It had been several months since we’d taken a trip in RC, so in early February, we hit the road for one last test run before the big journey. We figured two weeks on the Oregon Coast at this time of year would be a pretty good test. It was rainy, windy and fairly cold most of the time, with a couple of beautiful sunny days thrown in. We weathered an amazing thunderstorm one night in the Westy, and plenty of rain, but RC did great. I don’t think we will spend that long in the rain in the future, so it was a successful test all around.
We wanted to drive the *entire* Oregon coast, so that meant starting at the northwestern tip of the state: Clatsop Spit. We spent the night at Fort Stevens State Park, where we hiked to to the wreck of the Peter Iredale, the remains of shipwreck that occurred in 1906. The next morning, we walked to Fort Stevens itself, which is an abandoned military installation that once guarded the mouth of the Columbia River. Before heading south, we drove as far out on the spit as you can drive, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Columbia River. Then, we officially started making our way south down the coast to our eventual goal about 363 miles from this point, the California border.
We made our next stop Seaside, one of the biggest tourist towns on the coast. We usually don’t spend time here, but I’d been wanting to visit since we found out Seaside has one of the last Fascination parlors in the U.S! Sure enough, we visited the Funland Arcade and you can play Fascination just like in the old days at Elitch Gardens in Denver. I even won a game of Blackout, scoring me ten coupons that I traded for a Trail Blazers keychain lanyard. Not a bad haul.
We thought about pulling into Cannon Beach to take a walk on the beach at Haystack Rock, but since we been there recently on a weekend hiking trip, we continued down Highway 101 to Nehalem Bay State Park. After a rainy night in the Westy, we headed into Tillamook for a stop at the cheese factories, and then on to Cape Lookout State Park for another evening of camping. The next day, it was on to Lincoln City, where we did a lunch/work/shopping stop and then on down the coast to our first hotel stop in Otter Rock.
The Inn at Otter Crest was a perfect place for a hotel stopover, since it was more like an apartment with a full kitchen and tons of room (not to mention a fantastic ocean view from the balcony). We stayed for three very rainy days and nights, so we got some extra work done and made meals to take with for the next stretch of camping. We also did a little hiking, visiting Devil’s Punchbowl and walking along the beach. We even had time to squeeze in a trip to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, before heading further south to for a stop at Seal Rock and then on to Washburne Memorial State Park. We stayed for two nights so we would have time to hike over Heceta Head to the lighthouse on the opposite side. We also took a side trail (known as the “Hobbit Trail” because it is like a tunnel through the brush) down to the amazing beach. It was a tough, muddy hike but totally worth it. The view of the lighthouse and the ocean beaches from the trail were amazing. That night, we were treated to a massive thunderstorm, our first major storm in RC (not counting a few brief hailstorms in Yellowstone last summer).
After a little trouble with a low battery, we took off the next morning heading for the Oregon Dunes, and a quick hike. The wind was pretty bad, but we made it far enough to climb a large dune and get a taste of the area. After the hike, we headed on to North Bend for food and some work time, and then settled in for a night at Sunset Bay State Park. Next, we headed for Bandon, where we had a nice lunch right on the beach and then on to Humbug State Park for yet another rainy night.
We caught a little better weather as moved on to Gold Beach for some hiking and working, and then made it almost to the California border before stopping at Harris Beach State Park in Brookings for one more night in RC. The campground was probably the nicest of the entire trip, with great facilities and a beautiful view of the ocean from our site. After starting the day with a work session, we traveled the final ten miles to the border, completing our journey down the entire coast. Saving California for another day, we turned around and began our much quicker journey north back to Portland.
Like the new rims!