Summer Road Trip - Oregon Coast

Crater Lake | Redwood Coast | Redwood Forest | Oregon Coast

After the redwoods we headed north on Highway 101 to return home. In the past we've tried to take this route home, but it ends up feeling long and slow if you need to return quickly. This time we added an extra day to get home and as a result found the drive quite enjoyable and scenic. Many parts of the drive involve great views of the Oregon coast line. Along the way encountered the Oregon Dunes which consisted of huge hills of sand which seemed to come from nowhere. It took awhile to find a place to explore the dunes, but eventually we found a trail near Reedsport where we could get out and play in the huge piles of sand.

After the dunes we stopped at the Sea Lion Caves tourist trap. It was interesting to see the big sea cave (which had only one sea lion in it), but not worth the price. We at least got to see a whale off the shore while checking out the sea lion outside hangout spot.

We spent our last night at Tillamook and the following morning we toured the cheese factory. Not much was going on while we were there, but the girls were excited to have ice cream at 9 in the morning.

For our final stop before leaving Oregon we wanted to visit Cannon Beach. We stopped at the town, but soon became very frustrated trying to find place to park among the crowds of tourists. We couldn't even get a view of the beach due to the walls of shops and hotels blocking it. We ditched the town and headed a few miles further north to Seaside Beach where we easily found a parking spot just off the beach. The girls had fun running and digging in the beach for one last time. Soon we were off again and we drove across the border to Washington.

The Washington drive was not that eventful and we broke off 101 as we neared Aberdeen and headed home. By including an extra day the drive along 101 ended up being an enjoyable experience and provided a nice ending to our summer road trip.

Umpqua Lighthouse

Oregon Dunes

Sea Lion Cave

Whale
Whale

Sea Lions

Cheesemobile

Tillamook Factory

Jockey Cap

Seaside Beach

Redwood Forest Summer Road Trip

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August 12-19 2012