Cascadia State Park to South Beach S.P.

Before we left Cascadia State Park this morning Eliot did his best to leave his ‘mark’. Overnight the park was almost empty which I found a little surprising given the fine weather and the fact that it was a weekend. No matter it was quiet and I slept well. We packed up late and headed further down Hwy 20 through Sweet Home, Lebanon, Albany and Corvalis. Between the Corvalis and the coast the GPS took us on quite a big run-around after we’d pulled off onto a side road. In stead of just saying “turn around” it took us on a long circle just to get us back to where we were 20 minutes before. I guess the GPS couldn’t suggest a U-Turn. But there must be some way of indicating that a big loop can be avoided by just going in the other direction to the one your currently pointed in.

By mid-afternoon we arrived in Newport, Oregon and headed down Hwy 101 to South Beach State Park. It’s just a mile or two out of town. My sister and I had stayed here last September when she had her west coast visit. Up and down the Oregon coast there are many bridges. Some big, some small. This big bridge crosses Newport harbour.

It’s good to be back on the coast although the change in temperature from yesterday in the interior and today on the coast was bracing. Yesterday around 30°C and today in Newport is around 18°C.

South Beach has an extensive area of dunes.