Coasting down the Coast!

Day 85 – Thursday, September 5

This morning we drove from Washington to the Oregon border, and began our journey along another “Most Scenic Drive in America”.  This is a 363 mile drive along the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway.  The 101 highway begins at Astoria, Oregon, which is connected to Washington by a 4 mile bridge.   This bridge is the longest continuous three-span, through truss bridge in the world!  It used to be a toll bridge, but the bonds were paid off, so it is now a freeway across the state border.  Astoria is the oldest town this side of the Rockies…a neat little town.

We stopped for fuel just as we entered Oregon.  It was the cheapest diesel fuel we’ve seen since we left home, at $3.78 per gallon!   The gas station was right next to the water, and as we filled up with fuel, we could hear the seals or sea lions barking…just struck me funny!  This picture is from the gas station parking lot!

Oregon is America’s leading source of timber, as we saw with the ships being loaded. 

And, they have a beautiful coastline!  It is different than we’ve seen before, with lots of rocks, and wide sandy beaches.  An unique and interesting thing is that the  beaches are all accessible to the public…there are no private beaches, by law.  We stopped for lunch at Cannon Beach, and checked in at the visitor center, where we found that the city was named  the #1 Dog-Friendly community!!   Spot was thrilled!  He was able to go for a romp on the beach, which he thoroughly enjoyed!  Dogs can go leash-free as long as they can be controlled by voice commands.

The weather here was nice in the morning, but clouded up a bit, although we were able to have lunch outside.  But then, it rained late this afternoon.  We heard thunder for the first time since we left home!   The temperature is in the high 60’s, so not too bad.

There were some great landmarks that we could see from Cannon Beach:

Haystack Rock is a 235 ft tall rock sitting just off the shore.  It is said to be one of the most photographed sights on the coast.   It is a Wildlife Refuge, and during low tides, the rangers will take you out to the rock to explore the various marine life and birds that make their home around the rock.

Another iconic structure that we saw was the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.  It was commissioned in 1881 to help guide ships entering the Columbia River. It was nicknamed “Terrible Tilly”, because it sat high above the sea level, and was exposed to storm waves which often caused damage.  It isn’t used anymore but has been preserved as a historical landmark.

We made it about 60 miles down the coastline, and stopped at Tillamook Bay for the night.  We will do more exploring tomorrow as we continue down the coast.  It’s been a little different because we don’t have specific plans on how far we will go, or where we will stop.  After our 48 day caravan where everything was planned, this is a little different for us.  It’s good that Jim got practice driving on curvy roads in Alaska, because these are just as curvy, sometimes just as narrow, and sometimes just as bumpy, but they are paved roads, not dirt!