Oregon Coast

As our expedition moved from Columbia Gorge to Oregon coast, we moved our lodging westward accordingly from Gresham to Portland, and then finally to Hillsboro. My niece lives in Beaverton, so the final location worked out well. We plugged in our car in Beaverton, had dinner with her and her husband and then checked into Courtyard Marriott in Hillsboro.

We checked out early in the morning. We had 400 miles to go and dozens of stops for sightseeing along the coastline. At the end, it still wasn't enough; we skipped all points of interest after Bandon and drove straight to Crescent city. We got there well after dark.

One could be excused for thinking Oregon coastline is an extension of California coastline. Oregon retains some ruggedness of California coastline, with bluffs and phallic rocks sticking out of the water. But it is not rugged like Big Sur. It also has more sandy beaches and streams and rivers emptying into the Pacific. Take Waldport at the mouth of Alsea River for instance. It is covered with sandy beaches, sandbars and tidepools all over. For each river emptying into the ocean there are a dozen streams splitting beaches or creating lagoons where they meet the sea.

This is a two day excursion. It will be a much more enjoyable trip if you stop at estuaries and wade the tidal pools or get baked in the sun at any of the mile long pristine beaches for a while before moving on.

View of Netarts Bay From Cape Lookout, I think

Seaside, our first stop, was a tourist town. We couldn't even find a parking space there. I figure it's just a beach with boardwalk -- been there, done that -- so we moved on after charging up the car. Cannon Beach, about 10 miles south, was a quieter and more pristine breach. It was a bit tricky to get to it. We got off the freeway, drove down a residential street and parked on the shoulder. And then we found stairs leading down to the beach, hidden between houses.

Cannon Beach

We continued on US-101 and then OR-131 to Cape Meares. We skipped Tillamook Creamery -- we had enough butter in our freezer to last another year or two -- and skirted Tillamook Bay all the way up only to find that the road to the cape was closed. We turned around and traced back to Netarts Bay to get to Cape Lookout. A few pictures of miles long sand beaches and the Netarts Bay there, and the morning was done.

Siletz Bay

We stopped at Lincoln City for charging, had in-car lunch with leftovers and hung out in the shopping mall. It was the last chance for tax-free shopping. But we didn't find anything that struck our frugal fancy and came up empty handed once again.

Shortly after Lincoln City was Siletz river and Siletz Bay Wildlife Refuge. It was yet another estuary that wasn't on the Drive #9 of the guide book; another beautiful river emptying into the Pacific with wide sandy beach and sand bars; and another place that we could've stayed over to make the trip more leisurely and enjoyable. We'll come back to it someday.

View from Cape Foulweather

22 miles south of Siletz River, past Lincoln Beach and Depoe Bay, was Cape Foulweather that claims to be 500 feet above the sea where the history of Oregon began. With rugged cliffs, it was more California than Oregon; you'd be forgiven if you mistook it for Santa Cruz or somewhere north of Big Sur.

We skipped New Port, Waldport and all other river-meets-the-Pacific estuaries on the way to the charging station in Bandon. But we did stop for the Dunes Recreational Area. It was infested with ATVs so we took a quick look and then turned around.

Gold Beach

Final charging stop in desolate Bandon. It was a good sized town but there was no soul around except for the scruffy chump on a bike who knocked on my window while charging. He went on telling me how he saw through the construction of the charging station and where to stop to charge on the way to Crescent City. He said he has a Tesla though he didn't look like the type. He sure knew a lot about Tesla though. By the time we got to Gold Beach, it was getting pretty dark. We stopped for a quick shot and then headed to Crescent City.