Saturday, June 4, 2011

Day 48 - Bay Center, Washington









Our weather is certainly looking up. We had breakfast outside on the picnic table this morning and last night, we had no need for the furnace. I guess we had to head north to get the warm weather!!

I have included a photo taken at the aquarium yesterday since I realized, too late, that I had mentioned murres twice and it would be nice to see what they look like. These birds actually also live in the Arctic.

In Pacific City, we left Highway 101 and followed the coast. The second photo was taken of one of these enormous beaches that Oregon has all along the coast. Being Saturday, there were lots of people around...if you can see them on the photo.

It was a lovely drive until ... we had an extremely close encounter with a deer ... he just flew in front of us, we only saw the top of his head and part of his upper body .. and he was gone. That we did not hit him is unbelievable. He came from nowhere, so fast ... he was lucky and we were unbelievably lucky!! Ross was driving around 25 mph on a sharp curve at the time and that was what really saved us ...

We drove on to Cape Lookout where from a viewpoint, we parked and had our muffin break. We can't tear our eyes away from the coast, it is so beautiful.

Netarts Bay, Whiskey Rd. Clamdiggers. Cape Meares. We turned off to visit the lighthouse. This is the one we had been told had been vandalized and its lens has been shattered by a shotgun. It will not be repaired as the cost would be in the million dollar price. Useless vandalism.

Tillamook Bay. Ross spotted with the binoculars the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse which is 1.2 miles seaward. It was at one time used as a columbarium. It is now the only privately-owned Oregon lighthouse on the National Register. No public access.

At another viewpoint, we take our last photo of the Oregon Coast (photo). We have enjoyed it tremendously...

Back on 101, we drive by Garibaldi, Barview, Brighton. We visited a winery, the Nehalem Bay Winery. We bought a dessert (Blackberry) wine to bring to friends who have invited us for dinner in Victoria. Ross was not impressed by the other wines.

Arcadia Beach, really busy on this Saturday afternoon. Next town, Seaside. It is the oldest ocean resort in Oregon and has been visited since the 1850s. There is a Saturday crowd here as well.

Warrenton. We arrive in Astoria and head for the Astoria Bridge crossing the Columbia River. This bridge is 4 miles long, quite impressive.

We enter Washington and continue on 101 heading for Bay Center which is located across the bay from Long Beach. Ross had his wish for seafood or more exactly oysters for dinner as there was a restaurant located just one mile away from our campground. How lucky can you get. The last photo was taken from the docks located behind the Dock of the Bay Restaurant.

We finished off our day with a walk to the bay side to watch the sunset, a beautiful blue, pink and orange show of colours. Good night!

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