North Bend, Oregon

 We started the day with a 16 mile drive thru incredibly curvy logging roads to Drift Creek Falls....it took over 30 minutes for the drive - we met a few cars - each time having to ease by each other as the road was incredibly narrow as well.  Even though it was "out in the boonies", the trail was well maintained and well traveled as well.

The trail was a little over 3 miles round trip.  The we passed the creek several times on the way to the fall.s

There is a cool suspension bridge at the falls.

Very nice fall....noisy!

 Next on our southbound journey was Depoe Bay - famously "the world's smallest harbour".  I don't know if that is entirely true but the "cut" into the harbour is tiny.  It's fun to watch the captains navigate the narrow entrance with the tide/waves pushing them in.  They only clear the rocky sides by a few feet!  You can see a boat lining up to go into the cut.

 Watch a boat come into the harbour - appears to be at full power!

 

And here is the small protected harbour.

 Then we drove further south on Oregon highway 101....it's just an amazing road with beautiful overlooks all along the way.

 

We pulled into an "extra" lighthouse - in Newport we saw signs for the Yaquina lighthouse. Wasn't on our itinerary but we had time so we did the short trail to see it.

 

Then it was lunch time so we pulled into a little state park that had picnic tables.  Enjoyed seeing all the birds on the rocks.  By the way, it was 72 degrees so quite enjoyable!

More roadside views!

 

 

 

Next on the list was a short stroll to see Thor's Well - like a large blow hole that "erupts" with high tides.

 

A little video of an eruption.

 And the last visit on the list was the Heaceta Head lighthouse.  Just another beautiful  lighthouse and an easy 1/2 mile hike.

 

Went inside the base of the lighthouse where a volunteer was giving info.  Cool brick interior.

 

A little more driving to get to North Bend for our next AirBnb....cool sand dunes along the drive.

That's it for the day!  Further south tomorrow.

Lincoln City, Oregon

 First on the agenda was the Astoria Column.  It's a 125' tall lighthouse-like structure that was built in 1926 to honor the discovery and settlement of the western areas. 

  It sits high above Astoria and gives a beautiful view from the top (after you climb 160 stairs, that is...)

 

Nicely maintained inside....

 

It was a fun little walk.  

Moving south, the next stop was a curvy ride up the park road to Ecola St. Park.  Some elk grazing beside the parking area

 Just awe inspiring views!  These photos are from Ecola Point, Indian Beach and Cannon Beach.

Lighthouse at Ecola.

Duane snapped a photo of me....

 

 Lots of  "pull over" on the side of the road shots as well.  

And what visit to the Oregon coast would be complete without visiting the Tillamook cheese factory for a tour!!  (And samples!!)

 

 It was good fun - the samples were wonderful....I wanted to buy an ice cream but the line looked an hour long....no thanks....

Fun to see the process - looks complicated and very clean.

Back on the road....now to visit the Cape Meares lighthouse.  More beautiful views.

 

Short light house on a high cliff.

 

View from the lighthouse.

 Next up was to visit "Tunnel Beach"....which is technically on the Oceanside beach.  It's a 90' long tunnel dug in 1926 by resort owners to cut thru the ocean side mountain to connect one side of the beaches to the other side.  Totally commercial - I had assumed it was some sort of military thing....

Inside the tunnel.

The tunnel opening on the other side of the hill.

View out of the tunnel.....

Just one of those kinda weird things.....

The last stop was to check out Cape Kiawanda where there is a large, tall sand dune.  They allow hang gliding from the top of the dune.  But it was just too far for us to walk over so late in the day so we ended up giving a close up view a pass.  You can see some para gliders on the dune if you look close.  Strange to see a dune so high here since most of the beaches so far have been extremely flat.

 

 And then there were many more "pull out" photos as we drove to Lincoln City for the evening.....