RV the Oregon Coast,
December, 2005;
Page 2
The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse is one mile from shore and was built in 1881. I can't imagine how it was done.
Gwen and I hiked the Clatsop Loop Trail which was a little less than 3 miles but some good climbing to the top of Tillamook Head. It is dark enough in the photo to the left that Morgan appears as a blur during the long exposure time. The trees in this area are no older than germination in 1615 due to some geologic event about that time which caused all vegetation to begin again in the late 17th century.
Several of the giant Sitca Spruce trees had grooves cut just below the level of saw cut where beams where wedged for the lumbermen to stand while cutting. The Sitca Spruce is the dominate tree in this forest. Ecola State Park is known as Oregon's "rainforest".
The hikers camp is the only area in the park to allow camping. The camp would require the camper to backpack to these cabins for an overnight stay.
Each cabin had four bunks large enough for two sleepers per bunk.
The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse is a bit more than one mile from shore. The history of this lighthouse is incredible to read.
Although this has already been a long day, we were able to view the second
| to last performance of Annie at the local Cannon Beach Coaster Theatre Playhouse. It is always fun to get to participate as viewers in local events. There were many actors in this play and many had to play more |  |
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the Dragon Fire Gallery. Gwen and I spotted several items that we liked but were out of our price range. |
| Here is another of those photos to click on, then view the larger image. |  |
| A storm is approaching from the south. There are already reports of ice-storms further inland and to the south. I'm not expecting any ice along the coast. |  |
| We had expected more from Cape Kiwanda RV Resort. It is just across the street from the main beach at Pacific City where Haystack Rock (yes, another Haystack Rock) sits just beyond the edge of the beach. If you pass your mouse pointer through the photo to the right, you'll see Haystack Rock just behind and over our truck windshield. |  |
| chose to stay on the safe side of the fence. The surf was very high with good wind and occasionally hard rain. In the above photo you can see Haystack Rock with a "handle" on the right side making it look like part of a tea kettle. Haystack Rock also appears just above the tip of Cape Kiwanda in the right photo. The climb to the view was steep but short up a sandy mound. We just followed the tracks of a few other hikers. |  |
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After traveling only twenty miles, we arrived in Lincoln City where we found a beautiful |
to find a campsite in state parks with a break in the trees at just the right angle. This site was only $18/night and includes cable TV. I've not stayed in a state park before which offered cable TV.
December 21, 2005: So what does a traveler do in Lincoln City when it is stormy? Chores come first so I removed and refilled one of the propane tanks. It took a week to burn $21 in propane.. about the same as Howard Prairie Resort in April and May. Most of this fuel went to heating the trailer in Tualatin and Fort Stevens. The low temperatures lately have made it easy to keep the trailer warm with just our little electric heaters.
Next was a visit to the drive through coffee house. This coffee drive-through is
only about 1/4 mile from our campsite and easy to drive in and out. That morning latte is so good even when made with decaf.
The Tanger Outlet Mall in Lincoln City is the only one in Oregon (only Tanger Mall). There are many shops to browse so Gwen and I spent a major part of this stormy day walking from shop to shop. But did we buy anything? Well, Gwen came close to buying a nice London Fog jacket but decided to wait until
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tomorrow to decide for sure. So... No, we didn't buy anything. I would have bought some waterproof shoes at the Bass Outlet store but they did not have my size. The photo to the left is what we see when looking out our back trailer window. No other campers and |
| lot's of space for Morgan to run. Hopefully she won't get caught off leash because that could mean a $77 fine and ejection from the park (I just read the rules, although ejection from the park would mean NO campers in the park). Finally, an afternoon matinee sounded good during the storm so we saw "Dick and Jane" ... it was cute. |  |
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running on the north grass. This is a nice size lake for kayaking or for water skiing if you don't mind skiing in a large circle. Of course, there was no activity on the lake today except wind waves and sea gulls.
Tsunami Evacuation signs are posted everywhere in the coastal cities. The instructions are to follow the evacuation signs on-foot immediately if you feel an earthquake, don't wait for any offical warning signal. If the Tsunami threat is from a distant source, a siren will sound for 3 minutes. Evacuation should begin immediately but I assume the threat would not be immediate and you could risk taking a car. The reason for "foot evacuation" is that traffic congestion is expected.
The bronze statue of Abe
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Lincoln in the above photo was donated to the Lincoln City by a local artist in 1965. It is impressive standing about 12 feet tall. "Ace is the Place". I like shopping at well organized Ace Hardware |
| Our next visit was to the Chinook Winds Casino located in Lincoln City. This is a very attractive casino but smells like an ash tray as they all do. I made Gwen keep her money in the truck so we came out even ... neither of us spent a penny here. |  |
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Instead, we went to an indoor miniature golf building. This seemed like the right thing to do for stormy indoor entertainment and we felt we would be well ahead if we spent $4 on miniature golf than on gambling. This way, our entertainment only cost $8. |
| We couldn't pass up the pinball machines, especially when one of them had half of the face of the California Governor Arnold peering at the player. Gwen beat me at miniature golf and also scored more pinball points. I did my best to cheat but Gwen would always catch me. |  |