The Oregon Coast

Who doesn’t love the Oregon Coast?

Every time I visit the Oregon coast I’m always in awe.  And I never seem to remember in between visits how beautiful it is and how much I enjoy it.

Friends of mine live on the Oregon coast near Rockaway Beach just south of the Nehalem River, a particularly gorgeous section of the Oregon coast.  I took the big white truck (without the trailer) down to visit these friends of mine at the end of August, 2017.  [A website about windsurfing the area is here.  A website about fishing the Nehalem is here.]

My friends don’t live right on the beach, but they are close.  Their home is an easy three or four block walk directly from the house to the beach.  However, the usual walk they take (and the one we took while I was there) is longer than just that three or four blocks, but more than worth the extra time and effort.

We walked through a quiet residential area with older weekend beach cabins and newer full-time homes (sample right snipped off the internet), then we walked about a 1/4 mile south to a nearby park, and then we had easy access to the beach.  And then it was a beautiful beach walk north for a mile or so, then a scramble up onto the breakwater that borders the southern edge of the outflow of the Nehalem River.  We scrambled along on top of the large rocky rip-rap breakwater (it was easier than it sounds) until we clambered down off the breakwater further inland and then followed some paths back into and through a large grove of trees (photo left also taken off the internet), finally arriving back at my friends’ home.

 

The beach and the Pacific Ocean.

In the photo above, the breakwater along the southern side of the entrance to the Nehalem River can be seen in the distance.  I imagine this walk would be spectacular during a storm!

After a four-day visit with my friends, on my way home I headed north along the coast rather than inland to the freeway.  Who would choose the freeway over this?!  I didn’t get far.  The parking lot in the photo above was Hug Point State Park and was only about a half hour drive north of my friends’ home.  I just couldn’t resist one last look at the ocean and one last walk on the beach.  (The big white truck is on the right above.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Japan is out there … clear across the Pacific Ocean, about 4,500 miles by the polar route.  The northern tip of Japan is pretty much directly in line with where that fisher-person is fishing in the photos here, same latitude.

 

 

 

After a brief beach walk, I trekked back up to the truck ready to hit the road for home, but stopped to take a few photos of the trees and the ferns and other greenery along the side of the parking lot.

 

Lots of trees here had these burls on them.  A friend of mine tells me burls are created by trees in response to an injury of some sort, whether chemical or insects or damage from high winds (or damage by people) and that the burls are often used by people to create bowls or spoons or wooden boxes or other interesting wood carvings, even furniture if the burls are big enough.  I’ve seen those types of things for sale in stores but don’t remember ever seeing a burl on a tree before.  There’s so much to see in the world!

 

This burl looked like it was trying to grow new trees.

This tree’s burls made it look like the face of a somewhat bewildered fellow.

And then I jumped into my truck and headed home.

There are an almost uncountable number of places to RV on the Oregon coast, especially if you are boondocking and don’t need an electrical hookup.  Oregon has a liberal boondocking policy … you can stay along Highway 101 (along the Pacific Ocean coast) for free up to 12 hours overnight at any roadside turnout not otherwise posted as “no overnight parking”.  An early spring drive down Highway 101 (once I get more electricity on board my trailer) is now on my list!

On another subject entirely, I want to add a personal note of THANK YOU to everyone who reads this blog and to everyone who writes a comment, whether you are signed up for automatic email notices or not (you can sign up in the upper right hand corner of this webpage, if you would like to).  I don’t check statistics every day, but I do check every once in a while.  I’m using the free WordPress application for this blog so I don’t get detailed statistics, but I can see generally the total number of viewers and which countries are included in that number of viewers.  A few days ago some folks from Finland started reading the blog … hei!  I love that this blog is being read in several different countries.  Please feel free to share it with others who might enjoy it.  Safe travels, everyone. 🙂

 

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12 Responses to The Oregon Coast

  1. What beautiful country! I’ve never been to Oregon but it’s on my short list to make a trek out there. I understand about wanting to take that last walk to say goodbye (for now) to the ocean. I do that too, when I’m staying on Lake Michigan. I drive along the lake for as long as I can before heading inland, and I watch it in my rear view mirror for as long as it’s there. I hate saying goodbye to “my” lake!

    Have a wonderful holiday!

    • Ann says:

      Dawn in Michigan,
      I’ve never seen Lake Michigan, but would love to. My father was born in Kalamazoo, though he and his dad moved to Seattle when my father was just 4 years old. Still, that lake seems to speak to me. There’s something about water that touches many of us. You and I will have to trade places one of these days. 🙂
      Merry Christmas to you and yours!

  2. Jan says:

    Thanks for pics of the beautiful coastline, Ann. I love their windblown trees and the many changes in habitat along that coast.

    Oregon’s Public Beach Access Law (1967) is awesome. Every inch of the beach is open to the public. And for the most part it works, I think. But, of course, owners of beach property try regularly to have that law set aside. In the meantime, Oregon is a dream coastline for all of us. Three Cheers for Oregon, an amazing state in many respects.
    Jan, from neighboring Washington State.

    • Ann says:

      Jan,
      You are welcome! I love taking pics of things that I love, and sharing them for others to enjoy too.
      I knew about the Oregon law that allowed boondocking along Highway 101, but I didn’t know about the Oregon Beach Access law. Yes indeed, three cheers to Oregon for keeping their ocean beaches open to the public!
      Merry Christmas to you and yours. 🙂

  3. Ginger D says:

    I use to visit Oregon a lot when I was a kid. It’s one of my favorite states. It is so beautiful. I haven’t been there since the 70’s. My parents had friends that owned a steak and seafood restaurant (it was called The Castaway) right on highway 101 in Rockaway Beach. We visited with them and I worked as a waitress for one night in the restaurant. Lol. Walked across the highway to the beach. Great memories. I enjoyed seeing your pictures.

    • Ann says:

      Ginger D,
      Do you know if that restaurant was re-named the “Sand Dollar”? We ate dinner one evening in Rockaway Beach at the Sand Dollar restaurant and there is a sign on the wall that says it used to be called the Castaway … and that it is currently owned by the Castaway Restaurant that now is in Canon Beach several miles north nearer the Columbia River. Maybe I ate at the restaurant where you worked that one day! What a hoot! 🙂
      Merry Christmas to you and yours.

      • Ginger D says:

        It sure sounds like the same restaurant. It wasn’t a very large place at the time, but the food was amazing. My parents friends that owned it (Hank and Fern Downing) lived in a mobile home behind the restaurant. It was a fun place for me, for one night. Lol. 1975…

    • Ginger D says:

      Hope you had a nice Christmas. Happy New Year

      • Ann says:

        Thanks Ginger. Thinking about it now, I think we had lunch there, not dinner, and when I look at photos of the place online, heck it might not even have been the same place. But I don’t care 🙂 I like to think it was the same place where you were.
        Happy New Year to you too.

  4. Ann says:

    Merry Christmas to EVERYONE!!! 🙂

  5. Kristin says:

    Absolutely wonderful pictures. I can sure see why you enjoyed it.

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