Crashing Waves, Giant Trees & One Happy Dog

Wow! The power and grandeur of the Pacific Ocean! I don't think there's anything like it that compares. I can remember as a child, crying when our weekend was over and it was time to go home. I had so much fun at the beach that I never wanted to leave.

Last week we left Chico, CA and made our way across a winding Hwy 299 to the ocean. Both Duane & I were excited to be back on the Pacific Coast. Our first evening there, we checked out Trinidad Beach and hiked a really cool trail up, over and around a big hill. From there we were able to overlook the town, the bay and the beach below the cliffs. We got our first taste of that clean ocean air and Maggie got her feet wet in the surf for the first time ever. I think she loved it from then on. 

Not knowing what kind of accommodations would be available or how crowded the parks would be, we called ahead and booked the Azalea Glen RV Park, in Trinidad. It ended up being a charming little park, nestled in the lush trees and beautiful Azalea & Rhododendrons that grow at least 20 feet tall. The owners had planted rows of hedges between each RV site, creating nice privacy. They had built the cutest fenced in dog area and there was a pretty pond on the property, full of frogs that made their presence known each night. 

On Saturday, we did a lot of driving around, checking out Eureka (where Duane was born), Arcata and Fortuna, where we had a great visit with Duane's Aunt Glo. We discovered a beautiful beach on the little island of Samoa. It didn't look like very many locals used it and we could see for miles in either direction. We let Maggie run, and run she did! She thoroughly enjoyed chasing birds and getting them to fly, then run again while they chased her. She was free! She ran to play with a couple of dogs that were fetching rocks in the water. She was so happy playing, then took off chasing birds again! It was really fun watching her be so happy! 

The next day we started making our way north up Hwy 101. The weather was fabulous! We'd been able to keep the coats put away and actually spent the day in short sleeves. There are so many gorgeous places to stop that overlooked the shoreline. 

Everywhere, there was beauty! There's almost a tropical feel here because of the moist air and thick foliage. We stopped several times to hike in the Redwoods and take scenic side roads. Even though both of us have seen them many times before, we were still in awe and blown away by how gigantic these ancient trees are, and how small they made us feel. I commented that if it had been 37 years since we were there, those trees have 37 more rings than the last time we saw them. 

We stopped at a state park in Brookings, Oregon and hiked the trail down to where the water was crashing onto the shore. Every twist and turn of the trail gave us sneak peaks until we reached the bottom and could just stand and admire the view. The water was such a brilliant blue, the waves intense.

(This rock is about 30 feet tall and reminded me of a bird)

Our plan was to spend the night along the Sixes River in a BLM campground we'd heard about on a blog we follow. The directions were great and we found the road off Hwy 101 without an issue. However, as soon as we made the turn onto the road we saw a sign for the campground, with a CLOSED sign hanging below it. We already knew from the blog this was a narrow and winding road for four miles to the campground. With our big rig there was nowhere to turn around, leaving us no choice but to drive all the way to the campground before finding a wide spot to turn around. We found the campground to be a beautiful grassy spot along the river that would have been perfect, if only the gate wasn't locked! 

Since we've gotten pretty good at altering our plans (jello, you know) we quickly rerouted back a few miles to Cape Blanco State Park. The wind was blowing quite hard by then and Duane got out at one campsite, just to quickly get back into the truck and look for another place more protected. The site we chose was beautiful,  tucked deep in the woods, with a trail to the bluff overlooking the coast just behind our camp. We were home! The next morning we thought we'd visit the Cape Blanco Lighthouse before leaving the park. When we drove out to the bluff that looked out on the lighthouse it was completely socked in with fog and the wind was whipping. The lighthouse came in and out of view as the wet mist billowed in. The road looked too narrow for us. Not knowing if there would be adequate room for us to turn around once we got there, we decided not to make the drive. We also chose not to walk it either in the blowing, misty fog. We said goodbye to Cape Blanco and continued north. Happy to have seen it from afar the evening before.

We only drove about 140 miles the next day, finding ourselves in Newport, Oregon in the late afternoon. Since we'd had such good success with the state park the night before we decided to try another. We pulled into South Beach State Park and immediately found a wonderful spot to settle in. This park was even nicer than the last one! We had great neighbors on either side of us. Maggie approved of their dogs so life was good! There were wonderful trails and we headed out to the beach. Maggie again got in a terrific run and must have checked out most of the jellyfish that had washed ashore. She ran and ran, jumping and playing like a puppy. Even though the wind was blowing hard we totally enjoyed our walk and Maggie's run.

Today the weather has settled in and we've decided we'll probably head inland. We walked out to the beach one more time this morning and saw the Yaquina Lighthouse across the water. Again the fog was rolling in and out and as we walked back to our camp it became heavy enough to almost be considered rain. We visited the lighthouse just north of Newport on our way out of town. The lighthouse might be beautiful, but the heavy mist and wind by this point had made it much less enjoyable to walk around outside. It was hard to get photos with our heads pointed down to keep the wind and water out of our faces! The interpretive center was really nice though and I bought a cool shirt.

We're in Tillamook, Oregon tonight. We watched cheese being made and packaged, ate our share of samples and delighted in a huge bowl of ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I had been there before, many years ago and Duane had never been there. It's really interesting seeing how a product we see in the stores is produced. 

This brings us to the present time. We're parked right beside a giant old cargo plane, outside the Tillamook Air Museum. The wind is still blowing hard and every once in awhile the trailer rocks from the big gusts. This is home for the night. We want to tour the museum in the morning before leaving town and leaving the ocean to head inland.

Both of us want to come back soon and spend more time on the Pacific Coast. It's a place we can't seem to get enough of.  Just like when I was a little girl, I'll leave a small portion of my heart behind, until we return again. This time it won't be me that cries when it's time to leave. However, I think Maggie might.