Up the Oregon coast - August 4 to 6, 2013

Sunday, August 4, 2013 and the Kleinbubs are still heading north up the coast along the Pacific Ocean. We entered Oregon and 101 immediately took on the aspects of Big Sur, Highway 1, in California. The road skirted the ocean and we could look down on the waves crashing against the rocks. It is called the “Banana Coast” at this point because it is shaped somewhat like a banana. There are wooded headlands jutting out into the ocean and “sea stacks” (isolated clumps of rock in the ocean that resemble haystacks) along with larger islands of rock and vegetation.

We ended the day in Coos Bay OR. We saw lots of signs for myrtle wood products. I guess that is an important craft in this area; making items from the wood of the myrtle tree. One thing I haven’t mentioned is how cold and foggy this trip has been. One lady told us that it is quite warm inland (in fact there is a huge forest fire in Oregon right now) and the cool air from the ocean meets that warm air and creates all the fog.

On Monday we spent a little more time driving around Coos Bay and visited a myrtle wood factory. Then we headed north and entered Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The Oregon dunes go for forty miles along the coast and are quite wide and high in places. They are often covered with vegetation. In fact, we found out that early Oregonians had planted European grasses to bind the sand which was blowing into their homes. The grass has become invasive and created a whole different aspect to the dunes in just fifty years. We stopped at one of the view points and walked out onto a dune. We saw a family of 4 enjoying sliding and somersaulting down the dune and running back up. What energy! I barely made it down and was happy to find another path which allowed me to walk up a trail. Mickey, of course, was up and down several times, causing lots of merriment for everyone watching him.

After leaving the dunes area we stopped at another viewpoint called Cape Perpetua. We drove up to the highest point where you could see 70 miles down the coast and over 30 miles out to sea. We were lucky that it wasn’t foggy! We also saw a spot called the Devil’s Churn, where the waves have opened a trench inland and the waves get tunneled into it and come spouting out when the tide is up.

We discovered that a lot of the state park campgrounds were full. It turns out that August is a popular month for tourists and they fill up months in advance. But we were able to find spots in private campgrounds and an occasional WalMart parking lot.

More tomorrow!