LONG BEACH, WA – We towed the RV another 150 miles up Highway 101 on Thursday from Newport OR across the gaping mouth of the Columbia River to this resort town in Washington State. We’ll spend six days here, enjoying the expansive beach and the historical sights marking the western end of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805-06.
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On Tuesday, we visited the Yaquina Head Lighthouse north of Newport. From there we drove to “the world’s smallest harbor” at Depoe. The video shows a tourist boat returning to the narrow inlet, probably from an outing to watch for migrating whales. We had planned to visit the scenic “Three Cape Loop” and the Cape Mears Lighthouse further north that day, but rain, road closures and our own end-of-day tiredness modified our plans.
On Wednesday, refreshed and under blue skies, we drove south to enjoy a memorable walk along Oregon Coastal Trail 804 in Yachats. The trail took us along a rocky section of the coast, past homes and between woods and pounding surf. At one spot where we stopped for lunch, we could see a gray whale spouting through its blowhole a few hundred yards offshore before it would descend, only to reemerge in the same spot a few minutes later. We also came across a poignant memorial to two young men from Eugene OR who drowned on a high school outing in 2011 when a “sneaker wave” swept them off the nearby rocks. Further down the coast, we hiked up to Heceta Head Lighthouse.
During our time in Newport, we enjoyed the historic bayfront area, where a small colony of California sea lions has taken up residence along the docks. The males come north during the non-summer months, and then head south from mid-June to mid-August to breed in the coves of Baja California. We also watched the boats come and go from the harbor, such as the one aptly named “Pacific Storm.” That’s the Yaquina Bay Bridge in the background. We stayed at the Newport Marina RV Park on the other side of the bay but with an equally good view of the bridge.
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We’re taking a break from visiting national parks for a short while. I had originally hoped to visit Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, but most of the roads around it are still closed by the winter snows. We’ll plan to come back during the summer months in a future year, Lord willing, when the roads will be open and I can maybe take a jump off a rock into one of America’s grandest swimming holes!
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