Oregon Coast

 Last week we got a away for a few days to tour the Oregon Coast.  We are ocean people, for sure and for certain!  Most of the vacations we've taken as a family are jam packed from start to finish with much driving and daily destinations pre-planned.  For this vacation we "winged" it- we had a basic plan; to travel from home to the Redwood National Forest via Highway 101.  There was some pre-planning, just checking into attractions along the way, we did not make one camping reservation for this trip, we hunted for a camping spot each night, just like my family did when I was growing up {remember, the pre-internet days????}

I have many pictures to go through, to make this post a little quicker and easier for myself, I'm just going to give a brief description of the places we visited {no links either, I had about 20 minutes to put this post together} .  As I'm going through the photos in the next few weeks if I find one I really like, I might share then...

FORT STEVENS STATE PARK near Astoria, OR.  This is a really neat park, it is huge, and  has several beaches and  bunkers to explore. The highlight is the ship wreck on the beach of the "Peter Iredale"; a ship that ran aground a hundred years ago, miraculously everyone survived.  We were able to park and open up our trailer, cooking supper right on the Pacific Ocean, it was beautiful!

CANNON BEACH, OR- Beautiful wide sandy beaches, charming town, Haystack Rock is located on Cannon Beach.

HECETA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE- Historic lighthouse, still intact, maintained by the local lighthouse historical society, recently it was vandalized by a couple young men how shot at the restored lenses; the group is working to restore it again.

TILLAMOOK CHEESE FACTORY-  Ice cream for lunch! Yum!  We observed parts of the cheese making and packaging process.  We really did eat ice cream for lunch, favorite flavour, Yellow Funfetti Cake and "squeaky cheese" {AKA unaged cheese curds}

OREGON DUNES NATIONAL PARK-  Up for a work out?  try climbing up and over the soft golden sand of the dunes!!!  It was a challenge! We ate lunch in the staging area for the ATV's; those folks have a good time!

Camping literally on the beach, at BEACHFRONT RV PARK in Brookings Harbor, OR.  This was so cool we were just feet away from the powerful waves of the Pacific. We fell asleep to the crashing waves.

TREES OF MYSTERY- Klamath, CA.  If you live on the west coast you must take the family to this destination at least once.  Driving through the REDWOODS NATIONAL FOREST was a treat in it's self.  At the Trees of Mystery, there are descriptions and displays of God's handy work. The highlight is the "Sky Trail" a gondola ride up to the top of the hill, on a clear day you can see to the ocean. It was foggy for our visit, everyone except I rode up {irrational fear of heights!}

At this point we turned inland, up Highway 199, which took us to Grants Pass, OR.  We found a camp ground right along the Rogue River, again we were just feet away, it was magnificent!  We panned for gold in the river, the children found a few tiny flecks.

Our final pre-planned "destination" was to WILDLIFE SAFARI in Winston, OR.  A drive thru- zoo experience; it was super cool.  An emu found our car especially inviting, we were stuck for a bit trying to get him distracted so we could drive on! There is a walk through village also.  The children rode on a camel and we all went out to feed the giraffe's.  We loaded up in the back of a pick up with a cage on it-  It was like a real safari vehicle, when we got to where the giraffes were, we just fed them lettuce, carrots and bananas from our hands.... It was quite an experience!

We had beautiful weather, no rain at all!  Only a few morning clouds in southern Oregon/Northern California one day.  There was about a thousand other things we could have done along the way, just too much to squeeze into a few days. 

Next week we will begin school, light, but school- The summer break just flew by!