So it took us three days to see all the lighthouses on the Oregon coast because we were doing OTHER stuff on those days, too. Like visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory on Day 15.
Lots of people said it was a “no-miss destination” so we heeded their advice. Admittedly, the huge machines and conveyor belts were hypnotically fascinating. We saw these 40 lb. blocks of cheese prepped for packaging.
This machine cut and packaged one pound blocks with very specialized equipment and parts. The tour is self-guided and the workers look up, smile, and pose for photos. Although one poor lady looked like Lucy and Ethel in the candy factory with blocks piling up behind her.
I took a photo of Scott taking a video. Because that’s what he did a lot on this vacation. Then we got to try cheese samples, buy small cheese packets for our cooler in their big store, and get fabulous ice cream cones. They have huge counters and a very efficient system, but we were glad we made it in line just before the classes of 60 fourth-graders. Because who can wait that long for yummy Tillamook ice cream? I am a total convert now.
After the factory tour we went out to Cape Meares lighthouse and then followed some of the Tillamook County Quilt Trail. They started a trail on some local barns and then it spread to businesses in town. It’s based on Midwestern quilt trails where farmers put painted wooden quilt blocks on the sides of their barns. So fun!
After driving around looking for quilt blocks we headed just outside of Tillamook to Munson Creek Falls State Park for a short hike. The park is up a little winding road and the trail is less than a mile to the tallest falls in the Coast Range at 319 feet. It was really pretty but we couldn’t get too close since the trail was closed partway up due to fallen trees.
Later that day we saw the lighthouse inside Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area and walked down to Cobble Beach. The black cobbles were piled deep on the beach and made such interesting sounds when clanking together. I was fascinated by the deep and low, light and hollow percussive sounds they made as they clanked together while we walked on them. I made an iPhone video and sent it to Mark because the sounds were so cool!
We walked out to the tidepools and they were so awesome! We had a great time climbing all over and peering in the water looking for cool animals. We saw sea urchins, anemones, sea cucumber, sea star, and hermit crabs.
We also saw thousands of murrelets and lots of harbor seals sunning themselves on rocks and also swimming. See his head in the water?
On Day 16 we took the advice of the Coquille River lighthouse volunteer and had the best meal of the whole trip at Bandon Fish Market. The clam chowder and fresh fish was so yummy, I was in heaven!
We walked the waterfront there and saw many wooden sculptures, including this one, then finished up with really good ice cream at Face Rock Creamery.
We drove to Coquille Point to see wildlife.The trail starts on tall bluffs and we looked down to see harbor seals out on rocks fairly close to the beach so we walked down and saw them up close and personal. We also explored the tide pools but it was so cold and windy there! We also looked up the state park regs and found we could take a little driftwood so we searched around and got one for the flower garden and Scott lugged it up all the stairs for me. 🙂
Well, we drove from the top of Washington to the bottom of Oregon (and on into California) on the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, or Highway 101, and it was beautiful. We ended our trip on the Oregon coast at Crissy Field State Park which is at the state line and got out for one last walk on the Oregon beach and watched the sun set.
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