Day 17: The Stunning Oregon Coast

Mile 2913: We say goodbye to Portland

We decided to take the long, scenic view on our way down the coast. Many people told us that the coast is beautiful, but it is agonizingly long. With that knowledge in hand, we broke up our drive into smaller segments so that we wouldn't become overwhelmed and exhausted by the drive. We had 5 hours of drive time for our first day.

The first 30 minutes of the drive was a little bit boring... just city freeway driving. It was our first day of misty weather. I can't complain after 2 weeks of perfect sunshine.

We drove into the Tillamook Forest through Rt26. There were lots of trees. James was in heaven and kept telling me how he would hang out here all the time if we lived in Portland.

Tillamook is a temperate rain forest. There were lots of trees. 

We picked up a great little brochure at the park's visitor center that gave some details on the Oregon coastal drive down the 101. It gave us tips on places to whale watch on our drive. Neither one of us have ever seen a whale in it's natural environment. It would be super cool if we could see a whale.

Mile 2992: Cape Lookout

Before we even get on the 101, we stopped at Cape Lookout- the first scenic overlook. The brochure we picked up mentioned this was a good place for whale spotting.

We had to pay $5 for the view- but it was the state park fee for all day. 

Picnic area walking up the the scenic vista

No whales.

It was very beautiful with the mist and gray clouds. 

James attempting to whale watch

Well, there were no whales, but it was a picturesque landscape. We were a little sad that we paid $5 and didn't get to see any whales (and the only restroom was a porta-potty).

There was fog on the mountain. James grew up in the Shenandoah Valley, so he was accustomed to driving on foggy mountains. I am a wimp.

Stopping at the next scenic overlook...

More beautiful beach (and lake) scenes. No whales

We thought our readers would enjoy another one of our self portraits. You are welcome. 

Now we are starting to get hungry. Time to figure out lunch. We finally hit the 101 and we pass all of these cute little towns. What a beautiful place this must be in the middle of summer! It is just one adorable beach town after another. The mountains are on one side, town with lots of restaurants in the middle, and beach/ ocean to the other side. Streams and lakes are everywhere. It's actually a little confusing to this east coaster.

Mile 3033: Lincoln City

Lincoln City was our destination for lunch. We were looking for a place called Dory's Cove. It was one of the recommendations from our Road Food Book. Instead of Dory's Cove, we found this strange house.

We decide Dory's Cove has closed down, so we used our modern technology (iPhone app for Yelp) and landed at the Blackfish Cafe.

James had clam chowder that was lovely.

We shared a sandwich & forgot to take a picture. This is the Black fish Cafe's homemade ding dong. We are not big on dessert, but it was mentioned on almost every yelp review so we tried this 1/2 order. It was nice. The cream was the best part. I don't feel too guilty as it was our first dessert of the trip. James has a guilty face. I should have taken a picture.

Mile 3055: Yaquina Head

After lunch, we're back on the 101 heading south. I fall asleep for a 10 minute post-lunch nap (being unemployed is hard work) and James is pulling into another scenic stop. Our first Oregon lighthouse. Prepare yourself for lots of photos. Most of you know that I have been all over the world, but this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

I should probably tell you the name of the place with the breathtaking scenery... Yaquina Head

Just getting out of the car, we spot this lighthouse. 

Really nice, classic lighthouse

This is the view as we climb down the mountain for a closer look at nature

No whales

Close-up view in the water of the sea anemone

If you can get in close to this picture, you can see the white dots are sea lions. They are on the rock furthest away. Good thing our binoculars are better than our cameras!

This is what we were walking on. No sand here. I would have called them river rocks, but we are on the Pacific Ocean. 

Still no whales

I don't think the photos really do it justice. It was misty, dark, moody and really quite breathtaking. It was almost the opposite of what you would see in Hawaii, but equally beautiful. I would highly recommend a trip for all my designer friends. It's a very aesthetically inspiring place. Fall 14 here we come!

Back on the road, we stopped at a few more scenic view points.

Now that we are out of the city, campers return as the bane of our trip

Here you can see one of the rivers meeting the ocean. Apparently this is where the salmon sneak in

Mile 3108:

We finally hit our hotel in Florence, OR. It was called the River House Inn.

View of bridge from our room

View of sand dunes from our view

I'm having trouble getting this to read in the proper direction, but please note: head to the Dairy Queen in case of tsunami. Good advice.

We went for a nice, albeit long dinner at a place called Restobar. The food was terrific, but it took 20 minutes for my salad to arrive. It wasn't that crowded. We were so hungry we forgot to take pictures of my salad and James' tuna.

We almost entirely missed a photo of this meat lovers pizza we shared. 

Walking back to our hotel we saw this dedicated boater. 

Tomorrow: more Oregon coast. Will we ever see a whale? Maybe on the drive to Brookings OR.