Postcards from the Oregon Coast

Highway 101 on the Oregon Coast: wild and rugged beaches, capes and bluffs, sea stacks where nesting birds make their homes, ancient volcanic rock with fanciful shapes and names, strewn along offshore, all preserved and available to the public thanks to Oregon’s early conservationists. Sprinkled along the way are charming towns, fishing villages, and lighthouses shining as beacons; what’s not to like?

We were happy to be able to explore the Oregon Coast this week for the umpteenth time, for we are neighbors to the north in Washington, and this is the one place Oregon has us beat.  (True. Seattle beats Portland.  Rainier beats Hood.  We share the Columbia.  Oregon wins for best coast.)

Here’s a sampling of what we enjoyed.

We headed south from Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River, which dates back to the 1805 Lewis and Clark expedition.

Further down we had lunch at Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City.

We always stop and shop in the tiny town of Wheeler…

and in Old Town Florence.

We had to stop by the largest coastal sand dunes in North America, the Oregon Dunes which run from Florence to Coos Bay. (That’s not us on the bikes but we wish it was.)

We went as far south as Bandon on this trip and marveled at the rock formations offshore.  Face Rock gazes heavenward.

The wind was blowing with gale force in Bandon and we loved watching the powerful waves crash into the rocks and jetties where a lighthouse stood nearby.

Now I will leave you with the sun setting on the Pacific Ocean from the balcony at our hotel in Lincoln City, where it just so happens we stayed on our honeymoon almost 35 years ago.

Postcards from the Oregon Coast. We will be back.

Susanne