Oregon Heritage
Trip Start
Feb 15, 2010
1
14
Trip End
Mar 05, 2010
Wheeler, Oregon
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
All-in-all, it was the best place I stayed on the coast, but in fairness it was the only B&B I stayed in. The beds were comfortable, the staff was incredibly friendly and in the morning there was a whole herd of elk across the river and we had a great view of the lot of them.
We took off and went back up the coast to check out Manzanita Beach properly since we were too afraid to get out of the car the day prior and endure the elements. The town was super cute and and quaint with a nice beach, rather than cliffs. We stopped briefly before heading back down the Nehalem through to our next stop at Rockaway Beach, which was also a cute little coastal town with a nice beach and we took advantage of the brief stint of good weather to actually have a nice walk on the beach. The first since I'd been back.
Next major stop we made was in Garibaldi, which had some of the most interesting rocks I've seen off the coast of Oregon. Originally we stopped to take a picture of the sign since there is an inside joke that included me spelling it 'Jerry Baldi,' but it ended up more of a stop when we saw the crazy rocks off the coast. They are more island than rock, but they are right off the coast where you are almost tempted to wade across to them. Garibaldi is the start of a bay along the coast that ends at Cape Mears to the South - more on that park later.
Even after I left Oregon ten years ago, I stayed true to my cheese. Tillamook cheddar always being a staple in my fridge. The yellow brick of goodness always being both a proud symbol of my home, but also a damn fine sandwich ingredient. So, we had to stop off and tour the factory, which is just off the 101. The facility has a great self-guided tour where you can read about the process of making dairy products from what the cows eat all the way to packaging. You can even observe the factory at work from viewing platforms. I would seriously hate to be one of the workers being gawked at all day, but as a tourist it can be interesting.
They also have cheese tasting and a deli area where you can buy every flavor of cheese, milk, ice cream and anything else made from cow milk. They also have a gift shop where you can buy notebooks with paper made from cow poo. Hmmmm....
After the cheese factory, we got back on the road and took a detour from the 101 where it momentarily goes inland. Three capes detour route takes you past three parks/viewing areas along the coastline that encompasses Cape Mears, Oceanside, Netarts and Pacific City, to name a few. We made a long stop at Cape Mears where there is a lighthouse you can tour and a lot of boardwalks to walk around the cape and get great views of the Oregon coastline at it's finest.
This actually concluded my tour of the Oregon coastline, with my previous trip ending in Lincoln City, which was the next town down. We ended the day with some more sightseeing in Newport where I got some better shots of the beach and the bridge in the sunshine. You never know when you'll get some sun in Oregon, so I took full advantage of the light!
Thanks to everyone who made my trip an enjoyable journey! xxx
