South Beach S.P. to Nehalem Bay, S.P.

A splendid day on the Oregon coast. There was no fog when the sun came up this morning and by 9am I was sitting outside reading in shorts and a t-shirt. Often on the coast the sun is shrouded in fog or low cloud until it burns off later in the morning.

Since we were just going up the coast fewer than a hundred miles, we were in no rush. Just north of Newport we stopped at Otter State Park to enjoy the views. And there was lots to see. There were whales heading up and down the coast quite near to shore. We and the others who had stopped probably had better views than the people in the whale watching boats out on the water. And there were big swells on the Pacific making for big surf when the waves finally hit land.

A little further up the coast we stopped at a spot I always take in when driving Highway 101. Cape Kiwanda is off 101 near a little village called Pacific City. I imagine that the population of Pacific City is under 1,000 souls. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant that is run by a couple of those souls. The two women were run off their feet – one behind the counter and one waiting tables indoors and out. The place was packed mostly with locals although one tourist was surprised at the cash when he discovered they only took cash or cheques. I had a yummy turkey and bacon wrap with delicious coleslaw. Eliot was allowed some bacon so that made his afternoon.

Cape Kiwanda is just up the road from Pacific City. There is a beautiful beach and one of those huge Oregon coast rocks out in the ocean. Luck was with us as there was a surfing competition going on. A long board competition that also included events for stand up paddleboarders. It was fun to watch but I couldn’t figure out exactly what was being judged. Since my teenage years I have always thought that surfing was the coolest of the cool.

And Helmut was delighted to be surrounded by lots of Westy buddies. There was one on the beach (see above) and three in the parking lot just in one row.

(Click on any of the photos on the blog for a larger size)

And around 5:30pm we arrived at Nehalem State Park near Manzanita, Oregon. It’s a beautiful park and we have a campsite just a few steps from the path to the beach which is about four miles long. We’re actually going to stay here for two nights and then make serious moves in the direction of home.