RV Trip Oregon Coast

Summary of time:
· Train to Portland
· Meet up with my parents
· Oregon Coast – rugged, big long sandy beaches, sea mist
· Walking on the beach
· Sand dune buggy ride

Handy hints –
§ Good maps and information about campsites
§ Good camera for the views
§ Go with a driver on the sand dunes
§ Know how to light a campfire, and make sure you have marshmallows!

Sleeping on the train is definitely more comfortable than a bus, there is much more space in the seating area, and also the seat goes back as well as the foot rest coming up, so much more comfortable to stretch out. Be aware that the air conditioning will be on so it gets cooler. The train made various stops in the night, but i wasn’t really aware of them, except that i got a “seat buddy”.
I was awake around 6ish, so headed off to the observation car, and the “cafe” to grab a cup of tea, and then sat in the observation car to see the last of the sunrise over the mountains. We were still in North California, but according to fellow travellers we had made up the lost time, and we would be on time for our first stop in Oregon.
Grabbing some breakfast, and a second cup, i stayed in the obs car rather than disturbing my neighbour and did my cross stitch watching the world pass by, we were travelling through hills and valleys that i don’t think that you would have seen if you were in the car. Then we stopped. Some problem further up on the line. Half an hour later we set off, and we were then late into our stops, but slowly caught up some time by the time we got to Portland.
I managed to catch a bit more sleep – well dozed – chatted with my neighbour, and watched the world go by.
Arriving in Portland, there was the nervousness about a new place, but at least i would be meeting my parents...but what if they were delayed?!?!
Getting off the train, i wandered into the station there was loads of people, but not a sign of my parents, shortly after my dad strolled in. It was so nice to see him.
Mum was in the RV sorting stuff out, so whilst dad went for a wander to look at trains and bridges, i unpacked my stuff and grabbed something to eat.
It was gone 4 o’clock and the plan was to get south of Salem, and find somewhere to stop, but also we needed to get fuel. Dad drove, Mum navigated, and i sat and relaxed. We didn’t have a map of Portland, but knew which road we were heading for, so it was a case of looking for the signs. We got onto I5 with no problems.
We headed south, got past Salem and onto Albany, where we found a supermarket to bring up a few little things (they had done a biggish shop the night before for all the basics), and then to get some fuel.
We found the directions to a KOA site (this is a chain, and at most of their sights you will find a swimming pool, free internet, and other amenities). We were all tired, and just wanted to get settled. Mum and dad had had a stressful couple of days, so it was time for us all to relax.
It was good to have some of mum’s cooking. We discussed vague plans of what we would want to do, a few things had to be done on or by a specific date, but the rest was a bit vague. We would head towards the coast, spend a few days there, then head north east, into Washington State heading north west, then across to Vancouver Island and to Vancouver for mum’s flight home in just under 3 weeks, when dad and i would head towards the Rockies, then go our separate ways, so dad had a week on his own before flying home. My kind of plan.
After a leisurely breakfast, we headed to Corvallis, a college town, but they also had a fabric shop. Mum has recently started quilting, so wanted to see the fabric and other things, see what was cheaper, but also ideas for things to make, so dad went for a coffee, whilst we went shopping.
Our next choice was did we want to head straight to the coast or stop in the hills before that, the general consensus was the coast. We drove on for a while, and then pulled over for lunch. The roadside where we stopped had loads of blackberry bushes with ripe blackberries, so dad and i went scrumping! We were doing well, till i stretched too far, and fell with a thud, dropping all that i had picked. Fortunately it was a relative soft landing, and not in the brambles.
After lunch it was my turn to drive. This was the biggest vehicle that i had driven, 26 ft, but steering was easy, and it was automatic. I was used to driving on the other side of the road, i just needed to remember when going round corners that it was bigger, and needed a bit more space!
It was a nice road to drive, twisting and turning through the hills, forests, and not too much traffic, but i was good and pulled over to let them pass.
Leaving the Siuslaw National Forest we arrive at the Coast at Waldport, situated on the Alsea Bay – a great place for fishing, crabbing and clamming. We headed south onto Highway 101, the Oregon Coast Scenic Byway. There is lots of information about places to stop along the route. We passed through Yachats, another small community where Arts and Crafts abound, and continued on passing scenic areas, where you can stop for picnics, go for walks in the forest, watch the crashing surf, and look at the tide pools.....
We were heading for the George Washburne State Park, a campground near a beach where there was also a walk to the lighthouse. On all state park campgrounds there is an allowance of sites for people just turning up, they are available on first come first served basis.
Finding a site, and i successfully reversed the RV into the site, following the guidance from Dad, we soon got settled. Being in the forest, meant that the darkness seemed to come quickly. Having a quick drink, dad and i headed off to the beach, walking through the creepy forest, under the highway, we walked out on a big white sandy beach. There was a little sea mist, but we still got great views of a big beach with hardly anyone around. We went paddling in the Pacific Ocean, the last time i had done that was almost 16 years ago, when i’d been on holiday with my parents and brother down in California.
We saw a tree stump, quite close to the water’s edge, which looked really odd, but gave some arty photos. Also we got to see some of the sea life...small crabs, sand insects, and a bizarre looking animal that we couldn’t identify. We walked down the beach for about a mile, and the sandstone cliffs, which had been carved into by various people; someone had even managed to carve in a jesters face. Above the cliffs, there were windswept trees, small trees, whose branches were all going in one direction, and there were no leaves on one side.
Walking back to the campsite, it was time for dinner, and having got wood, we made a campfire. Ah this country living holiday is great.
Next day, we didn’t need to be off the site till nearly 1, so we left the RV and went for the 3.5mile round trip down towards the beach and to Heceta Head Lighthouse. These was mainly a woodlands walk, mum and i saw a young woodpecker just 10ft in front of us, as we stopped he fluttered around the trees nearby but he didn’t disappear too quickly, i tried and failed to get a decent photo, he wouldn’t stop moving.
Crossing the road, the path took us south, and up and down a path, that didn’t give us much of a view, when the trees cleared; the beach area was totally hidden in the sea mist. The path took a steep climb, and having a vague map (not giving any indication of the ups and downs) we struggled to easily identify where we were on it. Mum rested at the top of the hill, dad and i continued on, but the path went very, very steep downhill, and not being able to see the Lighthouse, which we guessed was near, we gave up and turned round, collected mum, and headed back, but we decided to do the last part along the beach. I managed to get some great photos of my parents walking in the mist.
Back at the RV we changed and packed up and continued south on the 101, but not far, we turned off at Heceta Head Lighthouse parking. We had lunch and then went to the beach and saw the lighthouse. We collected loads of driftwood for the campfire. There seemed to be lots of people setting up for a wedding on the beach, but we didn’t wait around.
Back on the road, southwards, the road followed close to the cliff edge, up and down, curving in and out, but a lot of views were covered by the sea mist, it certainly gave a different perspective. A short distance from the lighthouse is the World’s Largest Sea Cave, which you can get to by going down in an elevator; you can also see the resident sea lions. This is definitely a tourist place, as none of us really had an interest in seeing it, so we continued on.
We passed through Florence, stopping at the supermarket to get some bits, which is a reasonably large place with 9,000 residents. The road climbed once again, but as we turned the corner we saw the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area. This stretches for 50 miles from Florence to Coos Bay, and is the largest expense of coastal dunes in USA. Some of the dunes reach 500ft high, and they go about 3 miles inland. It was an amazing sight to see the dunes from the road.
We made our way to Jessie M Honeyman State Park, which is set in 522 acre park and has about 500+ sites to pitch in, although they are well spaced in circular avenues, that make you feel like you are on a small site. Both sites so far we have been lucky and were able to hitch up for electricity and water, and there were toilets and showers of a decent nature not far from our pitch.
Parents went off for a walk around the site, and although we were right on the dunes, none of us ventured out into them. We got chatting to our neighbours, who were visiting Oregon for a week, packing a lot into that time; she was originally from the UK but had been in the US for the last 15 years. She mentioned the Sand Dunes Frontier, which is the original and largest dune buggy operation, which was only a couple of miles down the road. It was definitely a campfire night, the weather had been a bit cooler, but dry. After dinner, it was time for toasting marshmallows; there was some discussion about the perfect toasted marshmallow. For me, it is a hard outside that is of a golden colour, but the whole of the inside is gooey. For dad, it was definitely not a gooey inside, and his attempts of toasting led to the marshmallow catching fire, and being slightly burnt. He actually preferred them not toasted at all.
So what’s the perfect toasted marshmallow for you?????
Next morning, we were up reasonably early...now for those who know my family well, know that my mum is an early riser, so we all had a cup of tea around 7.30am but stayed in bed reading our books, before getting up nearer 8.30am. Then depending on our plans for the day, we would have breakfast – this was now cereal, or pancakes and maple syrup, or bacon, eggs, mushrooms and English muffins, or scrambled egg and English muffins, very different from hostel fair continental style.
We were moving fairly quickly so that dad and i could go for a sand dune buggy ride. Our decision was whether we would drive ourselves or go with a guide. Eventually we decided to go with a guide, and being early, it meant that we didn’t have too long to wait. One couple were going on their own, and then there was a group of 3, who wanted a wild ride, which i reluctantly agreed to. I’m a bit of a scaredy cat, but actually do love the thrill of it, just need the right persuasion.
I am glad that we choose to go with the guide, because he took us up and down those steeper slopes, which i don’t think dad or i would have driven on. I totally trusted the driver to know which ones he could go on and how steep, so i had a great time. We went up to the top of the highest dune, which gave us an amazing view of the dunes, the trees growing in the dunes, the mountains and the beach. The route we took led us to the beach, but we didn’t drive through the waves, before heading back. We were out for 45 mins, and well worth the experience, thanks dad.
Then it was time to head north, driving through all the places previously seen, but now there were clear blue skies and the sun was shining. Our journey was only about 50 miles all in, we passed Waldport and headed on towards Newport. We passed various state parks, with access to the beach and picnic areas, we even saw a State Park called Ona Beach (i’m Aunty Ona to my niece and nephew), a small beach on the estuary of Beaver Creek, but i didn’t get a chance to get a photo as my camera was playing up – it needed charging. A few miles further on we stopped at South Beach State Park, which is just south of Newport.
We arrived in time for lunch, so we parked up and enjoyed our lunch in the company of blue jays and a squirrel. We went separate ways for the afternoon. Mum and dad decided they would walk into Newport, and i headed to the beach. The sun was warm.
Passing through a small wood, i reached the boardwalks that took me to the beach, another big long, white sandy beach, with lots of people enjoying themselves. I walked north to the estuary, which is a deep channel with a breaker on either side. Commercial and private boats were moving up and down, as Newport is a big fishing port as well as having a mariner. The waves were crashing over the breakers, i walked part way along the breakers, enjoying the sunshine, but then headed back to walk along the beach down as far as the day use area, which couldn’t be seen for the sea mist.
Walking along the beach the sand was hot, so it was definitely worth paddling in the breakers, although with the tide coming in and the slant of the beach being shallow, sometimes the waves coming were a bigger than expected. It was great just enjoying the sunshine and the beach.
Eventually walking back to the campsite, i returned on a different path, which was an “interpretive walk”, it gave information about where the shoreline was at different times, really showing how the dunes had built up over the years. I met my parents coming back from their walk, which had not been the success they had hoped as there was not a path to Newport, unless you went over the major road bridge, which was on a higher level than the path they were on, but returning by road, there found various small business, including a shop which meant they were able to get some provisions including Heinz Tomato Ketchup...mmmm bacon sandwich with tomato ketchup.
After dinner when the sun had set, i fancied a walk down to the beach and to see the stars, so dad came with me, it was eerie walking through the woods but great at the same time, it was strange being on the beach at night, but great time to paddle, and the sand was not as hot.