Our Riverfront Property

Our last night at Beverly Beach State Park was clear and perfect for a sunset walk. 

Scattered along the beach amidst all the drift wood, small shelters had been constructed and campfires were glowing, such a perfect beach moment. 

We were back at the beach first thing the next morning for an early walk that seemed to go on forever. The Oregon beaches are long and pristine with so few people in sight, seems you could walk forever.   The Yaquina Head and Lighthouse are in the near distance but were hidden in fog that morning.

We were moving further north to Lincoln City but had a few stops along the way. Loved our first sight, The Devil’s Punchbowl!

 It was cold and windy but so worth the stop. When you look over the cliff you can see a hollow rock formation shaped like a huge punchbowl, created by the collapse of the roof over 2 sea caves. The ocean slams into the small opening and makes quite the splash.

a darling ice cream and espresso shop near the cliff with fantastic ice cream...Paul’s pick was “Espresso Madness”. 

Even though it was only 11:15 had to stop for a small bowl of the best clam chowder at Mo’s, a local favorite all along this part of the coast. A short distance north of this was the Cape Foul Weather and another beautiful view of the coastline.

Only about a 35 mile drive and we headed inland to our next park, Chinook Bend RV Park along the Siletz River. We stayed 3 nights and loved it!  Warmer and sunnier than the beaches and nothing like having your own river front view. Doesn’t get much better than this!

The river is well loved by fishermen so we sit here and watch them all day slowly trawling the river for the Chinook salmon caught here. Such a peaceful setting...there’s even a blue heron that hangs out on the dock.

On the opposite bank the forest comes right to the river’s edge while we are in a wide meadow.  The park reminds me of a fun summer camp; there’s a little camp store, a boat dock where you can rent kayaks or boats, a pitch and chip golf course, volleyball nets and a wonderful walking path along the river that’s just cut through the grass.

Tents are just pitched in an open field, European camping style. There are also several of these darling cabins which rent for only $45 a night!!! 

Saturday we moved to a nearby Elk’s Park, again a beautiful setting, wide open grassy area surrounded by forest. The day was warm and clear, perfect for a drive along the coast to see those places that were covered in fog on Wednesday...what a difference the sun makes! Stopped at several viewpoints including this beautiful Rocky Creek Bridge one of hundreds built during a boom of road construction in the 1930s.

We made it just in time to tour the Yaquina Lighthouse down near Newport.

Really strong cold winds blowing outside, we climbed the 110 steps to the top to view the now automated light. Rangers dressed in period clothing tell the story of life there but how anyone could live there is amazing, at times winds can be up to 100 mph! 

The beaches right near the lighthouse are lava formed and very black, so different from the white sand of beaches we’ve seen.

Now...time to decide where to go tomorrow, we do know we’ll be in Portland on Tuesday...bought our Pink Martini concert tickets today!  YES!!!

Sign of the day...