner, most of us had a grilled cheese sandwich (duh) but Alex ordered a cheeseburger without the cheese. Our ice cream dessert was worth the wait. The scoops were huge each with a waffle cone on top. To finish our time we wandered their store. We were a bit disappointed that their prices were just about the same as at the regular grocery store so we didn't end up getting much. But we did buy a quart each of Dark Chocolate Red Raspberry and Sea Salt and Honeycombe Toffee.

   

We stayed the night in a beachside resort but by that time it was kind of dark so we didn't really get to enjoy it. The night was a little rough with a storm blowing, thin walls, and outside lights shining through the window. Even though we were all a little tired we got going fairly early. The sun was shining while the rain fell as we packed the van.

We started day two at Cape Meares. It was a little disappointing but not surprising that the lighthouse museum was not admitting visitors. The early morning easy hike was nice, even if it was a bit cold and blustery. We logged one geocache, walked around the lighthouse, and then went and visited the Octopus tree. No one is really sure if the tree naturally grew in this strange shape or if it was manipulated by indigenous people. Either way, it's a really cool-looking tree.

Next on the list was Neskowin Beach. The morning sun had burned off a lot of the earlier dampness making this stop quite pleasant and bright. Greg found a cache while Debbie grabbed a mid-morning snack for everyone then we had a little walk to the beach. Abby and Alex were very excited by a stick fort left by someone and they were careful not to alter it. The kids ended up playing for a bit which gave Greg and Debbie a moment to enjoy the beach and ocean.

More than ten years ago we'd visited the Oregon coast with Greg's family. One well-remembered place was this old used bookstore. It had piles of books and mazes bookshelves. It took a little bit of research and there was some question on if we'd located the right bookstore. But as soon as we pulled in we knew it was the same place. We spent a good hour there, getting lost or separated and then finding each other again. Alex was fascinated by the many antiques it had on any spare bit of wall, shelf, or ceiling. Some of us didn't get to stay as long as they'd like but some others were getting a little antsy (or claustrophobic...).

Perhaps the coolest stop we made was to the Yaquina head lighthouse. As with Cape Meares this lighthouse was also closed to the public. But after finding the geocache Greg and Alex found a gathering of sunbathing sea lions. Alex was happy that he had his binoculars so that he could get a close-up view. No dogs were allowed near the lighthouse so Debbie and Abby went ahead with Bella to the beach. This beach was not sandy like the others we'd visited. It was covered with baseball-sized rocks. They were charcoal in color and washed smooth by the waves. We were again lucky with the tide which was out revealing a bunch of tide pools.  After Greg and Alex finished near the lighthouse and sea loins they joined the girls on the beach. Greg and Debbie took turns relaxing with Bella a distance away from the pools while the other parent examined different pools with the kids. The kids discovered that anemones will squelch your finger if you poke them and that StarFish can come in super bright purple and orange. They watched the hermit crabs and tried to catch glimpses of little Sculpin fish. 

We could have stayed longer at the tide pools but we had to leave to get to the pie place before it closed. Greg had seen really good reviews of this pie place situated southwest of Portland. We decided to make it a stop on the way back home. As we drove east from the coast we were excited to notice a number of Tillamook dairy farm signs. The creamery gets the freshest milk for their products.

We were cutting it close making it to the pie place before closing time. Greg even dropped Debbie off at the place before finding a bathroom for the kids. Debbie was quite disappointed to see they'd sold out many of their pies. but it makes sense being close to closing time. Still, we were able to get their last chicken pie to eat for dinner, a cherry hand pie, and a small grasshopper pie for dessert. For good measure, Debbie bought a frozen, bake-at-home berry crumble pie.

After the pie stop, we finished driving home. We got home with just enough time to have a snack and get the kids in bed. We had such a fabulous weekend enjoying the Oregon coast. We are happy that we postponed for weather reasons. We're even happier that there was much more sun than we'd anticipated. The trip was exciting, relaxing, educational, and quite enjoyable. It was nice to get away just as a family.