Making our way south on the Oregon coast, we stopped at Cape Blanco State Park based on others’  recommendations.It was First come first served and we found a site without a problem.

This area is full of artists, the landscapes making it such a draw. Also glassblowers and potters are abundant in the area.

The Cape Blanco lighthouse is the western most point of Oregon.

A few miles south of Cape Blanco is the town of Port Orford, with it’s artistic community

Mile upon mile of deserted beaches, towards the south, it’s more about accessibility, not easy to get down those cliffs.

 

The dock is the only open water port on the coast and one of only six “dolliy” ports in the world, where boats are hoisted out of the water via crane. We even got a demonstration while we were there.

We visited the town of Bandon and the old town district which is a center for art galleries, shops and restaurants.  Bandon is also known as the cranberry capital of Oregon and we passed many cranberry  bogs along the highway

There is a community art project that raises awareness of marine debris.

These pieces of art was made entirely from trash gathered from the beach and ocean.

 

We headed South toward Brookings and passed Gold Beach along the way, one of the many places we were thinking of staying, (you can’t stop everywhere)

 

The further south we drove we noticed the forests were growing quite close to the shoreline

Now for final leg of the trip down the Oregon coast and the town of Brookings, which is the last town before entering California.

We stayed at Alfred E Loeb State Park along the Cheto river, which gave us great access to get to the Redwood Forest, just across the border into California.

Brookings is a large port with more than 670 boat slips and state af the art fueling facilities.

Some great restaurants too.

Redwood forests are plentiful in northern California and stretch from the northern border to Big Sur. There are about a dozen parks with “redwood” in their name, so we went for the Jedediah Smith park

As soon as we entered the forest it was yet another “wow” moment. You’re told the trees are huge, but its not until you see them that you understand the size and beauty of these trees. Some are up to 36 stories high.

So glad we came here on a weekday so we could stop and marvel at these magnificent old growths.

We’ve really enjoyed traveling down the coast. From north to south we’ve explored so many places and the weather has been great. Considering Oregon Coasts reputation as rainy , foggy and cold, we had blue skies 90% of the time. Met some really nice people too, who we tend to meet at restaurants or the campgrounds. Interesting people from all walks of life, although most were vacationing from Portland which is an easy drive