The Oregon Coast At Last!

Well, we made it.  About 1:30 pm on Sunday we saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time in several years; and the very first time from an Oregon coastline.  Barbie, our faithful Magellan GPS, guided us expertly through the freeway system in downtown Portland (Sunday is a good day to do this – less traffic).  We got off of I-5 and headed southwest on 99W where we picked up highway 101.  Here is our first sighting of the Pacific Ocean.

About 45 minutes later we pull into Beverly Beach State Park, located about 5 miles north of Newport, Oregon.  There was no one at the registration window so I picked up a self registration envelope and we went hunting for a site.  We found a site that fit our fiver and backed into it successfully.  It was starting to sprinkle a little, so setting up was a bit on the wet side.  The site was deep in an old growth forest so I knew there was no possibility of a satellite shot for direct TV.  Then I noticed a cable hookup on the electrical post.  Wow, full hookups plus cable TV in a State Park; all for $23 a night.  So I filled out the registration form and wrote the check and took it back to the office.  On returning to the site, I see a reservation tag has appeared on our site post for the next day.  Darn!  The next morning I go speak with the nice ranger lady at the office.  She confirms someone had reserved our site for Monday night.  She gives me a list of open sites for Monday night that have the same full hookup facilities.  The good news is that one of the sites in the B Loop is now available and it is much better than the site we are in; it is closer to the beach and is longer by about 15 feet.  The guy in the site is packing up as we go by after taking the dogs for a walk on the beach.  He estimated he would be pulling out in an hour.  So we go disconnect everything at our site and pull over to his site just as he was pulling away.  After many attempts to actually speak with a Ranger at the office, we finally succeeded in learning that the site was also available Tuesday night so we extended a day.  Here are some pictures:

   

             Our new site.                                                          Highway 101 bridge

   

                 Under the bridge.                                                              On the beach

 

             A really long piece of kelp.                                  B Loop from the beach side of the bridge.

Monday afternoon it is stock up time so we head to Wal-Mart in Newport.  We also stopped at Fred Meyers for a few items and filled up with diesel at $4.29 per gallon.  I should not need fuel again until we get to California next week.

This being Oregon, it rains on and off; sometimes gentle, sometimes hard, then the sun comes out.  The dogs aren’t quite sure what to make of the beach; all that sand and no grass.  Rosie continues to recover slowly from her injuries.  She takes 2 Aleve in the morning and 2 at night to help with the pain.  It is still more comfortable for her to sleep on the couch where she can use several pillows to set herself partially upright.  I miss our snuggle times, but those times will return; just don’t know when. 

Thanks for stopping by.