Road Trip to Seattle 2016
Crescent City, California to Yachats, Oregon -- June 1, 2016
Waking up to a beautiful morning in Crescent City. A familiar sight out the window greeted us. The lagoon, the bus stop, the view of the ocean made a great start of another traveling day.
Entrance to south bound Hwy101 right at the corner of the motel.
An RV park on the other side of the lagoon.
After a quick, simple breakfast of pastries and coffee that we've brought, we went out for a walk before checking out of the motel. Unfortunately, they were doing some reconstruction work along the shoreline which made it impossible for us to access the walkway. It was kind of fun to check out the playground though.
Got to check out the morning market as we walked back to the motel.
After checking out of the motel, we wanted to go to the Battery Point Lighthouse and see if it's dry enough to cross over. Not quite. Looked like the tide will be low enough within an hour or so. Weather was great, not as cold and windy as the previous evening.
ChC walked down to the beach for a closer look.
That would be the 'walkway' to cross over to the lighthouse during low tide.
Views from near the lighthouse parking area.
Rumiano Cheese Company, Crescent City
This is supposedly the oldest family-owned cheese company in California, started by Italian Immigrants in 1919. Just a few blocks up from the motel. ChC was very interested in checking out their cheeses. They have a tiny store selling cheese and other related items. Prices were very good, some cheaper than regular grocery stores. Definitely worth checking out. We bought a few packs of cheese and a jar of salsa, all for under $10. They also have samples for visitors to try.
Entrance to the store.
From the store, you could see the operation through the glass windows.
Battle Rock Park, Port Orford, Oregon
This is a good spot to take in the magnificent view of the ocean with a clean restroom and information center next to the parking lot. From the parking lot, one can walk down the well-paved trail to the sandy beach. Again, ChC took the trek down as we stayed up to enjoy the spectacular view of southern Oregon Coast.
Cape Blanco State Park and Lighthouse
As we continued our drive up, it was getting close to lunch time. I was hoping that we could find the same picnic area that we stopped at in 2013 which I thought it was Cape Blanco State Park. As we made a three-mile drive to the park and lighthouse off Hwy 101, we discovered that this is not the same place. There is actually no picnic area here but we got a good glimpse of the lighthouse. There is a narrow path to the lighthouse but we did not take that route. I later found out that the place where we stopped in 2013 was Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.
Cape Blanco Lighthouse
Inside the park, there is also the Hughes House, a historic building of pioneers in the area.
We did not go inside for the tour though.
Further down 101, we finally found a quiet picnic area where we enjoyed our simple lunch. Don't remember the name of this exit, but it's shady and quiet. It could very well be near Face Rock. We were the only ones there that afternoon.
Face Rock area
I believe this is Face Rock.
McCullough Bridge, North Bend
We turned off at Cape Creek Road to the scenic view point which is at the mouth of the cove hoping to have a good view of Heceta Head Lighthouse. It was disappointing though, because the lighthouse was blocked by tall trees and we could hardly see the actual lighthouse. It's better to get the view somewhere else, maybe Summer Street on the next turn on the left, which we were not able to do.
Cape Creek Bridge
Barely able to see the lighthouse. I think there is a trail where people can hike up to the lighthouse.
Cape Cove
The many seagulls at the cove.
Cape Creek
Thor's Well (Spouting Horn) viewing point. It was low tide when we got there so we did not see the blow holes in action this time. It was quite an amazing sight when we were here last. There are some neat videos on Youtube on Thor's Well if anyone is interested.
This photo did not capture it but there was either one or two whales swimming nearby, quite close to shore.
Deane's Oceanfront Lodge, Yachats, Oregon
This is a charming motel right on the 101 that has easy access to the beautiful Tillicum Beach. Again, we booked directly with the motel and it was easy and quick. I received two welcoming email from two different staff members who also answered a couple of questions regarding their facilities before our trip there. What attracted me was the location of the motel to the beach and their excellent reviews. We were greeted by friendly staff when checking in and detail information given as to our stay there.
Old fashion room but modern amenities.
Kind of retro vintage with an ocean theme.
Right outside the back door of our room.
Picnic tables and table-top grills.
Our room, #6, right in the middle of the building.
The covered patio equipped with picnic tables and table-top BBQ grills. That was where we had our delicious steak dinner that evening. Vacuum sealed pack of steaks that we got from Harris Ranch two days ago, mango salsa and cheese from Rumiano, bread and potato salad from the Grocery Outlet. Yum!
Deane's provided with all the utensils needed including the gas 'tank'. It was very convenient.
Enjoying dinner with an ocean view.
After the wonderful dinner, we just had to take a walk to the beach.
The lodge sits above the bluff. We just had to take the stairs down to the beach.
Absolutely amazing! Looking to the south of the beach...
...and to the north.
Tillicum Beach
Tiny crab pieces all over the sandy beach.
The back of the lodge with the covered patio. Most rooms have the ocean view, except those on the north and south end. A great place to spend a couple of nights. We really felt like we were on vacation here.
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