We headed south down the 101 along the Oregon coast. We found that what people said about this coast was the absolute truth. It is gorgeous, rough, rocky vistas, angry and calm beautiful Pacific ocean.
This part of the coast between Lincoln City and Florence is considered the Central Coast, long sandy beaches, massive rock monoliths and picturesque lighthouses. We plopped down in South Beach State Park just south of Newport and mile marker 143 of 363.
This was a huge park and pretty full as they were having an antique RV event
In among all these small trailers we came barreling along and crumpled the fender of the car opposite with the tiniest tap. OOPS!!! We couldn’t even blame him, he was at the beach
We’ve had so little rain in the past few weeks but this weekend it was torrential
Spot #2
There were plenty of activities in the park, Frisbee Golf an amphitheater and walking distance to the beach
And what a difference a day makes with the weather.
Across the bridge was Newport, an interesting little town with a very active bay and marina. Seals were lounging on the rocks.
The marina had an array of shops and restaurants and fresh fish to purchase if you were there at the right time and the $$$ to pay for it.
In the mean time the locals spent their days on the crab dock, dangling their nets and cages in the water trying to catch a few Dungeness crab to save some cash and have some fun.
Apparently one drops the cage with a bag of chicken in it as bait, then wait sometimes for hours. Finally the haul is pulled from the water and at least half fall out on the way up, (someone needs to redesign this cage) then, they throw back the females and those too small, and end up with, perhaps nothing or just a bunch of seaweed or red rock crabs which didn’t appear to be popular
The Mash Transit truck sitting outside the Rogue brewery by the crab dock.
We took a trip to the aquarium, not quite up to par with the Atlanta or Chattanooga aquariums, but we did catch the sea lion performance
An otter doing what they do best
This is also the headquarters for NOAA
Away from the marina there’s another small community, Nye Beach, more restaurants and shops plus art galleries and another 4 miles of sandy beach.
We drove about 10 miles north to Depoe Bay where there was supposedly good whale watching.
Thar she blows
A sea-wall runs almost the length of the town and attracts flocks of people watching the whales play in the ocean. They spent the warm summer months in and around this bay before they migrate.
Oregon is full of cannabis shops which still feels so odd.
Time to move further south and the town of Winchester Bay and the Salmon Marina RV park, a parking lot, but it served it’s purpose. You could spend a fortune on RV parks on the Oregon Coast. One park just up the road was facing the ocean at $135 a night, we prefer to pay $30 or less.
Just around the bay was Umpqua Lighthouse
Also down the road was the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area. There were a lot of campers with ATV and UTV’s staying here.
Sunset at Winchester Bay
Coos Bay, another port town, the largest city on the coast, where we had a delicious Korean lunch.
Heceta Head Lighthouse, Florence OR
Played a round at the Florence Golf Links course. Very pretty course.
A family of deer casually roaming the course
Our golf cart began to run out of fuel at this point and we limped to the 18th fairway and got a push back to the clubhouse. Oh well, we weren’t playing that well anyway, but it was a lovely day
Were now down at mile marker 215, 148 miles left of the coast.
