Northern Oregon Coast

RV Trip to Washington, Fall 2021

Day 5-7, Florence, Astoria, Warrenton, Oregon to Seattle, Washington September 10 to 12, 2021

(Continuing on our trip from Florence, Oregon)

September 10, 2021

After a peaceful night at the Siuslaw River Campground, we continued our drive up north towards Garibaldi where we planned to spend the night. Oregon Coast is such a beautiful drive with tons of stops that are worth spending time. We skipped many places on this drive but one place we always stop to take a break is at the Heceta Head Lighthouse Scenic Viewpoint. Cape Cove is such a tranquil place to enjoy the view with so much wildlife to see. One thing we have never done was to see the lighthouse itself. The lighthouse up on the bluff is blocked by tall trees which makes it impossible to see it from the cove area. This time, we decided to take the hike up to the lighthouse!

Parking was plentiful, but we were not able to park near the beach with our RV. There's a huge parking lot on the other side of the bridge for overflow and RV parking. We just had to take the longer walk to the beach. There is a $5 daily use fees that can be paid at the automated station using credit cards. Very convenient, but for us, we had to take the ticket and walk back to place it on the dash board in the RV. So, my suggestion is to stop and get the ticket first, then drive back to the RV parking lot to avoid walking back and forth.

Cape Cove with lighthouse blocked by trees.

Hiking up half way looking back down to the cove.

Heceta Head Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast.

Finally reaching the top with the lighthouse in full view.

Stopping for a rest half way down.

What fun it was to finally see the lighthouse! After leaving Heceta Head, the drive took us through many scenic areas including Spouting Horn, Thor's Well, Devil's Churn, Cape Perpetua, Yachats, etc. It was a little difficult for us to turn into the limited parking spaces on the opposite side of the highway so we decided to skip them all until we reached one of the many roadside state park day use areas for a lunch break.

Lost Creek State Park

This is a very convenient stop for a break. This day use area with the view of the beach makes it a great spot for a picnic and a little rest. It's right off the highway with easy on and off access. 

Right off the 101 highway.

Kelly's Brighton Marina and Campground

We were planning to stop for the night at the motel in Garibaldi that also have a campground by the water. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we found out that the whole place was packed with fishermen who were there for fishing and crabbing season. Campgrounds in this area were all filled with campers. After checking around, we were finally able to get a space at the Kelly's Brighton Marina near Rockaway Beach and Nehalem area. What a great find! This tiny campground is just want we needed, full hook-up, waterfront, and on site seafood! Spaces were packed but it was OK for just an overnight. Again, many people were here for fishing and crabbing and Kelly's provides all kinds of things needed for those activities, like boat rentals, crab pots, etc. For those of us who are not fishing/crabbing people, they sell live seafood right there. Needless to say, we had to get some for dinner.

Two dozens of huge oysters steamed freshly for us.

I just stir-fried some vegetables and we were good to go.

Dinner with a view.

Gorgeous sunset!

September 11, 2021

The next morning. Nehalem Bay State Park across the river.

Bowpicker Fish and Chips, Astoria, Oregon

This is THE place we have to get to whenever traveling the Oregon Coast. They do not open on Sundays, so we had to make it a point to be there on this Saturday before getting to our campsite in Warrenton. A little back tracking but it's OK for the best fish and chips around. 

They were barely starting the day so the line wasn't too bad.

One can always count on getting the piping hot fried tuna pieces at Bow Picker.

Yum!

Fort Stevens State Park

We were fortunate to have booked a campsite at Fort Stevens State Park. Wish we had more time there because there's so much to see and explore but happy with what we had. To make good use of our time there, we set up camp and then walked down the trail to the beach that first afternoon to see the skeleton of the sunken ship Peter Iredale. It was very crowded with many people waiting for the sunset at the beach. It was a long hike round trip but well worth it!

Walking to the beach passing by the parking lot.

Wreck of Peter Iredale.

Our campsite at Fort Stevens State Park with tons of space and good privacy.

September 12, 2021

Early the next morning, we packed up to leave the campground and started exploring the park itself. With the limited time we had, we could only pick a couple of stops to check things out. We drove to the most northern side of the park and found the Wild life Viewing Bunk. This is close to the Columbia River but we really couldn't see much of it with some construction work going on. 

Taking the walk to the bunker.

Here is the view of the wetland.

Most of the 'wildlife' was birds.

It was pretty though.

With hardly anyone nearby.

The 'bunker'.

Then we made a stop at one of the beach access, this could be Parking Lot 'B' but not sure now.

Vast view of the Pacific Ocean.

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (Fort Clatsop)

On our way to Fort Clatsop, we made a brief stop at Costco to get a few needed supplies and filled up the gas tank. Costco is on the way to Fort Clatsop so it was just a convenient stop. 

Parking lot at Fort Clatsop

Walkway to the entrance of the park.

Statue of the Indian woman and her baby near the Visitor Center.

I believe she was the only woman on the Lewis and Clark expedition team.

This would be a self-guided tour after going through the Visitor Center. Our America the Beautiful card got us in for free.

The fort was rebuilt twice after the original one was burnt down.

All in all, an interesting experience touring the grounds of this fort.

It was time for us to head up to Seattle. One thing for sure is that we knew we won't bump into heavy traffic on this day, since it was a Sunday. We have always hit bad traffic near Olympic every time. We got on the Columbia River Highway (Hwy 30) along the northern edge of Oregon instead of crossing the Astoria Megler Bridge, and crossed over the Lewis and Clark Bridge to Longview, Washington before hitting back up with I-5. Looking forward to see family after two years!

Lewis and Clark Bridge

For video, please click here for Kelly's Brighton Sunset and Oysters.

Here for Bowpicker Fish and Chips and Skeleton of Peter Iredale.

Here for Fort Stevens State Park

Here for Lewis and Clark National Historical Park

"He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding."   -- Jeremiah 51: 15

Oregon Coastal Towns of Gold Beach, Bandon, and Florence

RV Trip to Washington, Fall 2021

Day 3, Garberville, California to Florence, Oregon September 8, 2021

We woke up to the sound of the fog horn that went off throughout the whole night in the distance. It did not bother us that much since we were all tired but did woke me up in the morning. Weather was a little gloomy but at least no rain in sight. After a quick breakfast, we packed up and set out for another day on the road.

Before leaving town, we stopped at the city park to check out the beach and the lighthouse. It was beautiful as usual at this familiar place that holds some precious memories of our time here. We did not plan on doing much this morning, not even going to the creamery nearby. I am sure we will be back in the future!

Such peace and quiet at the beachside park.

Enjoying a serene view of the harbor.

Battery Point Lighthouse

One more photo.

Gold Beach, Oregon

I had planned on making a stop at the Visitor Center at Brookings after crossing the state line but missed the exit. Oh well...

There are just so many places to stop for sightseeing and photos along the way on this coastal route. We had visited many of these scenic spots and decided we will check out the ones we have not been before.

Again, we have passed by this coastal town of Gold Beach many times in the past but have never made a stop here. I wanted to at least stop for a few minutes near the roadside before crossing the Patterson Bridge over the Rouge River.

Right by the highway before the bridge, an exit on our left took us to Jerry's Rouge Jets where we found the Mary D Hume remains on the river. I will not describe much since you can probably read from the sign boards. Definitely a place to stop for a little history. By the way, parking was a little tight on this day but we were fortunate to have found a spot for a little while. There were large tour buses bringing in tourists this morning and it was lunch time so it got a little crowded.

Mary D Hume and the Patterson Bridge, Rouge River.

Beautiful!

I believe one end of the Rouge River starts at Crater Lake...

with the western end reaching the Pacific Ocean.

Bandon, Oregon

Another town that we were stopping for the first time. This is a popular touristy town with a lot to see and do. Plenty of free parking with easy access. We found the huge lot that was for RV and buses near the marina, making it convenient to see the town.

At first, we planned on having lunch in town but there were lines of people everywhere we went so we gave up that idea and just had our own sandwiches. CC managed to get his favorite macaroni and cheese to go from the local Face Rock Creamery. He said it was really good. With the beautiful marina and shoreline, it was really nice to just walk around town under the sun.

Huge RV parking lot in Bandon

Very busy and touristy marina area of Bandon.

Florence, Oregon

This is where we spent the night, at an unusual campground--Port of Siuslaw Campground. Again, Florence is a town we have never visited before and I thought it would be a good idea to explore the old town a little. This campground is actually run by the Port of Siuslaw right by the river right by old town, making this an ideal place to spend the night. We were fortunate enough to have snatched a waterfront site with excellent views. Sites were a little cramp but the views were unbeatable. 

I really wanted to try the crab chowder from Novelli's by the dock. This was run by a couple who caught the crabs on a daily basis and made their own chowder that have earned many awards in the past. Unfortunately, the couple's boat capsized and killed both of them a few months ago, leaving the tiny floating eatery to their son now to carry on the torch. When I checked into the campground, the gentleman at the office already told me that with such gloomy and cold weather, he thinks they would be sold out for the day and that means they maybe already closed. After we hooked up the motorhome, we walked over to the marina and found out that, indeed, they were closed for the day. 

Picture and newspaper clipping of the tragedy.

At Novelli's.

We ended up getting some seafood to go from Mo's nearby.

As we were walking back to the RV, we saw a couple of gentlemen cleaning their catches of dungeness crabs. He said they had more than 30. I just asked if they can sell us a couple of those big crabs, he was so generous and just gave us two cleaned crabs for free. Bless their hearts and what a pleasant surprise! What's better than fresh seafood to end our day!? 

Fried seafood plates from Mo's.

A good cup of clam chowder minus the bread bowl. They forgot to put in the bread bowl that we paid for but we did not want to walk back to the restaurant by then.

A whole steamed pot of fresh crab, the best!

After the delicious dinner, we went out to enjoy the beautiful sights.

Siulaw River Bridge on one side of the river.

The huge campground that was kind of tight.

What lovely sight!

For videos on this day, please click here for Gold Beach and Bandon and here for Florence.

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."    -- Jeremiah 17: 9~10