The Oregon coast held very big hopes for the both of us and we’ve been anticipating touring the Pacific Northwest since we began our RV adventure in the fall of 2011.  Years of seeing tourist information and hearing the stories may very well have raised our expectations higher than our journey was able to fulfill.

Craggy rocks, check.

Voluminous fog, check.

Piles of aged driftwood strewn along the beaches, check.

Small seaside towns and harbors, check.

Yet, somehow the whole did not exceed the sum of all of these parts as expected.

There much to see while travelling up the Oregon coast:

• The first permanent U.S. settlement west of the Rockies (Astoria)
• The highest bridge in Oregon (Thomas Creek Bridge at 365 feet)
• The largest expanse of coastal dunes in North America  (Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area)
• The world’s largest sea cave (Sea Lion Caves)
• The most romantic beach (Proposal Rock)
• The best sounding beach (Cobble Beach)
• The best tidepool beach (Sunset Bay State Park)
• The best little beach town (Gearhardt)
• The most photographed lighthouse (Heceta Head Lighthouse)
• The shortest covered bridge
• Monstrous blue hydrangeas
• And of course, the award-winning cheese from the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Maybe it was the strong and steady winds coming off the ocean, or the cooler-than-we-like summer temps.  Maybe it was the oh-so-bouncy sections of highway 101 that make the RV creak and groan.  Or maybe it was just the anticipation of getting to the Olympic National Park.  Whatever the case, we’re glad to be in Washington state, where the sun seems to shine a little more and the wind coming off of the ocean doesn’t seem to be quite so bad.

2013.06.30 Brookings Harbor Photos

2013.07.10 Oregon Photos