Tillimook to Astoria
We started back up the Oregon coast today, hoping to make our last stop in Oregon tonight and enter Washington first thing tomorrow morning.
The weather was supposed to break, but was foggy and drizzly most of the day, with occasional more serious rain. We have been so lucky with the weather that we really can’t complain. But I am a little nervous about the snow forecast for this weekend as we should be in the mountains then. Oh well. We do still have the chains.
We drove through Rockaway Beach and stopped to admire the beach there. Besides the name, the town itself reminds me of a New Jersey shore town—the same type housing and the same little businesses. There are tons of new condos going up near the beach.
Next we checked out Nehalem Bay. The views of the hills along the Nehalem River were wonderful with the clouds hovering over and partly obscuring them.
The view changed by the minute. We drove onto some back roads to see them better. Tom took pictures from every vantage point.
We continued back up Route 101 to see some coastal towns and views.
We continued back up Route 101 to see some coastal towns and views.The town of Manzanita is lovely. We had to leave the 101 to find it, then had a bit of trouble finding our way back, but the residential areas and views of the dunes and ocean beaches were well worth the detour.
There are beautiful homes from the beach up the lower slopes of Neahkahnie Mountain. We couldn’t resist driving up to take a peek at them.
On the beach a wind surfer was setting up, but never did go in the water. We were hoping to see him do his thing. Maybe conditions were not right.
We stopped at several overlooks Oswald West State Park, the first on Neahkahnie Mountain which gave us a high up view of the beach where we had just been
Tom said seeing the beach from that viewpoint reminded him of pictures he had seen of Hawaii.
Overlook in Oswald West State Park:
Arcadia Beach was another great overlook.
Hug Point had a rock beach—not gravel, rocks, some small, some at least six inches in diameter. It was a rough walking. Some of the rocks were real ankle twisters.
There was a cave at the end of the beach that shouted “photo opportunity” to me.
Tom agreed to pose in the cave with no grumbling at that moment, though I heard him mumble something about the fact that I was now worse than he was with the camera.
The next pull off had a path to the beach, but we were still resting from our rock clambering over beach.
The following couple of pull offs had no names listed on convenient signs, but we began to see Haystack Rock for the first time, which I had been looking forward to catching sight of. Our tourist literature informed us that Haystack Rock, 325 feet tall, is the third largest monolith in the world (but it failed to mention what the two largest ones are.)
We finally arrived at Tozonana Beach, in the town of Cannon Beach, where Haystack Rock actually looms majestically off the beach. We were now on a level with the monolith (seastack) and not just looking down at it from the heights.
It was cold and windy and we were chilled to the bone, but walked down the beach to get as close to Haystack as we could.
Tom was thrilled to find he could see “Terrible Tilly”, the third Tillamook lighthouse, which is actually the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. We could see it far out beyond Haystack. My camera could not capture it except as a dot.
Tilly was built on a sea stack one and a half miles off the Tillamook Point in 1879-81, taking 525 days to finish. Both the construction workers and the later four man crews who kept the light burning from 1881 to 1957, found the conditions uncomfortable and hazardous. It was not most desirable lighthouse duty.
The lighthouse is now a private columbarium. Tom has now decided on his final resting place.
Our next destination was Seaside, where we stopped to thaw out and eat a late lunch. Seaside is a huge resort town with lots of trendy shops and restaurants and an upscale outlet mall. It is known for the Promenade, a walkway between the edge of town and the ocean. We had planned on walking it, but it was too cold and windy by then with the light rain that was falling more constantly. We did admire the beach from several vantage points from the warmth of the car.
Neither of us had realized how many sandy beaches and beach towns there are in Oregon. We didn’t know you could live on the beach in Oregon, but many people do just that. There are gorgeous rocky areas of coast, but also wonderful wide sand beaches. I think they may not want the whole world to know about this. It is so beautiful—and we are assured this cold damp weather is not typical this time of year. (But all natives say that about their home places.)
We took a drive out to Fort Stevens (the US major defense for the mouth of the Columbia from the Civil War until the end of WWII). We saw remains of some old coastal defenses that reminded us of similar ones on each coast we had seen in both California and in New Jersey. There was a cool view of the bridge between Oregon and Washington at the point of the cape.
We crossed Young’s Bay into Astoria then drove up Coxcomb Hill to see The Astoria Column. The views of Astoria, the mountains in both Washington and Oregon, and the bay were not as extensive as they would have been if it had not been stormy, but still pretty awesome.
My favorite part was that they have heated rest rooms. I think I really frightened a woman who was inside drying her hands when I burst through the door and exclaimed "Heat! How wonderful!" She took a careful step backward and watched me warily, but did smile bravely, just a bit as she edged out the door.
We found a hotel on the river and called it a day. We have a wonderful view of the river and can see large ships coming into the harbor. We are just opposite the shipping lane. It is really cool!
There are beautiful homes from the beach up the lower slopes of Neahkahnie Mountain. We couldn’t resist driving up to take a peek at them.On the beach a wind surfer was setting up, but never did go in the water. We were hoping to see him do his thing. Maybe conditions were not right.
We stopped at several overlooks Oswald West State Park, the first on Neahkahnie Mountain which gave us a high up view of the beach where we had just been
Tom said seeing the beach from that viewpoint reminded him of pictures he had seen of Hawaii.Overlook in Oswald West State Park:
Arcadia Beach was another great overlook.
Hug Point had a rock beach—not gravel, rocks, some small, some at least six inches in diameter. It was a rough walking. Some of the rocks were real ankle twisters.
There was a cave at the end of the beach that shouted “photo opportunity” to me.
Tom agreed to pose in the cave with no grumbling at that moment, though I heard him mumble something about the fact that I was now worse than he was with the camera.
The next pull off had a path to the beach, but we were still resting from our rock clambering over beach.
The following couple of pull offs had no names listed on convenient signs, but we began to see Haystack Rock for the first time, which I had been looking forward to catching sight of. Our tourist literature informed us that Haystack Rock, 325 feet tall, is the third largest monolith in the world (but it failed to mention what the two largest ones are.)
We finally arrived at Tozonana Beach, in the town of Cannon Beach, where Haystack Rock actually looms majestically off the beach. We were now on a level with the monolith (seastack) and not just looking down at it from the heights.
It was cold and windy and we were chilled to the bone, but walked down the beach to get as close to Haystack as we could.
Tom was thrilled to find he could see “Terrible Tilly”, the third Tillamook lighthouse, which is actually the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. We could see it far out beyond Haystack. My camera could not capture it except as a dot.Tilly was built on a sea stack one and a half miles off the Tillamook Point in 1879-81, taking 525 days to finish. Both the construction workers and the later four man crews who kept the light burning from 1881 to 1957, found the conditions uncomfortable and hazardous. It was not most desirable lighthouse duty.
The lighthouse is now a private columbarium. Tom has now decided on his final resting place.
Our next destination was Seaside, where we stopped to thaw out and eat a late lunch. Seaside is a huge resort town with lots of trendy shops and restaurants and an upscale outlet mall. It is known for the Promenade, a walkway between the edge of town and the ocean. We had planned on walking it, but it was too cold and windy by then with the light rain that was falling more constantly. We did admire the beach from several vantage points from the warmth of the car.
Neither of us had realized how many sandy beaches and beach towns there are in Oregon. We didn’t know you could live on the beach in Oregon, but many people do just that. There are gorgeous rocky areas of coast, but also wonderful wide sand beaches. I think they may not want the whole world to know about this. It is so beautiful—and we are assured this cold damp weather is not typical this time of year. (But all natives say that about their home places.)
We took a drive out to Fort Stevens (the US major defense for the mouth of the Columbia from the Civil War until the end of WWII). We saw remains of some old coastal defenses that reminded us of similar ones on each coast we had seen in both California and in New Jersey. There was a cool view of the bridge between Oregon and Washington at the point of the cape.
We crossed Young’s Bay into Astoria then drove up Coxcomb Hill to see The Astoria Column. The views of Astoria, the mountains in both Washington and Oregon, and the bay were not as extensive as they would have been if it had not been stormy, but still pretty awesome.
We could not climb the column itself as it was closed due to the weather--it was very windy and cold.
The Astoria Column is 125 feet tall and has 14 murals etched and painted into the concrete surface in a spiral pattern telling the history of this area. It is quite amazing to see.
The Astoria Column is 125 feet tall and has 14 murals etched and painted into the concrete surface in a spiral pattern telling the history of this area. It is quite amazing to see.
My favorite part was that they have heated rest rooms. I think I really frightened a woman who was inside drying her hands when I burst through the door and exclaimed "Heat! How wonderful!" She took a careful step backward and watched me warily, but did smile bravely, just a bit as she edged out the door.
We found a hotel on the river and called it a day. We have a wonderful view of the river and can see large ships coming into the harbor. We are just opposite the shipping lane. It is really cool!
Tomorrow on to Washington!
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